Mugabe says Zimbabwe talks to continue on Wednesday

Reuters

Tue 9 Sep 2008, 18:02 GMT

HARARE, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe said on
Tuesday that power-sharing talks with the opposition MDC will continue on
Wednesday, and that some progress had been made.

"We are still going to talk. We are finishing tomorrow (Wednesday)," Mugabe
told reporters at the hotel where the talks had been taking place in Harare.

"There is progress and lack of it in some areas," he said, adding that "one
or two areas" were still outstanding.

Zimbabwe document aims to give MDC more power

A document giving Morgan Tsvangirai executive powers as Prime Minister has been tabled

September 09, 2008, 12:45

John Nyashanu
A document giving Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai more powers as an executive prime minister is said to be on the table in power-sharing talks in Harare which are currently underway today.

President Thabo Mbeki, the South African Development Community (SADC) mediator, is reportedly trying to persuade President Robert Mugabe, Tsvangirai, and the leader of a smaller MDC formation, Arthur Mutambara, to sign a new draft agreement. The talks have deadlocked so far over what powers Mugabe will retain and what powers Tsvangirai will have.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwean and South African Catholic leaders have deplored the failure by Zimbabwe's political rivals to secure an agreement. Catholic Bishops of Zimbabwe are in Pretoria for discussions with their counterparts.

Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in a March 29 election but fell short of enough votes to avoid a June run-off, which was won by Mugabe unopposed after Tsvangirai pulled out, citing violence and intimidation against his supporters.

Zimbabwe power-sharing deal looks remote: ZANU-PF

Reuters

Tue 9 Sep 2008, 15:29 GMT

By Cris Chinaka

HARARE (Reuters) - Prospects for a power-sharing deal in Zimbabwe look
remote and the current negotiations are unlikely to produce a breakthrough,
a senior ruling ZANU-PF party official said on Tuesday.

A new round of talks began in Harare on Monday between President Robert
Mugabe's ZANU-PF and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC party,
seeking a deal to end a post-election crisis that is worsening Zimbabwe's
economic decline.

"Our assessment is that they are simply trying to put spanners in the works,
and they are not serious about reaching a workable power-sharing
arrangement," the official told Reuters.

"If that is their approach, and we believe it is, there are just no
prospects for any agreement. Instead of a power-sharing arrangement, they
are looking at deposing ZANU-PF and transferring power to the MDC through
these talks."

South African President Thabo Mbeki, who arrived in Harare on Monday for his
latest attempt to mediate a deal, has presented a proposal sharing executive
powers, the main sticking point in the negotiations, the state-run Herald
newspaper said.

It also looks at structuring an all-inclusive government.

Two months of meetings in South Africa and Harare have so far failed to ease
divisions over how to share executive powers and Mugabe has threatened to
form a cabinet without Tsvangirai.

The defence committee of regional grouping the SADC will meet in Swaziland
on Wednesday to discuss the crisis. Swaziland's government said Mugabe and
Mbeki would be there, alongside heads of state from Mozambique, Swaziland
and Angola.

"The meeting will mainly review the status of implementation of the African
Union summit resolution on Zimbabwe," SADC said.

The African Union called for a national unity government at a July 1 summit
and adopted a resolution calling for Mugabe to enter talks with Tsvangirai.

SADC -- which appointed Mbeki as mediator between the Zimbabwean rivals last
year -- has been trying in vain to persuade ZANU-PF and the MDC to reach a
deal.

ELECTION CHALLENGE

Tsvangirai said on Sunday he would rather quit talks than sign a bad deal
and challenged Mugabe to hold a new election.

The MDC leader beat Mugabe in a March 29 election but fell short of enough
votes to avoid a June run-off, which was won by Mugabe unopposed after
Tsvangirai pulled out, citing violence and intimidation against his
supporters.

Mugabe's victory in the run-off was condemned around the world and drew
toughened sanctions from Western countries whose support is vital for
reviving Zimbabwe's ruined economy.

Mbeki has come under repeated fire for not being tough enough with Mugabe,
in power since 1980.

Other southern African leaders have taken a harder line, but Mugabe has
resisted pressure, and Tsvangirai's MDC has made it clear it has little
faith in Mbeki as a mediator.

Further complicating the negotiations is a third faction -- a breakaway
group from the opposition MDC.

It had been seen as moving closer to Mugabe, but the faction said on Monday
it would not sign a unilateral deal with Mugabe if there was no agreement
with Tsvangirai's faction too.

Zimbabweans were hoping the election could produce a leadership able to
tackle hyper-inflation and severe food and fuel shortages that have driven
millions across the country's borders, straining regional economies.

Latest on Talks: US $2 million offered for Tsvangirai's signature

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Tuesday, 09 September 2008 14:49
HARARE - SADC-appointed broker, President Thabo Mbeki, on Tuesday held
separate talks with main MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and dangled a US$2
million dollar carrot from the Africa Development Bank (ADB) for his
exclusive use in resuscitating the Zimbabwean economy, The Zimbabwean can
reveal.

ADB Bank president Daniel Kaberuka joined the parties to the talks as
the latest round of negotiations resumed in Harare Monday. The inter-party
talks that adjourned Monday, resumed with the SADC chairperson and
facilitator of the Zimbabwe political dialogue President Thabo Mbeki
separately meeting Tsvangirai Tuesday.  President Mbeki later met the other
principals to the inter-party dialogue, Robert Mugabe of Zanu (PF) and the
leader of the breakaway MDC faction Professor Arthur Mutambara.

On Tuesday, Mbeki reportedly assured Tsvangirai that development
finance would be available if he accepted a prime ministerial post in a
coalition Cabinet.

Zimbabwe, which paid back US$650 000 in arrears to the ADB despite
vast economic problems at home, has been assured of financial support to
kickstart an economic revival program if the deal flies.

The ADB President was said to have assured the parties to the talks
Monday that the bank stood ready to help Zimbabwe once a deal was signed but
wanted sanctions to be lifted.

But Tsvangirai is said to have categorically stated that he has no
power to lift the sanctions, imposed by Western countries over misrule by
Mugabe and his Zanu (PF) party.

The Zimbabwean heard that the deal remained elusive as Mugabe
continued digging in his heels and refusing to give  Tsvangirai real
executive power.

The draft agreement currently on the table gives Tsvangirai
responsibility to ensure that the State "has sufficient resources and
appropriate operational capacity to carry out its functions effectively".

Yet his position as Prime Minister does not allow him to chair the
Cabinet, appoint, censure or dismiss ministers.

The MDC has made significant concessions to Zanu (PF) since July when
the talks commenced, shifting from its earlier position that Mugabe be a
ceremonial President, to its present position that he can remain head of
State despite losing the credible elections in March. But Mugabe has refused
to budge.

Tsvangirai told his supporters at the 9th anniversary of the MDC in
Gweru Sunday that he cannot be expected to be responsible for solving the
economic crisis created by Mugabe, yet the 84-year-old ruler did not want
him to have the full authority to carry out that task.

The Zimbabwean heard that on Monday, the parties were given a proposal
by Mbeki aimed at breaking the deadlock. The "extensive and technical"
document looked at executive powers and their distribution - a sticking
point said to have stalled previous negotiations - and the structure of an
inclusive government.

But MDC officials said there was no fundamental shift in the amount of
power Mugabe wanted Tsvangirai to wield - which the MDC says makes the MDC
leader a lame duck Prime Minister.

Pressure was mounting for a deal in Zimbabwe. On Wednesday the SADC
defense committee held an extraordinary summitin Swaziland to discuss the
political crisis. The meeting was aimed at reviewing the status of the
implementation of the recent African Union summit resolution on Zimbabwe,
diplomatic sources said.

The African Union on July 1 called for the formation of a coalition
government in Zimbabwe and last week the continental body said it would
accept nothing less than a 50-50 power-sharing deal between the two major
political gladiators, Tsvangirai and Mugabe.

The parties to the talks are main MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said
the parties were working on "bridging our differences."

A spokesman of the MDC Mutambara, Edwin Mushoriwa said: "We are
optimistic. We believe the leaders of the three parties will put Zimbabwe
ahead of their individual interests and work out a deal that will end the
suffering of the people of Zimbabwe.

"We are hopeful. We know the challenges are big but we believe an
agreement will be reached. Zimbabwe cannot afford to live under this impasse
for any longer."

Zim: Agreement not yet in sight

IOL

    September 09 2008 at 07:11PM

Harare - A power-sharing deal between Zimbabwe's political rivals was
unlikely to be reached on Tuesday, despite efforts by South African
President Thabo Mbeki to end a ruinous deadlock.

"It's too early to expect a deal. We don't think a deal will be
reached today," a source from the main opposition Movement of Democratic for
Change (MDC), which holds a parliamentary majority, said.

Talks were expected to resume on Tuesday with the late afternoon
arrival of President Robert Mugabe, MDC chief Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC
splinter leader Arthur Mutambara at a Harare hotel.

Even though no deal was anticipated on Tuesday, Tsvangirai had held
separate "positive" talks in the morning with Mbeki who flew to Harare on
Monday to revive the talks, the MDC source said.

"The sticking points are issues of the roles of the head of state and
head of government, the duration of the power-sharing government and
separation of powers," the source said.

"The discussions have so far been positive; we are surprised."

According to the source, Mbeki met with Tsvangirai while the
negotiators from the parties deliberated on a document presented by Mbeki on
Monday which aimed to unlock the stalemate.

Political rivals earlier said that an agreement was not yet in sight.

Power-sharing discussions began after the bitter political foes signed
a memorandum of understanding on July 21 in Harare.

But they have since been deadlocked on the allocation of executive
power between Mugabe and Tsvangirai.

Mugabe won a June 27 run-off poll after Tsvangirai withdrew from the
presidential vote despite finishing ahead of the veteran leader in the March
first round, citing widespread election violence against his supporters.

While the political crisis has dragged on, Zimbabwe's economy has
continued its freefall with the world's highest inflation rate and major
food shortages.

MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said on Tuesday morning the
negotiators were still "digesting and deliberating the available options".

"We are hoping the process will be concluded soon (...) As we speak
the negotiators are working flat out because people have to know" if there
is a deal or not, Chamisa said.

A Zanu-PF official close to the negotiations said Tuesday's talks were
unlikely to result in a breakthrough.

"We doubt if we will get anywhere today. We don't know who the
MDC-Tsvangirai have been consulting during the night. What we know for sure
is they will come with a fresh set of demands," the ruling party official
said in the morning.

According to MDC splinter group spokesperson Mushoriwa, Mbeki did not
bring new proposals to Harare in the document handed to parties but only
what negotiators had agreed on during an earlier round of talks.

"It contained the agreements made by the negotiators which their
principals (leaders) in their wisdom or lack of it, rejected and sought to
alter," he said.

Mbeki was appointed by the Southern African Development Community
regional bloc to mediate in the talks aimed to resolve Zimbabwe's political
and economic crisis.

The talks snagged in August after Mugabe and Tsvangirai differed on
the sharing of executive powers.

Mugabe last week gave Tsvangirai an ultimatum to sign a deal, saying
that he would form a new cabinet.

Tsvangirai on the other hand said he would only agree to a deal that
gives him "sufficient powers." - Sapa-AFP

Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai hopeful on power-sharing talks

Reuters

Tue Sep 9, 2008 3:25pm EDT

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said
on Tuesday there had been a positive development in power-sharing talks with
President Robert Mugabe, and hoped to deal with outstanding issues on
Wednesday.

"As you are aware these talks have been dragging on for some time now, but I
must say that there is a positive development," he told reporters as he left
the Harare hotel after hours of negotiation.

"Nothing has been concluded yet but we are hoping that tomorrow (Wednesday)
we will be able to look at the outstanding issues."

(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; editing by Sami Aboudi)

A perspective on the Zimbabwean talks and the election of the Speaker

3rd
September 2008

David Coltart

During the last few weeks there has been frenzied media speculation that
Robert Mugabe has entered into, or is about to enter into, a deal with the
MDC formation led by Arthur Mutambara (MDC M ) *1.    The MDC M in honouring
the terms of the MOU has steadfastly maintained a media silence which in
turn has created a vacuum of information.  That vacuum has been filled by
media speculation, propaganda issued by ZANU PF and statements made by
leaders of the MDC formation led by Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC T). In addition a
few belligerent  statements of Arthur Mutambara and the attendance of Arthur
Mutambara and other leaders at the Heroes Acre ceremony and elsewhere have
reinforced the perception in the minds of the public and that there is
indeed a deal. Indeed many newspapers, with some noteworthy exceptions such
as the New York Times, have taken it as given that there was a deal reached.
Whilst the existence of a deal has been emphatically denied, the controversy
surrounding the e
lection of Speaker in the last week has served to enhance the perception
that there is some deal.

It is my belief that there is a very serious gap between the public's
perception of what is taking place and the truth.  It also deeply concerns
me that even colleagues in the struggle to bring democracy to Zimbabwe
appear to have deliberately distorted the truth for partisan ends. I cannot
see how that can advance our just cause; all it serves to do is to further
divide those who oppose the Zanu PF regime. In short I believe that there
needs to be a truth telling so that all those genuinely concerned with the
Zimbabwean crisis can be better informed.

I am in the relatively privileged position of being in possession of, in my
capacity as secretary for legal affairs of the MDC M, copies of all the
documents relating to the ongoing talks, including the document entitled
"Framework for a new government" agreed to by all the negotiators on the
28th of July 2008. I have also spoken at length to members of our
negotiating team including the Hon. Moses Mzila Ndlovu MP and a member of
the technical support team, Josephat Tshuma, who has also been a partner in
my law firm for the last 20 years.  I should stress that Josephat Tshuma is
not a politician but a lawyer of the highest repute, who is not only the
present Chairperson of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights but is also one of
the lead Counsel in the well-publicised SADC Tribunal case brought recently
in Windhoek on behalf of displaced Zimbabwean farmers.  In other words much
of the information I have is not based on evidence given to me by partisan
sources; indeed most of the
information I have is based on hard written documentation and the testimony
of people who in my experience have a long track record of telling the
truth.

Historical context

Much of the hysteria of the last few weeks is based on the widely held
perception that somehow the MDC M is to blame in the first place for the MDC
T's failure to win both the Parliamentary and presidential elections
outright in March.  What is commonly leveled against the MDC M is that had
the MDC fought the election together Morgan Tsvangirai would have easily
secured over 50% of the vote and the combined MDC would have enjoyed
comfortable majorities in both the House of Assembly and Senate. It is self
evident that had we fought the election together as an MDC coalition many of
our current woes would not have arisen.  What is not clear is who is to
blame.  Whilst all of this is ancient history and it does not serve much
purpose in resurrecting these issues, because the MDC M is accused of
"selling out" against the backdrop of the March election, it is necessary to
recount certain facts in this regard. Firstly, as far back as April 2007 the
MDC M, including Arthur Mutambara,
 agreed that it would support the sole opposition Presidential candidacy of
Morgan Tsvangirai. Secondly, it was the MDC T which rejected the agreement
reached by the two teams of negotiators in May 2007. Thirdly, in January
2008 the MDC M agreed again to support the sole candidacy of Morgan
Tsvangirai.  Once again it was the MDC T which rejected the agreement
reached this time by the leadership of the two political entities on
spurious grounds related to the Parliamentary election, which has always
been secondary to the all-important presidential election. When the
agreement was rejected by the MDC T on the 3rd February 2008 many MDC T
leaders and aspiring MPs were delighted that the coalition had failed; on
the contrary virtually all in the MDC M were despondent, including those who
had no Parliamentary aspirations.  It was only after the rejection of the
agreement on the 5th February that Simba Makoni announced his candidacy;
having been rejected by the MDC T and rather than confuse the electorate
even more by putting up our own candidate, a decision was taken to support
Makoni's candidacy. Had the coalition agreement reached in January been
honoured by the MDC T there is no way that the MDC M would have supported
Makoni's candidacy.  Fourthly, after it became clear that there would have
to be a Presidential run off election between Robert Mugabe and Morgan
Tsvangirai, the MDC M threw its full weight behind Tsvangirai's candidacy.

In this regard I need to make mention of a recent opinion put out by my good
friend and fellow lawyer Sheila Jarvis regarding the need for a run off in
the first place. She was responding to a statement made recently by Welshman
Ncube in which he said "The game was that you had more than two players. One
of the players had to get 50 + 1 percent for power to move to him". Sheila
went on to state the following:

"If intended as a statement of law, this is directly contradicted by the
Electoral Act, Ch 2:13 subparagraph 3(1) of the Second Schedule."

Sheila argued in the paper that Welshman Ncube had in effect incorrectly
stated the Electoral Law. She concludes by saying:

"As a lawyer and accredited observer I have felt obliged to draw attention
to the rules that the Professor and his political party, and Mugabe and his
political party, endorsed before the games, and to the obvious breaking of
those same rules. I don't know if the Professor's motive for ignoring these
rules is his reported intense dislike of Tsvangirai; or a hope of sharing
now in the absolute power that Mugabe failed to transfer under Paragraph
3(1) after the people's votes in March were counted and recounted; or some
other motive."

Welshman Ncube had argued that the Electoral Law states that in the event of
no candidate getting over 50% of the vote a run off became necessary.
Welshman based this on the clear meaning of Section 110 of the Electoral
Act. Sheila Jarvis's argument is based on the Second Schedule of the Act
which does not require a run off. She did not refer to Section 110 in her
article.

In short there is a contradiction in the Electoral Act between Section 110
and the Second Schedule. The question is which provision prevails - Section
110 or the Second Schedule? Or in other words would there need to be a run
off or wouldn't there? This is a question that concerned me prior to the
election so much so that I sought an opinion from two of Southern Africa's
leading Constitutional lawyers namely Senior Counsel Adrian De Bourbon and
Jeremy Gauntlett.

The opinion I got back was as follows:

"The usual rule is that where there is a conflict between a section of an
Act and that one of the provisions in a schedule, the enactment in this
section prevails over that in the schedule.In Executive Council, Western
Cape Legislature & Ors v President of the Republic of South Africa & Ors
1995 (4) SA 877 (CC) para [33], page 894, Chaskalson P said: "Ordinarily,
the position with regard to matter contained in a schedule is as set out by
Kotze JA in African and European Investment Co Ltd v Warren and Others 1924
AD 308 at 360:'No doubt a schedule or rule attached to a statute and forming
part of it is binding, but in case of clear conflict between either of them
and a section in the body of the statute itself, the former must give way to
the latter.'Craies Statute Law 7th ed (by Edgar, 1971) at 224 notes:'"A
schedule in an Act is a mere question of drafting, a mere question of words.
The schedule is as much a part of the statute, and is as much an enactment,
as any other part
," but if an enactment in a schedule contradicts an earlier clause the
clause prevails against the schedule. (Citation omitted).'"See also De Reuck
v Director of Public Prosecutions, Witwatersrand Local Division & Ors 2004
(1) SA 406 (CC) para [37], page 426 and R v Kok 1955 4 SA 370 (T) at 374 per
Ramsbottom J

Therefore, it is my view that the requirement for a run-off in section 110
(3) prevails over the more general provision in the Schedule."

In other words Senior Counsel do not agree with Sheila Jarvis'
interpretation of the law and nor did Welshman Ncube who is also of course a
Professor of Constitutional Law. All believe that whether we like or not,
the moment no candidate managed to get over 50% of the vote in the 29th
March 2008 election a run off became necessary in law. It may have been
unfair, the results may well have been manipulated but that is what the law
says.

But this incident illustrates the level of bias that has built up in our
society. An honest legal opinion expressed by Welshman Ncube is interpreted
as a deliberate attempt to misstate the law, which once again reinforces the
public perception that there is some dark and sinister plot afoot, which in
this case was simply not true.

The point of this is not to regurgitate history but to show that in fact the
MDC M has consistently opposed Robert Mugabe and sought to get into office
people who will change the status quo, not perpetuate it. Whilst the MDC M
has very clear differences of opinion regarding policy with the MDC T it has
never sought any form of electoral pact or coalition agreement with Robert
Mugabe and ZANU PF.

The vast majority of the members of the MDC M National Council have
consistently opposed the excesses of the Mugabe regime going back to the
genocide of the 1980s. Given their lengthy human rights track record it is
simply disingenuous for anyone to suggest that these are the people who
would so readily jump into bed with the Mugabe regime.  Any such actions
would be expedient in the extreme. Ironically the very losses suffered by
many MDC M leaders in the March Parliamentary elections show that this
political formation is not led by opportunists; it did not take a
clairvoyant to predict that all those standing on an MDC M ticket in Harare
would lose their seats by a wide margin. All of them could have acted
expediently and opportunistically to retain their seats by crossing the
floor to the MDC T but they chose to act on principle instead. All this begs
the question: if these people did not act opportunistically in the past then
what possibly would motivate them to do so now
, especially in the sure and certain knowledge that the Mugabe regime is on
its last legs?

In short the history of the MDC M and its leaders does not support any
thesis that it would enter into a bilateral pact with ZANU PF. On the
contrary any such pact would run against virtually everything these people
have stood for their entire working lives.

An accurate record of what has happened since the 21 July 2008

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Harare on the 21 July 2008.
Intensive negotiations began in South Africa on the 24th July 2008.  It
should be stressed of course that these negotiations took off from where the
negotiations had ended prior to the March 2008 elections and built on
agreements and legislation, including a new draft constitution which was
signed by all the negotiators in Kariba on the 30 September 2007, agreed to
during that process.

Between the 24th July 2008 and the 6 August 2008 the negotiators reached
agreement on a wide range of issues.  Unfortunately I am not at liberty to
reveal the details but suffice it to say that the agreements reached are
wide ranging and deeply heartening in most respects. For example there is a
commitment to creating an acceptable, inclusive process which will result in
Zimbabwe having a new democratic Constitution within 18 months.  There is an
agreement to set up a mechanism to achieve national healing in respect of
victims of pre-and post independence political conflicts. There are signed
agreements regarding land, security of persons, humanitarian and food
assistance, and freedoms of assembly and association. Importantly there is
an agreement that the implementation of the overall agreement is to be
guaranteed and underwritten by the President of South Africa, SADC and the
AU.

On the 28 July 2008 the negotiators agreed to and signed a document entitled
"Framework for a new government". In terms of this document Robert Mugabe
would continue in office as President.  He would appoint three Deputy
Presidents, two nominated by ZANU PF and one by MDC T. Morgan Tsvangirai was
to become Prime Minister and they would be three Deputy prime ministers one
each nominated by the parties. It was agreed that they would be a Cabinet
made up of 38 ministers; comprising 17 ministers from ZANU PF, 16 ministers
from MDC T and five ministers from MDC M. This breakdown of ministers
largely reflected the percentage of votes received by the three political
parties in the March Parliamentary elections.

On the 6 August 2008 the negotiators adjourned on the understanding that
certain outstanding issues including the powers and duties of the President
and Prime Minister respectively would have to be resolved by the Principals.

On the 9 August 2008 President Mbeki and his team arrived in Harare.
Negotiations involving the Principals commenced on the 10 August 2008.
Morgan Tsvangirai tabled a position paper, paragraph 2 of which demands that
the Prime Minister be the Head of Government, formulate and carry out
policies of the government, execute, direct and administer the operations of
government, conduct the business of government in Parliament, chair Cabinet
and appoint and dismiss Cabinet.

During the discussions which followed Morgan Tsvangirai also asked that the
agreement regarding the framework for a new government, agreed to by the
negotiators on the 28 July 2008, be revisited.  He proposed that the 38
member Cabinet be cut down to a 31 member Cabinet, reducing the respective
ministers to 15 ZANU PF, 14 MDC T and 2 MDC M. In addition he proposed that
the three Deputy Presidents be cut down to two, both of whom were to be
nominated by ZANU PF and that the three Deputy Prime Ministers be cut down
to two, one from MDC T and one from MDC M. As an aside the original
formulation was designed to meet MDC T demands that both MDC T Vice
President Thoko Khupe and MDC T Secretary General Tendai Biti would have
senior positions.

The above-mentioned changes regarding the framework were agreed to by the
Principals along with other issues.  In the early hours of the 11 August
2008 President Mbeki produced a working document highlighting five areas of
concern including the duration of the government, the constitution, the
framework of the new government (reflecting the agreement reached following
the proposed changes as set out in the paragraph above), the powers and
functions of the Prime Minister and the National Security Council.  Without
reaching agreement on these issues the meeting adjourned on the early hours
of the 11 August 2008.

It should be mentioned at this juncture that before the meeting concluded in
the early hours of the 11th August 2008 President Mbeki urged both Morgan
Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara to attend the Heroes Day celebrations later
that day as a confidence building measure. Arthur Mutambara only attended
because he agreed to President Mbeki's request and was of the understanding
that Morgan Tsvangirai was going to attend. Accordingly what was done as an
act of good faith has been perceived as another sign that Mutambara was in
cahoots with Mugabe.

When the negotiations resumed on the afternoon of the 11 August 2008 Morgan
Tsvangirai tabled further notes together with an annexure responding to the
five outstanding areas of concern set out in President Mbeki's working
document.  From this document it is clear that there was largely common
cause relating to the duration of the government, the Constitution and the
framework for the new government and indeed by the end of that discussion
all the Principals had reached agreement regarding these issues.  The only
major outstanding issue related to the role of the Prime Minister.

Overnight further work was done by President Mbeki's team on a document
setting out the role of the Prime Minister.  A first draft of this document
was presented to the Principals when negotiations resumed on the afternoon
of the 12 August 2008. Considerable debate followed and in the course of the
afternoon and early evening the original document was amended several times.
In the course of the afternoon and evening the debate had narrowed down to
two critically important issues namely that the Prime Minister should be
"Head of Government" and should chair cabinet. In the belief that all had
agreed a final draft was prepared by President Mbeki's team, and in the
belief that this was acceptable to the MDC T and Morgan Tsvangirai, Arthur
Mutambara indicated that he would agree to what was set out in the final
document. However Morgan Tsvangirai after consulting his colleagues advised
that the final document was unsatisfactory and the meeting ended.

The point of this paper is not to debate whether the powers of the Prime
Minister as set out in the agreement are satisfactory. The allegation has
been made that the MDC M collectively or Arthur Mutambara individually
entered into a bilateral agreement with ZANU PF on the evening of the 12th
August. The Zanu PF mouthpiece the Herald newspaper announced this as fact
the following morning and many international newspapers and media
organisations reported the same thing. Despite the fact that a press
conference was held by Arthur Mutambara on the afternoon of the 13th August
2008 denying that there was or would be any bilateral agreement, the belief
has stuck.

It should be clear from what has been described above that no bilateral
agreement was entered into, nor was it the intention of the MDC M or Arthur
Mutambara to enter into any such Pact.

Three further points should be made in this regard.

Firstly, both the agreement entitled "Framework for a new government" signed
on the 28 July 2008 and paragraph 20.1.1 of the subsequent draft composite
agreement (which incorporates all the various agreements reached prior to
the meeting of the Principals) makes it quite clear that the office of Prime
Minister "shall be occupied by Morgan Tsvangirai". In other words the
allegations made by some journalists and political analysts that Arthur
Mutambara would step in to that office are simply ludicrous. If there is any
doubt about that it was dispelled by President Mbeki in his subsequent press
statement in which he stressed that they would have to be a tripartite
agreement.

Secondly, it should be stressed that the MDC M itself agrees that the entire
agreement, including the sub agreement dealing with the role of the Prime
Minister, does not meet our ideal aspirations for a new democratic order in
Zimbabwe. However we are aware of the political reality that exists in
Zimbabwe at present. Effective power, including control of the military,
remains in the hands of ZANU PF.  Millions of Zimbabweans are literally
starving to death.  Daily we receive reports of families who have completely
run out of food.  If the conduct of ZANU PF over the last eight years is
anything to go by, it is not unreasonable to assume that they are callous
enough to not care about this ongoing suffering. There are also pitiful
examples elsewhere in Africa of political leaders who are prepared to take
their countries down to the depths we have witnessed in Somalia and Liberia.
It is in this context that we have negotiated in good faith, in what we
believe is the best interes
ts of Zimbabwe. The deal on the table is not perfect but in our view it will
take the process forward and end the intense suffering of Zimbabweans.

Thirdly, there is the irrefutable fact that since the 12th August there has
been no bilateral agreement with Zanu PF. Since the 12th August 2008 The MDC
M has repeatedly said there would not be any bilateral agreement and that is
borne out what has actually happened. There is no doubt that had Mugabe been
able to persuade MDC M leaders or Parliamentarians to join his cabinet, he
would have gone ahead with forming a cabinet that excluded the MDC T and
Morgan Tsvangirai. But he has not been able to do so because the MDC M and
its leadership have been consistently clear that they would not accept any
such arrangement. Of course Zanu PF and its mouthpieces have repeatedly put
out that there is an agreement but that is simply self serving propaganda
designed to promote their cause and to divide those opposed to them. The
irony is that so many people, including many in the international media have
swallowed their story - hook, line and sinker.

If we have any difference of opinion with our colleagues in the MDC T it is
rooted in the fear that they may overreach their demands. No matter how
legitimate some of their demands may be, there exists the real danger that
the Hawks in ZANU PF will dig their heels in. And whilst time may well be on
the side of both the MDC M and the MDC T as political institutions it is not
on the side of the millions of Zimbabweans who are starving to death. Zanu
PF leaders have shown in the last 28 years of their rule how callous they
are towards the plight of Zimbabweans and there is no indication that they
have changed. In that context we do not have the luxury of sitting back
indefinitely to wait for ZANU PF to fold or for them to have sympathy for
the people they claim to represent.

We are not alone in this belief. In an interview given on the 4th September
2008 to Voice of America the highly respected Professor Brian Raftopolous
(and former advisor to Morgan Tsvangirai) expressed similar concerns to the
ones I have outlined above. It is pertinent to include the full text of the
report:

"There is a view among some Tsvangirai advisors that he should not settle
for anything less than overall executive authority, and Mr. Mugabe's role as
president would become ceremonial. They argue that as long as the status quo
continues, Zimbabwe will continue to deteriorate, resulting in a complete
collapse of Mr. Mugabe's government.

But the Director for Research and Advocacy at Solidarity Peace Trust, Brian
Raftopoulos, says with Mr. Mugabe in power, the opposite is true.

"My concern is this belief that the deterioration will somehow deliver
political change," he said. "Now the problem with that scenario is that the
deterioration of the economy can actually deliver worse, you can get a more
repressive state, a party that digs in, and we know that this is a party
that really does not care about its citizenry; it is prepared to let the
situation continue to deteriorate."

Raftopoulos argues that Mr. Tsvangirai should take the initiative and seek a
compromise that will bring a transitional government into being.

"So I think that we really do need to find a compromise and I think that is
absolutely necessary," he said. "And even if as the opposition, as the
civics, [we think] the agreement does not deliver everything we want, we
should see it as a first stage in a longer battle."

Both Habib and Raftopoulos argue that once in government Mr. Tsvangirai will
be in a position to vigorously manage the situation to ensure that he and
his party move to a position of control and authority.

Raftopoulos suggests it is about capacity. "Well, the biggest challenge will
be the capacity to deal with the institutions of the state and to be able to
wield the powers within the state in whatever areas they have the most
authority in order to deliver policy changes," he said.

"So it is a question of capacity, capacity of the MDC to be able to take up
positions in the state and to be able to fight for the delivery of those
policies which will begin to shift the balance of political power away from
ZANU-PF," he added."

It is in this context that we are all deeply angered by the suggestion that
we would enter into a bilateral agreement that is not in the best interests
of all Zimbabweans.  We have not entered into such an agreement and will not
in future. But our belief remains that the draft agreement on the table, as
imperfect as it is, is the best deal that we are going to get at this
juncture. We concede that we may be wrong in this assessment because of
course we do not enjoy a monopoly of wisdom; all that we ask of the
Zimbabwean public is that it be acknowledged that we are at least acting in
good faith.

Election of Speaker

In any democratic country the office of Speaker is crucial in establishing
and maintaining the integrity of Parliament.  Throughout the Commonwealth
Speakers are chosen primarily because of their actual and perceived
neutrality. One of the greatest tragedies in Zimbabwe since 2000 is that the
office of Speaker has been occupied by overtly partisan individuals who have
made a mockery of the principles of free, fair and open Parliamentary
debate. As a result in the last two Parliaments many Parliamentary sessions
have been reduced to farcical levels.

Because of all the trauma of the last eight years, and especially because of
the extreme violence perpetrated mainly by ZANU PF against mainly (in the
last 18 months that is) our colleagues in the MDC T our nation remains
deeply polarised.  The hostility between ZANU PF and the MDC T is intense.
However sympathetic we may be towards our colleagues in the MDC T the fact
remains that our country is in a deep crisis and we will need level heads to
recover. If Parliament is to remain a battleground then it will be difficult
to find a consensus on the way forward.

It was in this context that we suggested in the negotiations to ZANU PF and
the MDC T that agreement should be reached that one of our nominees should
be the Speaker. The suggestion was not made from any sense of entitlement
but purely from a belief that a relatively neutral person might be able to
bridge the huge gulf that will surely exist in the new Parliament as it is
presently constituted.

Regrettably that suggestion was rejected by both parties.  During
discussions regarding who would be acceptable as a Speaker the MDC T
negotiators eventually indicated that they would prefer to nominate Dumiso
Dabengwa than people nominated by the MDC M such as Gibson Sibanda or Paul
Temba Nyathi. In other words notwithstanding the joint history and the
support given to Morgan Tsvangirai's candidacy in the run off, much of the
focus of the negotiations was on the intra MDC party dispute, rather than on
presenting a common front against ZANU PF.
Having tried to get a consensus with our colleagues in the MDC T and failed
we still were of the view that as we had the right to nominate our own
Speaker and that was in our belief the best thing for the new Parliament, we
should nominate our own candidate. Accordingly in the National Council
meeting held on the 20th August 2008 we debated the matter and chose Paul
Temba Nyathi as our candidate for Speaker.

Anyone who knows Paul  Temba Nyathi will agree with me when I say that he is
a man of absolute integrity; a man of great humility; a man with a wonderful
sense of humour who has the ability to make even his fiercest adversary
laugh; and a man who is simply a great human being. I had the honour of
being in Parliament with him between 2000 and 2005 and missed his presence
more than anyone else in the last Parliament. In addition Paul is a genuine
war veteran and an ex detainee. That history gave him a unique ability to
argue against ZANU PF and importantly to persuade ZANU PF MPs across to his
point of view. Paul also served with distinction in civic organisations
prior to becoming a Parliamentarian. I am obviously biased but there are
many others who share my view of him.  Judith Todd's book "Through the
Darkness" details Paul's superb work and delightful character during the
1980s. In short we believe that he would have been the best person to turn
the Zimbabwean Parliament i
n to an institution we can all be proud of.

I have deliberately laboured my praise of Paul Temba Nyathi because some of
our colleagues in the MDC T, including some people who should know better,
have stated and written that our nomination of Paul Temba Nyathi was part of
an agreement with ZANU PF. Other MDC T propagandists have stated that Paul
Temba Nyathi was in fact "Zanu PF's nominee". If this was indeed so, it must
follow that Paul Temba Nyathi was aware of the agreement and either agreed
with it or condoned it. Anyone who knows Paul Temba Nyathi will know just
how outrageous such an allegation is.

The fact of the matter is that our National Council (not a few individuals)
met on Wednesday the 20th August 2008 and unanimously nominated Paul.
Thereafter a concerted effort was made to lobby individual MDC T and ZANU PF
MPs to vote for Paul. We knew the obvious - that without getting votes from
people from other parties our objective would fail. A sizeable number of MDC
T MPs were very happy that he had been nominated and indicated that they
would vote for him. Ironically the response from ZANU PF was that they
believed that the MDC T would not be able to get more than 96 of its MPs
into Parliament (because of their understanding that 4 MPs were in either
exile or in hiding) and because of this they would be able to elect a ZANU
PF MP as Speaker. It was only at 10 a.m. on Monday the 25th August 2008 that
we learned that ZANU PF were not going to put up a candidate (when they
realised that the MDC T had managed to get virtually all its MPs into the
House) and that they wou
ld vote for Paul Temba Nyathi.

Our hope that we would get a sizeable number of MDC T MPs to vote for Paul
did not materialize. On the evening of Sunday the 24th August a meeting of
the MDC T Parliamentary caucus was held and its members were threatened with
expulsion and the loss of their Parliamentary seats if they voted for Paul.
If anyone doubts the truth of this the fact remains that when the vote for
Speaker was conducted MDC T MPs were obliged to show their ballots to MDC T
MP and Vice President Thoko Khupe prior to voting. There is both video
evidence and the testimony of MPs to support this allegation. I understand
that the allegation is not even denied by the MDC T; one MDC MP spoke at a
meeting with church leaders in Harare last week and confirmed the
allegation. They were forced to disclose their vote because of the well
founded fear that many MDC T MPs would vote for Paul.

Two issues arise from this incident. Firstly, section 6 of the Standing
Orders of the Parliament of Zimbabwe, Sixth Edition published in 2005 states
"If more than one person is proposed as Speaker, the clerk shall conduct the
election of Speaker by a secret ballot." This is a standard provision
throughout the Commonwealth, which is fiercely respected throughout the
Commonwealth and indeed in most democratic nations. All other Parliamentary
votes are made in public that this provision is deliberately designed to
ensure that MPs are not constrained by partisan orders or interests in
selecting the Speaker. It is in fact designed to ensure as far as possible
that a neutral Speaker is elected.  Accordingly the insistence that MDC T
MPs show their ballots to Thoko Khupe prior to voting is not only unlawful
but also runs against one of the fundamental tenets of democratic
Parliamentary practice. In short the election of Lovemore Moyo was illegal,
could be set aside by a court and es
tablishes an unacceptable standard of behaviour for the new Parliament. I
have heard that some have argued that only a few "suspected" MDC T MPs had
their ballots checked; that is irrelevant. Even if only one MP had his or
her ballot checked that alone would have been despicable and would be
sufficient to render the entire process invalid. It should also be pointed
out that despite concerns in the MDC M caucus that some of our own MPs would
not vote for our candidate we nevertheless respected the secret ballot.

Secondly, the insistence that MDC T MPs show their ballots prior to voting
was successful. Our assumption was that a sizeable number of MDC T MPs would
vote for Paul and that would be sufficient to secure his election. Although
some MDC T MPs were brave enough to defy the order (some refused to show
their ballots) the fact remains  that most felt constrained to vote for the
MDC T candidate and that what we hoped would be a demonstration of
nonpartisanship was subverted into a perception that we had entered into
some unholy alliance with ZANU PF. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Subsequent allegations that MDC M MPs were induced to vote for Lovemore Moyo
and that a senior former ZANU PF Cabinet minister and MP for Nkayi North,
Lovemore Moyo's mother in law Sithembiso Nyoni, campaigned for him have
further besmirched the entire process. In short this election, far from
being a celebration of the new order many of us have fought for, is in
reality a reminder of how much further we still have to travel to achieve a
new democratic order in Zimbabwe. That some of our MDC colleagues went to
such great lengths to defeat the candidacy of an outstanding founder member
of the MDC of impeccable standing is distressing.

Conclusion

I have not enjoyed writing this article. It deeply concerns me that given
the extreme suffering the most Zimbabweans are enduring today that my time
has had to be taken up rebutting a variety of falsehoods rather than
attending to the needs of starving and impoverished Zimbabweans. I ask the
following question of all those who are purporting to bring about a new
order of freedom, transparency, democracy and tolerance in Zimbabwe - "Is
truth important?" Whilst I have no doubt that I and my colleagues have made
serious errors of judgement in the past, and because we are fallible human
beings will continue to do so in future, I believe that what is written in
this article is true. If what I have written is true then those who have
made such outrageous allegations against individuals genuinely striving to
create a better future for us all, have an obligation to withdraw those
allegations and to apologise for having made them.

I concede that truth is often difficult to establish especially in such a
charged and polarised environment that Zimbabwe is today. We are all
subjective and biased in our outlook and views and it is with that in mind
that I must address another issue, namely the right of the MDC M to be
involved in these negotiations at all. Some clearly hold the view that we as
the MDC M have no right to be involved in these negotiations. Others believe
that Arthur Mutambara should not be involved in the negotiations between
Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai.

However these views ignore the fact the negotiations which started in July
2008 and the subsequent talks involving the Principals, have their roots in
the negotiations which started in March 2007 which involved all 3 political
entities then. Nearly all of the agreements reached since July 2008 are
based on earlier agreements and legislative amendments. Likewise the MOU is
rooted in these negotiations and would never have arisen without the
negotiations. The MOU was not signed by Robert Mugabe in his so called
capacity as President of Zimbabwe but in his capacity as President of ZANU
PF and likewise Morgan Tsvangirai signed in that capacity and so did Arthur
Mutambara. So they are there as the Principals of the political parties that
secured 99, 100 and 10 seats respectively in Parliament.

There is another reason why the MDC M should be represented in these talks
and that is because our party secured some 8.6% of the votes (over 200,000
people voted for the MDC M) in the March election. I am sure every single
democrat will agree that 8.6% of the electorate should be represented in
these talks and that anything other than that would be a negation of
democracy. Although the talks involving the Principals have focussed on
issues specifically germane to Morgan Tsvangirai, such as the powers of the
Prime Minister, they have also dealt with a wide range of general issues
including the duration of any transitional government and the process which
will be employed to agree on a new democratic constitution. There has
already been considerable controversy aroused by the exclusion of civic
groups in these talks; any exclusion of a party which represents almost 10%
of the electorate would only fuel that controversy further.

However this is not only about a small political party having a voice. I
believe that when the dust settles and an objective history is written
Zimbabweans will recognise that our little party has played a constructive
role. Indeed it is already a fact that had the much vilified Welshman Ncube
not been involved in the negotiations they would probably broken down ages
ago. For just as our Parliament is highly polarised so are the negotiating
teams. People I trust have told me that on many occasions it was only
Welshman Ncube's sane voice and determination to get a result that kept the
talks on track. In short there is no doubt in my mind that had the MDC M not
been involved in these negotiations, aside from our right to be involved
that is, our nation would be far worse off. I know that is not the
conventional wisdom at present but from all the facts before me I am
steadfast in that belief.

It is in this context that I have been greatly encouraged recently by Jim
Wallis' new book "Seven ways to change the World; Reviving Faith and
Politics". Quoting John Howard Yoder, Wallis writes:

"A minority group with no immediate chance of contributing to the way things
go may still by its dissent maintain the wider community's awareness of some
issues in such a way that ideas which are unrealistic for the present come
to be credible later. The acceptance of the role of prophetic minority means
to reject majority status and acceptance and is, at the same time, the key
to the community's ultimate political impact. Another way a minority can be
the conscience of society is to continue to voice the claims of
unrepresented peoples and causes, when they do not yet have the ear or the
heart of the majority. A minority can do for a society what the conscience
does for an individual.

Majorities normally don't change things; creative minorities do, and the
majority just goes along in the end. As anthropologist Margaret Mead
famously said,' Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed
citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.'"

Whether we deserve to be called a prophetic minority only time will tell.
However and whatever the case, unless we all commit ourselves to a higher
standard of conduct our dream of establishing a new democratic Zimbabwe will
be stillborn. Unless we all we dedicate ourselves to confronting the real
enemy, namely the evil political system which has been created in Zimbabwe
during the last four decades, we will end up simply perpetuating a system we
all detest so much. What we desperately need are statesmen and women who
will rise up above petty partisan interests to pursue the good of the
Zimbabwean nation.

Senator David Coltart
Bulawayo
3rd September 2008

Notes *1
The descriptions MDC M and MDC T are used for convenience sake. In law
following the 29th March 2008 election the correct description of the two
parties is MDC and MDC (Tsvangirai) being the names used on the ballots as
determined by the two parties. Accordingly I am, for example, referred to in
Parliament as an MDC Senator. However the press continue to use the suffixes
"Mutambara" and "Tsvangirai" and so I have used the same format to avoid
confusion.

Controversy surrounding election of Lovemore Moyo as Speaker

By Violet Gonda
9 September 2008

A member of the Mutambara-MDC formation Senator David Coltart has charged
that the recent election of Lovemore Moyo as the new Speaker of Parliament
was illegal. However, the Tsvangirai MDC Spokesperson Nelson Chamisa
described Coltart's statement as "hogwash," and "total rubbish."

The Tsvangirai-MDC beat ZANU PF for the first time in Zimbabwe's history for
the position of Speaker in parliament last month. Moyo, who is the party's
National Chairperson, beat Paul Temba Nyathi from the Mutambara-MDC by 110
seats to 98.

Coltart claimed on Tuesday that the vote was illegal on the basis that some
Tsvangirai-MDC MPs showed their ballot to their Vice President Thokozani
Khupe, and this according to him broke section 6 of the Standing Orders of
the Parliament of Zimbabwe that says the vote should be secret. He said this
is a Commonwealth-wide provision that safeguards the central principle of a
democratic government and ensures that a neutral Speaker is elected.

The Senator alleged: "On the evening of Sunday the 24th August a meeting of
the MDC T Parliamentary caucus was held and its members were threatened with
expulsion and the loss of their Parliamentary seats if they voted for Paul
(Temba Nyathi)." Coltart believes if the Tsvangirai MDC hadn't broken the
rules some of the MPs would have voted for Nyathi.

This is an allegation that has been roundly denied by the Tsvangirai MDC.
The party said they had agreed that Moyo was their candidate and it is not
feasible to say that some of their MPs would have voted for another
candidate. Chamisa said Coltart was not in parliament when the election was
held. He accused the Senator of 'working with ZANU PF to reverse their
victory.'

Chamisa said: "I can tell you that all the MPs, including Mr Mnangagwa who
is usually very difficult to accept and understand processes, was very happy
with the voting process to the extent that he congratulated our Speaker."

The Spokesperson said the Mutambara formation has not been able to live with
the reality that they were defeated in a fair political process, and are now
abusing and misinterpreting the law.

The Tsvangirai MDC won 100 seats in parliamentary elections in March. ZANU
PF received 99, Mutambara MDC 10, and the remaining seat is held by an
independent.

Political Commentator Professor John Makumbe said if rules were violated
then the matter can always be taken to court but pointed out that it's a
process that can be easily manipulated by ZANU PF which controls the courts.
He also said because of the composition of the parliamentarians it is a fact
that MPs from the other parties voted for the Tsvangirai MDC. Makumbe asked:
"If it is true that is what they did, how come 110 votes were cast for
Lovemore Moyo? Did the ZANU PF people and the Mutambara people who voted for
Lovemore Moyo also show their ballot papers to Thokozani Khupe?"

SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news

Mugabe ready to engage West, as power-sharing talks drag on

http://www.zimonline.co.za



       by Lizwe Sebatha and Wayne Mafaro Wednesday 10 September 2008

BULAWAYO - President Robert Mugabe is willing to re-engage the West over
Zimbabwe's crisis, a government spokesman said as negotiations to end
political turmoil in the southern African country continued on Tuesday with
little to suggest a deal could be reached anytime soon.

Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga told ZimOnline on Tuesday that
Mugabe was ready for dialogue with his Western critics, challenging the
United States (US) and the European Union (EU) to open dialogue with "the
person in charge" in Zimbabwe rather than resort to ineffectual sanctions.

Matonga said: "It's best engaging Zimbabwe over the political situation as
sanctions and condemnation is arrogance and does not change the situation.
If it is to do with Zimbabwe genuinely and if they have the country at
heart, they should speak to the person in charge.

"It's only fair to do so and President Mugabe is willing to engage the West
over the Zimbabwe political question. The President is ready to talk to the
West as anything other than engagement will not be fair and would not bring
a solution."

Western countries imposed sanctions against Mugabe's government six years
ago as punishment for his controversial programme to seize white-owned
farmland for redistribution to landless blacks, stealing elections and
failure to uphold human rights and the rule of law.

Brussels and Washington that have cut all aid to Zimbabwe - except
humanitarian support - say they will adopt tougher measures against Harare
if power-sharing talks between Mugabe and the opposition do not produce an
agreement reflecting the outcome of a March 29 election won by opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC party.

The March vote is widely regarded as more credible than a second round
run-off poll on June 27 won by Mugabe who was the only candidate after
Tsvangirai pulled out because of state-sponsored violence against his
supporters. Western nations and several African countries have refused to
recognise the June poll.

Power-sharing talks resumed on Monday but officials from MDC and Mugabe's
ruling ZANU PF party told reporters privately that chances of signing a deal
were remote despite a new proposal presented by talks mediator South African
President Thabo Mbeki to try to break a deadlock over how to share executive
power in a government of national unity.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai agree he should remain president while the opposition
leader becomes prime minister but are hopelessly divided over how to split
power between them.

"It is highly unlikely that a deal will be signed today (Tuesday)," a senior
MDC official told ZimOnline on Tuesday.

He added: "Despite the Mbeki proposal we remain bogged down on the same
issue of how to divide power between the president and the prime minister as
well as on the issue of how long a government of national unity should stay
in power before fresh elections."

A ZANU PF official was also downbeat about the talks blaming the failure to
make meaningful progress on what he said were "attempts by the MDC to use
the talks as a means not to share power but to virtually make the President
(Mugabe) redundant by transferring all power from him to Tsvangirai."

Analysts say only a government of national unity could be able to tackle
Zimbabwe's long-running crisis marked by political violence and a bitter
recession seen in the world's highest inflation of more than 11 million
percent, 80 percent unemployment, shortages of food and basic commodities.

Western donor nations whose financial support is vital to any effort to
revive Zimbabwe's crumbled economy have said they would back a unity
government only if its executive head is Tsvangirai. - ZimOnline

Regional summit called on Zimbabwe

http://www.iht.com

HARARE, Zimbabwe: More of Zimbabwe's neighbors are stepping in to try to get
political rivals here to agree to share power, with regional leaders calling
President Robert Mugabe to an extraordinary summit Wednesday.

The government of Swaziland, which currently chairs the Southern African
Development Community's key safety and security committee, said Tuesday that
Mugabe and South African President Thabo Mbeki would attend a summit-level
committee meeting. Mbeki has been mediating talks between Mugabe and
opposition leaders in Harare since Monday.

The talks have stalled over whether Mugabe or main opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai should have the top position in a unity government. Wednesday's
meeting raised the prospect Mugabe's fellow leaders would pressure him to
make concessions.

Sam Mkhombe, a top aide to Swazi King Mswati III, said Mozambican President
Armando Guebuza and Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos also would attend
Wednesday's meeting.

Tsvangirai was not invited since the meeting is for heads of state.
Tsvangirai attended a recent full SADC summit as an observer and addressed
the heads of state during that meeting.

The Southern African Development Community has so far taken a soft approach
on Mugabe in its official statements. But sharp public rebukes from members
such as Zambia and Botswana indicate Zimbabwe's leader has faced pressure
behind the scenes.
Tsvangirai's party won the most votes in legislative and presidential
elections in March. Mugabe subsequently was the only candidate in a
presidential runoff that followed an onslaught of state-sponsored violence
against Tsvangirai's supporters and was widely denounced as a sham.

Tsvangirai had said he should be head of government and Mugabe should be
head of state - a largely ceremonial position. Mugabe, though, appears
unwilling to surrender much of the power he has wielded since independence
from Britain in 1980.

In his first major speech since negotiations began, Tsvangirai said at a
party rally Sunday that Mugabe should accept a ceremonial presidency or
"let's go for elections under international supervision and see who will
carry the day."

"We should not be pushed into a deal," Tsvangirai said. "We would rather
have no deal than get a bad deal."

Mugabe has threatened in recent days to name a Cabinet without input from
Tsvangirai. The opposition says that would undermine the talks.

Tsvangirai, the leader of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic
Change, or MDC, has objected to Mbeki's mediation in the past, calling the
South African president biased toward Mugabe and asking that he be replaced.

On Sunday, Tsvangirai said: "The biggest problem we have is there are people
who are putting pressure on the MDC, not (on) Mugabe."

Mutambara makes peace with 10 MPs

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=3751

September 9, 2008

By Our Correspondent

BULAWAYO - The breakaway faction of the MDC yesterday announced that it will
not punish its 10 legislators for allegedly voting for Lovemore Moyo of the
mainstream camp to the post of Speaker of the House of Assembly.

Apparently in fear of splitting the faction, its leader, Arthur Mutambara
decided against sanctioning the rebels who did not vote for their own party's
candidate, Paul Themba Nyathi, in the election held two weeks ago. As a
result Nyathi received votes almost exclusively from Zanu-PF, much to his
embarrassment and that of the party leadership.

Moses Mzila Ndlovu, leader of the camp's parliamentary caucus said during a
press conference here that Zanu-PF and the mainstream MDC which is led by
Morgan Tsvangirai were trying to undermine his party by dividing it. For
that reason, he said the party leadership would not take disciplinary action
on any of its members.

Claims that the bulk of the faction held a secret meeting with Moyo in
Botswana on the eve of the election, sparked allegations that they struck a
deal for the legislators not to back Nyathi.

"In the circumstances," said Ndlovu, "it was unanimously resolved that the
Botswana/Speaker issue would be closed and that the MDC would be aligned to
democracy and to the principles of freedom, tolerance, transparency and
respect for the rule of law rather than any political party in pursuit of
its parliamentary agenda."

Ndlovu alleged that some of his factions MPs had indeed met Moyo, in
Botswana ahead of the crucial election. Moyo later won the poll after
polling 110 votes against Nyathi's 98.

Ndlovu, the Lower House legislator for Bulilima West, addressed the media
together with the party's leader in the House David Coltart.

Ndlovu said his party members had admitted meeting Moyo in Botswana but did
not strike any deal, as alleged.

Ndlovu said the legislators had admitted holding the meeting during a
meeting of the MDC-Mutambara parliamentary caucus and the working committee
of its national executive in Kadoma last week.

He said the Kadoma meeting had discussed the on-going tripartite talks, the
election of the Speaker and allegations that the party's leadership had
entered into an agreement with Zanu-PF behind the mainstream MDC in the
dialogue being mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki.

"Included in the meeting was a discussion of the alleged meeting of some MDC
members of the House of Assembly and Senators with the national chairman of
the Tsvangirai-led MDC, Lovemore Moyo, in Botswana and a related allegation
that some MDC Members of Parliament did not vote for the MDC's candidate,
Paul Themba Nyathi," said Ndlovu.

"The MPs involved advised the meeting that while they saw Lovemore Moyo in
Botswana, this was purely coincidental and that no agreement had been
reached with Moyo that they would support his candidacy."

He said his party would also not pursue the matter concerning voting for the
Speaker as it respects the secret ballot, used in the election.

"Regarding the election of Speaker, and the widely reported press
speculation that MDC Members of the House of Assembly had voted for Moyo,
the meeting noted that the election for Speaker was meant to be secret in
terms of Article 6 of the Parliamentary Standing Orders and that principle
had been respected by the MDC, if not by MDC-T, on the day of the election,
and would be respected in our meeting as well," said Ndlovu.

"Concern was raised in the meeting regarding press reports that the MDC
leadership had entered into an agreement with Zanu-PF in the ongoing SADC
talks. Detailed assurances were given by the leadership of the party, in
particular by Professor Arthur Mutambara that no bilateral agreement had
been reached with Zanu-PF and that no bilateral agreement would be reached
with Zanu-PF in future. The President assured the caucus that any agreement
would have to be a tripartite agreement."

Economic meltdown impacts entire region

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Tuesday, 09 September 2008 14:18
HARARE - Zimbabwe's unprecedented economic implosion has caused £25
billion worth of damage to South Africa and other neighbouring countries,
according to a major new study.

President Robert Mugabe's self-destructive economic policies have
brought precipitous economic decline to the once prosperous country since
his flawed re-election, and the harm to neighbours is even worse, according
to a report by the Economic Affairs Council.

South Africa has been worst affected. The fall of 25 per cent in the
value of the rand in the past few weeks and sharply rising inflation in
South Africa is blamed on Zimbabwe's instability. Although relatively small,
Zimbabwe's economy is a linchpin for regional development - and migration of
Zimbabweans to SA have already sparked deadly protests that have left more
than 60 exiles killed in xenophobic attacks.

An MDC deputy said: "It is easy to see why South African President
Thabo Mbeki is pressing Mugabe to change his policies."
Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia have also suffered immensely.
The decline is painfully evident throughout Zimbabwe. "Everybody is having a
hard time," said Tendai Moyo, 27, who has children, aged one and six. Her
husband, a teacher, earns Z$1400 per month.

A few years ago Tendai was a lively, hopeful young woman. Today her
eyes are dull and sullen and she seems worn out by the effort to make ends
meet.

Zimbabwe is full of stories of people who are finding it just as hard
to get by. "People are blaming Mugabe," said Paul, who used a pseudonym to
avoid retaliation. "They say it is time to give Tsvangirai a chance to run
the country."

Certainly Zimbabwe's economic disaster indicates that new, rational
policies are desperately needed. It has the dubious honour of being called
'the world's fastest shrinking economy' for its ten consecutive years of
contraction. "As the economy shrinks, more and more people are being pushed
into mere subsistence," said economist John Robertson.

Zimbabwe's drastic economic decline is the root cause of the
unpopularity of the Mugabe government. Mugabe determines economic policy for
political reasons yet those decisions cause the economy to spiral downwards
even faster.

Unemployment is estimated at more than 85 per cent and is growing;
inflation is running at 11 million percent, and prices double every week.

The economic crisis has been compounded by the printing of cash to
bankroll government expenditure its elf the major cause of hyperinflation.

The MDC recently launched a comprehensive economic recovery plan in
anticipation of its leader Morgan Tsvangirai assuming the presidency after
winning the credible March 29 elections.

But economists admit it will take years to bring Zimbabwe back to the
level of prosperity ordinary citizens once enjoyed. "We are hoping that
democracy will win and there will be a peaceful change of government. Then
we can start rebuilding our economy," said political analyst John Makumbe.
"There is light at the end of the tunnel. The problem is that Mugabe keeps
building more tunnel."

Hunger road trip of rural Zimbabwe

 

Tuesday, 9 September 2008 16:25 UK

Aid worker Matthew Cochrane tells the BBC News website about the Zimbabweans he met while visiting the country's south-east Masvingo province. He works for the International Federation of Red Cross, which was not included in the recent government food aid ban - lifted last month - because of the agency's unique operating status under international law. Read Matthew's account of his road trip and the people he met: SUNDAY 31 AUGUST 2008 My first impression driving through Masvingo province is how dry and bare it is. Who is climbing in the tree? Enlarge Image The countryside is brown. Riverbeds are full of rocks and sand. Supermarket shelves are also bare, apart from a couple of boxes of tea. Masvingo is about three-hours' drive from the capital, Harare. My colleagues at the local Red Cross branch in Masvingo town visit people living with HIV/Aids in their homes. They also look after children who are considered to be vulnerable as well as those who have been orphaned by the disease. Tendai Living close to the clinic is an HIV-positive mother, Tendai. Tendai longs for the day when she can provide for her own child again She welcomes us into her very small room that she shares with her daughter-in-law and her five-month-old granddaughter. Tendai has been living with HIV for the past three years. She has been receiving anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment but now without food it is having an extraordinarily effect on her life. She explains she often has to go for three or four days without anything to eat. And because the body needs food to absorb the drugs, she now regularly has to be hospitalised because her body cannot cope. If she has nothing to eat, she suffers from chronic nausea, headaches and diarrhoea. The last time she was admitted to hospital, her brother came and offered to look after her son for her as he was in a better position to look after him. Tendai misses her son but knows he is being looked after well. She is visited everyday through by Red Cross volunteers, who bring food when they can, although it is not always possible and even they have to go without. Tendai tells me how she longs for the day when she can provide for her own child again. MONDAY 1 SEPTEMBER 2008 First thing Monday morning, we visit a child-headed household - a 16-year-old girl and her two brothers, aged 14 and 12. Their youngest brother, who is now 10, was adopted by a family living in Harare after their parents died in 2002 from an Aids-related illness. In the past, before the food crisis got so bad, they received food from organisations like the Red Cross but now because of a lack of funding they do not. They tell me that they ate yesterday as the local pastor came to see them and gave them some beans. As far as my colleagues know, none of the children are HIV-positive. Otellia We say our good-byes and then travel to Chivi, which is about an hour's drive from Masvingo town, to meet a woman called Otellia. Otellia says she is unable to walk if she takes her tablets on an empty stomach She has three children. Last year her husband died. Soon after he passed away, she started feeling unwell herself and after going to the local clinic she found she was also HIV-positive. We come across her walking along the road from her home. She tells us she was on her way to one of her neighbours in search of a pinch of sugar so she can make herself a cup of tea - all she would have had that day. Like Tendai, when she has nothing to eat the ARVs affect her badly. Sitting - exhausted and weak - against the wall in her small home, Otellia tells us how she is unable to even walk if she takes her tablets on an empty stomach. Otellia's nearest source of water is now nearly three miles away Despite her situation, she is proudly dignified and speaks overwhelmingly about her appreciation for the support she does get. She has a vegetable patch but because she has been so ill lately she has not been able to plant any seeds and tend to them. But as she says, even if she is strong enough to, there is no water anymore. Her family's nearest source of water is nearly three miles (4.5km) away - a trip her children or kind neighbours make for her these days. A lack of rain and access to agricultural inputs has left many thousands of people in this area without the means to grow their own food, as they used to do; and on top of that, even those with money are unable to buy much in the local stores because their shelves are mostly empty these days. Siziwe After leaving Otellia we travel further up the road to visit a lady called Siziwe, a single parent with three children. Siziwe cares for 12 children altogether She also cares for another nine Aids orphans from three different families. The children are aged between five and 12. The impact of the food situation is well illustrated by her extended family. Siziwe tells me that they often go hungry for four days at a time. She used to be able to afford to send seven of the children to school but now because of the rampant hyperinflation and the high and ever-increasing cost of life in Zimbabwe she can only pay for three. But as she explains, sometimes they can't even make the journey to school because they're so weak from hunger. I am taken aback by Siziwe's extraordinary strength and humility. On the way back to Masvingo we come across some children in the trees along the side of the road - it is hard to tell if they are picking the fruit to supplement their diets or whether they are just playing. TUESDAY 2 SEPTEMBER 2008 On Tuesday I visit one of the Red Cross's supplementary feeding centres in Mwenezi, where more than 200 children are given a daily meal, Monday to Friday. The children, all aged five years old and under, come from households that have been identified as vulnerable homes - most are looked after by an older sibling or by parents who are very ill with HIV/Aids. The children wait patiently, talking and laughing amongst themselves, for their lunch of sadza [porridge made from maize meal] and beans. After the children have eaten we sit on the floor and play and chat. Lucky The provisional manager, Lucky, calls round to the feeding centre. Volunteers in the Masvingo area look after 2,000 people living with HIV I ask him for his view on the impact of the feeding programme and he says that the local health authorities are really optimistic about the children who are able to benefit from it. As lunch is wrapping up, a few children from the local school appear - they enter the area quietly and sit to one side away from the little ones, waiting to be called over. Apparently they ask their teacher if they can leave their class to come and wait for the leftovers and she allows them to. Although they're older than five and not considered to be so needy, they are allowed to come and have some food after the little ones have eaten. In this part of Zimbabwe, almost 2,000 people are living with HIV and about 650 vulnerable children are looked after by the Red Cross. Musa Musa - one of my colleagues working in the field - describes the current food crisis, as "severe". Musa describes Zimbabwe's current food crisis as "severe" And most worrying for her is the fact that because so many of her HIV-positive patients are unable to eat a proper diet, they are now beginning to stop taking their ARVs. She tells me how they blame the pills for how they are feeling; not the lack of food. She goes on to say that in the past six months, at least 30 of her patients have died. One thing that will stay with me from this trip is how proud and dignified people were. Not once did anyone ask for help. But their main topic of conversation was food and climate change as the seasons that enabled them to always live in this land are not the same anymore. I found the severity of it and the way it is affecting so many, who are already so vulnerable, extremely dispiriting.

Zimbabwe Business Watch : Week 37

http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/1825

The daily cash withdrawal limit remains at $500 ($5 trillion) when a pint of
milk now costs $2 500. Simple mathematics will tell us that in order to buy
a pint it will take 5 days drawings of cash to achieve this figure, by which
time the price is likely to have doubled.

The scenario of the dog chasing its tail is very real in just about every
transaction that business attempts.

More and more factories cease the production of consumer goods only for them
to be replaced by South African imports funded by the parallel black market
sector. This results in the cost of goods in Zimbabwe being priced at up to
4 times the cost in South Africa and this fact alone is placing most of the
pressure on employers to pay their staff and workers.

The US Dollar reached 9 000 (90 trillion to 1 or 1 quadrillion to 1 - August
2006). Needless to say, when business does earn money, it needs to be spent
immediately and many operations find themselves unable to find the goods or
raw materials to purchase and this prospect, in itself, only exacerbates the
situation.

A grade 1 factory worker only earns enough money to pay for his transport to
and from work for 10 days of the month. In general, there is silence from
the Reserve Bank and the Ministry of Finance, suggesting that there is
little that can arrest the rapid deterioration of the economy other than
dramatic political change.

This entry was written by Sokwanele on Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 at 1:11
pm.

There are those who thrive amid Zimbabwe's economic woes

http://www.nation.co.ke

By KITSEPILE NYATHI, NATION Correspondent

Posted Tuesday, September 9 2008 at 19:49

HARARE, Tuesday - For Zimbabweans saddled with the world's highest rate of
inflation, the adage 'necessity is a mother of all inventions' strikes a
familiar tune.

For outsiders it is mind boggling how Zimbabweans survive with inflation
topping 13 million per cent, an unemployment rate of more than 80 per cent
and average wages of less than US10 a month.

Yet on the pot holed streets of the major cities you see the latest top of
the range vehicles and shelves at supermarkets in the poorest locations
filled with imported food stuffs.

Longtime ruler President Robert Mugabe who is blamed for destroying the once
prosperous economy with populist policies once dared those who claimed
Zimbabwe could not afford to import fuel to lie on Harare's busiest high way
for five minutes.

His spokesman, Mr George Charamba often boasts that he sells poultry to
complement the meagre salary he draws from the civil service.

"I think if the government is serious about its anti-corruption drive it
should investigate all civil servants to establish how they afford to
continue coming to work when their salaries are not even enough for their
transport for a week," said Mr Meshack Bere an illegal foreign currency
dealer at Harare's Roodeport International Bus Rank.

"It is either they are stealing or they run small businesses from their
works tat ions where they abuse government facilities such as telephones and
computers."

However, such an audit would be a waste of scarce national resources as the
answers are there for everyone to see - almost all Zimbabweans are now
"dealers."

In a story that made headlines in the country last week, two men after
buying 12 head of cattle at an auction were overhead asking themselves what
they would do with the beasts.

Did not have a farm

They did not have a farm neither did they have plans to slaughter the beasts
because they bought them on impulse since they had so much cash they didn't
know what to do with it.

But there are so many other novel ideas of making quick money that keep
cropping up that defy all economics models.

The latest get rich craze that has hit Zimbabweans has been necessitated by
the acute shortage of cash that has seen the central bank restricting daily
cash withdrawal limits to an amount not even enough to buy a loaf of bread.
"Those with access to foreign currency take it to the banks whose rates are
double those offered by foreign currency dealers," Mr Shame Mandizvidza, a
bank teller said. "Instead of giving them cash the banks transfer the money
to their accounts"

On Friday US$100 gave you Z$250 000 on the streets and double that at the
banks. To make profit, those who are enterprising use bank certified cheques
to withdraw their money, which they quickly off load on goods that could be
resold fast.

"Some buy milk or other groceries, which they sell at half price to raise
cash that is quickly turned into foreign currency before taking it back to
the bank," added Mr Mandizvidza, who drives a Pajero imported from
Singapore. "A lot of these dealers have set up permanent bases at these
banks where they spend the whole day moving money from one account to
another.

"They now have sophisticated networks that also involve bank managers and
dealing in cash has become a lucrative business." Estimates show that the
parallel market cost of the US dollar rose by more than 3,000 per cent
during August alone.

In July, the government deregulated the foreign currency trading system,
introducing a willing buyer-willing seller concept, which it said would help
bring down inflation and eliminate the black market.

"Government's belief that complete acceptance of its regulated official
inter-bank exchange rate will help bring inflation under control amounts to
no more than a shallow attempt to deny the existence of the distortions,
imbalances and scarcities that its policies have caused," said Mr John
Robertson, an independent economist.

Mr Robertson believes it is a tiny fraction of the population, which is
benefiting from the new foreign currency trading system. Most of them are
connected to Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF.

As the economic problems continue to bite more Zimbabweans are forced to
live by their 'wits' or immigrate, he said.

He said every intervention the government has tried to implement to
alleviate the suffering of ordinary citizens has failed dismally simply
because industries are not producing anything.

In July, the central bank introduced what it called people's shops that sell
imported groceries at ridiculously low prices but the move was largely seen
as a desperate measure to pacify voters.

"People's Shops, stocked with imported food that were paid for with money
drawn from exporters' foreign currency accounts, and more recently with the
larger off-take from exporters' foreign currency receipts, might be said to
have helped the tiny percentage of the population that they served," Mr
Robertson said. "However, in no sense have these been an answer to the
country's problems.

"The population at large remains poorly supplied, the prices of many goods
remain beyond the reach of most consumers and, as more people lose their
formal-sector jobs, more are being forced to live by their wits, go hungry
or emigrate."

Economists are also unanimous that a political settlement is the only
solution that would fix the mounting problems. "The course changes needed
are political, rather than economic," Mr Robertson said.

"No economic measures could result in changes that could work fast enough to
put the brakes on our downward plunge. "But the political acceptance of the
policies needed to restore confidence in the country's future could very
much more quickly lead to the release of funding to overcome the
wide-ranging scarcities." Western governments have threatened more sanctions
against President Mugabe if the ongoing power sharing talks with the
opposition fail.

Canada took the first initiative last week when it imposed a strict embargo
on Zimbabwe protesting against alleged human rights violations.

A lack of animal feed is destroying the dairy industry in Zimbabwe

http://www.channel4.com

Last Modified: 09 Sep 2008
By: Guest blogger

Dairy farmers in Zimbabwe are having to let their cattle starve, writes
Helen, our Zimbabwe blogger.

"The calves cry when I walk past their pens," Sandra told me this week as
she made frantic arrangements to try and keep her dairy cows and calves
alive. Sandra is one of the few dairy farmers left in the country and tells
of a desperate situation facing livestock farmers and their animals.

"We ran out of dairy meal three months ago," Sandra said. Stockfeed
suppliers have no maize and no soya beans - the two main ingredients of
animal feed. As food supplies for people have dropped to crisis levels, what
reserves there were have been diverted for human use, leaving animals
emaciated, starving or being slaughtered for meat.

The lack of animal feed couldn't come at a worse time of year. It's the dry
season and we haven't had a drop of rain for five months. What grazing is
left is dry, brown and at its least nutritious.

Exacerbating the situation are countless uncontrolled fires which are
devouring the country every day. Smoke and ash fill the sky from dawn to
dusk as wild fires sweep across the vast landscape of farms that were seized
by the government leaving black, barren dust bowls in their wake.

In the three months that Sandra's been unable to get dairy feed, milk
production on her farm has dropped from 1800 litres to 250 litres a day.
Sandra ordered and paid for cotton seed cake from one of the hundreds of
door to door black market dealers who run the country. That was the last she
saw of them, or her money.

These smooth-talking wheeler-dealers can source anything, and keep the
country ticking over. They trade on the black market in anything that's in
short supply, from fuel and foreign currency to bank notes and food -
particularly flour, sugar and cooking oil. They call themselves
"entrepreneurs", and if you aren't prepared to take the risk and buy from
them, you go without.

Sandra has lost 14 of her dairy cows to starvation in the past three months.
She has lost count of how many calves have died in the same period of time.
She is selling others that are losing condition to butchers, and putting all
her time and effort into saving the stronger cows.

"It is truly the worst time ever," she said. "We've had two calves born in
the last two days, and I just look at them and think: Oh hell, another two
mouths to feed. And the calves are heifers too, usually a time to rejoice."

Sandra has resorted to scouring the bush for feed to keep her cows alive.
She sends her employees out far and wide looking for acacia trees and they
sweep up the dry, brown pods and bring them home in empty grain sacks. The
pods are chopped up in a mill along with grass, pea-hay and dry maize stalks
(locally known as mashanga), and on this Sandra is keeping her remaining
dairy cows alive.

The impact of the imminent collapse of Zimbabwe's dairy industry is already
being felt across the country. Milk is non existent or in extremely short
supply in supermarkets everywhere - even in small farming towns. What milk
there is increases in price at least once every week, and mostly it is raw,
unpasteurised and sold direct from dairies to customers who bring their own
containers.

In the last month milk sellers have started charging in US dollars as those
dairy farmers who can afford to, have no choice but to importing their own
stock feed from South Africa or killing off their herds.

Institute for War & Peace Reporting

Tobacco Farms in Ruins
Eight years after controversial land seizures, the country's once-thriving
industry continues to decline.

By Chipo Sithole in Wedza (ZCR No. 162, 09-Sep-08)

Massive rotating watering systems stand gaunt and abandoned above fields of
maroon buffalo weed where a thriving tobacco crop would have been budding at
this time of year.

The 10-tonne brick-and-mortar tobacco processing buildings are empty and
vandalised, their function usurped by the rickety wooden cribs of peasant
farmers holding perhaps 100 kilogrammes of maize cobs.

Nearby, the tattered plastic sheeting over the ribs of a desolate 30-acre
tobacco seed greenhouse flaps in the wind.

The owner, Richard Bedford, was reportedly forced off this highly mechanised
farm by soldiers and war veterans with AK-47 assault rifles.

Bedford's vast but now desolate tobacco plantation is one of about 20
leading tobacco farms that have been vandalised by land invaders in the
Wedza district, an hour's drive south-east of Harare.

Mashonaland East, where Wedza lies, was one of the top tobacco growing
provinces in Zimbabwe. Now all that is gone.

Just eight years ago, Zimbabwe was the biggest exporter of tobacco in the
world, producing 236.1 million kg a year.

This all changed in 2000, when controversial land grabs saw white commercial
farmers evicted and their farms given to poor black Zimbabweans and
government cronies with little knowledge or experience of farming.

In September this year, the official Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board
announced that only 40.8-million kg of tobacco was produced by new
indigenous farmers - less than one-sixth of what was harvested in 2000.

According to industry experts, it would take Zimbabwe about five years to
regain the ground lost over the past few years and match the 2000 peak.

Mike Hinde, one of the 280 white farmers who have managed to retain their
farms here, said that very few of the new farmers had met production
targets.

"Most of them don't have the capital or know-how," he said.

Hinde said that the crop shortage was also down to a lack of government
support and continued power cuts.

"The government hasn't delivered the fertiliser and fuel it promised and
electricity outages are hampering planting efforts. As a result, most of the
tobacco farmers have planted late and you can't plant tobacco after
September 1 here, the yields will be hopeless," he said.

While the number of indigenous small-scale farmers has increased, less of
the top quality "lemon tobacco", which is used to flavour cigarettes, has
been grown.

"Flavour tobacco is in short supply," said Hinde. "The longer we decline the
more we will be taken out of the flavour formula."

US-based buyers Standard Commercial, Universal and Dimon have traditionally
bought the bulk of Zimbabwe's crop to flavour cigarette brands, such as
Marlboro and Camel.

However, Zimbabwean tobacco, once considered by buyers to rival US
varieties, has now been excluded from blends used by the biggest cigarette
makers because the quality and quantity of the crop is declining.

British American Tobacco, BAT, the biggest maker of cigarettes in Zimbabwe,
recently cut 170 jobs in the country because of the dwindling crop.

China, which in the 1990s bought as much 30 million kg of lemon-style
tobacco from Zimbabwe each year, will buy only five million kg this year,
say officials.

The decline in the tobacco crop - once Zimbabwe's biggest export - has
deepened an economic recession in the country now in its eighth year.

Price distortions in the economy have also been cited as another reason for
the sharp decline in the crop this year.

During the selling seasons, 30,000 Zimbabwe dollars, ZWD, equalled one US
dollar, but valued about 20 times higher on an illegal, but thriving
parallel market.

Farmers say they have to import their supplies - such as fertiliser and
equipment - and pay for it with foreign currency sourced at the black market
rate. But when they sell their crop overseas, the government - which
receives the export proceeds - gives the farmers the equivalent amount at
the official rate.

The government controls tobacco prices, and the opening of the
tobacco-selling season in April was delayed for two weeks because of a
disagreement between farmers and authorities over the low prices they had
set.

The government eventually buckled and set the price of one kg of tobacco at
2.3 US dollars - a rise from the original one US dollar but not enough, said
farmers, who clamoured for four US dollars per kg.

A month later, the auction floors ground to a halt as farmers protested
against non-payment from the cash-strapped Zimbabwe government.

A proposal by government to pay farmers in cheques was shot down by the
farmers, who demanded cash upfront.

The government later advised farmers at the country's three main auction
floors - Burley Marketing Zimbabwe, the Tobacco Sales Floor and the Zimbabwe
Tobacco Auction Centre - that they could pay cash of 5 billion ZWD and the
remainder would be deposited in bank accounts, as the country was mired in a
steep cash crunch.

Following the crisis at the auction floors, the government introduced
special agro-cheques for the farmers, a form of promissory cheque - a
document signed by a borrower promising to repay a loan under agreed terms -
that can be used as money in Zimbabwe.

These cheques have since become major instruments of trade.

Observers say that another problem affecting the harvest this year was bad
weather.

Two months of incessant rainfall in the area destroyed most of the crop,
said Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers' Association, ZTGA, president Julius Ngorima.

The bad harvest, said Ngorima, "was largely a result of late planting,
shortage of diesel and fertiliser, and heavy rains. It's actually a miracle
that we could produce 40 million kg".

Zimbabwe Tobacco Association president Andrew Ferreira pointed out that the
ongoing land seizures in the country were another factor harming production.

Following Mugabe's defeat in the March 29 elections, farm disruptions were
reported in several areas, including the Mashonaland provinces - the
heartland of Zimbabwe's agricultural production.

"The incessant rains were largely responsible for these record low figures,
but we must locate this crisis in the context of the continuing land
seizures," said Ferreira.

Economists predict that ongoing insecurity in the country makes it a high
investment risk.

"Nobody wants to start investing if there is a good chance you will be given
48 hours to get off your farm," said economist John Robertson. "There is no
security, and I must say these figures are likely to continue going down."

A commercial farmer, who cannot be named, said the bulk of small-scale
producers - who account for 40 per cent of national tobacco output -
produced mostly low-grade filler tobacco for which there was little global
demand.

"A lot of merchants have written off Zimbabwe and taken their financing to
countries like Zambia," he said. "A lot of work still needs to be done to
increase not just the quantity of our crop, but also the quality."

Chipo Sithole is the pseudonym of an IWPR journalist in Zimbabwe.

Security agents disrupt food distribution

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=3735

September 9, 2008

By Owen Chikari

MASVINGO - Zimbabwe's liberation war veterans and state security agents have
blocked the distribution of relief aid in most parts Masvingo province
despite an announcement by the government last week that all relief aid
agencies were now free to resume work through out the country.

Relief aid workers deployed by Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to
resume work in rural parts of Gutu, Mwenezi and Bikita in Masvingo Province
were put to flight Monday by marauding war veterans and suspected members of
the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).

The state security agents and the former liberation fighters accused the
workers of defying a government ban on all relief aid agencies.

They also accused NGOs of supporting the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai saying
he had caused much suffering among ordinary Zimbabweans by not signing an
agreement which his party has been negotiating with President Robert Mugabe's
Zanu-PF party.

A spokesman for NGOs in Masvingo, who requested anonymity for fear of
victimisation, said dozens of relief aid workers deployed in the hunger
stricken province were yesterday chased away by the state security agents.

"Our workers were chased away from Chitsa and Magombedze villages in Gutu
while others deployed in Bikita West and Mwenezi had to run for their dear
lives after they were attacked by suspected war veterans who accused them of
defying the government ban on all NGO operations", said the official.

"We have since launched an official complaint with the Masvingo governor so
that our workers are allowed to do their work".

"In addition we also want the safety of all our workers to be guaranteed".

Newly appointed Masvingo governor Titus Maluleke confirmed that a report had
been made to him over the continued harassment of relief aid workers by
state security agents in the province.

"NGOs have complained to me over what they said was harassment of their
workers and we as government are still investigating the issues they raised",
said Maluleke.

Officer commanding Masvingo province Mekia Tanyanyiwa said "These are just
rumours that we are also hearing but the truth is no official report has
been made by the NGOs to us".

Masvingo is one of the provinces hardest hit by hunger with some villagers
now relying on wild fruit.

The staple maize has become scarce and where it is available it is now being
sold in foreign currency. The Grain Marketing Board GMB depots around the
country have run out of maize.

A 50 kg bag of maize meal now fetches as much as R200.00, which is beyond
the reach of many.

Villagers in parts of the country had every reason to smile after the
government last week announced that all relief aid groups were now free to
resume their operations.

However the situation remains critical as NGOs are yet to provide food to
the starving people especially those in rural areas.

In Gutu as hunger and starvation continue to be severely felt villagers have
resorted to barter trade.

"If you bring me five by 50 kg bags of maize meal I will give you a beast."
said Mathew Chabu of Muunde village in Gutu. "We are now surviving on barter
trade because we do not have the required forex to buy food".

The government imposed a ban on all relief aid agencies in June, accusing
them of abandoning their core business to engage in politics.

The blanket ban was lifted last month, following pleas from international
organisations that President Mugabe's government should allow relief aid
groups to feed the starving population.

An estimated 6 million in Zimbabwe are reported to be in dire need of food
assistance.

Archbishop Calls for National Healing, Reconciliation in Zimbabwe

VOA

By Joe DeCapua
Washington
09 September 2008

The Catholic Archbishop of Harare says once a political settlement is
reached in Zimbabwe, it'll take a generation for the country to heal from
years of violence.

Archbishop Robert Ndlovu spoke in Pretoria, South Africa, Tuesday before the
Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference. He talked with VOA English to
Africa Service reporter Joe De Capua about what role the church can play in
the Zimbabwe crisis.

"We could just encourage our leaders really to transcend as it were their
own personal interests and look at the common good of the people. And I
think that this is what the church has been trying to do, to talk to these
leaders. I mean not maybe the leaderships, but it is the officials from
these parties, to try to encourage them to reach an agreement," he says.

However, are political party officials listening to what the church is
saying? Archbishop Ndlovu says, "Well, it's one thing to listen. It's
another thing to put these things into practice. I think they are listening,
but there are long-standing differences I think that we have to also
appreciate between the different parties. And it takes a lot of effort for
them to come to an agreement."

The archbishop has called for national healing, reconciliation and
rehabilitation in Zimbabwe. "After such a long time of suffering and this
violence.people are wounded.. And to move forward I think it would be quite
imperative that we bring about some form of reconciliation and have this
peace-building kind of exercise to try to bring people together.and to
appreciate that things have gone bad but we need to move on. The church can
help in that direction also," he says.

He also talks about a new culture of "love, solidarity and life" based on
values found in the Gospels. " But he admits it would not be easy
considering years of violence and political turmoil. "It would be very
difficult. Because even talking as a Christian and looking at even within
the church, there's been a lot of polarization. We have to appreciate that
some people support the ruling party, some people support the opposition.
And this has been very difficult even for the church to bring these people
together. So, we need to work on that one. I don't think we have any
alternative."

He says that to achieve that he would start at the grassroots level, helping
those who have suffered the most. The archbishop says even the church has
been hit hard by Zimbabwe's poor economy, greatly hindering its medical and
educational work. He says many hospitals are without drugs.

Speaking to the Zimbabwean people, the Archbishop of Harare says once a
political solution is reached, it may take at least a generation for the
healing to be complete. But he says, "We should not give up. I think we
should remain hopeful. We shouldn't be pessimistic, but.remain optimistic.
And wherever possible, let's try to work together to build a new Zimbabwe.
We have the resources. What we need is the good will from each one of us. We
can do it."

MDC Publishes Report Ahead Of Talks

http://www.radiovop.com

Harare - At least 314 activists and supporters of the opposition MDC
have since died through vindictive state sponsored violence since 2000, the
MDC says.

The MDC recently published its "Roll of honour" where all its 314
activists are listed, including the circumstances of their deaths.

The report coincides with a fresh bid to revive talks between MDC
factions and the ruling Zanu PF to save the troubled southern nation.

However prospects for a power-sharing deal look remote.

"Our assessment is that they are simply trying to put spanners in the
works, and they are not serious about reaching a workable power-sharing
arrangement," a senior Zanu PF official told Reuters.

The activists died at the hands of President Robert Mugabe's militant
supporters who include war veterans and hit squads from the spy central
intelligence organization.

According to the MDC, the period preceding the June 27 presidential
run-off election was the bloodiest in the MDC's nine years of political
existence.

An estimated 200 MDC activists died in less than three months as
Mugabe fought to reverse his shock defeat to rival candidate Morgan
Tsvangirai in the March 29 elections.

Thousands were maimed while multitudes were also rendered homeless
after their homes and properties were burnt down for supporting the MDC.

The violence led to the withdrawal of Tsvangirai, who cited massive
state sponsored violence on his supporters.

Government has vehemently denied it is responsible for the violence.It
counter accuses the MDC as responsible for the violence.

A top Zanu PF official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the
MDC apparently incensed Mugabe's Zanu PF by publicly calling for the
prosecution of perpetrators of violence, resulting in the intensification of
violence ahead of the June presidential run off.

MDC secretary general Tendai Biti told multitudes of his party's
supporters at the MDC's ninth anniversary in Gweru Sunday that the MDC will
not betray its fallen companions.

"We have suffered. There are the likes of Tonderai Ndira who died, the
likes of Chiminya (Tichaona) who died. We cannot betray those comrades,"
Biti said. "At the moment we are in God's hands."

"But what we know which is in our own hands is that we will not sell
out the people of this country. We will remain consistent to our founding
principles."

Perth Zim Fest '08

Perth Zim Fest '08 - All proceeds from Perth ZimFest will go to SOAP
(Support For Old Age Pensioners) in Zim .

 When: Sunday 19th of October from 2.00 pm

 Full details are on the website  http://www.perthzimfest.com

==============

The first annual Perth Zim Fest has finally come!

  <http://www.perthzimfest.com/sunday.jpg>

 <http://www.perthzimfest.com/about.html>

At a time when Zimbabwe is very much in all of our hearts and minds, Perth
ZimFest 2008 is going to give us a chance to forget, for once, all of the
race, politics and scandal - and for us to just be typical Zimbos again and
have a lakka big bubwe beer fest right here in Perth! Theres going to be
boerrie rolls, hobo beer, wet t-shirt contests, dancing championships, a
prize for the best dressed, and everything else you would expect to find in
the same place as hundreds of zimbabwean party animals - we going to teach
these Aussies how to have a beer or 20! We want to appeal to people of races
and ages, because one thing connects every single one of us, we are all from
the most awesomest country, and we miss it!! Feel free to bring the family,
as kids are welcome all day unitll 6pm (becuase of liquor licensing rules).
So pull in!!!!

 <http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=27440463277>

 <http://www.myspace.com/perthzimfest>

So come down to the Leedy on Sunday 19th of October from 2.00 pm and we'll
all have a lakka dindindi with every other Zimbo in this city. Theres going
to be tonnes of great mellows, with well known Zimbabwean artist Bud
Cockcroft, various other bands yet to be confirmed, and local Dj's that are
clued up on bubwean taste.

Of course it's all for a very good cause - All proceeds from Perth ZimFest
will go to SOAP (Support For Old Age Pensioners) in Zim, couse as we all
know, its impossibe these days for them to get access to decent medical
treatment and drugs, net alone the gold of food and fuel! So come on guys,
lets make a huge effort for the inaugural Perth ZimFest this year, so Spread
the word on your facebooks and myspaces using the links to the left - post
the provided bulletins and profile notes, please save and email our poster
<http://www.perthzimfest.com/poster.jpg>  to all the zim people in your
network, and of course - run down the street screaming ZIMFEST ON THE 19th
OF OCTOBER!! at the top of your lungs - you get the idea! BE THERE!!

NB: Kids are allowed until 6pm.

Mugabe (not sanctions) has made life miserable for us

http://www.swradioafrica.com/pages/mutsa090908.htm

MUTSA MURENJE

Before independence in 1980, the majority of the population suffered
appalling discrimination, humiliation and dispossession, with the
colonialist settler regime constantly and consistently violating every human
rights standard. This compelled 'Sons and daughters of the Soil' to
forcefully seek freedom, equality, individual liberties and democracy. To
realize these, they had to sacrifice their lives, families, education,
livelihoods et cetera. And yet, it is tragically true that human rights are
frequently and flagrantly violated in Zimbabwe, albeit, 28 years after
independence! Since independence, there have been setbacks, with innumerable
legal limitations imposed on our rights. It is against this background that
I advance the thesis that Robert Mugabe, the octogenarian tyrant (not
sanctions), has made life miserable for us. Sanctions have nothing to do
with the current mess.

Prominent nationalists like Chitepo, Mangena, Takawira and Sithole were
people of faith, of integrity, of perseverance - the difficulties they faced
were legion, and one might have thought, insurmountable. But they persisted,
ever faithful to the cause for a free, just and democratic Zimbabwe, and
Zimbabwe was established. But they hoped to establish and regulate a free
Zimbabwe in which the young would be educated, the sick would be treated,
and the hungry-would be fed.

Today finds Zimbabwe faced with additional problems - dictatorship,
oppression, repression, corruption, poverty, hyperinflation, unemployment,
AIDS, and a myriad of others common to the modern world. Will those working
here today have the faith, the integrity, and the perseverance to overcome
as those earlier nationalists? We pray to God that they, and those who
follow to carry on the work, will not be found wanting. This has to be
especially when taking into account the fact that Zimbabwe is in the
intensive care unit and requires medical treatment of a patient who is
dangerously ill, with constant supervision. But what's your point? Some are
asking.

My point is: Mugabe betrayed the struggle for independence. His behaviour is
a complete negation and betrayal of what the liberation struggle was all
about. We were removed from a hard world only to be dumped into a far worse
one. Don't be fooled that Mugabe is defending the 'gains' of the struggle.
He wants to safeguard the narrow interests of the ruling elite, their
ill-gotten wealth at the expense of the whole nation! But why? The answer is
simple. Mugabe has become godless as a result of the merciless onslaught of
materialism. He has not only become a real danger to society but also to
himself. Mugabe is a threatening menace to our peace, security, progress and
development. But we all know, don't we, that oppression remains oppression
no matter what the skin or ethnicity of the oppressor. It doesn't become
more palatable simply because one recognizes heir tongue or skin in the
dictator. One, therefore, must either be with the struggling people or with
the oppressing government. There are no other choices. I have chosen to be
with the struggling people rather than the oppressing government.

Serious cases of unlawful assault and killing, kidnapping, torture,
destruction of property and the like are key features of the Mugabe regime.
Sanctions have nothing to do with these. Threats, degradation, torture,
violence, and savage cruelty are largely a result of Mugabe's insatiable
desire for power. And yet we, as citizens, have a right to participate
freely in politics and make decisions about how we are governed, without
being threatened or intimidated. Our political rights include the right to
vote, to think freely, to express our opinions in the newspaper, over radio
and TV, on the phone, and by letters and e-mails, without hindrances or
harassment. Linked to this is the right to privacy; we don't want our
personal communication to be intercepted. When we think that something is
wrong, we want to exercise our right to hold peaceful demonstrations,
without being tear-gassed, beaten up, arrested or shot. We need to be
protected from the illegal regime of Robert Mugabe's ally! In conclusion,
pragmatism is more appropriate, or safer in the circumstances of our
country. I rest my case.

.................

HOW MUCH LONGER WILL IT TAKE SADC, AU AND UN TO DEAL WITH MUGABE ?

MUTSA MURENJE

Zimbabwe emits a constant groaning, a cry for redemption and restoration,
but very often we ignore the message until suffering forces us to attend. It
is my humble submission in this contribution that political renewal and
economic regeneration will only be realized when a sturdy position is taken
against Robert Mugabe and his evil regime. For this reason we, the oppressed
and suffering people of Zimbabwe torment ourselves with this question: How
much longer will it take SADC, AU and UN to deal with Mugabe? We haven't
slept at all in years. It's been so long since we've had peace. What can we
do to make you understand us, what can we do to make you care?

The MDC was, is and will always be a people's project. They seek nothing but
the interests of the people of Zimbabwe. This explains why their objective
is simply a peaceful resolution to the crisis that respects the will of the
people as expressed on March 29, 2008. For the record, the June 27 'election'
lacks authenticity and a connection with real life and real people. It's an
imaginary election and because of this, Mugabe remains illegimate not only
yesterday but also today, tomorrow and forever more! This we know in
excruciating detail. As a result, no amount of lies and verbiage will endear
us to the illegitimate head of the Republic of Zimbabwe. Mugabe is not our
president, Tsvangirai is !

The MDC promises to stop the political bickering and fighting that waste so
much of the nation's wealth. That will mean the end of political violence
that takes the cream of the nation's youth and, afterwards, send them back
with large numbers crippled, having hands, arms or legs amputated, perhaps
blind or, worse, in the form of lifeless corpses. Those who live in a New
Zimbabwe will all be peace- loving persons. With peace prevailing
countrywide, wonderful things, can then be accomplished for the good of all
people in Zimbabwe.

Having Morgan Tsvangirai as the President of Zimbabwe means that the rich
produce of the land will be enjoyed by all persons, wherever they may live.
No more in this country will we see starving children with bloated bellies
and shriveled arms, as is true in many parts of the country today.
Furthermore, it is poignantly painful to come to terms with the fact that
Robert Mugabe has denied us the chance, the opportunity to enjoy, the
springtime of our life and to get the best out of it.

We want to build the qualities that will bring us the greatest happiness
possible, both now and in future. We want to use our youth to get a fine
start on the road to life, not just to a few decades of life in the present
dying, decaying system of things, but to eternal life in the freshness of
youthful vigor on God's paradise earth.

SADC, AU and UN intervention is therefore a functional prerequisite in that
it will help Mugabe realize that something is wrong with a life of war and
violence and human tragedy. Mugabe lacks sanity which the US court system
defines as the ability to discern between good and evil. It has to be made
known that true fulfillment comes, not through ego satisfaction , but
through service to others. In conclusion, 'Think too of all who suffer as if
you shared their pain' - Hebrews 13: 3 (J.B Phillips).

Ndebeles want to restore monarchy

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Tuesday, 09 September 2008 14:23
BULAWAYO - Amid widespread economic vandalism and open regional
marginalisation, the ostracized Ndebele minority are making fresh calls to
restore the Ndebele monarchy in Zimbabwe.

The renewed calls for the restoration of the monarch, overthrown by
British colonialists more than 135 years ago, comes amid grinding poverty in
the region and a lackadaisical official response to the humanitarian crisis
gripping the two Matabeleland provinces - bastion of support for the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party.

Frustrated by what they see as their marginalisation by Robert Mugabe's
predominantly Shona government, Ndebele chiefs and political activists have
started mobilising to revive their kingdom.

Ndebeles, who make up 20 percent of Zimbabwe's population, argue that
there has been little development in Matabeleland since independence 28
years ago - and that they are now bearing the brunt of the country's
economic crisis. They claim development has been confined to Shona-speaking
provinces, that key civil-service jobs are reserved for Shonas and that
Ndebeles are regarded as an underclass.

Several thousand Ndebeles died in the early 1980s when Mugabe's Five
Brigade was unleashed on Matabeleland after it voted overwhelmingly for
Joshua Nkomo's Zapu-PF.

An offshoot of Zapu PF, which is now called Zapu Federal party, is
also agitating for federalism on the sidelines, making the same arguments
that the region has been marginalized by central government in Harare.

The Zimbabwean Ndebeles are an offshoot of the Zulu nation, comprising
10 ethnic groups who came together under Mzilikazi Khumalo - a leading
general in King Shaka's army.

Matabeleland chiefs have told the Khumalo family, the erstwhile royal
clan, that people want a king "to uphold and monitor their culture and
heritage."

The Zimbabwean heard that these concerns have been forwarded to the
Bulawayo-based Khumalo family - the great grandsons of King Lobengula, the
last Ndebele king.

The family has been asked to lead the crusade to restore the kingdom.
There were ongoing widespread consultations for a candidate who would be
suitable to assume the monarchy, The Zimbabwean has been told.

Ndebele politicians including the three provincial governors, Cain
Mathema, Thokozile Mathuthu, Angeline Masuku, as well as Industry and
International Trade minister Obert Mpofu, and Information minister
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu are said to be vehemently opposed to the push for a
kingdom, saying it would only fan tribalism.

But Welshman Ncube of the Movement for Democratic Change said there
was nothing fundamentally wrong with the idea "if the monarchy retains a
ceremonial and traditional role and is of no political persuasion."

Under the envisaged plan, a king would not be involved in party
politics but would act as a custodian of Ndebele values and culture.

A source said if the kingdom was restored, the Ndebeles would ask the
government to return the property on which Mugabe's official residence in
Bulawayo is located. The residence, State House, is the site of King
Lobengula's last palace. It has been occupied by successive white
governments and even the Mugabe regime sees nothing wrong in continuing to
occupy the place, complained our source.

The Zimbabwean heard that the idea of restoring the kingdom has gained
ground even among urban Ndebeles, who feel a monarch will be able to put
pressure on the central government to treat the region better.

Nqobibitha Mpofu, a 33-year-old shop assistant, said reviving
Mzilikazi's nation would send a strong message to the country's rulers in
Harare that the Ndebeles would no longer accept second-class treatment.

"We are tired of being treated like aliens in our own country because
of our refusal to support the government's policies and I think regrouping
under a king would send a strong message to them about our resolve," he
said.

Nqonda Nxumalo, a middle-aged woman, said a king would show that the
Ndebeles had not lost their culture despite being marginalised.

Extremist royalist agitators want secession from Zimbabwe.

"Since the break-up of the kingdom, the Ndebele have lived under
oppressive governments and it looks like forming our own state is the only
way out of oppression," said a university student at NUST who declined to be
named.

The Ndebele people have since independence in 1980 voted consistently
against the Mugabe regime, and many feel they are being punished for it.

Mugabe is still the boss

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-09-09-mugabe-is-still-the-boss

CHARLES RUKUNI: COMMENT - Sep 09 2008 06:00

The argument that Zimbabwe's military is calling the shots has been harped
on since the March 29 elections. The argument says Robert Mugabe would have
stepped down when his Zanu-PF lost its parliamentary majority, and Mugabe
himself won fewer votes in the presidential race than opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai, had it not been for the military.

Even his wife, the extravagant Grace Mugabe, was reported to have persuaded
him to step down gracefully. But the military leaders through the Joint
Operations Command (JOC) told him to stay on to save their own interests.

The argument makes good reading. After all, former defence forces chief
Vitalis Zvinavashe made it abundantly clear just before the 2002
presidential elections that the army would never salute anyone without
liberation credentials.

The same threat was repeated by the current defence forces chief,
Constantine Chiwenga, before the March elections. This was a direct
challenge to Tsvangirai who does not have liberation credentials. The
military could therefore not allow him to rule.

But the argument is very hollow. It may have been deduced from a fact, as
stated by Zvinavashe and Chiwenga, but it is not backed by anything else,
including history. Zanu-PF has always comprised the political and military
wings -- namely Zanu as the party, with the Zimbabwe African National
Liberation Army (Zanla) as its ­military wing.

The two have always worked together but Zanla was a creation of Zanu. The
military got its orders from the politicians. It has never been the other
way round. It does not therefore make sense to say Mugabe, the
commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the first secretary and president of
the ruling party, is now taking orders from his lieutenants.

It is only a paranoiac media and sceptical public that have created the myth
that Mugabe has lost his clout. Far from it -- he is still the boss. If he
had lost his power, he would have been kicked out as party president at the
special congress in December last year. The purpose of that special congress
was to elect a new party leadership but the plan flopped.

Though highly unpopular now, especially because of the way he forced
Tsvangirai out of the presidential race and the way he beat up people to win
the elections, Mugabe is still in command. He is not being held to ransom by
anyone.

Trouble in Zimbabwe

http://www-tech.mit.edu/V128/N37/zimbabwe.html

Concern Can't Replace Action in this Troubled Nation
By Ethan Solomon
September 9, 2008
"We the Peoples of the United Nations determined to reaffirm faith in
fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in
the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small ."

- Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations

This past March, and then again in June, the world watched with deep concern
as Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe stole the presidential election from the
opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change.
Mugabe, the man who transformed Zimbabwe from the breadbasket of Southern
Africa to a nation whose currency isn't worth the paper it's printed on, has
violently suppressed opposition to his rule and forced thousands to flee
their homes.

Mugabe's campaign of systematic violence swept unchecked across the country.
Unfortunately, our "deep concern" wasn't quite enough. Our "deep concern"
won't restore Zimbabwe's economy, and it won't bring back those who were
killed or heal those who were tortured in Mugabe's campaign of terror. But
what's really concerning is that the world doesn't care.

The situation in Zimbabwe isn't isolated. It represents a trend the world
has seen again and again, and nothing good has ever come out of it. So, to
keep things like this from happening, the leaders of our world gathered in
San Francisco in 1945 and agreed, as nations united, to protect the
fundamental rights and liberties of people the world over. And in that task,
it failed and continues to fail.

The United Nations has utterly failed to protect the rights and liberties of
people in virtually every venue where they have been threatened. There's no
reason to expect the United Nations to act any differently in the case of
Zimbabwe. There's no reason to expect the bureaucratic and legislative
gridlock that has come to so completely characterize the UN will loosen for
Zimbabwe.

But there is a first time for everything. In Zimbabwe, we have an
opportunity to set a powerful precedent. As citizens of a UN member state,
and more importantly, as human beings, we have an obligation to care about
and to solve the crisis in Zimbabwe. At the very least, we have the
obligation to talk about it. Awareness can be a powerful tool. But it
probably won't be enough.

The United Nations has tools at its disposal besides empty resolutions and
economic sanctions. It may be naïve to suggest that the Security Council
would ever agree to blue helmets on the ground in Harare, but if that were
to happen, it would make leaders like Mugabe think twice before abusing
their country and its people. Maybe it's time to stop putting politics
before people and to start getting things done. And in 2008, Zimbabwe can be
where it begins.

Ethan Solomon is a member of the Class of 2012.