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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 25 October
Mugabe 'hijacks' visit by ministers
Harare - A Commonwealth visit to Zimbabwe to check on the progress of an agreement to restore the rule of
law was in danger of descending into farce last night after it emerged that its schedule excluded opponents of
President Robert Mugabe. The delegation is due to spend two days in the country but the programme drawn up by
the Harare government does not include any meetings with the political opposition, or any of about 200 civil
society groups. Late last night its officials were said by a diplomatic source to be concerned that Mr Mugabe
had hijacked the mission and could render it "meaningless". Professor Brian Raftopoulos, a human
rights activist at the University of Zimbabwe, said yesterday: "This is a disgrace and if the
Commonwealth agrees to a programme organised by the government it will undermine the process of consultation
underlying the Commonwealth involvement with Zimbabwe." The Harare meeting is a follow-up to the
Commonwealth initiative in Abuja, Nigeria, last month, which was hailed as a "significant"
development in solving the crisis in Zimbabwe. Mr Mugabe accepted the agreement, but never publicly endorsed
his commitment to restore the rule of law in the process of land reform, and to respect human rights,
democracy and press freedom.
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From The Financial Gazette, 25 October
Zim threatens to dump Abuja
Zimbabwe could dump the Abuja land accord if the Commonwealth, whose delegation is in the country, insists
on arm-twisting Harare to stick to the pact including allowing international observers to monitor a
presidential ballot due next year, top government officials said yesterday. The officials said Foreign
Minister Stan Mudenge had told President Robert Mugabe on the eve of the Commonwealth delegation's visit that
the Abuja accord had been hijacked by the European Union (EU), with the help of Britain, in a bid to interfere
with the ballot in favour of the opposition.
The officials said the interpretation of the Abuja pact, signed in Nigeria's capital last month, and its
possible influence on a presidential poll that Mugabe could lose, had pre-occupied government discussions and
those of the ruling Zanu PF party in the past few days. "If that is the cause they (the Commonwealth) are
pushing - of wanting to meddle in the elections using the agreement- we are more than willing to proceed with
our land reform without Abuja," a Cabinet minister told the Financial Gazette. The minister, who like
other officials spoke on condition of not being named, said the government would warn the visiting
Commonwealth ministerial team that the Abuja accord should not interfere with Zimbabwe's electoral process and
internal politics. But Commonwealth secretary-general Don McKinnon told the Financial Gazette from London
yesterday his seven-member team wants to verify reports that Zimbabwe is not compiling with the Abuja pact and
wants to make sure that Harare sticks to the accord. McKinnon said the Commonwealth was getting a lot of
conflicting reports on the situation in Zimbabwe and was in the country to check on what was happening on the
ground before it prepares a report. He hoped his visit would put the Nigerian-brokered land deal back on track
and also formulate a monitoring mechanism that would ensure that both parties adhered to Abuja.
Under the terms of the deal, Zimbabwe promised to halt new farm occupations; evict all illegal settlers on
land occupied after March 31 this year, restore the rule of law and adhere to principles of democracy,
including an invitation to international observers to monitor next year's presidential poll. Britain,
Zimbabwe's former colonial master, pledged in return to fund legal, transparent and rational land reforms
"by a substantial amount" should Harare stick to the agreement. Since the land accord was signed,
the government has failed to evict tens of thousands of settlers who are on commercial farms illegally and
farmers report that more properties have in fact been seized by government supporters. Mudenge, in an apparent
slap on Abuja, this week rejected a week-long ultimatum from the 15-nation EU to Zimbabwe to agree to invite
pre-election observers from the world's biggest economic bloc. The Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) says it has
recorded about 700 new farm occupations after the Abuja agreement was signed. Zimbabwean and international
human rights organisations this week said opposition party supporters continued to be attacked and sometimes
killed by self-styled war veterans as politically-motivated violence, which started last year, escalates.
McKinnon, who is leading the delegation, allayed fears from Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader
Morgan Tsvangirai that the Zimbabwean government had changed the group's itinerary to exclude the opposition
party. He said the itinerary and agenda of his team was prepared by Nigerian President Olusegun Obassanjo,
with the help of Zimbabwean authorities, and included meetings with Mugabe, his officials, the MDC, the CFU
and other civic bodies. McKinnon said the delegation, to be in Zimbabwe for two days, will also visit some of
the occupied farms, although it is widely known that that these trips will be stage-managed by the government.
The Commonwealth chief would not be drawn into saying what sort of time frame after the team's visit
Zimbabweans would see any action or know whether or not Britain would start disbursing vital aid for the land
reforms. Meanwhile Zanu PF, in a last-ditch effort to hoodwink the Commonwealth that Abuja is alive, this week
announced that its chaotic fast-track land reforms had been concluded. A team of Cabinet ministers toured the
occupied farms likely to be visited by the Commonwealth and told Zanu PF supporters and war veterans not to
provoke farm owners during the visit by the delegation.
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From The Guardian (UK), 25 October
Mugabe faces EU reprisal after snub
Brussels/Harare - Zimbabwe could face the threat of EU sanctions as early as next week after President
Robert Mugabe yesterday rejected a request to send an advance team of election observers to the country.
Diplomats in Brussels said EU foreign ministers would on Monday demand EU-Zimbabwean "consultations"
requiring the Harare government to act on human rights and democracy or face punitive measures within two
months. The decision came after the Zimbabwean foreign minister, Stan Mudenge, refused to allow the EU to send
an observer mission in advance of presidential elections, due by the end of January 2002.
"Zimbabwe does not accept demands - that is a relationship of a superior and an inferior," Mr
Mudenge said after talks with Louis Michel, foreign minister of Belgium, the current holder of the union's
rotating presidency. "We are doing this with a heavy heart, but we have no choice," said an EU
official. "The dilemma is how to push Zimbabwe in the right direction without giving Mugabe an excuse to
declare a state of emergency." EU aid to Zimbabwe is worth £6.2m a year, going mostly on health and
education. To avoid punishing the poorest, sanctions would be targeted at the regime in the form of a visa ban
or assets freeze. Sanctions remain a last resort, but avoiding them would require a real volte-face by
Harare.
Mr Mudenge alleged that foreign observer missions were merely fronts to support Zimbabwe's opposition.
"We don't want them to come here and undermine the system in support of the opposition," he said.
"That will not happen as long as we are still the government of the day." The EU demand for
consultations with Zimbabwe will be made under the Cotonou treaty which governs aid, trade and political
relations between the 15 member states and their former colonies. There have been calls from groups inside and
outside Zimbabwe for independent and foreign monitoring of the forthcoming presidential election in which Mr
Mugabe, who has been in power for 21 years, is seeking another six-year term.
The rejection comes on the eve of the visit of seven Commonwealth ministers to determine if the Mugabe
government is upholding September's Abuja agreement, under which Harare pledged to stop the forcible
occupation of white-owned farms and the British government promised to help finance an orderly land reform
programme. Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), condemned the
government's rejection of the EU observers. "It marks them as determined to hold elections that are not
free and fair," said Mr Tsvangirai. "They intend to spread violence across the rural areas to
prevent opposition parties from campaigning there, and they plan to use violence in the urban areas to reduce
the voter turnout. The international community must tell Mugabe clearly that if observer missions are not
permitted they will not recognise the outcome of the election."
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From COHRE, 25 October
New land report
Geneva - A new human rights report on the land crisis in Zimbabwe concludes that while the land issue has
brought serious instability to the country over the past two years, Zimbabwe's current land legislation could
provide the basis for an equitable and peaceful process for land distribution to the poor. The report also
asserts that the erosion of basic human rights and the rule of law have severely undermined any chance of
improving the economic opportunities of Zimbabwe’s poorest citizens. An all-African fact-finding mission from
the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), comprised of delegates from Nigeria, South Africa and
Sudan, visited the country. Their report is based on interviews with government officials, members of the War
Veterans Association, opposition groups, farmers, academics, donors and others involved in the land reform
process. The mission found that the authorities, despite the legal opportunities available for a peaceful
settlement to the ongoing land crisis, have ignored the rights of farmers, farm workers and the poorest
sections of Zimbabwean society. Over the past two years thousands of Zimbabweans, denied land promised to them
by the government, have resorted to illegally occupying property owned by both black and white farmers, often
with Government collusion.
The report finds that the predominantly white commercial farming sector has suffered serious damage from
which it might never recover. In the process, many landowners have had their basic rights violated. However,
the report also shows that the land invasions form part of a broader struggle by the ruling party to retain
power. Indeed, the brunt of the violence and suffering of the current crisis has been borne by black
Zimbabweans who have tried to oppose the policies and actions of the present government. Many Zimbabweans have
expressed concern at the political and economic damage that the land invasions have had on the country. The
COHRE report found that some 70,000 people have been made homeless; while countless more have endured
intimidation, assault, eviction, dispossession, torture, and imprisonment. The Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights - to which Zimbabwe has long been party - has been repeatedly violated throughout the land
crisis.
Broad support exists throughout the country for land reform, and Zimbabwe’s current land legislation is not
widely divergent from international standards for the protection of human rights. Problematically, however,
the report finds that civil society is effectively restricted from designing the policies and implementation
processes involved in land redistribution. The September 2001 Abuja Agreement between Commonwealth
representatives and the government of Zimbabwe could provide the breakthrough needed to end the land tensions
and tragedies befallen the country, if it is fully implemented. "Zimbabwe has a chance to choose to
respect the housing, land and property rights of all Zimbabweans or to allow the country to drift further into
chaos and violence. We urge all authorities in the country to carry out land re-distribution in a way that
benefits the majority in need of greater access to land, as well as the white and black farm owners and farm
workers in the country", said COHRE Executive Director, Scott Leckie.
The COHRE report strongly urges both the Government and the international community to find a peaceful
resolution to the land disputes, through a reliance on human rights law. The report also examines issues
relevant to the build-up to the conflict, what could be learned from past land programmes in the country, and
provides an analysis of the past and current Government land legislation. The report criticises recent land
legislation for failing to increase security of tenure of current occupiers of state land and resettlement
areas. The situation of women is given particular emphasis. There has been a marked failure to strengthen
women’s opportunities for social and economic development, particularly given that a majority of women still
have no direct access to and control of land. The report applauds the Abuja Agreement, which recognised that
state sponsored land invasions and violence, rather than land reform itself, were responsible for the overall
crisis in the country. Britain has already agreed to provide financial assistance if the programme of land
reform is implemented in a fair, just and sustainable manner, in the interest of all the people of the
country, within the law and the constitution of Zimbabwe, a move strongly supported by the COHRE report.
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From The Times of India, 23 October
EU sets Sunday deadline for Zimbabwe poll observers
Brussels - The European Union on Monday gave President Robert Mugabe's government until next Sunday to
decide whether to allow EU observers into Zimbabwe to witness presidential elections next year. Belgian
foreign minister Louis Michel, coming out of a 90-minute meeting with Zimbabwean counterpart Stan Mudenge,
said that the EU was offering to deploy election observers as well as a pre-election team of poll evaluators.
"It would be good to have an answer by Sunday," the day before a meeting in Luxembourg of EU foreign
ministers, said Michel, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency. That meeting, he added, "would
assume its responsibilities" - a broad hint that the EU might impose sanctions on Mugabe's government for
failing to address human rights concerns. Under the Cotonou accords between the EU and former European
colonies in Africa, the Caribbean and South Pacific, sanctions can be imposed if high-level political talks
fail to overcome human rights differences. Legislative elections in June last year were marred by violence,
and many fear similar if not worse bloodshed when Mugabe stands for re-election next March or April. On a
visit to Brussels last Wednesday, Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said his Movement for
Democratic Change was determined to oust Mugabe's "dictatorship" at the ballot box.
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From The Times of India, 24 October
Zimbabwe rejects EU ultimatum
Harare - Zimbabwe's government has rejected an ultimatum issued by the European Union to decide whether to
allow EU observers in the country during 2002 presidential elections, foreign minister Stan Mudenge said on
Tuesday. Mudenge said Zimbabwe would have considered an offer for observers, but will not accept
"demands" from other countries because it is a "sovereign state". He vowed that Zimbabwe
would not allow European states to play a "Milosevic" game try to remove Mugabe from office, under
the guise of election observing. The minister spoke shortly after arrival from Brussels where he had talks
with Belgian foreign minister Louis Michel on Monday during which the EU offered to deploy election observers
and a pre-poll evaluators. Zimbabwe had been asked to give its response by Sunday ahead of an EU council of
ministers meeting next on Monday. "They demanded that Zimbabwe should accept an EU pre-election
commission ...and that Zimbabwe should accept EU observers during the presidential elections," Mudenge
said. "I told him (Michel) that Zimbabwe does not accept demands… we are a sovereign and independent
state," Mudenge told news conference. "If we start to go into the habit of receiving demands we lose
our sovereignty," he said.
Zimbabwe is due to hold elections early next year when President Robert Mugabe's current term expires. The
foreign minister said had the offer been made in good will it could have been considered. "If it had not
made an ultimatum, it would have been good." Mudenge said he told Michel that he suspected there was
"poison" in the demand and vowed that he would not allow EU countries to sponsor opposition parties
in Zimbabwe. "We want them to stop it and we want to tell them don't try the Milosevic in Zimbabwe... we
will not allow it to happen in Zimbabwe," he vowed. He said western nations went into Yugoslavia early
before elections on the pretext of evaluating and observing polls yet they were organising and sponsoring the
opposition to remove Milosevic. "We don't want them to undermine the situation (here). We don't want to
give them the opportunity to play that mischief here," he said. The Zimbabwe government has always
accused the former colonial power of funding the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in a bid to
oust Mugabe. Mudenge said while the Commonwealth had made an offer to help Zimbabwe with observers the EU is
making "demands and orders, threats and ultimatums."
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From The Guardian (UK), 24 October
British minister flies to Harare
Mugabe has failed to honour Abuja pledges, says rights group
Harare/London - Baroness Amos, a Foreign Office minister, is to leave London tonight for the first visit by
a British minister to Zimbabwe since the row broke four years ago with its president, Robert Mugabe, over land
and human rights. She is part of a Commonwealth team which is to spend tomorrow and Friday assessing the
extent to which Mr Mugabe is honouring commitments made at a summit in Abuja, Nigeria, on September 6. At the
Commonwealth-inspired summit, Zimbabwe promised to reduce violence and end illegal seizure of white-owned
farms. The Abuja agreement was hailed as a breakthrough but violence and land seizures have continued. A
report by Amnesty International, published today, emphasises the scale of continued violence and calls on the
Commonwealth and the European Union to send observers.
A British official tried yesterday to put a gloss on events by saying there had been a "slight
decrease" in violence. The official said that while intimidation of opposition parties continued, there
seemed to be a drop in violent incidents involving land seizures. The Commonwealth team, led by Nigeria, is to
meet farmers and farm labourers, non-government organisations, opposition politicians and government
representatives, and perhaps even Mr Mugabe. The last British minister to visit Zimbabwe was Tony Lloyd in
1998. Since then, there has been a sharp deterioration in relations between the two countries, marked by
strong personal exchanges between Mr Mugabe and another Foreign Office minister, Peter Hain, and the former
foreign secretary, Robin Cook. The main objective of the Commonwealth team is to try to get Zimbabwe to agree
to a system of monitoring the Abuja pledges and to set deadlines for meeting them.
The Amnesty report appeals for international observers to be sent in as early as November 2001, to prevent
violence and as a strong signal that the world is watching "the government's actions - and inaction - in
the runup to the elections". Mr Mugabe is obliged to hold elections by the end of March next year. The
report states that "the human rights situation remains serious and without expected improvement".
The "pattern of political repression by the ruling party" was being repeated. It urges the
Commonwealth and EU to condemn the continuing state violence and to provide training and support for
Zimbabwean organisations monitoring human rights.
The Amnesty report backs up the findings of several Zimbabwean groups that the government has increased its
violence and intimidation of opposition supporters and of white farmers since it signed the Abuja agreement.
Amnesty condemns the "climate of impunity" in Zimbabwe where no action is taken against Mr Mugabe's
followers who are identified as perpetrators of violence and in which violence and torture are often carried
out by the police. Amnesty voices its concern that the Commonwealth let the focus of its Abuja meeting be
diverted by Zimbabwe from concern over the breakdown of rule of law, to land reform. "Police have not
only failed to maintain law and order but often have directly participated in human rights violations,"
it says. Amnesty adds that it is "extremely concerned" for the safety of journalists in the
country.
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From The Daily News, 23 October
Zanu PF supporters attack Madzimure’s house again
A group of about 60 suspected Zanu PF youths on Saturday stoned the house of Willas Madzimure, the MP for
Kambuzuma, and destroyed property worth over $3 000. Madzimure, an MDC member, was away at the time. This is
the second attack on his house. In May, about 200 war veterans and Zanu PF supporters attacked Madzimure’s
house in broad daylight, reducing it to a shell and looted household goods worth thousands of dollars. In the
weekend attack, window panes in the MP’s bedroom were broken and asbestos sheets were damaged. Lydia Makala,
the housemaid, said: "I heard noises outside and I went to investigate. As I opened the front door, I was
missed by a stone. The group was chanting liberation war songs and demanded that my boss should leave
Kambuzuma. I locked the door and hid in the guest room."
Madzimure said on his return from his rural home in Zaka, Masvingo, he reported to the police in Warren
Park. He said: "These attacks on me as a person have gone out of hand. Despite positively identifying the
culprits, no arrests have been made. I am going to write a letter to the Speaker of Parliament, Emmerson
Mnangagwa, asking him whether he is aware of the attacks on MDC MPs. Does he know that we need protection? I
think my life is in great danger and I am going to seek legal advice." Madzimure said he had information
that the group was led by two Zanu PF supporters in the constituency. "When Reuben Barwe, ZBC’s chief
correspondent, was attacked at the airport, the police moved swiftly and arrested the culprit," said
Madzimure. "When Zanu PF’s lawyer Anele Matika’s house was attacked, people were immediately arrested and
brought to book. Is the law now being used selectively?"
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From ZWNEWS, 24 October
Fissures open in Zanu PF Matabeleland
Disgruntled politicians in Matabeleland want to break away from Zanu PF - citing lack of commitment to the
so-called 'unity accord' signed between Zanu PF and PF Zapu after president Mugabe overlooked them in
ministerial appointments. Senior Zanu PF officials said a campaign to discredit the accord, signed in 1987 by
Zanu PF and PF Zapu, was being led by former Zanu PF parliamentarians who lost their seats to opposition
Movement for Democratic Change in last year's general elections in the region. The party lost all but three of
the 23 constituencies in the Matabeleland region to the MDC. The party's loss to the MDC in the mayoral
elections last month was seen as a sign that the party Zanu PF was 'dead' in the region.
Insiders said Monday that those agitating for the destruction of the 'unity accord' believed that they were
being sidelined by the party presidency in favour of emergent younger politicians from Matabeleland. Zanu PF's
acting political commissar, Dr Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, admitted on Monday that "not all is alright", and
that some senior party members are particularly worried that new people such as Professor Jonathan Moyo are
closer to the President than them, and may eventually become vice-presidents at their expense. Analysts said
Zanu PF was concentrating on discrediting MDC as an alternative government but Ndlovu said the general mood
among ex-Zapu leaders and supporters was that the unity accord was not benefiting the people of Matabeleland.
"We have said this before, it's known and it's not new. It's a fact. Even Dr Nkomo always scrutinised the
unity accord. I have told the party leadership that people have raised questions about the accord, even to me.
It seems the Unity Accord is just on paper," he said.
Referring to attempts by the party to whip up Nkomo's memory in the parliamentary and mayoral elections,
Ndlovu said: "The talk of the unity accord is too much and too nauseating. It (the accord) is only talked
about in Bulawayo and Matabeleland. It is as if we are underdogs clamouring for unity." Ndlovu admitted
that he was not happy with Professor Moyo's way of doing things. He accused Moyo of not recognising the local
party leadership when he visited the city to help in the campaign for the just ended municipal elections.
"He (Moyo) has his own style of doing things. We as the leadership of Matabeleland, both in the Central
Committee and the Politburo are not happy. He must come through the province and we will inform the local
leadership about his programme and appear to be working together," he said.
He said he and his colleagues were angry at stories by the Chronicle, a state-owned daily newspaper, saying
that Moyo was the most popular Zanu PF politician in Matabeleland after the late Dr Nkomo. "Some of you
write saying that the professor is following in Dr Nkomo's shoes. That can't be allowed to happen. If you want
to work for him (Moyo), work for him. He is your minister," fumed Dr Ndlovu, a former deputy Minister of
Higher Education and Technology. Party insiders said most of the old PF Zapu leaders hoped to succeed Vice
President Msika when he retired, and saw the meteoric rise of Moyo as a threat to their ambitions. "They
want to use the old Zapu structures so as to exclude him. Some are even going about telling people that the
professor is not from Matabeleland so as to discredit him in the eyes of the Ndebele. But these same guys are
the ones who have made the party unpopular in the region by not fighting for the people of Matabeleland to get
development from the government," said a senior party official.
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From The Daily News, 22 October
Human rights activist says State can now be sued for sponsoring violence
Brian Kagoro, a lawyer and human rights activist, says Zimbabwean citizens now have grounds to sue the
government for the violence that preceded the Abuja Agreement signed in Nigeria on 6 September. He said under
the Agreement, the government had conceded it had perpetrated violence. Kagoro was presenting a paper titled
"Can Judas be brought back to the last Supper?" at a recent meeting organised by the Zimbabwe
Liberators Platform in Harare. "In light of what our President said at the opening of the Pungwe Dam and
what other ministers said before Abuja, the government has imprisoned itself," said Kagoro. "Civil
society and citizens can now arrest the government for the lawlessness and violence that happened before
Abuja. Before the Abuja Agreement, we were not aware that the government was aware of the rule of law. But
evictions of land invaders by government and its call to stop more invasions, as stipulated in the Agreement,
are a key point . . ."
Last year, war veterans and Zanu PF supporters perpetrated violence and invaded commercial farms after
people rejected a government-sponsored draft constitution in a referendum. The government refused to send the
police and army to quell the violence saying it was a "demonstration" by landless people. Following
immense international pressure, Zimbabwe signed the Abuja Agreement with the British government last month,
and undertook to restore the rule of law. In return, the British promised to pay compensation to farmers whose
farms would have been acquired under a resettlement programme.
Kagoro said there were other issues, not related to the land problem, which needed to be solved if the
crisis in Zimbabwe was to end. "The legacy of impunity which Ian Smith and the incumbent (President
Mugabe) benefited from has to be addressed," said Kagoro. "Gukurahundi massacres, the disappearance
of Rashiwe Guzha, the shooting of Patrick Kombayi and the looting of State coffers by unidentified culprits
who are yet to be prosecuted that has nothing to do with land, but the law. At least in Abuja, the government
apologised, so something has to be done. Even if it is a deaf government, let’s do something so that if
posterity is to blame us it will not be about silence," he said.
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From The Daily News, 20 October
Dates for presidential election still unknown
There has been considerable debate over next year’s presidential election amid growing anxiety among
Zimbabweans as to when the crucial polls will be held. According to section 29 of the Constitution, President
Mugabe’s term of office expires at midnight on 31 March 2002 having started on 1 April 1996. The Presidential
tenure is six years. The section says the term of office of the President shall be six years provided that he
or she shall continue in office until the person elected as the next President assumes office. Section
28(3)(a) of the Constitution says an election for a new President shall be held within 90 days before the
existing term of office expires and this means between January and 31 March 2001. There should be a 30 day
period from the time the election dates are gazetted and the actual days of voting. In terms of Section
94(1)(b) of the Electoral Act, the earliest permissible date for holding the Presidential election is 6
February 2002. The latest date is 17 March 2002 and the election may not be delayed beyond this date.
Professor Welshman Ncube, a constitutional lawyer, said although the Act could be changed, no amendment to
it can change the constitutional amendment that the election must be held between 1 January and 31 March next
year. There should be 42 days between the day of gazetting the election dates and the actual voting of which
21 days would be reserved for the sitting of the nomination court. The other 21 days are between the voting
days and the closing of the nomination courts to allow candidates to campaign for the last time. According to
the Electoral Act, the Registrar General may, by further notice published in the Government Gazette, alter any
day, time or place fixed and the day for the elections in terms of the Constitution.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 22 October
Storm clouds over Mugabe
Zimbabwe’s government is standing firm on its economic policies, despite growing
regional pressure
The South African government last week sent a veiled warning to President Robert Mugabe: if he continues to
rock the regional economic boat he could have two million Zimbabwean immigrants, most of them opposition
supporters, sent home before next April's scheduled presidential election. Simultaneously, cracks were
reported in Mugabe's Cabinet over his plan to "go back to socialism" and to blame deepening poverty
on a British conspiracy. "Zimbabwe needs international help and attacks on international friends will
lead us nowhere," Minister of Finance Simba Makoni was reported to have warned the Cabinet at a
closed-door seminar in Darwendale, near Harare, to map out budget strategy. Pro-Mugabe militants accuse
Makoni, until last year a business mogul, of secretly sympathising with bakers and other producers and
retailers who fear imminent bankruptcy as a result of stringent price controls gazetted on October 12. Despite
the clamps, inflation soared to a record 83,3%. Diplomatic sources believed South African moves to expel up to
15 000 farm workers in the Northern Province, suspended at the 11th hour, were a "calculated threat"
to bring home to Mugabe the likely consequences of spreading regional unemployment and investment flight.
"There are two million more, most of them illegal migrants," said a European Union source.
However, Mugabe's official representative reacted by defying Pretoria, pledging to intensify seizures of
whites farms and attempting to play the race card still more strongly, throwing blame for the diplomatic
crisis on whites. "If the South African government goes ahead with this unprecedented move the
[Zimbabwean] government will gazette more farms to resettle these people ... This could mark the beginning of
a furore against South Africa and its whites," an "authoritative source" threatened in the
state-controlled Herald. Mbeki has repeatedly appealed to Mugabe to observe the rule of law in plans to
resettle black Zimbabweans on 5 000 white-owned farms, but violence has continued despite last month's
promises in Abuja, Nigeria, of orderly land reforms. A prominent Western diplomat described as
"preposterous" Zimbabwean efforts to blame "the architects of apartheid" for the crisis
over migrant workers in the Limpopo Valley, triggered by a South African Department of Home Affairs ultimatum
to local white employers. He noted it was the white farmers who saved the workers with an urgent appeal to the
Pretoria High Court that won a 14-day respite for further talks.
The diplomat said Mugabe's attempt to revert to his 1980 dream of a "Marxist-Leninist
transformation" might bring nearer an explosion of popular anger against Zanu-PF, which seemed confident
it could rig next year's presidential election after packing the Supreme Court with partisan judges. Morgan
Tsvangirai's opposition Movement for Democratic Change said food riots, which claimed eight lives in 1999,
could break out again as Mugabe tries to force prices of basics to 30% below cost of production, without
offering a cent in subsidies. Despite an attempted crackdown by police and 129 newly recruited inspectors, a
flourishing black market in maize was already reported among informal sector traders, while many bakeries sent
home staff and bread vanished from supermarket shelves. A 19kg bucket of maize was selling for the equivalent
of R12 (at the black market exchange rate) at Bulawayo's Entumbane bus terminus, compared to the 34c a
kilogram controlled price.
At the state funeral on Monday of a retired minister, Mugabe pledged: "The state will take over any
businesses that are closed. We will reorganise them with the workers and at last that socialism we wanted can
start again." Mugabe militants' knives are out for Makoni and one of the last whites in Zimbabwean
government service, Stuart Comberbach. A career diplomat, he was transferred two years ago by Mugabe to become
permanent secretary in the Ministry of Industry and International Trade, and has been targeted by militants.
Philip Chiyangwa, head of the Zanu-PF parliamentary caucus on black empowerment, vowed to force Comberbach's
resignation. Comberbach had appealed to the MP not to harass businessmen while negotiations on viability and
price levels took place. Comberbach reportedly threatened to quit if Chiyangwa continued stage-managing angry
confrontations, with state media at hand.
"We don't need him at all," said Chiyangwa. "Our caucus received his resignation with a lot
of jubilation." Makoni reportedly warned Cabinet colleagues there was a growing perception in the country
that the political elite did not share the burden of poverty imposed on the rest of its 13-million people.
While Mugabe was threatening mass nationalisations, Makoni, a former Southern African Development Community
CEO who is seen by Zanu PF reformers as the best choice to succeed Mugabe, said it was "essential to
restore confidence so others can invest in the country". The regional famine early warning unit last week
said Zimbabwe needs to import more than 846 000 tonnes of food. Eddie Cross, economics adviser to the Movement
for Democratic Change, said despite closure this year of 700 companies, with thousands of jobs lost, no sudden
"collapse" was to be expected, rather a slow sinking and dissolution of the entire framework.
Bankers last week predicted Zimbabwe's arrears on debt repayments to the International Monetary Fund would
soon pass US$2-billion in addition to the Z$200-billion domestic debt. No resumption of aid programmes could
be expected "in current economic and political conditions", said the Discount Company of Zimbabwe,
one of the largest financial institutions in the country.
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From Reuters, 21 October
Zimbabweans trek to S.Africa in desperate job search
Waterpoort, South Africa - Four weary, sweat-stained Zimbabwean men walk from farm to farm in South
Africa's arid north, desperate for work to feed their starving families back home. They and thousands like
them have left Zimbabwe, where there are no jobs to be had. The leader of the four, 27-year-old Alone
Maguguza, asks farmer Andrew McEwan for work and gets what has become the grizzled old Afrikaner's stock
answer: "I have work here for you, but I cannot employ Zimbabweans anymore. I'm very sorry." The
four men seem to sag in the hot midday sun. McEwan tells his foreman, also a Zimbabwean, to give the group
watermelons and water before sending them on their way. "It's a crying shame. It really cuts me up inside
seeing these guys. We get dozens every day, begging for work, but there is nothing I can do," McEwan
says.
While thousands of Zimbabweans stream into the region's economic powerhouse, South Africa is trying to
evict 15,500 Zimbabweans working on farms around McEwan's 2,471 acres spread near Louis Trichardt in northern
South Africa. The government says it wants the jobs to go to South Africans. The state is grappling with
rising job losses and an unemployment rate of about 30 percent. "A year or two ago it was just men, but
now it's whole families that come here looking for work. It's because the situation in Zimbabwe is so
bad," McEwan adds. Maguguza, in a grubby polyester suit and a broad-brimmed felt hat, says he left his
wife and two very young children at home in Chiredzi, southeastern Zimbabwe, to find a job in South Africa for
money to send home to feed his family. "I left Zimbabwe because there are no jobs. Inflation is very
high. I can't buy food. My family is starving. I am starving," Maguguza told Reuters.
Zimbabwe's economy has slumped in recent years. A land grab led by self-styled liberation war veterans
since early last year on hundreds of mainly white-owned farms has forced the decline. Inflation is at a record
high of 86.3 percent in the year to September and economists predict it will rise even higher as a foreign
exchange shortage is felt. President Robert Mugabe's government, in power since independence from Britain in
1980, has imposed price controls on basic goods to curb soaring costs, but businesses have warned there may be
closures and further job cuts. "I once worked on a farm, but we were expelled because the company was
going to close. I've been without a job for four months," said the softly spoken Maguguza.
Regional security analysts predict more people could trek out of Zimbabwe to countries with stronger
economies. "There is a reality of food shortages in Zimbabwe, of people in desperate economic
circumstances and little chance, given the state of the economy, of rectifying that," said Greg Mills at
the Johannesburg-based Institute of International Affairs. "Given the economic situation, the mass
closure of businesses in Zimbabwe, the decline of the agricultural sector, it would be surprising if the
trickle didn't turn to a flood," Mills predicted. Last year South Africa deported 81,996 Zimbabweans. In
the first six months of 2001 it deported 23,178. "There is a 275 km long border with Zimbabwe and it's
very difficult to monitor it all. It's nearly impossible to say if there is an increase or decrease in the
number of illegals coming across," said a Home Affairs Department official. Zimbabwe's economy is
forecast by analysts to shrink by 10 percent in 2001 against a 4.2 percent contraction in 2000. An estimated
250,000 industrial and farm laborers of a 1.5 million workforce in those sectors in Zimbabwe have lost their
jobs since the start of last year as farms and businesses buckle under adverse economic conditions, analysts
say. "This is expected to rapidly increase given the farm invasions and the decline in farm output -
already estimated down 50 percent this year," Mills said.
The four men hitched a ride on a truck to Beitbridge, the busy border post between South Africa and its
largest African trading partner and then started to walk. "We have walked for four days without food,
only water. Sometimes we are given water. We have been sleeping in the bush," says Maguguza. The men have
walked about 75 miles. The road south from the border town of Messina is a thin strip of tar, bleached nearly
white under the fierce sun. It cuts a straight line through tough bush and fantastically shaped baobab trees
and across small tight bumps on the earth. McEwan is one of 93 farmers in the area battling to keep some
15,500 Zimbabweans who are working on their citrus and vegetable farms irrigated by the nearby Limpopo River.
McEwan says he cannot afford to send his 59 Zimbabwean workers back. He has already sent nearly 30 back to
Zimbabwe, but the remainder are trained in picking his melons and specialty vegetables. "If I have to
send them back now I will have to close my farm," McEwan said, adding it would take him at least three
months to train local people. The farmers won a temporary reprieve when a group of them won a court interdict
against the expulsion of their 5,500 Zimbabwean laborers when their permits expired in mid-October. The
government has said it would delay expelling the other 10,000 – of whom 7,000 are thought to be working
illegally - until it had determined exceptional cases on the basis of irreplaceable skills or marriage to
locals. The remaining Zimbabweans could be expelled by the end of October.
Top
From The Zimbabwe Standard, 21 October
MDC rural campaign intensifies
The MDC has intensified efforts to penetrate the rural areas ahead of next year’s presidential election.
The party has set up provincial teams tasked with penetrating the rural electorate in their various provinces.
MDC president, Morgan Tsvangirai and party national youth chairman, Nelson Chamisa are leading the campaign,
party officials said. Chamisa confirmed to The Standard on Friday that the party was activating structures in
the rural areas in preparation for the presidential election. Tsvangirai last week led a campaign team which
held rallies in Zhombe and Gokwe in the Midlands province. This was after a successful tour of rural
Matabeleland. Party officials are also undertaking campaigns in other provinces. "We are orienting our
grassroots structures and preparing them for the presidential election. We are firing on all cylinders and by
the time of the presidential election, we will have captured a significant base in the rural areas," said
Chamisa. Rural areas have been a Zanu PF stronghold since independence. During last year’s parliamentary
elections, the ruling party was almost whitewashed in urban constituencies, but won the majority of the rural
seats. The MDC attributed its weak performance in rural areas to the heavy violent campaign waged by Zanu PF
and hired war veterans.
Chamisa said the party had devised a "whisper campaign" where violence was rampant. "The
problem with rural areas is that Zanu PF has been using violence to get support. The only way to deal with
intimidation is to adequately educate and inform the people that this a ploy to keep them in perpetual
poverty." There are, however, fears that opposition supporters attending MDC rallies and meetings will be
victimised. While it has managed to lure the urban electorate, analysts say the MDC needs to break the Zanu PF
dominance in the rural areas if it is to win next year’s presidential election. The MDC has lost all five
by-elections held so far in the largely rural constituencies of Marondera West, Makoni West, Bikita West,
Chikomba and Bindura. Said Chamisa: "Judging from the response we are getting so far, I think we are
making an impact. We are now targeting Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland West. We will dispatch teams to
those two provinces in the coming weeks. We have to destroy the myth that these two provinces are Zanu PF
strongholds. They can be turned into MDC strongholds," said Chamisa. MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai threatens to
dislodge President Mugabe from power in next year’s crunch presidential election.
Top
From The Zimbabwe Standard, 21 October
Cartoonists resign over MDC smear campaign
Bulawayo - Two respected cartoonists from the Zimbabwe Newspapers stable in Bulawayo have resigned over
demands by editor Stephen Ndlovu, to produce cartoons ridiculing the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change, The Standard has learnt. The two, Boyd Maliki of the Chronicle and Zenzo Ncube of the Sunday News,
openly refused to comply with the order. First to go was Zenzo Ncube who informed Ndlovu when he was still
editor of the Sunday News, that he was not interested in producing political cartoons. "The incident was
very telling about the importance of ethics in the journalism profession," said a source within
Zimpapers. Maliki, a respected cartoonist of Nyathi import and export fame, resigned from The Chronicle last
week after turning down Ndlovu’s request to produce a cartoon ridiculing the opposition. "Maliki
approached Ndlovu and told him in no uncertain terms that he would not be involved in any political smear
campaign that Ndlovu wanted to embark on," said the source.
Ndlovu, formerly Sunday News editor, became the editor of the Chronicle after its former editor, Edna
Machirori was fired by information and publicity minister, Jonathan Moyo, earlier this month. The two are
amongst the first to give up their positions without first being lured with incentives by other news
organisations. Efforts to obtain comment from the two cartoonists proved fruitless by the time of going to
press. Meanwhile, the Ziana newsroom in Bulawayo is being manned by drivers after all its reporters left to
join either the ZBC or Zimpapers. The organisation’s former bureau chief, Patrice Makova, left the
organisation last week to join the ZBC as their Mutare correspondent. Senior reporter, Sibongile Ncube
deserted Ziana and joined The Sunday News as business editor.
Top
From The Zimbabwe Independent, 19 October
Donors, govt in new clash
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the agency expected to take a lead in mobilising resources
for Zimbabwe’s land reform under the Abuja agreement, has once again proposed an alternative approach which in
effect requires Harare to drop the internationally condemned fast-track policy. UNDP administrator Mark
Malloch Brown last month wrote to the government laying out international expectations before multi-lateral
donors will fund the land reform programme. The contents of Malloch Brown’s letter are not new but they have
poured cold water on President Mugabe’s hopes that the Abuja agreement signalled international acceptance of
his land policy and that donors would be coming on board waving large cheques.
The indications are that the UNDP would like the 1998 land donors conference resolutions dusted off and
tried once more. UNDP resident representative Victor Angelo in an interview on Wednesday confirmed the world
body had sent a letter to foreign minister Stan Mudenge as a follow-up to the loosely-worded Abuja accord. The
government responded to the letter on Tuesday but Angelo was reluctant to furnish details of Zimbabwe’s
response. "The letter (from Zimbabwe) is being discussed as we speak," said Angelo. "I cannot
give you details about the contents but I can say that the government did not answer all the issues raised in
the letter. It is a delicate matter at the moment," he said.
Yesterday, Angelo was locked in marathon meetings with diplomats from SADC, donor countries and G77 members
to acquaint them with the latest diplomatic initiative to save the situation in Zimbabwe. The move is thought
necessary as an air of mistrust between Harare and London has started to build up again with Zimbabwe saying
Britain is not moving to implement the Abuja agreement. The UNDP, however, says the successful implementation
of the agreement hinges on the willingness of Zimbabwe to be flexible and accept recommendations from the
international community.
In its letter to government the UNDP said it wanted to send another technical team to Zimbabwe to assess
the current agrarian reform under the fast-track exercise. Angelo said the international community was not
really aware of what was happening on the ground, especially regarding the number of people who have been
resettled and their productivity. "We have to come up with an assessment of the situation on the
ground," said Angelo. "We have to find out what is happening on the farms...We hear 30 000 or 60 000
and some say 100 000 farmers have been resettled but these are just numbers - we have to ensure that there is
accurate information," he said. Angelo said the UNDP had indicated in the letter that after the
assessment stakeholders - the government, farmers and donors - had to agree on a general framework which would
then be developed into a fully-fledged land reform programme with the support of multi-lateral financiers.
Observers said the strategy adopted by the UNDP mirrored the views of key Western donors, including the
European Union and former colonial power Britain, which had all made it clear that they would not put their
money into the current government land policy. The key donors want a structured exercise which would be
implemented in stages with results evaluated. Before they could be involved, sources said, the donors would
want a proper audit of the government’s fast-track scheme, hence the UNDP’s request to send a technical team.
"The donors cannot just make a leap in the dark because they have taxpayers’ money to account for,"
said a Western diplomat.
Top
From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 20 October
Violence rises on Zimbabwe farms
Harare - Violence on Zimbabwe's mainly white-owned farms is dramatically worse since President Mugabe
signed the Abuja Agreement, according to a survey of commercial farmers. Almost 700 farms have been invaded
since the meeting of Commonwealth foreign ministers in Abuja, Nigeria, last month. Mr Mugabe agreed then to
stop the invasions and return his land reform campaign to the rule of law. However, David Hasluck, director of
the Commercial Farmers' Union, gave a chilling account of developments in the agricultural sector, which
provides nearly half Zimbabwe's foreign currency. Nearly a third of Zimbabwe's population has applied for food
aid.
Of the farmers surveyed, 51 per cent had been invaded, Mr Hasluck said. More than 800 violent incidents,
including assaults on farmers and their workers, had been recorded. Mr Hasluck predicted at least a 40 per
cent loss of production this season, costing £142 million for the tobacco industry alone. Commercial farmers
were growing only enough of the staple food, maize, for their workers and for stock feeds. Mr Hasluck said
75,000 people had been forced from their farm homes in the past few months. They were replaced by 104,000
"settlers", who so far had made no preparations to grow crops when the rains fall next month. In the
past 10 days, four of Mr Mugabe's most loyal cabinet ministers have been touring white-owned farms and
speaking to farmers and new "settlers". They have repeatedly told white farmers that they have
"no rights over land". These meetings were no more than "political rallies", according to
a CFU official.
Top
From News24 (SA), 20 October
40% drop in Zim farm production
Harare - The main white farmers' organisation on Friday forecast a 40% drop in commercial farm production
this year because of disruptions and violence on farms by ruling party militants. The continuing disruptions
violated an accord Zimbabwe signed in Nigeria on September 6 that was intended to end the violence, the
Commercial Farmers Union said. Ruling party militants began their often-violent occupation of nearly 2 000
white-owned farms last year, demanding the land be seized and turned over to landless blacks. The government
quickly followed with plans to seize nearly all the white-owned farmland in the country. Opposition officials
say both moves were meant to drum up support for the ruling party ahead of parliamentary elections last year
and presidential elections expected next year.
The farmers' union released the results of a survey of its members on Friday showing that 1183 farms were
affected by work stoppages last month, with about 350 farms shut down completely, some for several months,
union officials said. More than 40 000 ha of food crops were under threat, reducing crops of corn, the staple
food, by up to 40% compared to last year. Tobacco, the main hard currency earner, was likely to be reduced by
between 35 - 50%, a loss of some $228 million in hard currency revenues in next year's tobacco marketing
season. Zimbabwe is the second largest tobacco exporter after Brazil, which has already announced increases in
its production to make up for the 650 000 tons Zimbabwean growers have not been able to plant this year, the
union said.
The farmers were forced to slaughter more than 240 000 cattle - 20% of the commercial herd - this year
after militants and land occupiers torched grazing land, the union said. "This trend of violence and
disruptions is continuing and the economic consequences will deteriorate further," union director David
Hasluck said. At total of 104 175 militants, occupiers and squatters were on 1 948 private farms and 74 998
farm workers and their family members had been driven off their employers' land. Farmers reported 829
incidents of violence against their families and their workers since the September 6 agreement Zimbabwe signed
with ministers of the Commonwealth of Britain and its former territories promising to restore law and order to
farming districts and stop new farm occupations. Colin Cloete, a union leader, said the survey revealed
worsening violence since the accord. "We see a strong trend in the escalation of farm invasions and work
stoppages in the last six to eight weeks," Cloete said. Occupiers had seized land on 688 farms since the
accord. President Robert Mugabe had promised to abide by the accord, but some doubted whether he could quickly
rein in the militants.
Top
From The Zimbabwe Independent, 19 October
Zim/SA in diplomatic tiff
Friction between South Africa and Zimbabwe, which first surfaced at the September 11 Southern African
Development Community (SADC) summit in Harare, intensified this week with a war of words between officials on
either side of the Limpopo. Fuelling the row, high-level sources said, is a growing perception in Pretoria
that President Mugabe, in retaliation for the diplomatic wringing he received in Harare last month, is
supporting the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC)’s agenda of land invasions modelled on Zanu PF’s programme.
Despite being a negligible party in electoral terms, the PAC has been given red-carpet treatment in Harare and
provided extensive state media coverage for its land agenda. PAC officials, who expressed support for land
invasions in Zimbabwe during a visit to Harare in August, are set to return soon for further talks with their
traditional Zanu PF allies. South African war veterans, reportedly raising funds for President Robert Mugabe’s
re-election next year, are also thought to be backing Harare in its diplomatic spat with Pretoria. A meeting
is due this month in South Africa between regional ex-combatants and the land issue is expected to feature
prominently.
Sources said Mbeki’s robust stance in regional initiatives over the Zimbabwe crisis, particularly his
encouragement of meetings with civil society, have riled Mugabe. Since the SADC taskforce Harare meeting, the
already fraught diplomatic relations between Pretoria and Harare have further deteriorated. Zimbabwean
authorities, disguising themselves as "analysts"in the official media, have attacked Mbeki to
undermine his policies, especially on land. They claim that while refusing to speak to the opposition in South
Africa on the land issue, he is only too prepared to meet Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Sources said Mugabe and his advisors resent Mbeki because he has abandoned the revolutionary solidarity stance
which Mugabe has used to camouflage his isolation. Harare also does not like Pretoria’s meetings with the MDC,
a party it alleges represents foreign interests. This could explain the resuscitation of relations with the
PAC which were abandoned after a Cape Town bomb attack in 1993.
Despite energetic efforts by Pretoria to explain the deportation of illegal Zimbabwean farm workers as
"routine". analysts say the move should be seen in terms of a deteriorating relationship. Harare and
Pretoria - albeit indirectly - this week exchanged fire over the issue. Zimbabwe, through its propaganda
mouthpieces, claimed South Africa wanted to sabotage its land reform through the deportations and threatened
to seize more land to resettle the deportees. It also said whites were influencing Mbeki’s government on this
matter despite clear evidence that Northern Province farmers were helping their workers to appeal against the
move. South African Home Affairs director-general Billy Masentlha said in an interview that it was disturbing
to note officials were associating themselves with "unfortunate" remarks. "(Zimbabwe’s)
Government has been making unfortunate statements on the basis of propaganda and rumour," he said.
"Most of the things that have been said about this matter are just not true." Masentlha said
official media reports that 8 000 Zimbabwean farm workers "slipped" out of South Africa to avoid
deportation were unfounded. "It’s an absolute lie, a total fabrication," he said. "The fact is
the courts have ordered (that) we should have an out-of-court settlement and we have given farmers until the
end of this week to argue their case. Next week we will provide them with a definite response."
There are 10 152 Zimbabwean farm workers in South Africa’s Northern Province currently working on 94
properties - not 15 000 as the Zimbabwe state media has been claiming. The total number of farm workers in the
Northern Province - including South Africans and other foreigners - is 16 000. Despite the widening diplomatic
rift, Masentlha denied his government was playing tit for tat. "We are not deporting Zimbabweans alone.
We are deporting illegal immigrants from South Africa including the farm workers. How many Mozambicans,
Malawians, Zambians, Nigerians and others do we deport on a daily basis?" he asked. Masentlha said South
Africa wants to end the exploitation of what he termed the Zimbabwe "slave market" by its farmers
while creating jobs for locals.
Top
From The Daily News, 18 October
Zvobgo warns Zanu PF
Eddison Zvobgo has stirred fresh controversy in Zanu PF which threatens the party’s chances of winning
Masvingo province in the 2002 presidential election. He has reportedly declared parts of the province, rocked
by factionalism for years, no-go areas for Zanu PF in the presidential campaign. Zvobgo is the MP for Masvingo
South. He leads a faction which is fighting for control of the faction-ridden province against another led by
the provincial governor, Josaya Hungwe, a protégé of Vice-President Simon Muzenda. Zanu PF lost the executive
mayoral election to the MDC earlier this year. Some analysts attributed the loss to factionalism which has
split Zanu PF in Masvingo. Hungwe was reportedly present at a Zanu PF meeting in Masvingo on Tuesday at which
Zvobgo’s latest statements were discussed. Last night, a meeting of the provincial executive of the party was
held, again reportedly to discuss, among other crucial issues, Zvobgo’s reported threat to bar Zanu PF from
campaigning for President Mugabe in the province.
The controversy was stirred up by a report in the small weekly independent paper in Masvingo, The Mirror,
alleging Zvobgo had once more attacked Mugabe and the Zanu PF leadership for clinging to power for too long.
In Harare yesterday, Zvobgo denied the newspaper report, although he said he would do nothing to correct it.
The paper covered a rally addressed by Zvobgo on Saturday, 6 October, in its Thursday 11 October issue. The
newspaper is owned by a Masvingo businessman, Douglas Hill. Zvobgo was quoted as saying: "I will not
allow Zanu PF to be abused by a few individuals. We did not fight the liberation struggle for one person to
rule the nation forever. No one was born a dictator in this country. We fought for majority rule." He was
speaking at a victory celebration rally at Nyikavanhu business centre. Contacted for comment, Zvobgo said:
"This is a very delicate time and I do not want to be part of this fray. Those are damned lies. I have
never attacked the person of the President. I never said that." In August, Zvobgo was quoted at a
colleague’s funeral as attacking leaders who clung to power instead of retiring gracefully. He likened the
refusal of one to hand over power to the mentality of a madman who, when given the relay baton in a race,
flees with it into the mountains instead of passing it on. "Once upon a time, a psychiatric patient at
Ngomahuru Hospital joined a relay race with other patients. Instead of passing the baton onto the next person,
he ran into the adjacent hill with the baton," he told the mourners.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the Zanu PF provincial leaders were reportedly divided over the issue. Some felt the
party should not concentrate on Zvobgo but on campaigning for Mugabe. Others felt the "Zvobgo
factor" had to be addressed. Zanu PF is likely to fare very badly in the presidential election without
the full backing of the Zvobgo faction. Samuel Mumbengegwi’s executive, which took over from the one led by
Dzikamai Mavhaire, a Zvobgo ally, is unpopular in the province. The Hungwe-led faction is alleging Zvobgo is
using his victory celebrations to campaign for Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC’s presidential candidate. Zvobgo has
already held six victory celebrations with another 19 still to be held in Masvingo Central and South. "I
heard about that a long time ago that I’m MDC but that’s nonsense, rubbish. I have always held victory
celebrations in each and every ward where people come to feast after every general election, and that’s not a
crime," he said. Zvobgo said the celebrations will spill into the Masvingo Central constituency, which
Mavhaire lost to the MDC’s Silas Mangono in last year's parliamentary election. However, Zvobgo says the
majority of the people in the rural areas voted for Mavhaire.
