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From The Guardian (UK), 8 November

Mugabe to ban election monitors

Harare - President Robert Mugabe's government announced yesterday that it will ban independent poll monitors in the presidential elections early next year: a decision which will inflame Zimbabwe's already heated political climate. The justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa, told the official newspaper the Herald that he would introduce legislation to ban all independent election monitors. The government would provide its own. For the parliamentary elections last year an independent body trained 24,000 monitors, drawn from a wide range of civic organisations. They were present at many polling stations and counts, and often stopped intimidation. But Mr Chinamasa said these groups were "partial, foreign-funded, loyal to their funders, and therefore produce monitors who are partisan". Last week the European Union warned Zimbabwe that it might impose sanctions if the government refused to admit international observers and failed to end the political violence which has killed hundreds. This week the government has stepped up its efforts to silence the independent newspaper Daily News by alleging that its holding company is not properly registered. The paper has already survived two bomb attacks, attacks on its reporters, and numerous court cases. The Movement for Democratic Change denounced the government's actions as a tacit admission that it plans to cheat. Its general secretary, Welshman Ncube, said: "We have a delinquent government of geriatrics who want to cling to power regardless of anything. So we will insist the elections be held under the full glare of scrutiny, because they want to cheat, left, right and centre."

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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 7 November

Showdown looms between EU and Zimbabwe

A showdown is looming between Zimbabwe and the European Union (EU) over the African nation's refusal to allow the European Union to monitor next year's presidential elections. Zimbabwe's foreign affairs minister, Stan Mudenge, has described as "thoughtless and futile" a demand by the European Union to be allowed to send its election monitors for the elections. "That is how exactly we feel when people ... come to us, even before we ourselves know the date of our elections to urge, insist and demand that they should be allowed to come by such and such a date and start assessing and observing," he said. "It breeds suspicions and tempts others to ascribe sinister motives," said Mudenge, warning that Zimbabwe is a sovereign and independent state that can never take orders from any country. Zimbabwean political analysts, however, beg to differ with Mudenge. "Yes, Zimbabwe is a sovereign state, but does it want free and fair elections. No. If they are genuine about holding free and fair elections, they should allow monitors from all over the world. They have something to hide it's clear," says Moses Tekere, a University of Zimbabwe lecturer. "Although it's not possible to hold free and fair elections now, the government runs the risk of no one recognising it even if it were to win freely and fairly," notes Tekere. John Makumbe, a political analyst, agreed. "It's a frivolous excuse," he says. "If the Zimbabwean government has nothing to hide, they should allow international observers to come in. Their refusal to let in the international community is already evident of their intention to steal the election." The European Union claims that President Robert Mugabe's government is failing to uphold the rule of law, threatening to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe over worsening human rights conditions in the country. Zimbabwe's presidential election, which is expected to be the most fiercely contested since independence in 1980, will take place early next year. For the first time, political analysts give incumbent president Mugabe little chance of winning the vote. In last year's parliamentary elections, analysts claim the ruling party only won through violence and the beating up of opposition supporters. At least 32 opposition supporters were killed in the run-up to last year's elections. President Mugabe is facing his strongest challenge ever from the opposition's Morgan Tsvangirai. "There is a lot more than meets the eye. They are very scared. They (government) don't want the glare of the international community and it's obvious that it's going to be a violent election," says Makumbe. Last year Zimbabwe signed the Cotonou Agreement in which it agreed to the key essential elements of rule of law, good governance and the observance of democracy. A new report released recently by Amnesty International blamed the Zimbabwean government "for sponsoring the killings of dozens of opposition supporters" in the country. In the report, the London-based Human Rights group warned that state-sponsored killings were on the rise. The group also said that the murders would continue to increase in the run-up to next year's presidential elections. According to the rights group, since January, more than 50 people have been killed and the figure is rising. Amnesty International claimed that supporters of the ruling party beat up political opponents, sometimes with the active support of the police. These claims have, however, been denied by police spokesperson, Wayne Bvudzijena. The police, he said, had "not stooped so low as to kill people". He challenged Amnesty International to provide evidence to back up their allegations. Amnesty International predicts that violence will worsen and appeals for international election observers to be sent to Zimbabwe as soon as possible ahead of presidential elections next year. "Pressure should continue to be exerted on the Zimbabwe government to allow independent election to stop them from stealing the election," says Makumbe.

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From Business Day (SA), 8 November

Mugabe paves his way to win election

President plans to ban independent monitors and expand state media Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's government is leaving no stone unturned in a bid to win next year's presidential elections. A report in the official Herald newspaper yesterday that the government wants to ban independent election monitors was followed by news that the state's media would be expanded in preparation for an unprecedented propaganda onslaught. In a bid to widen viewership of the state television channel, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) is seeking a deal with satellite television services provider Multichoice Africa. Multichoice Africa GM for Corporate Affairs Lebogang Hashatse confirmed yesterday that the group, which also operates in Zimbabwe, was discussing the possibility of adding the ZBC channel to Multichoice's satellite platform. However, he said nothing had been concluded yet. The Herald said under the proposed amendments to be tabled before parliament later this month, the Electoral Supervisory Commission, which oversees all Zimbabwe polls, would "be required to draw the monitors from the public service, banning international and local monitors". Zimbabwean Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said the government wanted to move away from the commission's reliance on monitors recruited and trained by nongovernmental organisations, whose impartiality he said was questionable. Any amendment to a law needs a simple majority in parliament to be passed. Mugabe's party holds 93 seats in the 150-strong legislature. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said the proposed amendment was "cause for serious concern". Last week the Zimbabwean government said it rejected what it called an ultimatum by the European Union to allow foreign observers to monitor the election. A senior SA foreign affairs official said yesterday he was aware of the Herald report, but had yet to receive official confirmation of the ban from the SA embassy. Sources also indicated yesterday that authorities were working hard to launch another huge government-controlled media group to be known as the New Ziana. This organisation will have its own 24-hour television and radio stations, eight newspapers, publishing services and recording facilities to augment state-controlled Zimpapers and the ZBC. The company, expected to be a rigid government monopoly, will emerge from the state news agency Ziana, the Community Newspaper Group and other concerns. Last week Mugabe's Information Minister Jonathan Moyo and his department's permanent secretary, George Charamba, held a meeting with the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust, Ziana, editors and consultants to finalise the plans. Sources at the meeting said Moyo made it clear that "we will continue hiring and firing until we get the right people". The news came in the wake of Herald reports this week that the privately owned Daily News' parent company, Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), was not properly registered. Derek Smail, one of the founding members of ANZ, said the allegations were "another move to discredit and undermine the Daily News".

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From The Financial Gazette, 8 November

Tsvangirai judgment

The Supreme Court is expected next week to deliver judgment in the case in which opposition Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai is challenging the constitutionality of two sections of the Law and Order Maintenance Act (LOMA) under which he is accused of terrorism, it was established yesterday. Judicial sources said the judgment had been delayed because the court was waiting for Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku's opinion, which he has just completed. Other judges hearing the case are understood to have already finished preparing their opinions on the case. "We expect judgment to be handed down next week because, by and large, all judges are through in terms of preparing their opinions," a judiciary source said. The state alleges that Tsvangirai, in an address to his supporters in Harare last year, threatened to violently remove President Robert Mugabe from office if he refused to leave peacefully. Tsvangirai's lawyers argue that the laws under which their client is being charged are unconstitutional. LOMA was enacted by the white minority government of Rhodesia, which used the legislation to detain black nationalists and to suppress their struggle for majority rule. Despite repeated calls for the scrapping of the legislation in the past 21 years of Zimbabwe's independence, Mugabe's government has repeatedly used the draconian law to clamp down on political opponents and dissenting voices.

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From The Financial Gazette, 8 November

Tsvangirai leads Mugabe

Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has taken a lead of nearly six percentage points against his chief rival Robert Mugabe in a landmark presidential ballot due next year, according to an opinion poll conducted by an internationally respected polling agency. The opinion poll, conducted between August 17 and September 28 this year, shows Tsvangirai garnering 52.9 percent of the vote against Mugabe's 47.1 percent, giving the MDC chief a lead of 5.8 percentage points. The poll's margin of error is minus or plus 2.7 percent for either side. The poll, which sampled 3 013 nationally representative potential voters, was commissioned by the Financial Gazette and conducted by Target Research, an independent polling agency operating in southern Africa. Target Research, with wide experience in conducting opinion polls and surveys, was in 1999 voted one of six "outstanding research organisations in eastern and southern Africa" by the United States-based Michigan State University. Although Tsvangirai has taken an early lead, the opinion poll shows that 20.5 percent of the voters - or a fifth - are still undecided, waiting to see how Zimbabwe's deepening economic crisis will be resolved in the coming months. Target Research, which had to contend with physical and verbal intimidation by government supporters and officials during its fieldwork, this week said the poll results were based on data weighted to account for a Zanu PF bias resulting from the number of possible MDC supporters who refused to participate. The data was weighted based on the proportions of those polled in each province who said that they had voted for a particular party in the June 2000 parliamentary elections and the actual proportions based on these election results. The survey report says: "A weighting factor could not be computed for those who did not vote in the parliamentary elections or who refused to indicate who they voted for so these (weighted) results are based on the sub-sample of 1 681 respondents who had voted and who divulged who they had voted for. "This means that 18-year-olds, many of whom could not vote last year, are under-represented in these weighted estimates. Since 18 to 20-year-olds are more likely to vote for Morgan Tsvangirai than for Robert Mugabe . . . the estimates for the proportion expected to vote for Tsvangirai is likely to be a slight under-estimate." The opinion poll found that most of Mugabe's support would come from Mashonaland Central, West and East and Masvingo, which traditionally favour the ruling Zanu PF. The remaining seven provinces were biased towards Tsvangirai. About 36 percent of those intending to vote for Mugabe said they would do so because he liberated Zimbabwe from colonial rule, 35 percent because "he is promising people land", 16 percent because there is no credible opposition and nine percent to eliminate the possibility of war. Those potential voters intending to cast their ballot for Tsvangirai cited mostly economic reasons, with 59 percent citing Zimbabwe's record inflation, 34 percent unemployment, 21 percent the devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar, nine percent food shortages and four percent the scarcity of fuel and foreign exchange. About 10 percent said they would vote for the opposition because of the lawlessness in Zimbabwe, four percent because the present government had been in power for too long and two percent because of the corruption associated with the present government. Eighty-four percent of those intending to vote next year said nothing would change their choice of candidate, while nine percent said there were factors that could change their minds. These included the cost of living, the provision of better health care and the ability of one candidate or another to stimulate economic growth. However, the opinion poll found that: "Indications are that there exists a significant proportion of the eligible voters who want to vote who are yet to make a decision as to who they will vote for. A high number of those who intend to vote had still not made up their minds as to which candidate to support. Of this group, 40 percent said they would be influenced by the cost of living, while 31 percent said reduction of inflation might influence how they decide to vote." Twenty-seven percent of those who had not yet decided who to vote for said job creation would have an effect on voting patterns while 19 percent said food shortages or food aid would influence their vote. Others cited job loss, resettlement on farms, provision of farm inputs, housing and better health care. About five percent of this sub-sample said the extent of violence before and during the presidential poll might have a bearing on whether they voted or not and 10 percent of respondents said violence and intimidation would affect their choice of candidate. Intimidation was also one of the reasons cited by the five percent of potential voters who said they would not vote next year. Other factors were fear, illiteracy, indifference, religious reasons, having no favoured political candidate, polling stations being too far and not having registered yet. Voter apathy was prevalent among young adults, who are most likely to be in Tsvangirai's corner, some of who said they would not vote because it would be pointless or they were not registered. The survey report said: "The age groups who exhibited the greatest interest in exercising their vote were those aged 31 to 35 (93 percent) and those between the ages 21 to 25 and 36 to 40 (91 percent of each group). "Eighteen to twenty-year-olds and over sixty-year-olds were the most likely age groups to be unsure of whether they will vote or not. Forty-two percent of the 18-20-year-olds who do not intend to vote in the 2002 elections will not do so because they are not registered, while half of those over the age of 60 years have the same response. "Significantly lower numbers (eight percent) of those between the ages 18 to 20 say that voting would be pointless, compared with 54 percent of those between the ages of 21 to 30 who cited this reason."

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From The Independent (UK), 7 November

Mugabe threatens to force closure of critical newspaper

Harare - The Zimbabwe government yesterday ordered the country's only independent daily newspaper to close. It accused the company directors of The Daily News of flouting investment laws and exchange control regulations, says the state media. The Zimbabwe Investment Centre (ZIC), an arm of the Zimbabwe government's Ministry of Finance, told Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ), which publishes The Daily News, to surrender the paper's investment certificate and discontinue operations immediately, claiming the basis on which the company was established had been removed. Human rights campaigners condemned the move as a bid to intimidate opponents of President Robert Mugabe's regime and silence free speech before next year's presidential elections. Geoff Nyarota, the newspaper's editor-in-chief, said the News had not violated any of the mentioned laws and vowed to continue publishing. "They haven't moved to try to force us to stop publishing but you never know with this government," Mr Nyarota said. "Anything may happen from the moment I end this conversation with you." The barely concealed government attempt to close the newspaper has outraged the opposition in Zimbabwe. "Having failed to ban The Daily News or to silence it through two bombings, new and naked attempts of muzzling the paper are now being formulated," the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said. The MDC, which is shunned by the publicly funded government-run media except when the reports about the opposition party are negative, relies on the News and other privately owned papers to get its message across to the electorate. The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) said the latest action was not surprising, given the government "would stop at nothing in its efforts to silence all perceived critics ahead of crunch presidential elections next year". Richard Mbaiwa, the executive director of ZIC, in a letter to ANZ, accused the firm of violating the Zimbabwe Investment Act by changing its shareholding structure without the authority of the ZIC. He declared null and void an investment into The Daily News by a company called Renaissance Asset Management (RAM)last year. RAM, wholly owned by Zimbabwean businessmen, took over much of the foreign investment into The Daily News and owns a controlling 60 percent stake in the company. In fact, RAM rescued the News when it was facing financial difficulties. The newspaper, established in 1999, has overtaken the state-owned Herald as the best-selling newspaper in Zimbabwe with 100 000 copies daily. In January a bomb destroyed the newspaper's printing press in what it claimed was a political attack. Mr Mbaiwa said the investment by RAM into the News was unprocedural because it had not been authorised by ZIC. He also accused the founders of ANZ, Geoff Nyarota and Wilf Mbanga, of misleading ZIC about their investments into ANZ. In a lengthy statement yesterday, ANZ denied all the allegations levelled against the company and its director by ZIC and dismissed them as part of sustained efforts to try to close the newspaper. Ten days ago, four ANZ directors were arrested by police in connection with similar allegations. The foreign minister, Stan Mudenge, has claimed the News was a key beneficiary of funding from the British government. News spokesmen deny they were funded by the UK, although they admitted the paper was originally kick-started by money from a company called Africa Media Investments (AMI), which is owned by British businessmen. And the land grab continues. On Monday, the government seized 35,000 hectares owned by the famous South African mining dynasty, the Oppenheimer family. The Oppenheimers, main shareholders in the diamond-mining giant, De Beers, are believed to own the largest tracts of land by a single family or company in Zimbabwe. The vice-president, Joseph Msika descended on the Oppenheimer Debshan Estate and declared the government had carved out for resettlement 35,000 hectares out of the 140,000-hectare estate. He told illegal settlers, who invaded and occupied the land in February last year, that the government would properly resettle them on the seized land from next week. He said the government would also shortly seize 30,000 more hectares from the Oppenheimers.

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From News24 (SA), 6 November

Invaders slash crops

Harare - Pro-government militants occupying white-owned farms in Zimbabwe are disrupting work as the new planting season gets under way, the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) warned on Monday. The CFU - which groups some 4 500 mainly white farmers - said the militants, who have illegally occupied more than 1 000 farms since February 2000, were in some cases slashing crops. "The status quo regarding lack of planting remains the same. Work stoppages, displacements of farmworkers and extortion continue to occur," the CFU said in its latest update on the situation. In the Horseshoe farming district of Mashonaland Central province, a property owner was evicted and irrigation of his tobacco crop stopped, while work on a coffee plantation at a neighbouring farm was also stopped, the CFU said. Aid agencies have warned of severe food shortages in rural Zimbabwe in coming months, citing a combination of drought and the farm invasions, which the militants say are meant to bolster a programme to redistribute white-owned farmland to landless blacks. A recent survey by the CFU showed that nearly a third of the country's 12.6 million people have applied for food aid. It also showed intentions among CFU members to plant maize, the country's staple food, in the new season had declined from 74 000ha to 55 000ha due to the land crisis. Industry officials say Zimbabwe needs to import at least 600 000 tons of maize to meet domestic demand. The government has acknowledged a need to import 100 000 tons. Zimbabwe is facing its worst political and economic crisis since President Robert Mugabe came to power in 1980. The Zimbabwe Joint Resettlement Initiative, a grouping of commercial farmers that seeks dialogue over the land issue, has urged the government to end the work stoppages. "Violence, intimidation and extortion have no place in the process of land reform," ZJRI chairperson William Hughes said in a statement. "The (planting) season is already upon us. Let us not wait until it is too late. Let us act now to maximise production for the nation, lest the cries of hungry babies haunt us to our graves," Hughes said. Farmers say Mugabe has failed to honour his endorsement of a deal brokered in Abuja, Nigeria, in September under which his government agreed to end the farm invasions in return for pledges of financial help from former colonial power Britain.

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From The Financial Mail (SA), 26 October

Robert Mugabe goes for broke

Zimbabweans can be forgiven for feeling confused. Last Monday President Robert Mugabe (77) announced that after a decade of structural adjustment he was returning to the path of socialism. On Friday government said it would set up a panel of bankers and economists to recommend the way forward. Whatever they decide, the country has already been abandoned to Mugabe's private militias who will take over and run factories whose owners have refused to accept price controls. The government's panel of experts is unlikely to endorse a return to the past. State socialism in the Eighties failed to produce growth and jobs on the scale needed to absorb school leavers. Hence the economic structural reform programme of 1991, which was designed to replace a command economy inherited from the Rhodesian regime. But Mugabe declined to let go of bloated parastatals that provided sheltered employment for his followers and refused to stop spending hand over fist on the pampered military and an overstocked government. As a result the budget deficit ballooned to 15% of GDP. He was equally suspicious of proposals for constitutional reform that would deprive him of his overweening executive powers. Locked in a mindset of imagined conspiracies by recalcitrant Rhodesians, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's "gay gangsters" and US imperialists, Mugabe became increasingly obdurate. The defeat in a referendum last year of constitutional proposals that would have legitimised his autocracy and legalised land seizures led him to embark on a programme of violent and lawless land acquisition that has brought the economy to its knees. Designed primarily to punish whites, who he believes are behind the surging opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the land grab has also dispossessed tens of thousands of Mozambicans, Malawians and Zambians. It has reduced agricultural output by 40%. Oblivious to this, Mugabe believes returning to a command economy will restore popular confidence in his deeply unpopular regime. The record is not auspicious. State management has been costly and inept. The present campaign of violence and intimidation together with rural cleansing of opposition support may win him votes. But if he succeeds in procuring his return next March, it will be as President of a deeply divided nation. The MDC retains the support of the young, the educated and the urbanised. It also has a huge following in Matabeleland in the southwest and parts of Manicaland in the east. Mugabe on the other hand can count on his Mashonaland fiefdoms in the northeast and northwest. He can win only if the election is not free or fair. A flawed poll will undermine his legitimacy at home and abroad. However damaging his policies, there are few challengers to Mugabe's grip on power. Only a few years ago he was obliged to accommodate the views of regional barons who had accompanied him on his march to power and dominated the all-powerful politburo. Now they have been emasculated: Emmerson Mnangagwa, defeated at the polls last year, was rescued by Mugabe and appointed Speaker of parliament; Eddison Zvobgo, the most outspoken critic of Mugabe's autocracy, has been marginalised in his Masvingo home area; Kumbirai Kangai, former Agriculture Minister, is facing corruption charges; and Solomon Mujuru, former army chief, has been humiliated by mutinous war veterans. Instead, Mugabe is surrounded by lesser men such as Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, Agriculture Minister Joseph Made and Legal Minister Patrick Chinamasa who are unelected MPs dependent on the President's patronage. Finance Minister Simba Makoni, who is keen to secure a rapprochement with international donors, is thwarted at every turn. As well as turning his back on economic reform, Mugabe has made it clear there will be no independent electoral commission to supervise the forthcoming poll. His officials will be in charge. War veterans and land invaders under their control will be registered on a supplementary roll, voting at mobile polling stations on the occupied farms. It is against this formidable power structure, buttressed by a suborned police force, a politicised army command and a compliant State broadcaster, that the opposition, armed only with an idea whose time has come, must now pit itself.

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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 6 November

Mugabe 'has flouted law for 20 years'

President Robert Mugabe has been systematically trying to undermine human rights and the rule of law in Zimbabwe ever since he came to power more than 20 years ago, the country's former Chief Justice said last night. Anthony Gubbay was speaking in London at the annual John Foster Human Rights Trust lecture, the first time he has spoken publicly since he was forced out of office in March. He said that President Mugabe's government had subverted the principle of equality before the law by "setting one standard for themselves and another for the people they govern". In particular, he condemned Mr Mugabe for apparently endorsing the harassment of the judiciary by the country's so-called war veterans. He said that Zimbabwe was on the verge of becoming a pariah state. He called on the international community to step up diplomatic pressure on Zimbabwe, saying that the human rights record of one country was the legitimate concern of every country. He also gave warning that the worsening political crisis in Zimbabwe could precipitate instability throughout southern Africa, "if not the entire African continent". Mr Gubbay said he was saddened and disappointed not to have been allowed to serve until April next year, when he was due to retire. But he said his determination to establish human rights and the rule of law as the foundation for modern Zimbabwe had "attracted the continuing annoyance" of the government. Despite paying lip service to the importance of an independent judiciary, Mr Mugabe's government had sent confusing signals as to the sanctity of human rights and the rule of law. Within months of coming to power in 1980 he had clearly stated his willingness "to disobey the law whenever it was deemed necessary to maintain law and order". Mr Gubbay said: "With hindsight I do not believe this can be dismissed as the teething troubles of a new government flexing its muscles after an inordinate period of white minority rule". He said that whenever the courts ruled against the government, President Mugabe and his allies would accuse the judges of being class-biased and racist. Faced with unpalatable rulings by the High and Supreme Courts, such as outlawing the whipping of prisoners, the Mugabe government would either try to ignore them or interpret them as narrowly as possible. Later, it changed the constitution to make it easier to overrule the courts. Mr Gubbay said he was surprised when he was made Chief Justice in 1990, not least because he had been a firm advocate of human rights and a thorn in the government's side.

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From The Cape Times (SA), 4 November

Harsh criticism won't help Zim situation - SA

The government has warned the international community to avoid confronting or criticising Zimbabwe too harshly lest it create a "siege mentality" in President Robert Mugabe's government that will hamper efforts to solve the crisis there. Talking at a weekend media briefing here, deputy foreign minister Aziz Pahad dismissed the "smart sanctions" that the European Union is proposing against Zimbabwe, saying these were likely to prove to be mere tokens that would not have the desired effect. The proposed EU sanctions are aimed only at Mugabe and his lieutenants, including a freeze on their assets and a ban on their international travel. And Welile Nhlapo, head of the Africa section in the department of foreign affairs, criticised members of the international community for branding Mugabe's government a "rogue state" and questioning its legitimacy. Nhlapo said Zimbabwe was a legitimate state and that to deny that or impose punitive measures such as sanctions would only create a siege mentality in Mugabe's government. This would play into the hands of "negative forces" in the country, without helping the Zimbabwean people. Nhlapo said the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and the independent media in Zimbabwe, by accepting funding from the British government, were creating the perception that they were acting as agents for foreign interests. But Nhlapo denied, in a clarifying statement issued Sunday, a Sunday newspaper report that he personally believed the MDC and independent media were acting as agents for foreign interests. He said he had been referring to the Zimbabwe government's perceptions. Pahad defended South Africa's "quiet diplomacy" on Zimbabwe and said critics had underestimated the achievement of the Commonwealth and the Southern African Development Community in persuading Mugabe to allow them to send delegations to Zimbabwe to consult all parties to discover the source of the crisis. These initiatives had "opened up space" for a solution to the crisis, even if they had not yet solved it. Asked whether the government believed the essential problem in Zimbabwe was Mugabe's clinging to power at all costs, Nhlapo said "the problem is clearly defined", but South Africa was not prepared to contribute "to what Zimbabweans detest" by saying Mugabe was the cause of all of the country's problems. He said this created fear among Zimbabweans that the international community wanted to determine who should lead them, when they felt perfectly capable of deciding that themselves. Nhlapo also said the land issue was central, but that the Abuja Agreement forged by the Commonwealth, which Zimbabwe had signed, included other problems needing attention in Zimbabwe. DFA director-general Sipho Pityana warned that it was "not unlikely" that the R1,5-billion estimated bill that President Thabo Mbeki had announced for sending about 1 430 troops to Burundi for up to a year could increase. About 700 of the troops are already in Burundi to protect a transitional government established last week under the auspices of former president Nelson Mandela.

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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 2 November

Mugabe's days of immunity numbered - US court

A United States district court in New York this week held the ruling Zanu PF party liable for the murder and torture of opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters in the run-up to last year's June parliamentary election. The court ruled that though Mugabe was personally immune from the suit in his capacity as head of state, he was not immune from being served with a complaint in his capacity as first secretary of Zanu PF. Judge Victor Marrero warned "the days in which such immunity would continue to prevail may be numbered". Marrero, citing precedents involving fallen strongmen such as Ferdinand Marcos, Augusto Pinochet and Slobodan Milosevic, issued a warning: "These precedents instruct that resort to head-of-state and diplomatic immunity as a shield for private abuses of the sovereign's office is wearing thinner in the eyes of the world and waning in the cover of the law. The prevailing trend teaches that the day does come to pass when those who violate their public trust are called upon, in this world, to render account for the wrongs they inflict on innocents," Marrero said. The plaintiffs are Adella Chiminya, Elliot Pfebve, Evelyn Masaiti, and Maria Stevens. Chiminya is suing on behalf of her late husband Tichaona, who was a senior MDC campaign advisor allegedly burnt to death by two Zanu PF supporters identified in court during an electoral petition hearing as Tomu Kainos "Kitsiyatota" Zimunya and Joseph Mwale. The two are still to stand trial. Pfebve was an MDC parliamentary candidate for Bindura who survived several assassination attempts. His look-alike brother Matthew was killed during the campaign. Masaiti, MP for Mutasa, represents her relatives whose houses were burnt down in the run-up to the election. Stevens lost her husband David, a tobacco farmer who was abducted from a police station and killed. Pfebve hailed the judgement: "We thank the American justice system for holding up some hope for human rights victims everywhere. The decision lets Mugabe and his henchmen know that the civilised world will not allow their political terror to go unpunished." In the judgement, the court noted that the plaintiffs' uncontested allegations amply demonstrated that Zanu PF did not consist merely of loosely connected, haphazardly organised individuals or misguided mobs of marauders randomly roving and unleashing terror throughout Zimbabwe. "Plaintiffs' factual assertions and supporting evidence suggest that in carrying out the drive of organised violence and methodic terror portrayed here, Zanu PF worked in tandem with Zimbabwe government officials, under whose direction or control many of the wrongful acts were conceived and executed," the judgement said. The court pointed out that Zanu PF was legally served with the legal process when President Mugabe, the party's first secretary, was served with two copies of a summons and complaint while making a fundraising speech in Harlem in September last year. Washington Attorney Charles Cooper, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers, said that justice had triumphed. "These plaintiffs came to this court because they had nowhere else to turn. Savagely beaten and terrorised at home, they came here looking for justice and the rule of law," Cooper said. Zanu PF secretary for Information Nathan Shamuyarira said he had not read the judgement and would comment later.

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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 4 November

Zanu PF woos Zvobgo, Mavhaire

Zanu PF top members are appealing to former cabinet minister, Eddison Zvobgo, for him to lend support for President Mugabe's re-election bid. The Standard understands that ruling party chefs have been making frantic efforts to woo Zvobgo and former Masvingo chairman, Dzikamai Mavhaire, to campaign for Mugabe in Masvingo. The move to have Mavhaire back is being spearheaded by Vice President Joseph Msika's office, sources told The Standard. Zvobgo and Mavhaire had both been sidelined by the party, and have been boycotting party functions in Masvingo. Sources, however, claim that Zvobgo demanded that the current Zanu PF Masvingo provincial executive be dissolved first before he could commit himself to campaigning for Mugabe. Zvobgo commands a huge following in Masvingo, but has refused to campaign for Mugabe who has ditched the Masvingo South MP. Said a source: "He told them that he had always been a Zanu PF member so there was no need for anyone to beg him to come back to the party. He told them he remained committed to the party." He however later demanded the removal of the provincial executive and proposed that politburo member, Josaya Tungamirai, chair a new executive. Zvobgo's demands, sources say, were likely to be vehemently opposed by vice president Simon Muzenda who has endorsed the current Samuel Mumbengegwi-led executive. Zanu PF is torn in two factions in Masvingo, one led by Muzenda and which includes Masvingo governor, Josaya Hungwe, Shuvai Mahofa and Mumbengegwi. The other faction is led by Zvobgo and Mavhaire. Despite being removed from the cabinet and the politburo by Mugabe, Zvobgo remains the godfather of politics in Masvingo. The Mumbengegwi executive is considered too weak and does not have the clout to woo the electorate to vote for Mugabe. "Zanu PF knows too well that the current Masvingo leadership does not have what it takes to campaign for Mugabe. This is an executive that was just imposed on the people but it does not have grassroots support. Zvobgo still has the respect of the people and they will do what he says. This is what is frightening the Zanu PF leadership," said the source. Zvobgo's faction boycotted provincial elections that ushered in Mumbengegwi. Sources said party chefs were unsure of Zvobgo's intentions. Last week, Zvobgo and Mavhaire snubbed a campaign rally by Mugabe at Mucheke Stadium in the town, and instead held their own rallies elsewhere. However, it was the choice of the venue for Zvobgo's rally that raised eyebrows. Zvobgo and Mavhaire held the rallies at Dikitiki Business Centre which is in Masvingo Central, a constituency won by the MDC. Mavhaire lost his Masvingo Central seat to MDC's Silas Mangono. Mavhaire yesterday refused to comment: "No comment. I am not going to comment on that issue over the phone." Msika refused to talk to The Standard and opted to speak through a secretary who said: "We don't know anything about that." Mavhaire and Zvobgo were however quoted earlier in the week as saying they would not campaign for Mugabe as there were adequate party structures in the province for that task. "Zvobgo was injured while campaigning for Mugabe in 1996, and where is he now? This time we will not be used," Mavhaire was quoted as saying. Zvobgo said he still enjoyed immense support in the province: "If you come to our rallies you will see that we still have a huge following." Zvobgo has on numerous occasions attacked leaders who do not want to relinquish power in statements seen as referring to Mugabe's refusal to step down from the presidency.

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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 4 November

Soldiers invade MP's farm

Attempts to grab Charleswood Estate, the property of Roy Bennett, the MDC MP for Chimanimani, went a step further on Friday when Zimbabwe National Army, Airforce of Zimbabwe, and Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) officers descended on the property. An AFZ helicopter arrived at Charleswood Estate on Thursday morning, followed by a police Land Rover carrying 10 members of the police force and the CIO. Bennett told The Standard yesterday that he believed the latest move was part of a state plan to plant an arms cache on his property and then charge him with illegal arms possession. On asking the purpose of the visit by personnel from the army, police and CIO, the farm manager was told it was to do with investigations on two helicopters allegedly seen flying in the area three days previously. "Inspector Mujuru from ZRP Chimanimani, together with a Lieutenant Colonel who refused to give his name, and Mwale of the CIO, approached my farm manager. They said their mission was to enquire about the presence of two helicopters seen flying over the Maweje Ridge on Monday 29 October. They then asked for directions to Outward Bound to ask if anyone had seen anything. I have confirmed information that an arms cache is likely to be planted on my farm at some stage, in order to incriminate me in illegal operations which I have nothing whatsoever to do with. I feel that perhaps the presence of this helicopter has something to do with it. Acting on this information, I feel I need to expose this in order to keep my name clear," said Bennett. Bennett's farm, which does not fit the criteria of farms earmarked for resettlement, has been targeted since the MP decided to run as an opposition candidate. When The Standard contacted the Chimanimani police station for comment, a police officer who identified himself as Constable Jeffrey Chirere, referred the paper to his senior, Inspector Mujuru, who was said to be out of the office.

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