Mugabe recalls his old Cabinet amid deadlock

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/474004/-/148ukhvz/-/

By KITSEPILE NYATHI and Agencies

Posted Tuesday, September 23 2008 at 20:33

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has recalled his old Cabinet to fill the
vacuum created by delays in the setting up of an inclusive government, a
senior aide has announced.

The country has been running without a substantive government since Mr
Mugabe's controversial June 27 re-election, further deepening a decade old
political and economic crisis.

A land mark deal that will see the ruling Zanu PF and the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) sharing power equally was concluded a
week ago but its implementation has been stalled by a dispute over the
allocation of cabinet posts.

In a statement, Mr Mugabe's chief secretary, Dr Misheck Sibanda said the
outgoing ministers should continue discharging their duties until the
appointment of a new government.

He said this was necessary to facilitate a smooth handover, takeover
process.

"The office of the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet assisted by
the chairman of the Public Service Commission will continue to supervise and
coordinate the activities of ministries to guarantee efficient service
delivery," he said.

However, the newly appointed provincial governors, all drawn from Zanu PF
were told to stop performing their official duties until talks on the
formation of a new cabinet were concluded.

Meanwhile, Washington is very concerned over a deadlock in Zimbabwe in
forming a cabinet.

The US assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Jendayi Frazer,
said Washington was closely watching the impasse on cabinet posts since
Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
led by Morgan Tsvangirai signed a power-sharing deal last week.

"Of course, we will be looking very carefully at the outcome of this
impasse," Frazer told Reuters at the UN General Assembly.

Crisis talks to resolve cabinet impasse set for October

By Tichaona Sibanda
23 September 2008

The new speaker of Parliament, Lovemore Moyo, on Tuesday said they hoped
Robert Mugabe will be able to see why the MDC needs to control key
ministries in the new unity government.

Speaking to Newsreel on his return home after a five day tour of the UK he
said; 'The success of this country in terms of the economic reconstruction
programme will depend on the number of key ministries that we control. It is
essential that we have the Finance, Foreign Affairs and Home Affairs to
rejuvenate local and international confidence in the new government.'

The MDC national chairman said he hoped the current deadlock over the
distribution of the ministries would be resolved soon, through guidance from
SADC and the AU, the custodians of the peace deal. It's expected that Robert
Mugabe, Prime Minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara,
leader of the other MDC faction, are to meet in early October to try to
break the deadlock over the distribution of cabinet portfolios. Moyo said
through negotiations they should be able to unlock that deadlock, but a
silent struggle is going on between ZANU PF and the MDC over choice
ministries, especially those with a higher profile and seen as strategic.
Sources now say Mbeki or SADC should be recalled to oversee the
implementation of the 'critical part of the deal.'

SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news

Zimbabwe's new government has to tackle culture of impunity

http://www.amnesty.org

23 September 2008

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe signed a power-sharing agreement with the
Movement for Democratic Change's leaders on Monday, 15 September 2008 in an
attempt to resolve the political crisis that has been developing since 2000
and escalated sharply in the last six months.

The crisis has been characterised by a series of politically-motivated
violations of civil, political, social and economic rights against real and
perceived opponents of President Mugabe. Those who instigated or committed
these violations have enjoyed almost total impunity.

In the run-up to the 27 June presidential election run-off, the country saw
a wave of state-sponsored human rights violations that left at least 165
people killed, thousands tortured and nearly 30,000 people internally
displaced. How Zimbabwe's unity government will tackle important questions
of justice and impunity remains unclear.

Amnesty International has said that the validity of the deal would be
seriously compromised if it includes amnesties or pardons that prevent human
rights violators being brought to justice, the emergence of the truth, and
full reparations to victims.

"Nothing should be agreed that would prevent the full emergence of the
truth - and those responsible for the gross human rights violations that
took place must be brought to justice," said Simeon Mawanza, Amnesty
International's expert on Zimbabwe who recently returned from speaking to
victims of state-sponsored violence in the country.

"The victims of human rights violations are demanding justice for the crimes
they have suffered - and they deserve no less than that. It will be a great
betrayal of these victims if national, regional and international leaders
were to support pre-trial amnesties for perpetrators of human rights
violations."

Simeon Mawanza added that Zimbabwe has clear obligations under international
law and that the country must not fail to fulfil those obligations,
particularly in this critical point in their history.

"Any durable solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe must have the respect and
protection of human rights at its foundation," Mawanza said.

Tortured, raped and forgotten

Photo: IRIN

Victims of violence

MUTARE , 23 September 2008 (IRIN) - During the bitterly contested Zimbabwe elections between President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF and Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the country's rural areas became effective no-go areas. There were numerous reports of politically motivated killings and widespread rapes, allegedly by members of Zimbabwe's national army, veterans of the country's liberation war and members of the ruling party's youth militia.

The violent campaign led Tsvangirai to withdraw from the presidential race, after he had won the first round of voting, although not by the required 50 percent plus one vote. Mugabe, who came to power at independence in 1980, became the sole candidate and claimed an overwhelming victory in the poll. The international community refused to recognise the result.

A power sharing deal has since been negotiated by the former South African President Thabo Mbeki. While the attention has shifted to whether or not the politicians can make the unity government work, the victims of political violence remain traumatised and will never forget the events of 2008.

IRIN spoke to three women in the eastern province of Manicaland.

Jessica Tonderai* is a mother of three and lives in Manicaland's rural area of Murambina. During the elections men dressed in military uniform beat her two daughters and her son and then raped her.

"The politicians may be engaged in talks to share power but they should know that thousands of their supporters, especially from the Movement for Democratic Change, are hurting emotionally and physically.

"More than 10 men stormed my house and started beating my two teenaged daughters who were sleeping in the small lounge. They were screaming obscenities and asking where I was hiding, and when the beatings continued and my children continued crying in anguish, I ran towards the lounge and pleaded with the men to stop it.

"They then turned on me and accused me of misleading people into supporting the MDC through my post as an organising secretary for women.

"My son, who had been hiding with some neighbours, came to the house to investigate the commotion. He was dragged into the house and beaten up. They ordered all of us to strip and started beating us on the buttocks.

The politicians may be engaged in talks to share power but they should know that thousands of their supporters are hurting emotionally and physically

"They ordered me to dress and bundled me inside a truck. Other men were seated in another truck before the two vehicles drove off. One of the soldiers started prodding me between my legs with a gun and said he wanted to punish me for supporting [US President George] Bush and [former British Prime Minister Tony] Blair.

"His friends cheered loudly before they stopped the truck. They threw me to the ground on the side of the road before they started raping me. I think about nine men took turns to rape me.

"With such a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS I am worried that I may have been infected with the virus. I have been counselled and will soon be going to be tested to find out if I am positive."

Sarudzai* is an HIV positive former sex worker from the rural area of Murambina. She told IRIN she was abducted by veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war and soldiers of the national army during the country's recent elections.

"I was taken to one of the torture bases where soldiers and war veterans took turns to rape me. They did not use condoms but would make me clean myself before I was raped again.

"I allowed that to go on until five had raped me. I warned them that they risked contracting HIV/AIDS because I had the virus. They flew into a rage and accused me of wanting to kill them.

"They beat me on the soles of my feet and buttocks. They drove off with promises to return, but I crawled away to safety."

Nyarai*, 16, lives in Manicaland's rural area of Makoni. She was abducted because she was wearing an MDC T-shirt.

"A truck full of youths wearing ZANU-PF regalia drove by and the youths ordered me to jump inside. They started fondling me and tore away the shirt I was wearing, leaving me naked.

"The physical abuse continued until they arrived at a torture camp where they announced that they had captured a 'sell out'.

When four had violated me, the older men who were watching ordered them to stop as I was bleeding profusely

"The ZANU-PF youths and a few older men who appeared to be in charge argued about who would make me 'his wife' before they all agreed that the youths should take turns to rape me.

"When four had violated me, the older men who were watching ordered them to stop as I had started bleeding profusely. I had started menstruating the previous night.

"They then filled a drum with water before several of them submerged my head in the water. While my head was in the drum, my buttocks were lashed several times causing me to choke. This was done repeatedly until I think I passed out or became numb with pain.

"When I came to my senses I was ordered to confess that I had been misled into becoming an MDC supporter and that I would rejoin ZANU-PF. I did that and stumbled back home. I was assisted by well wishers who put me in a scotch cart and took me home where arrangements were made to send me to hospital."

*Not their real names

Zimbabwe starves as Robert Mugabe stalls on new government

Thousands of Zimbabweans are close to starvation as President Robert Mugabe delays forming a new government.

 

By Sebastien Berger in Garanyemba
Last Updated: 4:09PM BST 23 Sep 2008

'Next time you come you will find us dead,' said John Sithole, 45 Photo: SEBASTIEN BERGER

Lakheli Nyathi, 62, shows off her entire stock of mealie-meal. She also has half a small cup of sugar. Photo: SEBASTIEN BERGER

The hills around Garanyemba, deep in Matabeleland South province, are littered with stunning rock formations, stark testaments to the power of nature.

But man cannot eat landscapes, and the people of Garanyemba – a village whose name, by cruel irony, means "we live on beans" – have little time for the beauty of their surroundings. Instead one thought consumes them – food.

"Next time you come you will find us dead," said John Sithole, 45.

All he had to feed himself, his wife, and their seven children was a bunch of choumolia leaves and a single tomato, to be boiled up without even salt for seasoning.

The family's chickens have already gone to the pot, slaughtered after they stopped laying with no grain to eat.

"The problem we have is starvation," explained Mr Sithole, an agricultural labourer, with the earnest dignity typical of impoverished Zimbabweans. "What happens is we cook whenever we have got something. There was no food yesterday. The children have gone to look for wild fruit which are not there.

"I feel really bad when the children are crying," he said. "I can't do anything."

His sunken cheeks and the ribs showing through the flesh of his chest were silent evidence of his veracity.

Across Zimbabwe, food is the highest priority issue for millions of people like Mr Sithole, and addressing the crisis will be a key test of Morgan Tsvangirai's ability to govern as prime minister after signing a power-sharing deal with Robert Mugabe.

But Mr Mugabe is stonewalling over the allocation of ministries between the parties, and making clear he intends to retain as much authority as possible. With food long used as a political weapon in the country, a senior Western diplomat predicted difficulties and obstructions from Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF loyalists. "Zanu-PF knows the man who delivers food in this country is king," he said.

Vast swathes of Zimbabwe are suffering from food shortages, with the issue concentrated in the south of the country, much of which the World Food Programme classifies as "red zones", and the first, albeit unconfirmed, claims of deaths by starvation are beginning to emerge.

According to the organisation, more than two million Zimbabweans already need food aid out of an official population of just under 12 million. That number will rise to more than five million by the peak of the hunger season in January.

Total production of maize meal, the staple food, was estimated at a mere 575,000 tons this year, down 28 per cent on last year, with total cereal production 840,000 tons, down 40 per cent. For a country which was once a regional breadbasket, exporting food to its neighbours, the figures are abysmally low.

"It was a very bad harvest this year," said Richard Lee, a WFP spokesman. "It was even worse than the poor harvest in 2007." But while the rains have been poor for several years in a row, nature is by no means entirely to blame. There are similar climatic challenges in other countries in the region, but Zimbabwe has by far the highest percentage of people needing food aid. This is a man-made hunger, and not only because of Mr Mugabe's destruction of commercial agriculture by the invasions of white-owned land from 2000 onwards.

In Zimbabwe the government, through its Grain Marketing Board (GMB), is the sole purchaser and distributor of cereals, and Mr Lee said that the buying price it set was too low. "That proved to be a disincentive for farmers to strive to produce a surplus." At the same time key inputs, such as seeds, are in short supply, on top of the problems brought on by the shattering of the economy by Mr Mugabe's misrule. On top of that, the government imposed a ban on fieldwork by aid agencies for two months, claiming they were campaigning for the opposition in the country's elections, which has severely delayed the distribution of food by NGOs, and even now some restrictions remain.

Mr Lee declined to apportion blame. "This is a very complex situation," he said. "Now the issue is not really to look back and apportion blame but rather to try to stabilise the current situation so this doesn't become a major crisis." But others have no need to be diplomatic. Paul Themba Nyathi, a leading light in the Movement for Democratic Change and a former MP for Gwanda, the area which includes Garanyemba, pointed out that the government has taken over as much of the production and distribution system as it can.

A 50kg bag of maize meal from the GMB costs Z$1,000, about US$2 (£1.08) at the cash rate and a pittance at the interbank transfer rate. But on the black market a bucket of the flour – a third of a bag – costs Z$1,500.

To obtain the cheap grain, local leaders have to apply to the GMB, with a list of beneficiaries. In Mr Themba Nyathi's village, Nyandeni, a request filed in February was not fulfilled until July, and even then was 200 bags short.

"The reason for doing that is inspired by political considerations," said Mr Themba Nyathi. "The need to use food as part of political patronage and a tool of political control would be higher in the order of things than voodoo economics. It's gone on far too long.

"We are faced with a humanitarian disaster. For partisan political expediency the government has tried to downplay the humanitarian crisis. If you admit you have a serious food shortage you are admitting that your land reform redistribution programme was a disaster so they can't do that. They would rather play it down." Mr Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party resolutely refuse to accept any responsibility for Zimbabwe's suffering, instead blaming Western sanctions and businessmen supposedly plotting against the government for the situation, even though the only measures the EU has in place are a visa ban and asset freeze on named individuals connected with the regime.

Such issues are simply irrelevant to people like Lakheli Nyathi, 62, who lives in Nyandeni, and has never known such shortages in her life. Her entire food supplies were down to a fraction of a bowlful of maize-meal, and half a small cup of sugar.

She has two cups of tea for breakfast – no solids - and spends the morning looking forward to 2pm, when she allows herself a small plate of sweet porridge. For dinner, she has nothing.

"What can I do?" she asked, her head in her hands. "I'm hungry."

NCA says power-sharing bad precedent for Zimbabwe

By Violet Gonda
23 September 2008

Dr Lovemore Madhuku, the chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly,
has said the power sharing deal between the main political parties in
Zimbabwe is "just about individuals wanting to share power but will not
deepen or entrench democracy."

The NCA said it was rejecting the constitutional making process in the
agreement saying it is dominated by parliament and is a mere "smokescreen"
pretending to get inputs from other stakeholders. Madhuku said Zimbabweans
have gone through this kind of constitutional process before and there are
no guarantees that it will not be controlled by politicians. He said what is
needed is an empowerment exercise to safeguard the population in the future,
against powerful politicians.

The civic leader was giving his organisation's response to the recent deal
signed by ZANU PF and the two MDC formations.

Madhuku said: "The defective features of the current constitution remain
where the president wields overwhelming powers. The office of the Prime
Minister has been created merely to absorb the MDC under the guise of
power-sharing."

The pressure group believes the so called 'all-inclusive government' is
unnecessarily huge and will be costly for a small country like Zimbabwe.

There will be a President and his two Vice Presidents, a Prime Minister and
two Deputy Prime Ministers, 31 cabinet ministers and several deputies in the
new government.

The NCA chairman also said power-sharing is a "bad precedent" for Zimbabwe
as power should be exercised by a democratically elected group of people and
Zimbabwe must work towards conducting free and fair elections held under a
democratic constitution.

The NCA will embark on a countrywide outreach programme to find out from
Zimbabweans what they consider to be a "people- driven process" and to
organize public debates on possible constitutional reform.

The group says the civil society and the "transitional government" should
convene an all stakeholders' conference if there is to be a genuine
commitment to democratisation.

SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news

Zimbabwe school fees paid in cows

Tuesday, 23 September 2008 17:30 UK

By Themba Nkosi BBC News, Bulawayo Cattle are a better store of value than Zimbabwe dollars Residents in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, have called for government action against a school asking for fees in livestock or fuel coupons. Those who do not have coupons have been asked to deliver 700 litres of fuel. One teacher at Petra High School said it was cash-strapped parents who originally wanted to pay in kind. Though politicians in Zimbabwe signed a power-sharing deal last week, the country is still suffering from an acute economic crisis. The last official figure given for annual inflation was 11,000,000%. Last month the central bank struck 10 zeros from the currency, making 10bn Zimbabwe dollars equal to one new dollar. Banks only allow people to withdraw a maximum of 1,000 new Zimbabwe dollars a day. "If you are paying school fees of 100,000 dollars, that means I will be going to the bank for the next five months to withdraw 1,000 dollars until I reach the requirement amount for fees," said one parent, Babongile Simanga. 'Many schools' Petra High School was not available for comment but two teachers confirmed that if parents failed to raise enough cash, they could pay in whatever they have, including livestock. It is not clear how many parents have handed over animals, but the practice is said to have been going on for some time. "It's not only Petra High school that is doing that," said Dumisa Tshabalala of Magwegwe township, who has two children at Embakwe High School in the neighbouring province of Matabeleland South. "Many schools these days are doing it and we should blame the government not schools." Cows are the usual method of payment because of their higher value, though poor people in rural areas have also used goats. Zimbabwe has been suffering from chronic inflation Another teacher at Petra High said the decision to ask parents to improvise was taken at a meeting with the school development association. Most of the parents who attended are said to have agreed because of the cash shortages, but some are now complaining and calling for teachers to be dismissed. One problem is how to determine the market value of the animal, since cattle sales have ceased amid Zimbabwe's economic crisis. Themba Sithole, an official for the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, criticised schools demanding fees in the form of livestock or fuel coupons. "The question here is who is benefiting from this practice. Is it the school or individual teachers or heads?" he asked. But Eunice Sandi, a former Zanu-PF senator for the Bulilima constituency, said schools should not come under fire. "We must not blame schools when they ask us as parents to find ways of beating the cash crisis," she said. Meanwhile, teachers are demanding that the government pay them US$1,200 a month - or about Z$48,000. Currently teachers earn Z$1,200, which is about $US35 on the local parallel market.

Violence against MDC supporters on the increase

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Tuesday, 23 September 2008 15:20

Political violence against MDC supporters in some parts of Zimbabwe continue
despite signing of a deal between the MDC and Zanu PF meant to end the
country's political and economic stalemate.

Sam Veremu Jaricha, an MDC supporter at Nhema Village, in Zaka, Masvingo
province had his home burnt down by Zanu PF supporters on Saturday night.

The suspects are based at the homestead of Chief Nhema, Rangarirai Guvanda.

A report has been made to the police but no arrests have been made.

In Mbare, Harare, over 61 MDC families who where evicted from their homes in
June were on Tuesday afternoon assaulted at Matapi police station by Zanu PF
members.

MDC members had been granted permission by the courts to move back into
their homes.

The families had gone to the police station to seek assistance in evicting
the Zanu PF members who had occupied their homes when they were told that
there was no manpower.

There was total chaos at the police station when the police failed to
contain the situation as Zanu PF youths went on a rampage and attacked the
families.

Some of the families who included minors and pregnant women had to seek
medical attention.

The youths were led by losing Zanu PF council candidate for Ward 11 in
Mbare, Jim Kunaka.

In Mabvuku, also in Harare, Edmore Ngadziore, was assaulted at the Red Bull
shopping centre by over 10 Zanu PF supporters for wearing an MDC T-shirt on
Sunday afternoon.

Ngadziore who is the MDC district treasurer had to seek medical attention
due to the assault.

Zanu PF torture bases are still operational in Mbare and some parts of the
country but the police are not doing anything to dismantle them.

The incident was reported at Stodart Police Station and again no arrests
have been made.

The MDC views these cases of political violence that continue unabated as
indirectly conflicting with the spirit of togetherness and moving forward as
portrayed by signing of the power sharing deal between the MDC and Zanu PF.

MDC Information and Publicity

Zimbabwe is in the throes of chronic economic crises

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Tuesday, 23 September 2008 13:21

By Chief Reporter
HARARE - Hardly two months after the central bank slashed 10 zeros from the
country's currency and introduced new bank notes for the convenience of
shoppers who had resorted to carrying rucksacks full of banknotes to buy
ordinary groceries, a new higher denomination note has been introduced.

The new Z$1,000 bill is the latest addition to a series of new bank notes
introduced as a stop-gap measure on August 1 amid a critical shortage of
bank notes. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe said it was introducing the new
Z$1,000 note with effect from September 17 for your convenience. It is worth
only US$2.
Central bank governor Gideon Gono has also raised the maximum cash
withdrawal from banks from Z$500 to Z$1,000, but this is still grossly
inadequate given that Z$1,000 can only buy three oranges now.
The Reserve Bank is reportedly running short of Treasury Bills (TB) that
they can use as collateral when collecting money from the bank.
Economists say the introduction of the higher denomination note even before
the old currency is phased out on December 31 means that the zeroes lopped
off during the currency reforms in August were back and that introducing
real money was an ill-advised move by the central bank.
Zimbabwe is in the throes of chronic economic crises with inflation well
past the 11 million percent mark, four in every five people jobless and no
less than 80 percent of the population living below the poverty threshhold.

GAPWUZ concerned about the delay in cabinet appointments and the subsequent decline in economy

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Tuesday, 23 September 2008 11:47

THE General Agriculture and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ) is
greatly concerned about the delay in the appointment of cabinet ministers, a
move that is  worsening the plight of the ordinary Zimbabweans.
The disagreements over cabinet posts and the subsequent delays in the
commencement of a new government have seen the nation's economy fall into
further abyss.
Far from the economic decline, the impasse is delaying the healing process
for the traumatized rural communities that suffered from the violence during
the run up to the elections.
As a union that represents the interests of the most mariganlised group, the
farm workers and rural communities , we are therefore calling on the two
political parties to quickly resolve whatever differences they have and
start working together for national development.
Farm and rural communities are at the receiving end of the situation as they
are struggling to see through the days as food shortages worsen.
Currently farm workers are earning a paltry $800 a month, an amount not
enough to buy a loaf of bread and this positions them as the least paid
workers in the country.
Far from delaying economic recovery, the political impasse is hindering
preparations for the coming rain season and this may mean yet anothe failed
season.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) about " 2.04
million people in rural and urban areas will be food insecure between July
and September 2008, rising to 3.8 million people between October and peaking
to about 5.1 million at the height of the hungry season between January and
March 2009. The food insecure population will require food assistance
amounting to some 395 000 tonnes of cereals in 2008/09"

This automatically means that the majority of Zimbabweans are in dire need
of food aid and any efforts to bail them out are currently being scuttled by
the impasse in the creation of the cabinet.

Tapiwa Zivira
GAPWUZ information officer
+263 912 856 119

Sanitation and water crises spark disease fears in urban areas

By Alex Bell
23 September 2008

Fears of serious water borne diseases spreading across Zimbabwe's urban
areas have been sparked due to severe crises within the country's water and
sanitation services - that have already led to a cholera outbreak in Harare.

At least 12 people in the capital's Chitungwiza township have died as a
result of the disease but medical officials say this number is likely much
higher and merely 'the tip of the iceberg'. Health centres in Harare as well
as in Bulawayo are reportedly burdened by numerous cases of diarrhea on a
daily basis and more deaths as a result are expected.

The water and sanitation situation across the country has been rapidly
deteriorating as the ongoing political crisis has seen the destruction of
the economy and the equal destruction of the country's infrastructure. The
Zimbabwe National Water Authority has come under heavy criticism for failing
to provide a proper service - a failure that has left most homes dry and
dependent on unsafe, unhealthy water supplies.

The Water Authority's inability to provide clean and safe drinking water has
seen the Combined Harare Residents Association call for the management of
the city's sewage and water reticulation services to be handed back to the
city council. The association's Simbarashe Moyo explained on Tuesday that
the crisis in the city, particularly in areas such as Chitungwiza, has not
eased and no move has been made by responsible officials to provide clean
water. He added that the crisis is a 'national situation that needs to be
addressed using a national platform' saying cities across the country are
experiencing the same desperation.

The collapse of the country's sanitation system has exacerbated the
situation, with raw sewerage openly flowing from burst pipes in many
residential areas and rubbish not being disposed of or collected. The
collapse of such basic services means the health of millions of Zimbabweans,
already suffering because of the humanitarian crisis in the country, is
being threatened with serious diseases.

The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights said in a statement on
Tuesday that the new government 'must address this crisis as a matter of
urgency' saying that cholera outbreaks are 'symptomatic of serious
structural problems within the system of public works'. The Association
added that it was not enough for the Ministry of Health to respond to any
disease outbreak 'only after it has occurred' saying the Ministry needs to
work to ensure further diseases are prevented and the 'right to the highest
attainable state of physical and mental wellbeing is respected'.

SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news

Power Shortages Hit Water Supply

http://www.iwpr.net

Bulawayo residents forced to endure unsanitary conditions due to continued
electricity rationing.

By Yamikani Mwando in Bulawayo (ZCR No. 164, 23-Sep-08)

Long-running power cuts caused by Zimbabwe's economic turmoil are now
affecting the water supply in many cities.

Since the beginning of September, residents of the country's second largest
city, Bulawayo, have gone for days at a time without water. In the past
week, they have been forced to endure yet another acute shortage.

This is not because supply dams have dried up, say council officials. Rather
it is caused by increased power rationing by the country's power utility,
the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority, ZESA.

It introduced what it calls "load shedding" - when the power supply is cut
off in certain areas - after failing to secure sufficient foreign currency
to import electricity from neighbouring countries. Zimbabwe imports some 35
per cent of its electricity, mostly from South Africa.

Power outages have affected the pumping of water from the main supply
sources for both domestic and industrial use.

Cuts to the electricity supply have long been a problem across the country,
affecting everyday life and causing industry and commerce to streamline
operations. Companies claim losses of millions of US dollars in potential
earnings.

Some companies in Bulawayo's industrial areas have reduced the working hours
of their employees, citing the power cuts and raising fears of redundancy
among workers already struggling to survive because of poor wages.

The power crisis has had a particular impact on critical sectors like
hospitals, where staff report that even some life-support machines cannot be
used.
Hospital morgues have now become virtual no-go areas, as rotting corpses
pile up on shelves.

"What can we do but watch helplessly?" asked a nurse at Mpilo, the city's
largest government hospital.

Bulawayo's residents hope that utilities will improve following the
power-sharing agreement signed by opposition Movement for Democratic Change
leader and former trade unionist Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert
Mugabe on September 15. The MDC is expected to take control of service
delivery.

In the meantime, for many in this city of more than one million residents,
the crisis has meant a return to a lifestyle similar to that in rural areas
which have no running water or electricity.

Their discontent is aggravated by the fact that both the city council and
the local power company introduced massive rate hikes at the beginning of
the month.

"It is not fair that we are expected to pay huge bills for a service we are
not getting," complained Jennifer Alubi, a resident whose house is located a
few metres from a burst sewer which spews out raw sewage.

"I have not had running water for the past day and have to endure this smell
from the burst sewer and no one has come to attend to this."

Resident Mike Tshuma said that as a result of the latest power and water
cuts, hospitals will be virtually helpless in the event of an outbreak of
disease.

"Woe betide those who falls ill," said an angry Tshuma, echoing the
sentiments of many here who are hoping that the power-sharing agreement
signing will ease their daily lot.

Bulawayo's latest water crisis comes against the backdrop of a cholera
outbreak in the capital, Harare, this summer which has claimed several
lives. The disease reportedly broke out after the government fired an
elected council and replaced it with a ZANU-PF-appointed commission, which
failed to carry out essential services.

Thabiso Dlodlo, an official with a residents' association, told IWPR that
the latest crisis indicates the extent of the breakdown of essential
services in the country.

"If a country does not have enough electricity to power just about anything,
it says to me all sectors of our life are in danger," said Dlodlo.

"But it also shows that the city council has no resources, because in normal
circumstances, a city must have reserve power sources in case of a situation
like the one we are seeing now - otherwise residents are exposed to all
sorts of dangers, including death."

Yamikani Mwando is the pseudonym of an IWPR journalist in Zimbabwe.

Bulawayo residents forced to endure unsanitary conditions due to continued
electricity rationing.

By Yamikani Mwando in Bulawayo (ZCR No. 164, 23-Sep-08)

Long-running power cuts caused by Zimbabwe's economic turmoil are now
affecting the water supply in many cities.

Since the beginning of September, residents of the country's second largest
city, Bulawayo, have gone for days at a time without water. In the past
week, they have been forced to endure yet another acute shortage.

This is not because supply dams have dried up, say council officials. Rather
it is caused by increased power rationing by the country's power utility,
the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority, ZESA.

It introduced what it calls "load shedding" - when the power supply is cut
off in certain areas - after failing to secure sufficient foreign currency
to import electricity from neighbouring countries. Zimbabwe imports some 35
per cent of its electricity, mostly from South Africa.

Power outages have affected the pumping of water from the main supply
sources for both domestic and industrial use.

Cuts to the electricity supply have long been a problem across the country,
affecting everyday life and causing industry and commerce to streamline
operations. Companies claim losses of millions of US dollars in potential
earnings.

Some companies in Bulawayo's industrial areas have reduced the working hours
of their employees, citing the power cuts and raising fears of redundancy
among workers already struggling to survive because of poor wages.

The power crisis has had a particular impact on critical sectors like
hospitals, where staff report that even some life-support machines cannot be
used.
Hospital morgues have now become virtual no-go areas, as rotting corpses
pile up on shelves.

"What can we do but watch helplessly?" asked a nurse at Mpilo, the city's
largest government hospital.

Bulawayo's residents hope that utilities will improve following the
power-sharing agreement signed by opposition Movement for Democratic Change
leader and former trade unionist Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert
Mugabe on September 15. The MDC is expected to take control of service
delivery.

In the meantime, for many in this city of more than one million residents,
the crisis has meant a return to a lifestyle similar to that in rural areas
which have no running water or electricity.

Their discontent is aggravated by the fact that both the city council and
the local power company introduced massive rate hikes at the beginning of
the month.

"It is not fair that we are expected to pay huge bills for a service we are
not getting," complained Jennifer Alubi, a resident whose house is located a
few metres from a burst sewer which spews out raw sewage.

"I have not had running water for the past day and have to endure this smell
from the burst sewer and no one has come to attend to this."

Resident Mike Tshuma said that as a result of the latest power and water
cuts, hospitals will be virtually helpless in the event of an outbreak of
disease.

"Woe betide those who falls ill," said an angry Tshuma, echoing the
sentiments of many here who are hoping that the power-sharing agreement
signing will ease their daily lot.

Bulawayo's latest water crisis comes against the backdrop of a cholera
outbreak in the capital, Harare, this summer which has claimed several
lives. The disease reportedly broke out after the government fired an
elected council and replaced it with a ZANU-PF-appointed commission, which
failed to carry out essential services.

Thabiso Dlodlo, an official with a residents' association, told IWPR that
the latest crisis indicates the extent of the breakdown of essential
services in the country.

"If a country does not have enough electricity to power just about anything,
it says to me all sectors of our life are in danger," said Dlodlo.

"But it also shows that the city council has no resources, because in normal
circumstances, a city must have reserve power sources in case of a situation
like the one we are seeing now - otherwise residents are exposed to all
sorts of dangers, including death."

Yamikani Mwando is the pseudonym of an IWPR journalist in Zimbabwe.

Top Harare Bureaucrats Oppose Power-Sharing

http://www.iwpr.net

They are reported to feel betrayed by Mugabe and still consider Tsvangirai
an enemy.

By Nonthano Bhebhe in Harare (ZCR No. 164, 23-Sep-08)

A number of senior civil servants are said to have no intention of
cooperating with those members of the Movement for Democratic Change, MDC,
who will be appointed to join the new inclusive government.

Sources at Munhumutapa Building - which houses the offices of the president,
the two vice presidents and the ministries of foreign affairs, finance, and
information and publicity - told IWPR that some partisan senior civil
servants are uncomfortable with the deal signed between ZANU-PF's Robert
Mugabe and the leaders of the two MDC factions.

Mugabe signed the power-sharing agreement last week with Morgan Tsvangirai
and Arthur Mutambara, leaders of the larger and smaller factions of the MDC
respectively.

In the new government, while Mugabe would remain as president, Tsvangirai
would be prime minister and chair a council of ministers which would be
responsible for the day-today management of the country's affairs. Mutambara
would be one of one of the deputy prime ministers.

The sources said top government officials were still to embrace the deal,
but from discussions amongst themselves it seems they were not prepared to
see the agreement succeed.

A source from the office of one of the two vice presidents said it was going
to take a very long time for his colleagues to accept the new situation and
transform into non-partisan civil servants. He said the problem with some
civil servants was that they had benefited immensely through patronage from
the land redistribution programme and were used to getting cheap fuel, seed,
fertiliser and other agricultural inputs. They were counting on this
situation continuing.

"There is a big problem which has to be dealt with if the deal is to
succeed. My colleagues don't want this deal to work and have vowed to
sabotage it. They want to make sure that Tsvangirai gets so frustrated that
he pulls out of the deal," said the source.

"When you talk to them, it's as if the signing ceremony never happened. They
have not seriously considered the possibility of the power-sharing agreement
working. They feel betrayed by the president and cannot imagine reporting to
Tsvangirai, whom they still consider as an enemy."

One of those opposed to the deal is the information and publicity permanent
secretary George Charamba.

According to sources at the state-run Herald newspaper, Charamba summoned
editors and political reporters to his office to tell them that their
editorial policy had not changed despite the signing of the power-sharing
deal.

One source said Charamba was angry at some stories published in state
newspapers praising the deal and giving coverage to the prime
minister-designate. Some articles in the public media for the first time
acknowledged that Mugabe was surrounded by corrupt ministers whom one writer
accused of looting and gross inefficiency.

"Charamba was fuming and he told us that nothing had changed and we should
disregard the agreement and continue operating as we had in the past. This
was quite a shocker, considering that the president had just signed an
agreement with Tsvangirai," he said.

The journalist said following the meeting, The Herald refused to run an MDC
advertisement.

Writing in the Herald at the weekend after the political leaders sealed the
deal, Nathaniel Manheru - thought to be a pseudonym for Charamba - said the
MDC was now an "embedded" enemy and that ZANU-PF should be on guard.

"For a party that has always relied on government and intellect for policy
incubation, it [ZANU-PF] now has to learn to govern in a new environment
where the enemy is now within, well embedded," wrote Manheru.

"The West will now have an eager listening post, right up to cabinet. There
will be lots of policy pre-emption."

Manheru wrote that prior to last Thursday, September 18, when the deal was
sealed, he had been very angry at ZANU-PF for doubting itself and being too
anxious for peace.

"Until Thursday, I was very angry, very angry with the ruling party,
ZANU-PF. The ruling party was viewed as beginning to believe that it
depended on MDC's collaborative goodwill for its own legitimacy, never on
the people of Zimbabwe who gave it the mandate to form the next government
on June 27," he wrote.

Manheru questioned why ZANU-PF, which he described as a liberation movement
with a "spectacular" history, would give Tsvangirai's party so much power.

A senior MDC official said there was a need to transform the civil service
into a non-partisan body.
He said it might be necessary to retire or fire some civil servants, who
would try to frustrate efforts to make the deal a success.

"You can tell by the language of some senior civil servants that they have
not accepted that things need to change. It is going to be very difficult to
work with such persons. To balance things, some might have to be fired," he
said.

The power-sharing deal is supposed to open the way for international donors
to help to revive Zimbabwe's economy, where inflation is more than
11-million per cent.

Zimbabwe has not been receiving financial and technical assistance from
international organisations like the International Monetary Fund since 2006.

Nonthano Bhebhe is the pseudonym of an IWPR journalist in Zimbabwe.

Gono, Matonga off the Hook

http://www.radiovop.com

HARARE, September 23 2008 - A Harare magistrate has cancelled a
warrant of arrest issued against Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, Gideon
Gono and Deputy Minister of Information and Publicity, Bright Matonga, after
the two separately turned up at Rotten Row magistrate courts on Monday.

Matonga was the first to arrive at the courts mid morning, accompanied
by his lawyer Wilson Manase of Manase and Manase legal practitioners.

He apologised to regional magistrate Morgan Nemadire for not showing
up last week, saying he had confused the dates.

"I am sorry Your Worship. I had mixed up the dates. I thought I was
required to come at a much later date. I had no intention of disrespecting
this Honourable Court," said Matonga.

Gono appeared towards knock-off time and requested to use the back
entrance to avoid being noticed by members of the public.

"This was however turned down by court officials, as it is
unprocedural for a witness to use the same entrance as the accused persons
who would be coming from remand prison or from police stations," said a
source at the Harare magistrates court.

Gono was reportedly taken to Nemadire's Chambers, where he explained
that he had been out of the country on national duty and could therefore not
attend the court case.

Gono was accompanied by another bank official, Fortune Chasi, who was
also issued with a warrant of arrest for failing to attend the court
session. Matonga is facing allegations of soliciting a bribe in return for
purchasing buses from Gift Investments director, Jayesh Shah.

The offence was allegedly committed when he was still chief executive
officer of the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO).

Former ZUPCO chairman, Charles Nherere, has since completed his two
year jail term for the same offence. Gono and Chasi were suppose to testify
to the effect that they had indeed received a complaint from Shah that
Matonga had ordered him to inflate the buses' purchase price to factor in
his US$2 000 bribe.

Plot to oust Mugabe

http://www.zimdaily.com/news/plot27.6415.html

By PEACE KADIKI

Published: Tuesday 23 September 2008

ZIMBABWE - The Mujuru faction met at the weekend to plot the ouster of
Robert Mugabe from Zanu (PF), through a vote of no confidence at an
emergency meeting, or alternatively at the party's national conference in
December, ZimDaily has learnt.

We have it on good authority that the faction has started garnering support
for this motion, which was reportedly suggested at the party's politburo
meeting held last week.
Several senior members of Zanu (PF) either stayed away or walked out of the
party's central committee meeting held last Wednesday in Harare, to mark the
beginning of yet another split in the beleaguered party, now assailed by
serious divisions and antagonism following the recently concluded
power-sharing deal with the MDC.

Zimdaily can reveal that prior to and after the Wednesday central committee
meeting, at which party leader, Robert Matibili Mugabe was under immense
pressure to explain the political deal, the camp of the Mujurus has been
holding deliberations over the current situation and mulling another split.

The faction, led by Retired army General Solomon Mujuru, is reportedly
unhappy with the deal as well as what a senior member of that faction
described as "the gradual elbowing out of positions of our members by Mugabe
and his surrogates".

ZimDaily obtained exclusive information from a member of the Mujuru faction,
that they have been considering walking away from Mugabe and been faced with
two options.

The first option, the source-whose residence in one of the posh suburbs of
Harare is being used as one of the venues for the faction's meetings-said,
is publicly aligning themselves to the faction of Simba Makoni, which was
formed early this year.

The other option the dissatisfied Mujuru faction is establishing another
faction, and  claim to be the real Zanu (PF).

"We are totally unhappy and have agreed we should take some action," the
senior member from the Mujuru faction said. "Like in the past, the major
problem has been lack of enough courage and commitment to take the first
steps and move out or cause a rebellion but the party is as bad as split as
we speak now.

For example the majority of members who are not happy with Mugabe or this
deal stayed away from the Wednesday central committee meeting."

ZimDaily can reveal that senior members of the Mujuru faction including
former Mashonaland East Governor, Ray Kaukonde and former Manicaland
Governor, Tinaye Chigudu have lately been staying away from meetings since
they were elbowed out by Mugabe recently.

The seemingly insidious factional fighting in Zanu (PF) has been going on
for a long time and especially formented by Mugabe's obstinate refusal to
pave way for debate on his succession.

Our sources say the Mujuru faction has become very antagonistic accusing
Mugabe of working with former Rural Housing minister Emmerson Mnangagwa and
probably paving the way for him to take over the party leadership.

However, our investigations have shown that although the factionalism
battles have been overshadowed by serious controversy over the political
settlement Mugabe signed with MDC leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur
Mutambara last week Monday.

"You will be shocked to hear that only Mugabe and his closest allies -
Patrick Chinamasa and Nicholas Goche who were the team on the talks as well
as Mnangagwa knew exactly what they were negotiating and agreeing with the
MDC. The rest of the party leadership was just being promised that we would
get a good deal," a senior official said.

"However, it has emerged that the deal is unacceptable to some in the party
leadership who see this as a way of paving way for Tsvangirai and MDC to
eventually push Zanu (PF) out of power. Indeed, to some Mugabe has sold out
to MDC yet he has been refusing to have a proper succession plan within the
party. That is why some of the leaders stayed away from the meeting or left
before it had finished.

Zanu (PF)'s secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa denied that some
leaders boycotted the meeting. But Mugabe appeared on national television
lamenting the signing of the deal and seemingly apologising to his party
members, describing the deal as "humiliation".

He openly admitted that the former ruling party had lost to the MDC in the
March harmonised elections and was therefore under pressure to negotiate for
a survival plan.

No improvement in humanitarian situation

By Lance Guma
23 September 2008

The power sharing accord signed last week has so far failed to improve the
country's humanitarian situation on the ground. One report by the UN
Integrated Regional Information Networks says 5 children died in Masvingo
from malnutrition-related diseases last week. Members of the Catholic run
Bondolfi Mission confirmed that 2 of the children died in the Mapanzure area
near the mission and 3 at a clinic in Mukaro Mission in the neighbouring
Gutu district.

Reports from the Food and Agricultural Organisation and World Food Programme
project that over 5 million people in Zimbabwe will face food insecurity by
2009. Although officially non-governmental organizations were given the
go-ahead to resume aid operations last month Fambai Ngirande from the
association representing the NGOs said structural barriers were still
affecting their work. He cited the notorious 'youth militia,' and
'bureaucratic conditions' in place as hampering their efforts. He said some
local community leaders were still insisting on controlling aid distribution
along party political lines.

Ngirande told Newsreel they were hoping the international community would
support their humanitarian efforts based on the 'naked facts on the ground'
but that it seemed most wanted to assess the power sharing deal first. What
this means is that while Mugabe engages in delaying tactics over agreeing an
equitable distribution of cabinet portfolios with the MDC many vulnerable
people are facing starving.
Last week the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
announced the start of a food distribution exercise, but only targeting
people infected or affected by HIV and AIDS. Doubts remain over the
effectiveness of Zimbabwe's Red Cross Society with allegations ZANU PF was
in charge of the organization. The society was rocked by allegations that
funds and vehicles were abused to benefit ZANU PF and some of its officials,
while members from the army were recruited into the organization. Earlier
this year it's donors, mainly the European Union, Britain and Denmark,
pushed for an inquiry into the allegations.

SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news

MDC National Chair Receives Standing Ovation at Labour Conference

SW Radio Africa
(London)
22 September 2008
Posted to the web 23 September 2008

Tichaona Sibanda

The British Labour party conference on Monday saw a standing ovation for
Lovemore Moyo, the national chairman of the Movement for Democratic Change.

Press reports said Moyo, who addressed the conference in Manchester with
British prime minister Gordon Brown and foreign secretary David Miliband
looking on, thanked Brown for his 'personal commitment' in the struggle
against Zanu-PF.

'You spoke for us. We thank you for that,' he said to applause.

'There can be no finer example of what Britain can do in the world than your
support for democracy and human rights in Zimbabwe.'

The power-sharing deal reached last week between the MDC and Mugabe's
Zanu-PF is being seen as a landmark moment in the history of the country.
Even though many fear Mugabe will continue to oppress the MDC through
campaigns of violence and intimidation Moyo, the new parliamentary speaker,
was upbeat.

'It is not easy to fight a dictatorship through democratic means. I dare to
hope we have prevailed. Zimbabwe's struggle for freedom has been the story
of my life,' he continued.

'We look to our friends and comrades around the world... to help us rebuild
our institutions.'

Zim a deal at last, another African deal to subvert democracy

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Tuesday, 23 September 2008 11:04
Is the whole talk of a deal in Harare a reality or just another
hullabaloo that will surely come to prove to be worthy nothing? In the
meantime any deal that will calm down the whole senselessness is welcome,
especially to the suffering citizenry of that country, the tired sub-region,
the whole African continent and the entire global community. Those that have
been fast in passing their congratulations will better be cautioned to wait
for the total and comprehensive implementation of what was agreed on. No one
wants to see the perpetuation of the economic meltdown in that country,
least of all the Zimbabweans themselves, no one wants to see the
continuation of political instability, all people want to see a political
and economic complete turnaround for the better. It is the propensity of the
pugnacious ruling elite in that country to renege on its commitments that
should keep people cautious.

In contemporary sub Saharan Africa it should be worrying that
democracy is increasingly being subverted through power-sharing deals and
governments of national unity. All these are senseless machinations meant to
perpetuate the reign of rulers who have been rejected by their electorate.
Such developments are a negation of the optimisms that engulfed the sub
region in the early nineteen nineties when political analysts talked of
winds of change. This was the era marking the end of one-party states, the
none-violent unseating of independence parties and the embracing of
multi-party democracy. Power-sharing deals and governments of national unity
that are fast becoming a norm are a travesty of democracy meant to
propitiate the losers. They are an indelible blot on the African
Renaissance, they are retrogressive and they are sending a bad message to
the African citizenry that the ballot can not change governments. This
certainly true in the case of Zimbabwe where the leader of th  e then ruling
party stated it unambiguously that 'a pen can not be mightier than a gun'.
It is time the AU learns that there are governments who will do anything to
subvert the will of the people, and devise ways of making this habit
impossible and intolerable in the continent. The will of the people should
be seen to be respected; the people should be real masters of their fates -
we said the people shall govern, let then govern.

It will truly be seen as a done deal once the transitional authority
works tirelessly with total commitment, unfettered efforts to open the
political space for all citizens to have a say in what type of government,
governance they want. It will be recalled by all those who to took trouble
to understand the origins of the present crisis that it was the flawed
Lancaster House settlement that heralded today's mess. This is not to say
the British government or Tony Blair should shoulder the blame as Robert
Mugabe would like us believe. The blaming game is unwarranted, misplaced and
irresponsible. The settlement was flawed in that it only involved the
warring major parties, hammered and sealed without any room for approval by
the majority. It was accepted by many because they were war weary and needed
anything but peace. The South African experience teaches us that the
constitutional making processes should not be a prerogative of the mightiest
political players but of all parti  es.

It would be preposterous for the deal signatories to think the right
to constitution making process is solely theirs, they should be forewarned -
the people want a people driven constitution. This different from the
Lancaster House settlement and the aborted Zanu PF commission driven
process. A people driven process requires that all parties irrespective of
their following sit down and negotiate an acceptable constitution. This
process should not be delegated to the House of Parliament and the Senate
but rather these not so august institutions oversee that all citizens are
given equal opportunity to participate. It would be better if the
transitional authority calls a conference for a democratic alternative foe
Zimbabwe which shall negotiate a constitution which shall be put to the
citizens in a referendum.

The National Working People's Convention held in Harare on 26 to 28
February 1999 called on the writing of a people's constitution to be
initiated through a constitutional commission not based on
presidential/partisan appointment, but defined by and accountable to a
conference of representatives of elected, civil and other social groups.  It
further stated that such a constitution should provide clearly for basic
social, economic and civil rights; for the clear separation of powers
between the executive, judiciary and legislature; for the limitation of the
powers of the executive; for the such powers of parliament and the judiciary
that they are not subordinated to the executive and for such powers of the
electorate as to make parliament fully accountable to the people.

This outcome of the Convention held before the appearance of the MDC
on the political stage indicates clearly that the ordinary people know that
the plethora of difficulties they face are a direct result of flawed
constitution crafted by elites and latter doctored by the ruling party to
entrenched itself in power infinitely.  The MDC should demonstrate both
shrewdness and prudence in tackling this processes but move fast as this
will in whole determine the timeframe the country will take to recover. Any
other route will be marginalizing the people and as such will be still-born
as it would be viewed as another Lancaster House exercise or a Jonathan Moyo
joke of 2000.

However the country's crisis can not be seen as emanating solely from
the flawed Lancaster House settlement, it can also be traced to the flawed
electoral system that ensures the winner takes all. The country needs to
seriously consider the merits of a combination of the constituent and
proportional representation electoral system. Such a system ensures that all
votes cast matter, that there is no monolithic political party straddling
the land like a dinosaur colossus. The contemporary Electoral College is so
diverse in political thought that no two or three parties can truly
represent their will.

It can be safely argued that most votes cast for the MDC in the
parliamentary elections were anti Zanu PF votes, votes for change and the
only force that could be truly trusted to master enough votes to do that was
the MDC. These votes neither mean that the majority of them believe in the
election manifesto of the party nor that given a chance in a free and fair
election within a peaceful environment they will still vote for the same
party. The MDC has won the majority of votes in the previous two elections
because ordinary people need change from the Zanu PF misgovernance. With
Zanu PF it is obvious that stripped of its power of manipulation, rigging
and cohesion it will be reduced to insignificance in the next hustings
provided that a political environment conducive to a peaceful, free and fair
is ensured.

Although the finer details of the deal are known to the public it can
be guessed that there will be a mountain to climb for the signatories to
bring reprieve to the suffering masses of that country. People are still
skeptical of any form of a deal with a rogue regime that has brought them
untold misery and suffering. They remain perplexed by a deal that gives the
ruling party of tree decades 15 cabinet positions, retain the presidium
intact, giving the chairing of the cabinet to the man they so much detest.
The MDC should be confident that the deal will deliver a better life for the
majority or risk loosing the people's trust and loyality. Failure to win the
people's trust and loyality will have dire consequences for the country and
banish the MDC to the statistics of political once would-be's.

 Any deal with the rogue regime should be fully scrutinized to ensure
that it has sufficient checks and balances to avert the recurrence of
villainous acts of the past. It should have mechanisms that ensure the
inevitability of the total demise of the devil. Many are hoping that the MDC
fully understood what it was entering into, are praying that deal works, are
praying that the MDC emerges victorious and that this heralds the end of an
era of racial bigotry, ethnic polarization, political crimes, political
patronage and e4conomic meltdown. If Zanu PF manages to use the transitional
to resuscitate itself only to emerge more vicious and rotten, the blame
shall for good reasons go the MDC leadership.

There are certain landmarks that the MDC in the transitional authority
should aim to achieve with haste to test whether the deal could work, to
assure the citizenry that a new political era has final dawned and to assure
the global community that the country is a safe haven for investments. The
landmarks include the restoration of the stability of the country's economy;
the restoration of the rule of law; the revival of the judiciary system and
support of civil society institutions that are safeguards of democracy. All
of these are pre-requisites of socio-economic and political normalcy that
will make émigrés return, investors' confidence return and citizens feel
free to engage in re-developmental endeavors. None of them will be easy
feats in an acrimonious arrangement with the ruling elite.

The first is monetary stability, and as far as this and the economy is
concerned there is no doubt that the central bank is the biggest culprit, it
is responsible for the ever increasing hyperinflation that is now on world
record highs. Dealing with the problem of hyperinflation requires that the
country ditch the use of central banking, the history of the monetary system
shows that it is directly linked to central banking. The country's meltdown
has also shown that the bank can resist or hinder the demands of Mugabe for
more money from its printing machines. The fact that the presidium has been
retained intact for the entire period of transition envisaged makes the
assumption that their appetite will keep the bank's printing machines busy
unless it is abandoned.

 A scholarly argument for the abandoning of central banking has been
given by Steve Hanke from the Cato Institute's Centre for Global Liberty and
Prosperity in his essay   'Zimbabwe from Hyperinflation to Growth' dated
June 25 2008. The author argues that throughout the world hyperinflation has
always been associated with central banking or the direct issue of currency
by the government's treasury. Hanke reminds the reader that Zimbabwe has a
history of monetary systems that have proven to combat and avoid
hyperinflation; these are free banking, a system the country used
successfully from 1892 when the first bank was established and the currency
board which later replaced it in 1940.

Free banking is a system of competitive issue notes and other
liabilities by private banks with minimal regulation. A completely free
banking system has no central bank, no banker of last resort, no reserve
requirements, and no legal restrictions on bank portfolios, interest rates,
or branch banking.  An orthodoxy currency system relies entirely on the
market forces to determine the amount of notes and coins that the currency
board supplies. To prevent the outflow from bankrupting it, a commercial
bank holds reserves and banks must maintain sufficient reserves to enable
depositors to convert deposits into cash on demand and to withstand outflows
of reserves through the payment system.

 Although an orthodoxy currency board can not create reserves for
commercial banks at its own discretion, the money supply is quite elastic -
responsive to changes in demand - because the system can acquire foreign
reserves. The rules governing a currency board merely prevent it from
creating reserves for commercial banks in an inflationary manner, as a
central bank can. These monetary systems worked pretty well even in
Zimbabwe, and were ditched not because of problems they nurtured but because
of the desire of governments to make money out of central banking. Both
these monetary systems need to be considered to rid the country of this
scourge of hyperinflation in a speedy way and least painful way.

Another option is total or official dollarisation, this system is when
a country decides to fight inflation by using the US dollar or another
foreign currency alongside, or instead of the domestic currency. The country
is already unofficially dollarised as people use the US dollar, The South
African rand, the British pound sterling and the Botswana pula as stores of
value. Any of these currencies can be used in official dollarisation.
Dollarisation should be complete than the piecemeal actions of the RBZ of
introducing Foreign Exchange Licensed warehouses and shops.

 Many countries, bigger than Zimbabwe and with bigger and better
economies are currently using some of these options and are performing well.
As Karl Schiller, a former the German Minister of Economic affairs, put it:
"Stability is not everything, but without stability, everything is nothing".
It is too late and dangerous for the country to be patient with the RBZ in
the hope that it will work out some miracle and this is made worse by the
continued presence of Mugabe at State House.

The other landmark on the road to full recovery will be the
restoration of the rule of law. People have endured enough and for too long
under the dictatorship. Dictatorial repression manifested itself in the
brutal force of the psychopathic elements in the military since the early
days of liberation as they massacred ten of thousands of civilians
undercover of counter insurgency warfare. In the terrorism unleashed by the
intelligence services and other quasi-intelligence units, torture, maiming,
murders etc; the barbaric cohesion methods used by the pea-military units
established by the party for that sole reason and the partisan behaviors of
the police. It is therefore imperative that for the transitional authority
to reign in these elements of instability by retiring the military higher
echelons by whatever means possible, by dismantling the infrastructure of
the notorious intelligence and replacing it with an apolitical service; by a
complete disbanding of para-military an  d quasi-military units and
disarming the rogue war-veterans and de-politicization of the national
police service. Forget about their crimes during the period until the dust
settles, although this will be tough stuff t6o sell to the aggrieve
thousands who are yearning for nothing but justice. Any restoration of the
rule of law is intertwined with reformation of the battered judicial system.

Some, if not most of the country's judges, magistrates and prosecutors
have demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that they are Zanu-PF card
carrying members. This warrants they sacking and banishment from the system.
The country can welcome back those members of the judicial system that fell
out of favour with the ruling class and were ostracized as well as accept
applicants who are non-citizens to practice. Officers of the judicial
service should always prove incorruptible and exercise the awareness of the
importance of the separation of powers and be willing to sacrifice
everything to uphold such professional ethics.

This will not suffice to safeguard democracy unless civil society
institutions that were undermined or silenced by the regime are revived and
supported. Other civil society institutions that were never given thought of
by the ruling class should be encouraged to exist. Lawyers organizations,
students' organizations, religious human rights bodies and women's movements
should be encouraged to pursue their goals without state intimidation.

Lastly, congratulations should be given     to South Africa's
out-going President Mr. Thabo Vuyelwa Mbeki's steadfast belief that the
people of Zimbabwe were capable of sitting down and hammering an agreement
with empathetic outside assistance. Pessimists and doom-seers were using all
available opportunity to blame him for the continuing crisis as if he was a
regional demi-god. Some of these who were blaming the President suffer from
the same racial bigotry that Mugabe suffers from, as they were silent all
along until their kith and kin suffered what ordinary citizens had long been
enduring. Mr. Mbeki stood fast in his belief that megaphone4 diplomacy will
not work but rather make matters worse. The same congratulations should be
extended to the SADC heads of states that saw in Mr. Mbeki the commitment to
find a solution to that country's crisis and trusted him to deliver.

It is also critical that people should not undermine the influence of
those whose patience ran out on the obduracy of the Harare regime. These are
honourable men and women who include our own honourable I an Seretse Khama
the president of Botswana, the late president of Zambia Levy Mwanawasa, the
Prime Minister of Kenya Mr. Odinga who was forced into a similar deal that
disobeyed the will of the majority. Other notable people who voiced their
dislike of the regime include our Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu who had
to taste the wrath of the Mugabe when he was called 'an little embittered
bishop'; civil society formations in SADC; the Elder Statesmen Group
established by former president Nelson Mandela.     Their show of discontent
and disgust helped give strength and hope to the struggling masses of that
country.

A further worrying aspect of the new arrangement in that country is
the continued anti-colonial rhetoric directed against Britain and the US by
Mugabe. These people and their countries are the very people to which the
country ought to be enticing to come and invest to revive the economy. Such
rhetoric will not only annoy British and American citizens and keep their
investors at bay but will also indicate to intelligent Zimbabweans they the
deal is already doom to fail. Mugabe's rantings against so called erstwhile
colonial masters come when he wants to emphasis the country's sovereignty,
linking this to his chaotic and senseless destruction of the nation's
agrarian base. If surely the ruling party and its leader atone for the
destruction of a promising country such behavior would not be part of his
language at the signing of the agreement. The white Zimbabweans who were
driven out of their land without any compensation should somehow be part of
the settlement.

All sane African who have suffered the pain of land dispossession will
know that land should be regarded as a national asset and remain in state
ownership. This however does not mean all forms of redress need not be as
barbaric as witnessed north of Limpopo. The new government should seriously
consider giving these white citizens ownership through tradeable long term
leases that are backed by legal protection of individual rights. Individual
land ownership through tradeable long term leases backed by legal protection
of individual rights was also as outcome of the 1999 People's Convention.
The white farmers are Zimbabweans like everyone else, they are Africans like
every one else, and above all are human beings and children of God.

The deal is done, all and sundry should try and exercise caution
before celebrating and congratulating the signatories. Already the hawks in
the then ruling party are stubborn in realizing any of the critical
ministries to the winning parties and this shows their lukewarm attitude
towards ceding any powers. History has it that many agreements in politics
have proved not to be worth the paper they are written on.

 An old adage says a leopard never changes its spots, therefore
history will prove whether this applies to politics, but we know a leopard
can loose its bite. Let's hold our breath and pray that all developments in
Harare are for the good, for these people are not cursed.

By Fikile Motsamai, is a graduate of UCT and lived in Botswana, Zambia
and Zimbabwe in the 1970s to the 1980s.

The man still in the middle

http://www.zimbabwetoday.co.uk

What Mebki's resignation means to Zimbabwe

Thabo Mbeki may have resigned as President of South Africa, but here in
Zimbabwe he's still in place as the mediator between Zanu-PF and the MDC
factions, and sources say he's likely to stay there for the bitter
infighting still to come.

Although his authority has obviously diminished, Mbeki is widely credited
for bringing Robert Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai together at
least long enough to sign the power-sharing agreement last week. And many
believe his work has only just begun.

Implementation of the agreement is as far away as ever, with all sides
deadlocked over the distribution of key ministries. Zanu-PF spokesman
Patrick Chinamasa told me that Mbeki remains "the only person who will be
able to ensure the success of the agreement."

He laughed off suggestions that the South African be replaced by Botswana's
President Ian Khama, saying Khama is too young and inexperienced, and "to
have him would be a humiliation for Africa."

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) also appears to be
continuing to back Mebki in the job. Executive Secretary Tomas Salamao
pointed out that South Africa remains in the SADC chair, and that, acting on
its behalf, Mbeki has done "a commendable job".

Viewed from the wider, international perspective, many MDC people are glad
to see the end of Mbeki's presidency in South Africa, believing that his
obvious successor, Jacob Zuma, will be more sympathetic to their cause.

Yet there remain doubts about Zuma, with one analyst commenting: "Zuma is an
all-things-to-all-men politician. He can't be trusted."

And some Zanu-PF hardliners also welcome Mbeki's resignation. They believe
that even if he remains as mediator in Zimbabwe, they will find a breathing
space in which to regroup after what many see as the humiliation of Mugabe
in the signing of the power-sharing agreement.

So the struggle, confused and contradictory as it is, continues. Only one
thing remains sure. While the parties wrangle and squabble, our economy
continues to unravel, and our suffering increases.

Posted on Tuesday, 23 September 2008 at 09:31