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Movement For Democratic Change
Weekly Briefing Note
13 November 2002
For Further Information, Please Contact:
Nkanyiso Maqueda, Director of Information – 00263 91 248 570
BRUSSELS, Grace Kwinjeh – 0032 494 1 81 621
LONDON, James Littleton – 00 44 7771 501 401
Party News
MDC Celebrates Third Anniversary
Over 15,000 MDC supporters defied police/Zanu PF threats on Saturday to attend an MDC rally in Harare celebrating the party’s third anniversary. Addressing the crowd, a buoyant Morgan Tsvangirai warned of destabilising elements within the MDC and urged the party to unite behind a non-violent agenda; "Let us be alert and guard against such forces of division and retrogression. Watch out for those who in their quest for self-aggrandizement end up assisting Zanu PF to infiltrate and destroy our party…We seek no political retribution or vengeance against anybody…I am certainly not prepared to be the President of a state that leads people in acts of criminality".
Jongwe Autopsy
Following the announcements of the results of the police autopsy, the MDC issued a statement stating that the results do no absolve the Mugabe regime of Jongwe’s death, " The results of the police autopsy announced yesterday do not in anyway change our position that the illegitimate Mugabe regime is directly responsible for the death of Learnmore Jongwe".
Secretary General Calls for Hearing of Election Petition
MDC Secretary General, Welshman Ncube, has expressed his concerns at the continuing failure of the courts to set a date for the election petition challenging the results of the presidential election, " It is a universally recognised principle of (Zimbabwe) electoral law…that election petitions challenging elections have to be dealt with as a matter of urgency…This brings about finality in relation to the election themselves".
MDC To Take Legal Action Over Impounded Maize
MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai travelled to Beitbridge last Friday to meet with customs officials and discuss with them the 132 tonnes of maize purchased by the MDC that they have impounded. The intransigent position adopted by the customs officials, despite the fact that hundreds of thousands are facing starvation, means that the MDC has been left with no choice but to pursue the release of the maize through the courts.
Protests Against Mugabe On The Increase
Coffin Dumped Outside Zanu HQ
As a symbolic form of protest a group of activists dumped a coffin outside Zanu PF HQ with a note which read, ‘Murdered by Mugabe – Dedicated To All The Killed Revolutionaries’.
Student Leaders In Hiding
Police harassment has forced student leaders at the National University of Science and Technology to go into hiding after police raided the campus last Tuesday to break up a peaceful demonstration against the failed education policies of the Mugabe regime.
Police Attack Marchers
Police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd of over 1,000 NCA (National Constitutional Assembly) activists who were demonstrating in Harare last Saturday. Despite police threats the NCA plans to press ahead with a series of marches to protest against the current constitution. NCA organisers said they plan to hold marches every two weeks.
NCA Outwits Police
Police attempts to crush an NCA march in Bulawayo last Saturday failed miserably as NCA organisers cunningly mislead police and held the march away from the city centre where the police believed it would take place.
Food Crisis
Mugabe Starving Township Residents
At the Mufakose shopping centre in Harare scores of people who had turned up to purchase desperately needed food, were turned away by Zanu PF officials when they failed to show Zanu PF membership cards. This incident has been repeated in many other townships in Zimbabwe’s main cities, further strengthening the view that Mugabe is determined to starve the MDC into submission.
Grace Mugabe Hands Out Food Ahead of By-Election
It has been reported that Grace Mugabe is financing food handouts in the Kuwadzana constituency ahead of a by-election which is being held following the tragic death of former MDC MP and Spokesperson, Learnmore Jongwe. In what in what is yet another blatant example of ‘food for votes’, a team of Zanu PF women have been holding regular meetings at which a substantial amount of food is handed to those who turn up. However, similar to most places in Zimbabwe food is handed out on condition that people are able to produce a Zanu PF membership card.
Oxfam Argues for Ban to Be Lifted
Oxfam is appealing to the illegitimate Mugabe regime to lift a ban preventing it from distributing food aid provided by the World Food Programme. Both Oxfam and Save the Children have been banned by Mugabe from distributing food aid.
WFP Refuses to Return to Insiza
The World Food Programme has said that it will not resume food aid activities in Insiza (suspended just before the recent by-election) until the Mugabe regimes gives assurances that it will no longer manipulate food aid.
Zanu ‘Supporters’ Angered by Constant Lies
During the recent by-election in Hurungwe Zanu PF officials promised villagers drought relief if they voted for the Zanu PF candidate. Since the election the new Zanu PF MP, Phone Madiro, has ignored the villagers plight and there are no signs that efforts are being made to prevent starvation from setting in.
No Cash for Re-Settled Farmers
Food shortages are likely to be exacerbated by news that little money is being made available to assist newly re-settled farmers. Private sector companies and banks which pledged financial aid have not delivered on their promises. The problem has been compounded by news that the District Development Fund has no capacity to provide tillage to all the new farmers.
Courageous Archbishop Warns of Starvation
The Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, has launched a blistering attack on Mugabe and called on him to stand down. Ncube, on an official visit to Durban, has warned audiences that millions of people are on the verge of starvation in Zimbabwe as a direct result of Mugabe’s reckless polices.
International
International Monetary Fund
The IMF has warned that it is only a matter of time before Zimbabwe’s economy collapses. Gerry Johnson, the IMF’s representative to Zimbabwe said in a statement recently that the high level of economic mismanagement by the Mugabe regime is likely to plunge the country into a hyperinflationary spiral that would bring the economy to its knees. The IMF predicts inflation of 522% for next year.
EU/SADC
The head of the EU delegation for the EU/SADC summit, Denmark’s European Affairs Minister Bertel Haarder, has slammed the manipulation of food aid by the Mugabe regime, "They (Zanu PF) use our aid as a tool in the domestic fight against the opposition in order to survive and that is unacceptable".
The EU/SADC meeting in Maputo failed to issue a final communiqué as Ministers present were unable to agree on a final text.
The meeting scheduled for EU and SADC leaders in Lisbon next April is now in doubt as EU leaders have made it clear that they will oppose any attempts to permit entry to Zimbabwe representatives
General News
Fuel Runs Dry
Fuel supplies in Zimbabwe are running dry again with most petrol stations in Harare and other major cities informing customers that stocks are empty. The reappearance of the fuel crisis follows reports that the oil deal with Libya, announced in the Zanu PF press, may have collapsed. The Herald recently boasted that the Libyans had agreed to supply Zimbabwe with over US$360 million worth of fuel. What The Herald failed to mention is that the Mugabe regime does not have sufficient foreign currency to finance such a deal.
Statistics
In the last 32 months:
GDP has fallen 24%
Inflation has gone up to 135%
Currency value has dropped 96%
Arrears on foreign debt of US$3.4 billion have risen from 2% of GDP to 30%
Tourism earnings have fallen by 80%
Over 300,000 of a formal workforce of 1.3million have lost their jobs
Shortage of Bank Notes
Recent reports have indicated that Zimbabwe could be running short of bank notes. High inflation has significantly increased the demand for bank notes.
Zim Dollar Sinks
The Zimbabwe dollar has lost nearly half its value on the black market over the past three weeks, due primarily to the need of oil importers to pay off their foreign debts. On the black market, 1,800 zim dollars buys one US dollar. The official exchange rate is 55 to one US dollar. The dramatic collapse of the Zim dollar indicates that the economy could be on the verge of total meltdown.
Only Zanu PF Supporters to Get Land
Elliot Manyika, a prominent Minister in Mugabe’s regime, has warned that re-settled farmers will be evicted if they are not members of Zanu PF.
Comment
‘Food for votes’ has become Zanu PF’s most potent weapon during elections. Such a cynical exploitation of people’s suffering for political purposes had been ubiquitous during the recent local elections as well as the by-election in Insiza where Zanu PF officials had no shame in offering malnourished people food outside of most polling stations on the understanding that they would vote for the Zanu candidate.
The manipulation of food aid to secure political victories is in itself an admission by Zanu PF that state sponsored political violence alone cannot ensure a pre-determined outcome at the ballot box. ‘Food for votes’ is also an extension of Mugabe’s callous policy of exploiting the food crisis to punish perceived and actual opponents of his insidious regime. In Matabeleland in particular, there is increasing evidence that whole areas are being denied food aid because of their strong support for the MDC in recent elections.
As a party the MDC cannot sit back and watch its own supporters starve. We have a moral duty to act and this is why the party took the decision to start importing maize from South Africa, to be distributed by non-partisan organisations such as churches and NGOs. Yet again however, the Mugabe regime has attempted to block our efforts to try and assist in tackling the humanitarian crisis that is engulfing the country. The 130 tonnes of maize that we imported has been impounded by customs officials at Beitbridge, near the South African border. Such intransigence exposes once again Mugabe’s hollow rhetoric on tackling the food crisis. He has no real interest in addressing the unnecessary suffering of hundreds of thousands of ordinary Zimbabweans, he is merely interested in identifying how the food crisis can be manipulated to entrench his power base.
END
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