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Archived News
22nd November 2001
Court clears way for Mugabe opponent
Another opposition leader arrested
Govt gets tough on terrorism
Police crush Zimbabwe election protest
Six ministers in Zimbabwe cabinet 'treated for Aids'
Why Mugabe won't withdraw from the Congo
Harare limits farm sizes
Mugabe could fuel violence
Come clean, comrades
SA needs a tougher policy to bring Zimbabwe to heel
Police escort for mob in Bulawayo rampage
More arrests in Nkala's murder case
Zimbabwe suspends human rights teaching
Discontent simmers in Zanu PF over Mugabe
Zimbabwe opposition chief fears death plot
Man arrested over Zanu PF death
US recalls Peace Corps
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From BBC News, 20 November
Court clears way for Mugabe opponent
Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has declared he will run in presidential elections next year after the country's supreme court cleared him of charges of terrorism and sabotage. In an interview with the BBC, Mr Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), greeted the court's ruling that the charges contravened sections of the constitution as a "welcome relief". If Mr Tsvangirai had been convicted and forced to serve a jail sentence, he could have been prevented from standing in next year's elections. He confirmed that he would now be seeking to end the 21-year rule of President Robert Mugabe in next year's elections. The court decision will be welcomed by government critics who fear that intimidation and a series of new appointments have swung the judiciary behind the government. The Supreme Court found unanimously that the charges contravened the section of the constitution stating that a person charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proven or pleaded guilty. The charges related to a speech Mr Tsvangirai made at an MDC rally last September, in which he said Mr Mugabe could be removed from office by violent means if he did not go peacefully. Mr Tsvangirai later withdrew his statement. He had described the charges as politically motivated.
According to Reuters news agency, the judges agreed by a four to one majority that the charges also contravened section 20 of the constitution that guarantees freedom of expression. Zimbabwe's judges have frequently ruled against Mr Mugabe in the past, earning them the wrath of the authorities. But four judges were forced to resign this year and several new appointments were seen as sympathetic to Mr Mugabe's Zanu PF party. The ruling on Mr Tsvangirai is one of the first politically sensitive decisions to have been made in the wake of the new appointments. It will go some way to allaying fears that the judiciary has finally bowed to government threats and insults. Despite the ruling, Mr Tsvangirai said that the Zimbabwean judiciary still had to prove its credibility as an independent body. Zimbabwe's most senior judge, Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay, was forced to resign earlier this year after he was told his safety could no longer be guaranteed. Mr Gubbay, who is white, was also accused of being a "colonial relic". He was replaced in March by Godfrey Chidyausiku, a former deputy minister in Mr Mugabe's cabinet.
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From News24 (SA), 20 November
Another opposition leader arrested
Harare - Police in Zimbabwe have arrested an opposition member of parliament on charges of kidnapping and assault, the state-run Herald newspaper reported on Tuesday. Moses Mzila Ncube, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) MP for Bulilimamangwe North, is the second opposition MP to be arrested in a week, following Friday's arrest of Fletcher Dulini-Ncube on murder charges. Dulini-Ncube, MDC deputy for Lobengula-Magwegwe, was charged with murdering war veteran leader and ruling party supporter Cain Nkala. Nkala's decomposing body was found outside Bulawayo last week, more than a week after he was abducted by armed assailants. The ruling Zanu PF has accused the MDC of being behind the abduction and murder.
Explaining the latest arrest, the Herald said on Tuesday that Moses Ncube was privy to an incident in which MDC youths at the weekend forced a Bulwayo man, Ndabezinhle Moyo, to "confess" that the country's spy agency, the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), killed Nkala. The youths had invited reporters from the independent Daily News newspaper to record the "confession", the Herald claimed. Two journalists from the Daily News were arrested on Saturday and released late on Monday without charges. Nkala's murder sparked retaliatory attacks against the opposition, including the burning down of their Bulawayo offices, which the MDC claims was petrol-bombed by ruling party supporters.
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From News24 (SA), 22 November
Govt gets tough on terrorism
Harare - The Zimbabwean government is proposing stiff new measures to combat terrorism that would impose a possible death sentence on acts of insurgency, the state-owned Herald said on Wednesday. The Public Order and Security Bill (POSB) has been approved by government but still has to be tabled before parliament, the paper reported. Under the proposed new measures jail sentences and fines could be imposed on anyone, including journalists who "undermine the authority of the president" or "engender hostility" towards him. The proposed law says it is illegal to overthrow the government through acts of "insurgency, banditry, sabotage and terrorism" which are punishable by life imprisonment or death.
The proposed bill, which is set to replace a colonial and notorious Law and Order Maintenance Act (LOMA) comes at a time when government is accusing the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of committing acts of terrorism against ruling party supporters. In a highly publicised case, the government of President Robert Mugabe has blamed the MDC for the death of a war veteran leader, Cain Nkala, who was abducted from his home in southwestern Zimbabwe. His body was found last week in a shallow grave. The MDC denies the charges, blaming the murder on infighting among the veterans of the country's war of liberation.
The POSB was initially introduced in 1997 and passed by a Zanu PF dominated parliament, but Mugabe reportedly vetoed the bill in 1999 for not being tough enough on the media. If signed into law by the country's current 150-member parliament - which now includes 56 opposition legislators - the POSB will replace the current Loma which rights activists have wanted to see repealed. Loma was introduced by former colonial governments to suppress black nationalism. Although civic society were invited to contribute to formulating the POSB, they say the final draft is as equally draconian as Loma. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Tuesday won a case in the country's Supreme Court after two sections of the Loma under which he was being charged were struck down as unconstitutional.
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 22 November
Police crush Zimbabwe election protest
Harare - Armed riot police crushed a protest by civil rights activists in Harare yesterday minutes after they began a march towards parliament. The police outnumbered about 100 nervous protesters, demonstrating against an amendment to Zimbabwe's Electoral Act which critics say will favour President Robert Mugabe in next year's election. As the civil rights activists approached parliament, chanting slogans about dictatorship and corruption, hundreds more who wanted to join the protest gathered in the city centre park. They too took cover as police swarmed over the city, maintaining patrols around roads leading to parliament long after the protesters had fled. Organisers of the march, the National Constitutional Assembly, said they did not apply for police permission to hold the demonstration because this infringed their civil rights. On Tuesday, scores of so-called war veterans and government supporters demonstrated against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change outside parliament. Amendments to election laws will mean hundreds of thousands of first-time voters who do not own property or have no legal proof of residence, will be disqualified. Tens of thousands of farm workers, who lost their homes and jobs when Mr Mugabe's supporters forced them or their white employers off commercial farms in the past four months, will also be excluded from the voters' roll. At least a million potential voters working in South Africa will also not be allowed to vote because they will now have to prove they were resident in Zimbabwe for six months prior to presidential elections which must be held before March 17 next year.
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From The Independent (UK), 22 November
Six ministers in Zimbabwe cabinet 'treated for Aids'
Harare - Six of President Robert Mugabe's 22 cabinet ministers have Aids, the director of a Zimbabwean non-governmental Aids organisation has claimed. Frank Guni, the head of Zimbabwe National Network for People Living with HIV/Aids (ZNNP), is reported to have said the ministers were among 500 patients on anti-retroviral drugs to treat HIV, which his group provides free. He would not divulge the names of the ministers for ethical and professional reasons. Mr Mugabe has never publicly acknowledged that any ministers have the disease, although Zimbabwe has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in the world.
Dr Guni told the independent newspaper, The Financial Gazette: "If one of the ministers was to come out and say they had Aids, it would make a great difference to the nation because people would start to realise that the disease is not only for the poor, but can also affect the rich and powerful." Aids lobbyists agree it would help Zimbabwe's war against the virus if the ministers were to go public about their status. Solomon Mutetwa, a doctor and health analyst, said: "It will help a lot of ordinary people because they will know that you can continue with life even at that high level with the disease." He added that this would encourage people to go for HIV testing.
Norman Nyazema, a leading Zimbabwean researcher on HIV and Aids, said that the cabinet ministers could help to remove the stigma attached to the disease if they were to go public. He said they could use any such announcement as an opportunity to tell Zimbabweans how the epidemic was devastating government departments and the army. Mr Mugabe is considering declaring the Aids epidemic a national disaster "within weeks", The Financial Gazette has reported. Aids, which was first detected in Zimbabwe in the early 1980s, is killing more than 2,000 Zimbabweans a week. The World Health Organisation believes one in every four Zimbabweans maybe infected with HIV. Medical experts have been urging Zimbabwe to declare the epidemic a national disaster. If that happened, an international appeal could be launched for funds to increase awareness, improve care and help to pay for essential drugs including anti-retrovirals at a cheaper price.
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From ZWNEWS, 22 November
Why Mugabe won't withdraw from the Congo
Earlier this year, the United Nations Security Council released a report on the illegal exploitation of the natural resources of the Congo. That first report was widely criticised for concentrating almost entirely on the commercial activities of Rwanda and Uganda in the DRC, while ignoring similar activities by Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola. Two days ago, the UN Security Council released an addendum to the initial report, which corrects the imbalance in the initial report. The report singles out Zimbabwe as the major illegal exploiter of the resources of the DRC. It also comes to the conclusion that Zimbabwe, and others, have been actively prolonging the conflict in the Congo in order to justify their military presence there, and so maximise the personal profits accruing to top government and military officials. The report details the who, where, when and how of Zimbabwe's involvement in the Congo.
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From BBC News, 19 November
Harare limits farm sizes
The Zimbabwean Government has announced maximum sizes for commercial farms, and says that any farm which exceeds the limit will be sub-divided into smaller plots. The new regulations apply to those remaining white-owned farms which have not already been listed for government seizure. The government says that in rich, arable farming areas, no property can exceed 250 hectares (2.5 sq.km). And on poorer land used for cattle ranching, the limit is now 2,000 hectares (20 sq.km). Agriculture Minister Joseph Made said the new maximum size regulations have been introduced with immediate effect. Many white farmers own farms of several thousand acres in size.
The government says that much of the land owned by white farmers is not being effectively used. But economists warn that the new regulations - if enforced - would destroy the viability of some of Zimbabwe's most productive farms. The move comes a week after President Mugabe passed a decree, amending the country's Land Acquisition Act so that white farmers could be forced off their land with immediate effect. Effectively it means that farmers who have been issued with acquisition orders by the government will have to stop farming immediately and remain confined to their houses, which they will have to vacate after three months. Zimbabwe's economy is already in crisis, blamed largely on President Mugabe's land-reform programme. On Sunday, President Robert Mugabe described the main opposition party and white farmers as terrorists, and said the British Government have been funding terrorism in Zimbabwe. Britain says the accusation is absurd.
On Friday, gangs of government supporters ran through the streets of the second city, Bulawayo, setting fire to buildings and attacking people after a ruling party militant was killed. Police have confirmed the arrest of two journalists accused of taking part in a plot to link the government to the assassination of Cain Nkala. The two journalists, from the only independent daily newspaper in the country, the Daily News, were arrested in Bulawayo on Sunday on charges of kidnapping and torture. The Daily News says the reporters were arrested to prevent them from publishing an interview with a member of the main opposition party - the Movement for Democratic Change - with details about the death of Mr Nkala. Sixteen opposition activists and a member of parliament for the opposition party have been detained since the body of Mr Nkala was found last Tuesday.
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From Business Day (SA), 20 November
Mugabe could fuel violence
Message recalls a warning he gave his main rivals in the 1980s
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's warning that he will crush the opposition for plotting against his government is likely to see a rise in political violence before elections next year, analysts said yesterday. But the increasingly unpredictable Zimbabwean leader could also ban the opposition or jail its leadership under sweeping presidential powers if he still felt vulnerable, they said. In a chilling verbal attack on his foes at the funeral of a slain war-veterans leader on Sunday, Mugabe said the opposition Movement for Democratic Change's days were numbered. He did not elaborate, but political analysts said Mugabe's message recalled a warning he gave his main rivals in the 1980s.
After that warning, his ruling Zanu PF party embarked on an orgy of violence in Joshua Nkomo's opposition stronghold which left thousands dead and effectively crushed Nkomo's ZAPU party. The analysts said Mugabe's militant supporters are likely to step up a campaign to cripple Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC before presidential polls due by April, and the government could ban the MDC if violence, intimidation and imprisonment fails seriously to weaken the party. "I don't think there should be any question about whether Mugabe will crush the opposition because he has done it before, and has been trying to do it in the past year," said Elphas Mukonoweshuro, an analyst at the University of Zimbabwe.
Events in the southern African nation are worrying outsiders, including Amara Essy, the Secretary General of the Organisation of African Unity, who expressed concern yesterday that events in Zimbabwe could harm moves towards an African Union. Mugabe accused British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday of cofunding what he called a "terrorist plot" against his government and vowed to crush the opposition. Chenjerai Hove, a leading Zimbabwean political and social commentator, said Mugabe could consider mass detentions, and bannings because the MDC has remained strong despite a 22-month-old campaign of violence. Tsvangirai who is expected to give Mugabe the stiffest challenge of his career in the presidential elections says the MDC will not boycott the elections whatever the obstacles. MDC Secretary-General Welshman Ncube said: "We know that they are going to try everything, including assassinating our leadership, but our belief is that the people of Zimbabwe are not going to allow them to succeed in any devious programme."
Zanu PF chief spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira said yesterday Mugabe's speech was clear and needed no interpretation. At least 31 people, most of them opposition supporters, were killed in violence before the June 2000 parliamentary election in which the MDC won 57 of the 120 contested seats. MDC leader Tsvangirai warned on Friday of possible civil unrest across the country after Zanu PF militants burned down his party offices in Bulawayo and his supporters torched a college owned by a senior Zanu PF official in retaliation. Mugabe plunged Zimbabwe into a severe economic crisis last year when he allowed militants to invaded whiteowned farms in support of his land seizure drive.
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Comment from The Zimbabwe Standard, 18 November
Come clean, comrades
If ever the government and the ruling party's dirty tricks department had difficulty in peddling a theory to the public, they really must be sweating over the Cain Nkala murder saga. So botched up has been the whole plan that, even with the concerted and spirited assistance of the state-owned media, the CIO, war veterans, and the police itself, the state found it increasingly difficult as the week wore on to convince Zimbabweans that Nkala had met his fate at the hands of anyone other than functionaries of the ruling party, and no one else. In short, his murder was a Zanu PF inside job.
Even the most cursory assessment of the case points to the firm conclusion that Zanu PF would have, and has, more reasons for eliminating a man who a day later was due to give key evidence in the murder of Patrick Nabanyama, Bulawayo South MP David Coltart's election agent who was abducted just before last year's June parliamentary elections, and who is now presumed dead. As is more fully argued elsewhere in this issue, Nkala represented no threat whatsoever to the Movement for Democratic Change, and in fact was part of the team that had failed dismally in its campaign for Zanu PF in recent council and mayoral elections held in Matabeleland. Why would the opposition pursue a political nonentity, who in any case was due to provide sensitive information which they were interested in?
Next, we were told by the police and the ZBC that Nkala had been abducted from his Magwegwe West home by 10 men heavily armed with AK rifles. But then we were told that Nkala had been suffocated to death using shoelaces! So what were the AKs for? Where are they now, and to whose ownership have they been traced? Where is the Nissan vehicle and whose registration number does it bear? Surely this information should easily be made available to the public since there are people who have "confessed" to the crime?
Nkala's assailants were allegedly found with R1 million in cash on them, according to the state and to the ZBC. Even presuming that any such money was found, one would assume that such a huge amount was payment for undertaking the cold-blooded murder. The fact that the amount given for the job was so high, presumes that there was the realisation somewhere that soon after the successful murder of Nkala, certain people would have to move far and fast. Yet the so-called assassins were found floating around Bulawayo's western suburbs a week after the act - and with the money intact? Further, why are the police preventing the alleged assassins from speaking to lawyers, or to anyone else other than state agents? Is there something these men might reveal that will expose the whole sham of their having confessed to Nkala's death? Yet within hours of the "discovery" of Nkala's body, a ZBC team all the way from Harare was in place to beam to the world the police's breakthrough.
There are several other hanging questions which cannot be exhausted in this column. But there is one observation which must not go unregistered: Vice-president Joseph Msika last weekend visited the Nkala home, and in consoling his family, warned the opposition of a bloodbath in retaliation over the Nkala affair. "Bloodbaths" refer to dead people. Who had told Msika at that stage that Nkala was dead? How did he know that Nkala was no more and that he was not, for instance, being held captive somewhere? In these circumstances, could it be far-fetched to conclude that the events of the rest of the week were stage-managed?
In synchrony with this roll-out plan were blatant lies in the state press that the MDC MP for Lobengula-Magwegwe, Fletcher Dulini-Ncube, had fled since Tuesday when Nkala's body was "discovered", and that he was being pursued vigorously by the police. Where were they pursuing him? He was at Parliament on Monday, spent the whole day on Tuesday at the MDC headquarters in Harare, on Wednesday night he was at home with his family, and surrendered himself to the police on Thursday after reading press reports that he was wanted. We could continue with the loopholes in this case ad infinitum. Suffice it is to say that the Herald, ZBC, the CIO and the police obviously credit Zimbabweans with much less brains than they have. We say to the State: "Sorry. We will not buy your Nkala-MDC story. Please come clean."
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Comment from Business Day (SA), 19 November
SA needs a tougher policy to bring Zimbabwe to heel
President Thabo Mbeki's "quiet diplomacy" towards Zimbabwe is not working. It is now time for SA to switch to tough diplomacy involving a higher level of rhetoric and smart sanctions. Smart sanctions, which are under consideration by the European Union (EU), would involve travel bans on the political leadership of the country, freezing their assets outside the country, and the possible deportation of the children of government leaders who are studying or working outside the country. An EU technical group is refining these sanctions and, if talks with Harare is viewed to have failed, they could be imposed after two months. SA's support for sanctions could be critical in ensuring their effectiveness. Engagement with Harare has brought no progress and is unlikely to do so without a stick to encourage the government to adhere to the rule of law and basic democratic norms. The alternative is to give the government a free reign in terrorising and starving a large section of its own population. Tough, rather than quiet diplomacy holds the promise that words from Pretoria and the international community will receive far closer attention. Comprehensive sanctions would hurt the innocent, but smart sanctions would target those who count and have the power to make decisions. However, depending on the response, smart sanctions can always be ratcheted up to include other items such as arms.
What is the aim of smart sanctions and would they work? The international community's diplomacy should, above all, ensure that the elections in March next year are free and fair and that food aid can be delivered without interference. Quiet engagement with Zanu PF is not working . Smart sanctions are the most expedient alternative and promise to hurt and isolate a self-interested elite. They would deliver a clear and unambiguous message about the international community's seriousness, while other avenues of engagement could still be kept open. Their implementation may not be totally effective, but governments have become a lot more effective in tracking down assets and, since September 11, there is far greater determination on this score.
Zanu PF cadre are quick to resort to the rhetoric of returning to the bush and a second liberation war. But international public opinion would be against them and the lack of opportunity to show support from the rest of the world could damage them in front of their supporters. The psychological effect of these sanctions is an important element and their potential effectiveness cannot be downplayed. The Zanu PF propaganda machine would no doubt try to label sanctions as a "colonial" attempt to re-impose rule. But if SA and other countries in the region are prepared to give their support, this would be very different. SA says its diplomacy is aimed at keeping open dialogue between the two parties. But in the current climate, the dialogue on key issues surrounding the election is one in which Zanu PF dominates. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change has said it is not interested in the SA proposal for a government of national unity. The world is dealing with a government that is not prepared to stick to the agreements it reaches and one that is turning into a rogue state. The international community is running out of options. The government intends to bar monitors, but now says international observers are welcome. While what happens on election day is important, what happens prior to the elections could be more important.
The number of immigrants fleeing growing unemployment and possible starvation under Zanu PF rule is mounting and the potential for massive instability and a massive influx of refugees cannot be discounted. Should that happen the situation would threaten SA interests directly. SA cannot afford instability on its northern border. Another concern is the growing influence of Libya in the country. While SA has been a very reluctant regional power since the first democratic elections in 1994, it now needs to face up to realities. This does not mean unilateral action against Zimbabwe it means being prepared to persuade other countries in the region that now is the time to switch policy. Festus Mogae, Botswana's president, has already harshly criticised Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and, with SA persuasion, others could follow. Quiet engagement with Zanu PF is not working. Smart sanctions are the most expedient alternative and promise to hurt and isolate a self-interested elite.
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From The Times (UK), 17 November
Police escort for mob in Bulawayo rampage
Harare - Zimbabwe moved towards major civil unrest yesterday as a mob of President Mugabe's war veteran militias ran riot on the streets of the western city of Bulawayo. Panic seized the city centre at lunchtime when the mob of about 300, escorted by three police vehicles, stormed through the city and attacked passers-by, particularly white people, witnesses said. They stopped cars and dragged whites, some of them elderly women, into the street and assaulted them, said a German aid worker who asked not to be named. His car with his three daughters inside was surrounded and he was pulled out and beaten up.
The veterans firebombed the offices of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and destroyed it. The staff had already fled and the building was empty. "The veterans broke down the concrete wall around the building and went in," Joe Ncube, a party worker who watched from a distance, said. "Then there was smoke and flames all over. The police were on the other side of the road. They did nothing." A fire tender arrived but was driven away by the mob. As the veterans moved away a crowd of about 1,000 MDC supporters took to the streets and clashed with riot police. They marched on the offices of the ruling Zanu PF party, intending to attack it, but were blocked by police. They set fire to a building belonging to a senior Zanu PF official and burnt two cars before police restored order.
"I think the endgame is near, whatever it is," Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC's president, said. "The situation is deteriorating." The violence was the most serious episode of lawlessness since Mr Mugabe began his bloody campaign of intimidation to crush the MDC in February last year. Zanu PF's violent offensive is gathering momentum before presidential elections next year. Public anger in urban areas over economic hardship - inflation is nearly 100 per cent - is at unprecedented heights. The situation has never been so volatile, observers said. "The international community should resign itself to the fact that there will never be a free and fair election," Mr Tsvangirai said.
The veterans' onslaught followed a deluge of inflammatory rhetoric from the ruling party, blaming the MDC for the murder of Cain Nkala, a local veteran leader, this week. Mr Mugabe accused the party of terrorist activity. Vice-President Joseph Msika threatened those responsible with "a bloodbath". Police have raided MDC homes in Bulawayo and arrested about 15 officials while veterans burnt down three supporters' homes. The MDC has denied involvement in the murder of Mr Nkala, who was facing charges of kidnapping Patrick Nabanyana, an MDC election agent, in June last year. Mr Nabanyana has not been seen since and is presumed dead.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 16 November
More arrests in Nkala's murder case
Bulawayo magistrate John Masimba yesterday remanded in custody to November 29 three accused, Simon Spooner, Sony Masera and Army Zulu, in the murders of Bulawayo war veterans leader Cain Nkala and Zanu PF activist Limukani Luphahla. Masimba dismissed an application by the three men's lawyer to have them released saying there were reasonable grounds for him to believe the accused had a role in the murder of Nkala and Luphahla. The dismissal of the application is despite their illegal detention for seven days. The three are being charged with the abduction and murder of Luphahla, whose charred remains were found in the bush near Lupane, and Nkala whose decomposing body was found buried in a shallow grave on a farm outside Bulawayo.
The Movement for Democratic Change member of parliament for Lobengula-Magwegwe, Fletcher Dulini-Ncube, who handed himself over to the police yesterday, was being held at Sauerstown Police Station and had not been charged at the time of going to press. The state media yesterday reported that Dulini-Ncube was on the run but MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube in a statement yesterday said this was not true. He said Dulini-Ncube was in Harare on Monday and Tuesday where he attended a parliamentary meeting and another at the party's headquarters before he left for Bulawayo on Wednesday afternoon. In the afternoon of Wednesday, Dulini-Ncube's lawyer, Josphat Tshuma of Webb, Low & Barry, on hearing the police were looking for Dulini-Ncube, met with the police and promised to present the MP at the police station on Thursday morning.
"We condemn the deliberate manufacturing of stories taken straight from the imagination of junior minister Jonathan Moyo and the CIO," Ncube said. "It is clear that the Herald and Chronicle editors who are slaves to the Zanu PF election strategy have no intention whatsoever to write any truth about the MDC." Meanwhile, two security officers of the MDC in Gweru, Kudakwashe Matara and Silas Moga, were arrested around 5am yesterday and questioned by the police in connection with the MDC security structure. The two officers were also asked to provide the addresses of all the people in the security department. The two were later released at 11am and asked to report to the police station in the afternoon. No formal charges were laid against the two.
Meanwhile, another accused, Ketani Sibanda, was yet to appear in court at the time of going to press. Earlier in the day seven MDC members were arrested as the police extended their dragnet. Armed police and plain clothes state agents yesterday afternoon ordered back and surrounded MDC MP David Coltart's private plane as it left Charles Prince Airport, Harare, at 15:10. Threats were issued that if they did not turn back and land the plane it would be shot down by the Airforce of Zimbabwe. He was later allowed to proceed.
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From The Natal Mercury, 16 November
Zimbabwe suspends human rights teaching
Harare - The Zimbabwean government has suspended the teaching of human rights and democracy in secondary schools in a move seen as another attempt to curb the education of voters before next year's presidential election. The government has been implementing a pilot project to include human rights and democracy education in the syllabuses of secondary schools in three provinces in Zimbabwe. The project was to be extended to the remaining seven provinces before the end of the year. However, documents in possession of the Independent Foreign Service show that the government has since directed that the pilot project be withdrawn immediately and all teaching of human rights and democracy in the three provinces be suspended. No reasons were cited in the education ministry's circular to the affected schools.
The move comes at a time when teachers and principals near Sanyati have been forced by gun-toting youths to form Zanu PF branches and cells at schools. The youngsters, headed by notorious gang leader Toki Marufu, brutally assaulted five teachers - one of them a pregnant woman - at Nyamatani Primary School about two weeks ago after the teachers failed to produce Zanu PF cards. Afterwards, the youths demanded that all teachers form Zanu PF cells at their schools and become active in the government party's so-called mobilisation of voters. The youths have ordered all the teachers in the area to buy Zanu PF cards and convene regular meetings at which the teachers must shout slogans and sing revolutionary songs.
"There is total lawlessness here. We have now been forced to become Zanu PF politicians despite the fact that on enrolling into the teaching profession we are told never to engage in politics," said a teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We have no option but to comply because the youths are armed and violent. We have failed to get protection from anyone, not even the police or education officials." Marufu is said to have led the gang that ambushed MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai near Patchway Mine on his way to meet his party's officials in Sanyati a few weeks ago. Tsvangirai's car was extensively damaged in what he said was an assassination attempt.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 17 November
Discontent simmers in Zanu PF over Mugabe
The ruling Zanu PF party goes to its December annual people's conference without anything tangible on the plate - except the land issue and the restructuring of its administrative wing, the politburo, with particular focus on the forthcoming 2002 presidential election. But party insiders are quietly concerned about the prospect of having 77-year-old Robert Mugabe at the helm of the party for another six years. Vocal challenges to Mugabe's reign have so far only marginalised the dissenters. Mugabe's biggest challenge is opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) president, 49-year-old Morgan Tsvangirai whose trade union background accounts for his meteoric rise to political fame. Several Zanu PF MPs who spoke to the Zimbabwe Independent acknowledged simmering discontent within the rank-and-file of Zanu PF over Mugabe's seemingly interminable stay in power. Mugabe has been at the helm of government for the last 21 years. No possible successor has been touted to challenge him for the country's highest political office. Any prospects for a surprise nomination at the annual people's conference has been ruled out. Zanu PF secretary for information Nathan Shamuyarira said last Tuesday that Mugabe was the party's one and only candidate. He denied that there was discontent in the party over Mugabe's candidature. "There is nothing like that. There is no such a feeling," Shamuyarira said.
Authoritative party sources said even amongst the old guard there was considerable discomfort at having Mugabe remain at the helm of the party indefinitely. Advocate Edith Mushore, suggesting that 21 years in office was too long a time in modern democracies, said Zanu PF was fast losing its touch with reality and making itself a laughing stock of the world by allowing Mugabe to run until he turns 83. "History has shown that questioning Mugabe's ability to run for office carries with it dire consequences for those who dare to ask," she said. Mushore said that even if Mugabe was to win the presidential election, it was highly unlikely that he would resign and pass the torch on to someone else to run until 2007. "If he were to resign there has to be a stop-gap measure, where the vice-president takes over for a limited period before calling for another presidential election," Mushore said. "I do not see him handing over power to someone else." Mushore believes Mugabe will run until the last day of his office if "infirmity of body or mind or any such illness" does not affect him during his term of office.
For several years Defence minister Sydney Sekeramai, parliamentary speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa, and the party's former legal secretary Eddison Zvobgo have been touted outside the party as Mugabe's possible successors. Political analysts have said they have all faded like the morning dew and were no longer serious contenders for high office. Zanu PF's Young Turks with a grasp of the economic fundamentals but devoid of grassroots support stand no chance. It will be too late to campaign for them as possible usurpers of the seat as the presidential election is about four months away, effectively leaving Mugabe as the only possible choice. That Mugabe has the energy and drive to withstand the pressure surrounding the presidential election campaign is a matter of debate with speculation rife that he has not been in good physical shape of late. When over 7 000 party faithfuls congregate at the yet-unnamed Victoria Falls venue for the annual people's conference, they will all be grateful that Mugabe has done his best over the land issue, but certainly will be divided over Mugabe's continued stay, insiders said. Mugabe's consolidation of his dead man's grip on the post gave the impression that he alone and no-one else in the party can redeem Zimbabwe from the jaws of a cracked economy that has seen inflation soaring to a record 97,9% and the unemployment rate rising to 65%.
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 16 November
Zimbabwe opposition chief fears death plot
Harare - Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF party is considering assassinating the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change to ensure President Mugabe's re-election next year, the MDC claimed yesterday. It said it had obtained a copy of Zanu PF's strategic plan for the election campaign and published extracts from the document in the independent Daily News. Referring to Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, under the headline "Outright Elimination", the text read: "This could be dangerous to the govt [sic] but it needs a very serious consideration." It added: "Reflections on the ground show that urban voters will vote for MDC in 2002. Now what Zanu PF can do is to make sure that Morgan Tsvangirai's short comings [sic] and weaknesses are greatly exposed so much that voters may want him but the situation won't allow them to vote for him or to make sure there is no Morgan Tsvangirai to vote for come 2002."
The six-page document, allegedly titled "Zanu PF Presidential Elections Strategic Document - What Zanu PF can do to win 2002 election", included recommendations on media coverage. "State media should be directed to write again and again of splits within the MDC until voters believe it to be true," it said. "The state newspapers must be made to present MDC as a party of puppets funded by foreigners." Official newspapers and the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, which runs the only radio and television outlets, have recently carried many reports of splits in the MDC. There was no confirmation yesterday of whether the document was genuine.
A government spokesman said she could not comment on it. The information minister, Jonathan Moyo, was unavailable. Andrew Moyse, director of the independent Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe, said: "One has to assume that it is a genuine document because it reflects the truth of what is happening on the ground. There is also a single-minded campaign by the state media to destroy the opposition. The contents of the document are not surprising; what is on that piece of paper reflects the extremes of what is happening to the MDC. However, I wish they had supplied concrete evidence to corroborate the authenticity of the document." But Mr Tsvangirai said: "Believe me, this is all true." The MDC declined to release the document, saying that to do so could compromise its source. Prof Welshman Ncube, the party's secretary-general, said it was given to him 10 days ago as a computer print-out and he had no doubts about its authenticity.
Several political commentators have said recently that the suppression of the MDC in all but the main urban centres has made it, de facto, a banned organisation. The Amani Trust, a Zimbabwean human rights organisation, says more than 100 MDC supporters have been killed in the past year, and scores of members are in detention. At least 200 MDC officials are on bail awaiting trial and Mr Tsvangirai is awaiting judgment in a case in which he was charged with treason. Yesterday, David Coltart, an MDC MP, was held briefly at an airfield 12 miles north of Harare after his Bulawayo-bound plane was ordered to return to the ground.
As the crisis in Zimbabwe deepened, the Commercial Farmers' Union suspended a move to resettle and financially support thousands of the poorest on farms donated by white landowners. The move was in response to a government decree ordering the immediate seizure of more than 1,000 white-owned farms, without recourse to the courts.
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From BBC News, 15 November
Man arrested over Zanu PF death
A Zimbabwe opposition politician was arrested on Thursday and 14 opposition activists appeared in court after the alleged murder of a supporter of President Robert Mugabe's land reform campaign. Fletcher Dulini Ncube did not appear in court on Thursday after he handed himself in to police in the city of Bulawayo following state media reports indicated that he was on the run. The other 14 activists appeared in a Bulawayo court on various charges of murder and plotting to kill officials of the ruling Zanu PF party. MDC Secretary General Welshman Ncube said on Thursday that the 14 activists were not asked to plead, but would refute the charges once they reappeared in court on Friday.
Zimbabwe's main opposition party has rejected government claims that it was behind the abduction and murder of Cain Nkala in Bulawayo. The body of Nkala was found in a shallow grave on Tuesday, a week after he was kidnapped from his home by armed assailants. He had been strangled with his shoe laces. The minister of home affairs has been quoted as saying that the police are actively investigating leaders of the Movement for Democratic Change. But the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, says this is a pretext to intimidate the opposition ahead of presidential elections due early next year. More than 40 people have been killed in politically-motivated violence since President Mugabe was defeated in a constitutional referendum in February 2000. Most of the violence has been blamed on supporters of Mr Mugabe, especially war veterans involved in the occupation of white-owned land.
Since Mr Nkala's abduction, there have been isolated cases of violence against MDC members in Bulawayo and Harare - both opposition strongholds. On Saturday, war veterans, closely allied to Zanu-PF, stormed the headquarters of the MDC in the capital. "If they [the MDC] want a bloodbath, they will certainly get it," said Vice President Joseph Msika. Mr Nkala was a prime suspect in the abduction of an MDC polling agent, Patrick Nabanyama, on the eve of the June 2000 parliamentary elections. It is widely believed that Mr Nabanyama was murdered but his body has never been found.
Mr Tsvangirai condemned the murder of Mr Nkala and called for the culprits to be brought to justice. "Our conscience is clear," he said. State television had shown two men confessing to the murder and says they are members of the MDC. The MDC has not disputed that the men are members and secretary general Welshman Ncube has complained that they have not been given access to lawyers. "This raises suspicions that the two young men were tortured into admitting something that they did not do," he said.
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From NEWS24 (SA), 15 November
US recalls Peace Corps
Harare - Forty-three United States Peace Corps volunteers will leave Zimbabwe after President Robert Mugabe's government broke an agreement with the agency and refused to issue work permits. US embassy spokesperson Bruce Wharton said in Harare on Thursday a 10-year programme in Zimbabwe had been "temporarily suspended". He said the government failed to issue work permits to 13 mathematics and science teachers after they completed a three-month training period. The government did not indicate why it had refused to issue the permits.
According to Wharton the volunteers were to have received work permits in accordance with an agreement between the Zimbabwean government and the Peace Corps. The Zimbabwean government recently banned foreign observer groups from monitoring elections and has said it will not allow local and foreign aid agencies to conduct voter education programmes. Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said this week that foreign non-governmental agencies would be barred from distributing famine relief because they would use food aid to "decampaign" ahead of presidential elections due by the end of March next year.
The 43 Peace Corps volunteers were working as teachers and librarians and were also involved in HIV/Aids prevention programmes. Wharton said the Peace Corps programme, which started in 1991, had seen volunteers sent to rural areas where they lived and worked. At its height 105 volunteers were staying in Zimbabwe, but last year at the outbreak of political violence they were moved into urban areas for safety. The government's refusal to issue work permits came as the programme was building up again, Wharton said. "We are really sorry this has happened," he said
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