Friday, April 27, 2007
Cuban doctors arrive in Zim
Good for the people of Zimbabwe...wonder how many will disappear and end up in Miami?
Mugabe's critical collegues
First he had to silence Central Bank Governor Gomo...
His recent public pronouncements have reeked of heresy. To businessmen, to students, he talked of government corruption, incompetence and laziness. And as for the Mugabe gospel that Zimbabwe's appalling troubles can all be blamed on Tony Blair and the West - that, he said, was rubbish....
His recent public pronouncements have reeked of heresy. To businessmen, to students, he talked of government corruption, incompetence and laziness. And as for the Mugabe gospel that Zimbabwe's appalling troubles can all be blamed on Tony Blair and the West - that, he said, was rubbish....
Number two on the list of government figures needing correction was Attorney General Sobuza Gula-Ndebele. Gula-Ndebele has certainly made a grave error. He has attempted to prosecute a case of fraud involving Reward Marufu, who, as the brother of our First Lady, Grace Mugabe, is of course above the law.
Briefly: Marufu received his reward some years ago when he claimed US$70,000 from the War Victims Compensation Fund on the grounds that he was 100 per cent disabled, even though he was about as disabled as the average gazelle....
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007
Women protesters mistreated
Zimbabwe women's group: protesters stripped and jailed naked at 17:44 on April 22, 2007, EST.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Women arrested at a protest organized by a pro-democracy group were stripped of their clothes and jailed naked for hours, the group said Sunday, accusing police of violating Zimbabwe's traditional moral values.
Eighty-two members of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise group were arrested in the city of Bulawayo at the protest Thursday against power outages. Police said it was an illegal political demonstration.
Of those, 18 were stripped and jailed "the whole day in a state of undress," the group said Sunday.
"When two members of a support team attempted to bring food, they too were arrested," it said. The group were mostly mothers, who in the past have also clanged empty pots and pans on the streets to protest food shortages and sometimes hand out roses to make a political point.
The group said one 18-year-old supporter was beaten across the kidneys by police who later drove her into the bush, a common scare tactic, according to women's group leader, Jenni Williams....
Sunday, April 22, 2007
ZIm education
....Several of Zimbabwe's cash-strapped public schools have requested pupils to bring furniture from home. The education system is struggling under the weight of the country's seven-year-long political crisis.
Zimbabwe's school system was one of the best on the African continent after the country gained independence in 1980. Previously the government provided furniture and other necessities.
Government provision has faltered and the authorities have imposed a ceiling on fees to prevent schools from raising money to cover the cost of chairs and desks.
Dilapidation
Blackstone Primary School, a "whites-only" school before independence, is regarded as one of the top primary schools in the country. At first, it was one of the many schools that benefited from the strides the government made after independence in building new schools, libraries and providing learning materials.
But the school has lost its glitter after years of underfunding. Like all government schools, it lacks everything from textbooks to toilet paper. Infrastructure at schools is in a state of total dilapidation.
The Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe, one of two teachers' representative bodies in the country, said the fact that authorities require parents to provide chairs is testimony to the state of decay in most public schools. "It shows the extent of the chaos in the education sector," stated a representative.
Teachers have also been adversely affected. High levels of stress due to low wages are driving scores of them from the profession. Those that remain are spending their time selling sweets and other goods to supplement their meagre salaries instead of concentrating on their core business of teaching.
Zimbabwean teachers on average earn between Z$400 000 and Z$800 000 (between about R11 000 and R23 000). According to the government's Central Statistics Office, an average family of five people requires about Z$900 000 per month (or R25 000) for basic goods and services.
Farai Mpofu, a parent, believes it will be a "miracle" if Zimbabwe attains universal primary education by 2015, as per the United Nations's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
"Education in Zimbabwe is in a bad state. The standards have deteriorated alarmingly compared to 10 years ago. Because of the harsh economic environment, teachers are now selling sweets and knitting jerseys," said Mpofu.
"The education sector is losing highly qualified teachers to neighbouring countries. Kids at public schools are left with teachers who have no interest at all in the job because of low salaries," according to Mpofu.
'Near zero'
Alice Muchine, a primary-school teacher, described the state of primary education as "near zero". "It is all zero here. We have no resources. We want textbooks to help the children during reading time. We have no charts of instruction, or chalk, or syllabuses. We have nothing.
"Most of the parents can no longer pay fees for the kids. The Beam scheme only pays for the fees and not for books for the kids," said Muchine. The Basic Education Assistance Module (Beam) is need-based financial aid awarded by the government to orphans. It is limited to school fees and caters for 10 pupils per school....
Zimbabwe's school system was one of the best on the African continent after the country gained independence in 1980. Previously the government provided furniture and other necessities.
Government provision has faltered and the authorities have imposed a ceiling on fees to prevent schools from raising money to cover the cost of chairs and desks.
Dilapidation
Blackstone Primary School, a "whites-only" school before independence, is regarded as one of the top primary schools in the country. At first, it was one of the many schools that benefited from the strides the government made after independence in building new schools, libraries and providing learning materials.
But the school has lost its glitter after years of underfunding. Like all government schools, it lacks everything from textbooks to toilet paper. Infrastructure at schools is in a state of total dilapidation.
The Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe, one of two teachers' representative bodies in the country, said the fact that authorities require parents to provide chairs is testimony to the state of decay in most public schools. "It shows the extent of the chaos in the education sector," stated a representative.
Teachers have also been adversely affected. High levels of stress due to low wages are driving scores of them from the profession. Those that remain are spending their time selling sweets and other goods to supplement their meagre salaries instead of concentrating on their core business of teaching.
Zimbabwean teachers on average earn between Z$400 000 and Z$800 000 (between about R11 000 and R23 000). According to the government's Central Statistics Office, an average family of five people requires about Z$900 000 per month (or R25 000) for basic goods and services.
Farai Mpofu, a parent, believes it will be a "miracle" if Zimbabwe attains universal primary education by 2015, as per the United Nations's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
"Education in Zimbabwe is in a bad state. The standards have deteriorated alarmingly compared to 10 years ago. Because of the harsh economic environment, teachers are now selling sweets and knitting jerseys," said Mpofu.
"The education sector is losing highly qualified teachers to neighbouring countries. Kids at public schools are left with teachers who have no interest at all in the job because of low salaries," according to Mpofu.
'Near zero'
Alice Muchine, a primary-school teacher, described the state of primary education as "near zero". "It is all zero here. We have no resources. We want textbooks to help the children during reading time. We have no charts of instruction, or chalk, or syllabuses. We have nothing.
"Most of the parents can no longer pay fees for the kids. The Beam scheme only pays for the fees and not for books for the kids," said Muchine. The Basic Education Assistance Module (Beam) is need-based financial aid awarded by the government to orphans. It is limited to school fees and caters for 10 pupils per school....
Bush admin starts new approach for food aid
.....
It was here in Kansas City, at the 2005 food aid conference, that the Bush administration pushed for a fundamental change in food aid that would have diminished profits to domestic agribusiness and shipping companies. It proposed allowing a quarter of the Food for Peace budget to be used to buy food in poor countries near hunger crises, rather than buying only American-grown food that had to be shipped across oceans.
And Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns spoke at the conference on Wednesday to again make the administration’s case for the same idea, contending that such a policy would speed delivery, improve efficiency and save many lives.
Congress in each of the past two years killed the proposal, which was opposed by agribusiness and shipping interests who stood to lose business, even as it won support from liberal Democrats like Representatives Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Earl Blumenauer of Oregon — generally not a subset of lawmakers found in the president’s corner.
But there are signs that the frozen politics of the issue are beginning to thaw, especially as evidence of flaws in the current aid system mounts.
A Government Accountability Office report released on the eve of this conference described in stark detail a system rife with inefficiencies: the amount of food shipped over the past five years has fallen by half as shipping and other logistical costs have soared. Only a little more than a third of federal food aid spending actually buys food. The United States feeds about 70 million people a year now instead of the more than 100 million it fed five years ago.
And experts worry that the food aid budget will feed even fewer of the world’s 850 million hungry people as soaring demand for corn to make ethanol drives up the cost of that staple, a mainstay of food aid programs.
This year, some farm state lawmakers are for the first time considering backing a pilot program to test buying food overseas....Some researchers and advocates say it is time to rethink the American approach to fighting world hunger.
“Are we committed to eradicating hunger because it’s feasible, not terribly expensive and our moral obligation as the richest society in human history?” asked Christopher B. Barrett, a Cornell University economist and the co-author of “Food Aid After Fifty Years.” “Or are we just trying to placate a few agribusiness, shipping and NGO constituencies with a handout?” referring to nongovernmental organizations.
But some in Congress, as well as lobbyists for interest groups that benefit from food aid, warn that untying aid from requirements that the food be grown in America and mostly shipped on American-flagged vessels would shatter the political coalition that has sustained the program for decades and made the United States the world’s largest food aid donor. They also warn that cash sent to poor countries can be misused or stolen, and that a mismanaged program to buy food in poor countries could drive up food prices...
Clock ticking on SA mediation
The clock is ticking for Pretoria, whose mediation in Zimbabwe's political crisis is off to a sluggish start as looming elections leave little time to bring about results, according to analysts.
International hopes are pinned on President Thabo Mbeki's ability to initiate talks between President Robert Mugabe's ruling party and an opposition that he has set about brutally crushing over recent weeks.
However, with Mbeki's limited mandate to go where he and others have failed before, less than a year until Zimbabwe is expected to hold its elections and Mugabe as bullish as ever, many expect the process to be a lacklustre effort.
According to political analyst Moeletsi Mbeki South Africa's much-criticised policy of quiet diplomacy was a "do-nothing scenario".
"The government's response, I think, is to be seen to be trying to do something, but there is no threat to its own interest which makes it want to make a serious investment to bringing about change in Zimbabwe," said Mbeki of the South African Institute of International Affairs.
Two past mediation efforts, by president Mbeki and former Mozambican counterpart Joaquim Chissano, ended in stalemate, and yet again Mugabe seems unwilling and Mbeki unable to force the opposing sides to solve their problems.
When asked whether time was running out for South Africa, an expert in regional politics at Pretoria's University of South Africa, said: "Most certainly, they have got the mandate and they will try their best, but the prospects of success are unlikely."....
International hopes are pinned on President Thabo Mbeki's ability to initiate talks between President Robert Mugabe's ruling party and an opposition that he has set about brutally crushing over recent weeks.
However, with Mbeki's limited mandate to go where he and others have failed before, less than a year until Zimbabwe is expected to hold its elections and Mugabe as bullish as ever, many expect the process to be a lacklustre effort.
According to political analyst Moeletsi Mbeki South Africa's much-criticised policy of quiet diplomacy was a "do-nothing scenario".
"The government's response, I think, is to be seen to be trying to do something, but there is no threat to its own interest which makes it want to make a serious investment to bringing about change in Zimbabwe," said Mbeki of the South African Institute of International Affairs.
Two past mediation efforts, by president Mbeki and former Mozambican counterpart Joaquim Chissano, ended in stalemate, and yet again Mugabe seems unwilling and Mbeki unable to force the opposing sides to solve their problems.
When asked whether time was running out for South Africa, an expert in regional politics at Pretoria's University of South Africa, said: "Most certainly, they have got the mandate and they will try their best, but the prospects of success are unlikely."....
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Mugabe's death list
A new hit list of 300 opposition leaders and activists has been drawn up by President Mugabe's strongmen. The 300 are marked down for arrest, beatings and torture, with the top ten targeted for assassination.
The list, which I have seen, comes with a memo suggesting the killings should take place either during street protests or fake robberies and road accidents.
It is topped by Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), although interestingly an earlier version (right) did not include him. Also in the top ten are MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo Pius Ncube, trade union leader Wellington Chibhebhe, and Tsvangirai's deputy Thokozani Khuphe....
The memo states: "The top 10 are very dangerous individuals who should be attacked by unknown assailants in public places or their homes. They can also be shot by riot police during public upheavals that they always want to create."
To efficiently target people on the list, assistant police commissioner Mabunda will lead a team keeping activists under 24-hour surveillance.
State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa denied the list exists, saying it was the invention of opposition activists. "They are lying with your help," he told a reporter.....
Anglican bishops support Mugabe
HARARE, Zimbabwe – African Anglican bishops have issued a message to Zimbabweans that was broadly supportive of the government, sharply contrasting with an earlier call from Catholic leaders for President Robert Mugabe to step down. The 14 Anglican bishops blamed the worsening plight of poor Zimbabweans largely on Western economic sanctions.
An Anglican pastoral letter released to coincide with this week's independence celebrations acknowledged Zimbabwe's economic crisis “rendered the ordinary Zimbabwean unable to make ends meet.”
“So-called targeted sanctions aimed at the leadership of the country have affected the poor Zimbabweans who have borne the brunt of sanctions,” the bishops said after a meeting of the central African Episcopal Synod.
Western governments dispute that claim, arguing targeted sanctions on Zimbabwean assets abroad and travel restrictions only affect rulers and policymakers....
Investment and foreign loans to Zimbabwe have dried up in six years of political and economic turmoil following the often-violent seizures of thousands of white-owned farms that began in 2000....
Mbeki celebrates failure
...."....
But negotiations succeed because all parties are committed, are willing to give up something and take their national obligations with sincerity. So far we have only heard demands from the MDC. They are prepared for talks if Zanu PF delivers Mugabe; they want power sharing and are ready to grant Mugabe immunity for past crimes. Most important, they want a new constitution.
I ask myself today how it was possible for those bishops to have their reputations sullied by their closeness to Mugabe more than his cabinet ministers and other architects of government policies with whom the MDC now seeks to cut political deals. I thought the fight was more against an evil system than an individual? Will sadistic state agents who torture and beat up opposition supporters transform into angels over night just because Mugabe is gone and there is a new face at State House?
Curiously, nobody has solicited Zanu PF’s views on the Sadc initiative and Mbeki’s role as the peace broker. It is portrayed as the vanquished part and must surrender everything.
This to me is to approach the negotiation process in utter bad faith and there can be nothing better assured to fail. Mbeki could soon get frustrated if this is the environment in which he is expected to help. He will decide his time is being wasted and let Zimbabweans stew in their own juice.
Mugabe is not averse to that turn of events. He is remorseless and has become an implacable enemy. Some more bloodshed for him is a little balm to cool his path as the action enters the catastrophe. His fear is most likely that the MDC will act rationally and deny him a final demonstration of what he is capable of doing, if only to spite Tony Blair and George Bush. He already relishes the fact that he will outlive them in office.
As for the MDC, the truth of its situation is more sobering than the surrealistic interpretations about the improved stature of its leaders following the brutal police beatings of March 11.
In the international community, the injuries to opposition leaders and their supporters had no more than a Sharpville effect, emphasising at once Mugabe’s tyranny and the utter vulnerability of those fighting it. It provoked the usual condemnation and Mugabe told his critics to "go hang". He has innoculated himself against so-called international opinion.
Locally, what the beatings did was to temporarily relieve the MDC of the paralysing catatonia caused by the October 2005 rupture. There has been visible activity although there are no obvious indications of a meeting of minds in the leadership which Mbeki is demanding.
Mbeki must realise he is dealing with an opposition which overrates its bargaining power and an intransigent, arrogant old man who cannot contemplate life outside State House and sees next year’s election as his final showdown with the forces of imperialism. Failure by faction leaders in his party to openly challenge him only reinforces this belief in his indispensability.
In the end Mbeki’s success or failure rests on Zimbabwe’s political leaders putting the national interest before personal egos. There can be no outright winner as a party or at the personal level. It is Zimbabweans who must succeed or fail. Mbeki comes merely to facilitate a process and an outcome which ultimately must reflect the wishes of the people of Zimbabwe. Anything else is a foreign impost with no legitimacy, and Mbeki is alive to that fact....
But negotiations succeed because all parties are committed, are willing to give up something and take their national obligations with sincerity. So far we have only heard demands from the MDC. They are prepared for talks if Zanu PF delivers Mugabe; they want power sharing and are ready to grant Mugabe immunity for past crimes. Most important, they want a new constitution.
I ask myself today how it was possible for those bishops to have their reputations sullied by their closeness to Mugabe more than his cabinet ministers and other architects of government policies with whom the MDC now seeks to cut political deals. I thought the fight was more against an evil system than an individual? Will sadistic state agents who torture and beat up opposition supporters transform into angels over night just because Mugabe is gone and there is a new face at State House?
Curiously, nobody has solicited Zanu PF’s views on the Sadc initiative and Mbeki’s role as the peace broker. It is portrayed as the vanquished part and must surrender everything.
This to me is to approach the negotiation process in utter bad faith and there can be nothing better assured to fail. Mbeki could soon get frustrated if this is the environment in which he is expected to help. He will decide his time is being wasted and let Zimbabweans stew in their own juice.
Mugabe is not averse to that turn of events. He is remorseless and has become an implacable enemy. Some more bloodshed for him is a little balm to cool his path as the action enters the catastrophe. His fear is most likely that the MDC will act rationally and deny him a final demonstration of what he is capable of doing, if only to spite Tony Blair and George Bush. He already relishes the fact that he will outlive them in office.
As for the MDC, the truth of its situation is more sobering than the surrealistic interpretations about the improved stature of its leaders following the brutal police beatings of March 11.
In the international community, the injuries to opposition leaders and their supporters had no more than a Sharpville effect, emphasising at once Mugabe’s tyranny and the utter vulnerability of those fighting it. It provoked the usual condemnation and Mugabe told his critics to "go hang". He has innoculated himself against so-called international opinion.
Locally, what the beatings did was to temporarily relieve the MDC of the paralysing catatonia caused by the October 2005 rupture. There has been visible activity although there are no obvious indications of a meeting of minds in the leadership which Mbeki is demanding.
Mbeki must realise he is dealing with an opposition which overrates its bargaining power and an intransigent, arrogant old man who cannot contemplate life outside State House and sees next year’s election as his final showdown with the forces of imperialism. Failure by faction leaders in his party to openly challenge him only reinforces this belief in his indispensability.
In the end Mbeki’s success or failure rests on Zimbabwe’s political leaders putting the national interest before personal egos. There can be no outright winner as a party or at the personal level. It is Zimbabweans who must succeed or fail. Mbeki comes merely to facilitate a process and an outcome which ultimately must reflect the wishes of the people of Zimbabwe. Anything else is a foreign impost with no legitimacy, and Mbeki is alive to that fact....
Friday, April 20, 2007
WOZA leaders on the run while 83 activists arrested in Bulawayo
At least 83 activists were arrested in Bulawayo on Thursday when the pressure group Women of Zimbabwe Arise and Men of Zimbabwe Arise held sit-ins in eight local offices of the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority. At the time of broadcast WOZA leaders Jennie Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu were in a car chase with law and order police who wanted to arrest them.
Speaking on the phone Mahlangu said they were trying to deliver food to some of the activists who are detained at Harare Central Police Station when the police cornered them. She said: “They (police) said we should follow them into the Central. They are now chasing us because we drove away from them and we are on the run. As I speak now you can hear the car. They are behind us.”
As if it was from a scene from a movie, Williams could be heard screaming and shouting at someone in the background while Mahlangu hurriedly explained: “She is driving and I am talking to you although I am supposed to be the navigator! I am supposed to see what is happening behind that’s why I was trying not to talk to you but you insisted. So we might be arrested while talking to you.”
She added: “We don’t know where we are headed but we are getting the hell out of here. We are trying to lose these guys.”
Mahlangu alleged police Officers George Ngwenya and Tshuma from Bulawayo Law and Order Section were behind this vicious campaign.
WOZA reports that at least 9 of the 83 members arrested and taken to Tshabalala police station were brutalised. They are all still in police custody. Some of those arrested are being held at Bulawayo Central and Luveve Police Stations...
Reclaiming the legacy of the Liberation war
"... No single individual delivered us from bondage. It was a collective effort. Across the length and breath of this country and in neighbouring countries such as Zambia , Mozambique and Tanzania , our sons and daughters came together, with a single purpose- to free Zimbabwe . For the record; Yes, Robert Mugabe was part of the liberation war effort. He was involved in the nationalist struggle. However, in that war he was a spineless coward who could not even fire a pistol. To this day he does not even know how to return a soldier’s salute. Those who fought in that war can attest to this characterization. He was the lucky coward of the liberation war.
As matter of principle we have no problem with spineless wimps, neither do we fault lucky cowards. What becomes problematic is when such shameless morons then appropriate the entire liberation war legacy as theirs, to the exclusion of those who actually fought in that struggle. That is what offends us as Zimbabweans. We take strong exception to that. We fought for our country as a people and freed ourselves as a united collective. We want to put it on record today, on our Independence Day, that the people of Zimbabwe do not owe Robert Mugabe anything. We owe ourselves as a people. We were masters of our own destiny.
Furthermore, let us reflect on the basis and foundation of the liberation struggle. The war of liberation was an all-inclusive, anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist protracted armed struggle. The principles and values of that struggle included democracy, freedom, liberty, equality, universal suffrage, justice, equity, socio-economic justice, and prosperity. When we look at the state of our nation today, the question is: Have we achieved these aspirations? The unequivocal response is NO. ...
Maybe because of the marxist groups who terrorized innocent people were allowed to run the government, instead of marginalizing them.
That is the dirty lesson of all "liberation wars".
As matter of principle we have no problem with spineless wimps, neither do we fault lucky cowards. What becomes problematic is when such shameless morons then appropriate the entire liberation war legacy as theirs, to the exclusion of those who actually fought in that struggle. That is what offends us as Zimbabweans. We take strong exception to that. We fought for our country as a people and freed ourselves as a united collective. We want to put it on record today, on our Independence Day, that the people of Zimbabwe do not owe Robert Mugabe anything. We owe ourselves as a people. We were masters of our own destiny.
Furthermore, let us reflect on the basis and foundation of the liberation struggle. The war of liberation was an all-inclusive, anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist protracted armed struggle. The principles and values of that struggle included democracy, freedom, liberty, equality, universal suffrage, justice, equity, socio-economic justice, and prosperity. When we look at the state of our nation today, the question is: Have we achieved these aspirations? The unequivocal response is NO. ...
Maybe because of the marxist groups who terrorized innocent people were allowed to run the government, instead of marginalizing them.
That is the dirty lesson of all "liberation wars".
Zimbabwe is at the crossroads where to advance forward requires nation builders, visionaries, statesmen and stateswomen; those skilled in the art of crafting states. Statecraft speaks to the expertise and wisdom in the effective management of public affairs. We refer here to leaders in the genre of Lee Quan Yew of Singapore, Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia, Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia, Indira Gandhi of India, Angela Merkel of Germany, Ernesto Che Guevara in Cuba, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. These were (are) men and women of immense talent, resolve, vision, and strategy. More importantly they were (are) masters of the art of execution and implementation.
Nation builders are able to unite and mobilize people for a national cause. They channel national energy and synergy towards the growth and development of a country. Unfortunately, Robert Mugabe does not belong to this group of nation builders. Great and significant leaders go beyond the limited scope of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs that ends with self-actualization. They thrive to self-transcend, go beyond self and leave a legacy. Presumably, Mugabe’s favorite political text is that classic by Machiavelli, The Prince, where it is argued that the prince (leader) must pursue, obtain, and maintain power at any cost. However, Machiavelli also wrote a second book; The Discourses, where it is explained that the prince (leader) must also care about his legacy and judgment by history. This means the prince (leader) must be a state crafter. I guess our learned President has not read this insightful text, or if he did come across it, he never understood its import. What a shame.
The skills required for nation building are very different from those required to fight colonialism and imperialism. A new generation of leaders is required to take our country to the next level. The time has come to pass the baton from liberation struggle leaders to globalization savvy nation builders. The issues of technocratic capacity and technical solutions have never been more critical. Zimbabwe needs accomplished business practitioners, business thought leaders, management and economic thinkers, financial engineers, public policy thinkers, master entrepreneurs, technologists and scientists to drive our economy. Zimbabwe must become a globally competitive economy that rivals such nations like Singapore , Malaysia and Japan . We need creative dreamers and parallel thinkers who do not fear globalization, but rather thrive on chaos and uncertainty. Only freedom can allow our citizens to attain their full potential and take our nation forward.
Opposition leaders call for Mugabe to leave
....
Daniel Moyo | 16 Apr 2007
World Politics Watch Exclusive
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe -- At a meeting held in a Catholic church here Saturday, dissident and Christian leaders from Zimbabwe and around Africa called for the removal of Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's 83-year-old president, and urged the country's people to unite and fight for their rights.
The prayer meeting was organized by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign, a coalition of churches, students, labor groups and opposition political parties that is fighting for democracy in Zimbabwe....
Saturday's prayer meeting, which was attended by more than 1,000 people, including opposition politicians , civic leaders and clergymen from Malawi and South Africa, went ahead without any incident despite earlier fears that police would disrupt proceedings.
At the meeting, Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube accused Mugabe of lacking sympathy for suffering Zimbabweans, saying he should be peacefully removed from power.
"This leadership has lost its focus and every aspect of the economy has gone down due to a lack of care by the leadership," said Ncube. "The bread and butter issues that they were elected for have also deteriorated. The health system and education sector have all also declined due to mismanagement of the country by the ruling elite. As churches, we should all unite and remove these unjust leaders from further ruining our country." ...
Speaker after speaker, including the MDC's Thokozani Khupe, ZAPU-FP leader Paul Siwela and other civic leaders, took a swipe at Mugabe for bringing down the country's once strong economy through mismanagement and corruption.
...
Daniel Moyo | 16 Apr 2007
World Politics Watch Exclusive
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe -- At a meeting held in a Catholic church here Saturday, dissident and Christian leaders from Zimbabwe and around Africa called for the removal of Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's 83-year-old president, and urged the country's people to unite and fight for their rights.
The prayer meeting was organized by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign, a coalition of churches, students, labor groups and opposition political parties that is fighting for democracy in Zimbabwe....
Saturday's prayer meeting, which was attended by more than 1,000 people, including opposition politicians , civic leaders and clergymen from Malawi and South Africa, went ahead without any incident despite earlier fears that police would disrupt proceedings.
At the meeting, Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube accused Mugabe of lacking sympathy for suffering Zimbabweans, saying he should be peacefully removed from power.
"This leadership has lost its focus and every aspect of the economy has gone down due to a lack of care by the leadership," said Ncube. "The bread and butter issues that they were elected for have also deteriorated. The health system and education sector have all also declined due to mismanagement of the country by the ruling elite. As churches, we should all unite and remove these unjust leaders from further ruining our country." ...
Speaker after speaker, including the MDC's Thokozani Khupe, ZAPU-FP leader Paul Siwela and other civic leaders, took a swipe at Mugabe for bringing down the country's once strong economy through mismanagement and corruption.
...
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Tide of Zimbabwe refugees flows
"...
The growing tide of refugees – and particularly torture victims like Ms. Magwegwe – raises uncomfortable questions for a South African government that came to power in the name of human rights but that has refused to criticize its hard-line neighbor, led by President Robert Mugabe. But as South African President Thabo Mbeki takes criticism for his "quiet diplomacy," hopes are being raised that Zimbabwe's government may finally be ready to talk with the opposition and that Mr. Mbeki's bid to mediate a political solution between Mr. Mugabe and the opposition will bear fruit.
"The South African government recognizes that the flood of refugees along their quite open border will occur, unless there is a political solution inside Zimbabwe," says Chris Maroleng, an expert on Zimbabwe for the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria (now known as Tshwane.) "But the problem for South Africa is that if they make provisions to allow Zimbabwe refugees in, they have to make a statement of why they are doing that, to criticize the Mugabe regime." That, he says, would scuttle Mbeki's chances of negotiating a settlement between the government and the opposition.
"The problem with the South African government is that it cannot effectively communicate their policy," says Mr. Maroleng. "It always ends up looking like the ... government supports Mugabe."...
Sikhumbuzo Ndiweni, a retired Zimbabwe Defense forces lieutenant colonel and political analyst, says that the Western countries have unintentionally made the human rights situation worse in Zimbabwe by harping on the need for Mugabe to step aside.
"There's no road map," he complains. "You expect Mbeki to say, 'I support you,' but they have no idea how to achieve the new dispensation. If you don't have a road map, and if you haven't helped the opposition come up with a strategy over the long term, then five weeks later, there will be a coup, and the ruling party will all come back again."
Yet rights activists inside Zimbabwe and outside have kept up the drumbeat, calling on the world to keep up pressure on the Mugabe regime to step aside.
In their Easter joint statement, the Roman Catholic bishops of Zimbabwe wrote, "Many people in Zimbabwe are angry, and their anger is now erupting into open revolt in one township after another.... In order to avoid further bloodshed and avert a mass uprising, the nation needs a new people-driven constitution that will guide a democratic leadership chosen in free and fair elections."
But for many Zimbabwean political activists, the only solution has been to flee...
Why some people support Mugabe
...It is true that there is chaos in Zimbabwe
Mugabe’s rule has been manna from heaven for his officials, those in the security services and those reporters and editors of state newspapers that is Herald, Chronicle, Sundaymail, Sunday news and ZBC both radio and TV. ...
As we speak the Zimbabwean dollar is trading at $16000 to the
Mugabe ban to stop food aid
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- April 19, 2007
ZIMBABWE has cancelled the licences of all aid groups, accusing them of working with the opposition to oust President Robert Mugabe, sparking fears the ban could cut food supplies to hundreds of thousands of people in the nation dependent on handouts.
Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said that all non-governmental organisations had been deregistered and would have to reapply for permits, reports said yesterday.
Dr Ndlovu said the authorities wanted to identify groups working with "agents of imperialism" to overthrow Mr Mugabe, who is facing growing resistance from Zimbabweans impoverished by his 27-year stranglehold on power, The Times reported.
"Pro-opposition and Western organisations masquerading as relief agencies continue to mushroom, and the Government has annulled the registration of all NGOs in order to screen out agents of imperialism from organisations working to uplift the wellbeing of the poor," Dr Ndlovu said.
The news shocked the local NGO community, stoking fears that the ban could stop desperately needed food aid reaching the country, the newspaper said. More than 1000 aid groups operate in Zimbabwe.
Six years of poor harvests after Mr Mugabe began his chaotic program of white land seizures in 2000 have left hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans dependent on handouts, mainly from foreign-funded NGOs. Last month alone, 1.5 million Zimbabweans were given food aid by the UN World Food Program, which uses local NGOs to distribute supplies.
Analysts told the paper the cancellation of NGO licences was linked to the hasty rescheduling of parliamentary and presidential elections to early next year....
With the elections coming the Mugabe Government has to stop NGOs from distributing food. Then it can use food as a political weapon to garner support," Dr Makumbe said.
Lovemore Madhuku, a prominent rights campaigner and chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly, said of the NGO ban: "It's obvious. It's to intimidate the population.".....
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Zim doctors concerned over police assaults
... Harare/Johannesburg- An independent doctors' group in Zimbabwe expressed deep concern Monday over the growing number of people admitted to hospital with injuries allegedly inflicted by the police and state agents. "We have witnessed an increase in the number of persons presenting with injuries reportedly sustained from assault and torture inflicted during the course of arrest, during raids on the victims' homes and while in police custody," said the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR).
The association said in a statement it was deeply concerned at the level of force being used in the arrest of opposition and civic rights activists since the start of a crackdown on March 11.
Six people had received gunshot wounds, including activist Gift Tandare who was shot dead by police on March 11, it said.
Forty-nine people had required hospitalization for injuries sustained at the hands of police over the past month, while 175 others had been taken to hospital and discharged, the group added.
More than 180 of the victims had received moderate to severe soft tissue injuries, the doctors said.
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai was among dozens of activists arrested and severely assaulted by police on March 11 as they tried to hold a prayer rally in Harare's Highfield district.
The authorities in Zimbabwe have continued to arrest opposition officials and activists including MDC MP Paul Madzore and national executive committee member Ian Makone....
In one incident condemned by ZADHR eight opposition activists were dragged back to police cells from a Harare hospital where the court had ordered them to seek treatment for injuries inflicted by the police.
....
The association said in a statement it was deeply concerned at the level of force being used in the arrest of opposition and civic rights activists since the start of a crackdown on March 11.
Six people had received gunshot wounds, including activist Gift Tandare who was shot dead by police on March 11, it said.
Forty-nine people had required hospitalization for injuries sustained at the hands of police over the past month, while 175 others had been taken to hospital and discharged, the group added.
More than 180 of the victims had received moderate to severe soft tissue injuries, the doctors said.
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai was among dozens of activists arrested and severely assaulted by police on March 11 as they tried to hold a prayer rally in Harare's Highfield district.
The authorities in Zimbabwe have continued to arrest opposition officials and activists including MDC MP Paul Madzore and national executive committee member Ian Makone....
In one incident condemned by ZADHR eight opposition activists were dragged back to police cells from a Harare hospital where the court had ordered them to seek treatment for injuries inflicted by the police.
....
Zim economic crisis spoils freedom day party
"....Mugabe, 83, was cheered by about 30,000 supporters of his ruling ZANU-PF party at the birthday bash held at a stadium outside Harare, with an airforce fly-by and military marches underscoring the might of his government....
"Our birthright, Our Sovereignty" read one placard waved at the rally, while others denounced Mugabe's Western critics and pledged to unswerving loyalty to the 83-year-old leader.
Critics accuse Mugabe, Zimbabwe's sole ruler since independence from Britain in 1980, of plunging the southern African state into crisis through policies such as the seizure of white-owned farms to resettle blacks.
But Mugabe says the disaster -- which has left the country with the highest inflation rate in the world and a rapidly shrinking economy -- is a result of economic sanctions imposed by the West.
On Tuesday, Mugabe said he had beaten off an attempt by "evildoers" to unseat him and urged people to be patient as his government battled the economic crisis....
Zim celebrates 25 years of independence
Zimbabwe marks the 27th anniversary of its independence from Britain today.
President Robert Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980, is expected to deliver a speech in the capital Harare, while smaller gatherings will be held at provincial towns across the country.
Reports say the celebrations will be muted due to ongoing political tension and an economic meltdown which has seen an unemployment rate of 80% with inflation nearing 2,000%....
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