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Archived News
4th March 2002
Statement from CHOGM on Zimbabwe
Statement from the MDC to CHOGM
Statement from the MDC on the recent SBS Dateline program about Zimbabwe
Statement from the ZIC on the recent SBS Dateline program about Zimbabwe
MDC Delegation to visit for CHOGM
Zimbabwean opposition leader charged with plot to kill Mugabe
African observer group protests to Mugabe government
Zuma cancels Harare trip
Marondera businessman detained and assaulted
Bvudzijena’s hidden past exposed
Treason video fails to win over Zimbabwe
Mr Mugabe's smears are a sign of desperation
Rivals 'smeared' as regime accuses two more leaders
More Mugabe opponents are charged with treason
MDC supporter murdered
Zanu PF mob attacks Chipinge North MP
Starving voters more worried about food crisis
Mugabe gets ready to rig his re-election
Court rulings boost Zimbabwe opposition
Zimbabwe in fear, says poll monitor
MDC polling agents attacked
Harassment continues
Not the way to govern Zimbabwe
Degrees in Violence: Robert Mugabe and the Struggle for Power in Zimbabwe by David Blair
Mugabe's police arrest 31 amid poll-rigging fears
Court doesn’t faze government
MDC members beaten, arrested in police raid
Tsvangirai sues Australian TV station over plot allegations
11 ghost' NGOs in elections observer team
Official: US will react if repression mars Zimbabwe election
Young voters pose a threat to Mugabe
Opposition supporters mutilated by youth militias
Harare judges hit Mugabe rival with new poll ruling
US moves closer to Zim curbs
Decision on Zimbabwe to await poll
Mr. Mugabe's destructive course
Diamond dealers fear Mugabe defeat
Time for you to go, Africa tells Mugabe
Opposition leader in Zimbabwe calls for reconciliation
Mugabe opponents forced to campaign at dead of night
Zimbabwe Supreme Court judge quits
Mugabe uses Channel Islands to hide his millions
Swiss to hold chefs' $23b
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From The Guardian (UK), 26 February
Zimbabwean opposition leader charged with plot to kill Mugabe
Harare/London - The Zimbabwe opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, was yesterday charged with treason - a crime punishable by death - as President Robert Mugabe fought tooth-and-nail to stay in power. As opinions polls showed Mr Mugabe trailing well behind Mr Tsvangirai in the run-up to the presidential election on March 9-10, police in Harare accused the opposition leader of plotting to assassinate the president. Mr Tsvangirai denied the charges and claimed he was the victim of a set-up by the government. He was charged after being questioned by police for two hours. "The reason for charging me is obvious," he said. "We are going into a presidential election and this was only a strategy to keep me out of the race... If any crime was committed in December, why wait until just weeks before the election?"
The charges give Mr Mugabe several options in the battle with his arch-rival. He could have him arrested at any point in the next two weeks or use the charges as an excuse for failing to recognise the result of the election if the opposition leader were to win. The latest twist increases pressure on the Commonwealth heads of government, meeting in Brisbane at the weekend, to take punitive action against Mr Mugabe. But many of the leaders, mainly from Africa, are reluctant to agree to Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth. The foreign secretary, Jack Straw, described the charges against Mr Tsvangirai as "a disturbing development" and "yet another attempt by the Mugabe regime to obstruct the conduct of the election". A US state department spokesman said the charges were "another tragic example of President Mugabe's increasingly authoritarian rule".
The police alleged that Mr Tsvangirai attempted to contract a Canadian firm to kill Mr Mugabe. The accusations were made on an Australian television programme, Date line, two weeks ago. Mr Tsvangirai, who was released without bail and without any restriction on his movements, said he would continue campaigning. He insisted: "If anything, this will enhance my image." He also faced treason charges last year after he said that if Mr Mugabe did not go peacefully, he would be overthrown. The charges were dismissed by the supreme court. The Australian programme showed a video purporting to be of Mr Tsvangirai discussing the assassination of Mr Mugabe with five men in Montreal, Canada, last December. Mr Tsvangirai admitted meeting with what he thought were political consultants, but claimed he was set up. When the others began talking about killing Mr Mugabe, he said he jumped up and left the room.
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From DPA, 25 February
African observer group protests to Mugabe government
Harare - Election observers from the union of Southern Africa's parliaments were awaiting a response Monday from President Robert Mugabe's government to a protest over an attack on observers on Sunday. Duke Lefhoko, head of the Southern African Parliamentary Forum observer mission, told reporters Monday that if attacks on observers continued, "we will have to review our mission." Three were slightly injured when youths of Mugabe's ruling Zanu PF party stoned a mission minibus just outside the town of Chinhoyi, about 110 kilometres north of Harare where they had attended a rally by opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai. It was the second attack on observers in three days. On Friday, two South African observers escaped injury when they were visiting the MDC offices in the central town of Kwekwe were attacked by about 200 ruling party youths. Their vehicle was damaged in the incident. Lefhoko said he was "not optimistic" that presidential elections on March 9-10 could be free and fair and he was anxious about the safety of the observers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC). He said police had ``not been very helpful in identifying the culprits'' who hurled the stones. Several other vehicles had had their windows smashed, and occupants said the youths were wearing Zanu PF T-shirts. A spokesman said a request for an assurance of the group's safety had been made to government. "We've not yet had a reply," the official said.
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From News24 (SA), 25 February
Zuma cancels Harare trip
Harare - Deputy President Jacob Zuma on Monday cancelled his trip to Zimbabwe where he was to meet his Zimbabwean counterpart, Simon Muzenda. Zuma's spokesperson, Lakela Kaunda, said the planned trip was called off after Muzenda took ill, causing an indefinite postponement. Earlier reports indicated that Zuma would have held talks with Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. Officials at the South African embassy in Harare confirmed the trip, but would not provide details on his visit. The trip would have come less than two weeks ahead of hotly contested presidential elections, in which Mugabe is trying to extend his 22-year rule against a tough challenge from former labour leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Violence has marred the run-up to the election, and two South African observers were attacked on Friday while they were visiting the offices of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the central town of Kwekwe. After another attack on Sunday, apparently by pro-Mugabe militants, the leader of the South African mission said on Monday she had asked for police protection for her team.
"Of course I'm very anxious. It is my responsibility to ensure all the time the safety of the delegation. I've been liaising with police in Harare and Chinhoyi to ensure that the lives of the observers are safe," Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, head of the South African team, told reporters in Harare. But Mapisa-Nqakula declined to blame Mugabe's supporters for Sunday's incident, saying it was too soon for her 20-member parliamentary mission to make any judgement about the campaign for the March 9-10 presidential election. "It is very early for the delegation to make a judgement as to the fairness and freeness of the poll," she said. "This one incident has not led us to a conclusion as to whether the election will be free and fair." European Union observers pulled out last week after the government refused to accredit their Swedish leader, leaving mainly African and Commonwealth observers to determine whether increasing violence will prevent a free and fair election.
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From The News Room, 25 February
Marondera businessman detained and assaulted
On Saturday afternoon, a Marondera businessman and MDC supporter Han Christen was accosted at his home by a large group of unidentified men. He was removed from the premises under protest and it took more than five hours before the local police confirmed that he was being detained at their jail. On Sunday morning it was ascertained that he had been physically assaulted during almost twelve hours of questioning. Despite the courts being available to hear his case on Monday. he was removed from the Marondera police station late on Sunday and placed in custody at the small rural police station at Macheke. On Monday evening, the Officer-in-Charge of Macheke police station admitted that he was unsure why the prisoner had been placed in his custody, but refused to accept medication for him -referring all enquires back to Marondera police station. Since Christen’s arrest, it has come to light that there are at least fourteen other people in Marondera and Macheke police stations who have received worse treatment and are yet to be charged.
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From The Daily News, 25 February
Bvudzijena’s hidden past exposed
Wayne Bvudzijena, the head of the police Press and public relations section, served in Bishop Abel Muzorewa’s militia, The Standard reported yesterday. The militia, code-named Pfumo Revanhu (Spear of the People/Nation), collaborated with Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith’s Selous Scouts who fought freedom fighters and terrorised villagers during the country’s 1970s liberation war. It was also responsible for guarding so-called protected villages into which people in rural areas were fenced in. The Standard quoted Bvudzijena’s colleague who said the police spokesperson served as a quartermaster in Pfumo Revanhu between 1978 and 1980. The colleague, who was not named, was in the same section as Bvudzijena. Because of his past, The Standard said, Bvudzijena was viewed with suspicion by his workmates at the Police General Headquarters who are mainly former Zanla or Zipra combatants, who fought against Muzorewa’s militia referred to derogatorily as Madzakutsaku. Bvudzijena, who is said to have forged a close partnership with the State-controlled media in disseminating Zanu PF propaganda, vehemently denied any links with the infamous Pfumo Revanhu, but refused to explain his whereabouts between 1978 and 1980, saying it was not necessary for the newspaper to know. Yesterday his mobile number went unanswered.
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From The Guardian (UK), 26 February
Treason video fails to win over Zimbabwe
The strange tale of a Canadian lobbying firm, a poorly doctored tape and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
Harare/Sydney - The treason charges filed yesterday against Morgan Tsvangirai boil down to this unusual scenario: the leader of Zimbabwe's opposition decided to assassinate President Robert Mugabe and launch a military coup - and hired a Canadian lobbying firm to organise it. Sceptical Zimbabweans quipped that there was no shortage of people at home willing to bump off the president, and that the opposition hardly needed a foreign company to arrange talks with disgruntled army officers. The scenario, set out in a doctored videotaped recording of Mr Tsvangirai, looked even more strange when it was revealed that the key player in the alleged plot was a former Israeli intelligence officer whose wife said she did not believe a word he said. But that has not stopped Mr Mugabe's government from constructing an international conspiracy on which to string up Mr Tsvangirai ahead of Zimbabwe's presidential election, which takes place at the end of next week.
The "conspiracy" was revealed a fortnight ago in an Australian television documentary made by a journalist honoured for his work in East Timor and other difficult spots, Mark Davis. The core of the Dateline programme was grainy video footage that Davis claimed had been given to him by a secret source. The transcript said that the video showed Mr Tsvangirai attempting to recruit a Canadian political consultancy, Dickens and Madson, to murder Mr Mugabe. Mr Davis also said that he had audio evidence of two meetings at the RAC club in London with Mr Tsvangirai and Dickens and Madson. According to the Dateline documentary, the firm was promised lucrative government contracts if Mr Tsvangirai took power. The MDC leader did not deny meeting the firm but says that it was at the consultants' invitation because they had offered advice on how to deal with the press and political issues in north America. In other words, he had been set up.
The highly propagandist state-owned press in Harare went wild. The day after the Australian documentary, the ever more fantastic Herald newspaper proclaimed that there was a "Plot to Kill President - Covert Plot Hatched in UK and Canada". Night after night for a fortnight, state television news reshowed the same six minutes of video that it claimed proved Mr Tsvangirai was asking the Canadians to help kill Mr Mugabe. But then came the questions. It was quickly spotted that the timing on the video recording was jumping all over the place, and it was readily evident that it had been doctored. What Mr Tsvangirai said at one point was immediately followed by a sentence he said 20 minutes earlier to make it sound as if it were all one statement.
Then there were the subtitles added by Zimbabwe television, supposedly showing what Mr Tsvangirai said, which bore no relation to the words coming out of his mouth. Crucially, the subtitles had Mr Tsvangirai saying the word "eliminate" in reference to Mr Mugabe. In fact he never uttered the word, but the sound was so poor hardly anyone could tell. State television cut out sections of the video where Mr Tsvangirai made it clear that he did not want army intervention and that in the event of President Mugabe's death his vice-president should take power. The Media Monitoring Project, an influential independent watchdog in Zimbabwe, poured scorn on the use of the video. "Careful scrutiny of the contents of the clips shown on ZTV, however,raise doubts about the integrity of the Dickens and Madson officials and anybody who wanted to use them to incriminate the MDC leader," it said.
In the acres of space it has given to the issue, the Herald more than once claimed that Mr Tsvangirai "repeated his demands for the elimination of President Mugabe". But the only person who uses the word eliminate at the meeting is Ari Ben-Menashe, the head of Dickens and Madson, who gave the tape to Mr Mugabe's government. He has since admitted that he has been a "friend" of Mr Mugabe for 15 years, and has done a lot of business with him. Iraqi-born Mr Ben-Menashe worked for Israel's military intelligence and was once a deputy chief of Mossad. He was accused of lying under oath to the US Congress about the Iran-contra affair during Ronald Reagan's presidency. He also sold false stories to gullible reporters about Israel's atomic bomb. Ten years ago, the Jerusalem Post called him a "notorious and chronic liar". Dickens and Madson has been heavily involved in Africa's bloody diamond trade, an enterprise from which Zimbabwe's military has made vast profits since its military intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Other questions have also arisen - and have gone unanswered. Mr Ben-Menashe admitted he handed the tape to Zimbabwean officials six months ago, but it was only made public weeks before the presidential election. And how was it that Davis was allowed into Zimbabwe when other foreign journalists were banned, let alone given an interview with a president who goes to great lengths to avoid the press? Davis has not been making himself available for interviews. Above all, why should the opposition leader turn to a foreign consultancy firm to murder the president? Mr Ben-Menashe has an answer to that one. "That's a question you have to put to him. Maybe because he heard I worked for Israeli intelligence in the past or he read my book," he said. "He [Tsvangirai] wanted a company to assassinate the president and to arrange a coup in Zimbabwe. We do consultancy work, we do political advice, we do lobbying. We don't do military stuff."
The charge of treason against Mr Tsvangirai came as no great surprise. But his immediate release was unusual given the gravity of the charge. The MDC leader can be re-arrested and held at any point, but perhaps at this stage the government considers it enough to leave the impression that Mr Tsvangirai is no longer a credible candidate, even though he cannot be forced out of the race. Much of the barrage of propaganda to which Zimbabweans are subjected daily is aimed at sowing doubt, and at creating confusion as much as terror.
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Comment from The Independent (UK), 26 February
Mr Mugabe's smears are a sign of desperation
Less than two weeks before the voters of Zimbabwe go to the polls, it appears to be dawning on President Robert Mugabe that brutal intimidation, censorship of the media and rabid "anti-imperialist" bombast may not be sufficient to guarantee him re-election. This is one inference - perhaps the most hopeful one - that can be drawn from the arrest yesterday of the country's main opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai. Mr Tsvangirai was detained and questioned for two hours, before emerging from the police station to say that he had been charged with treason - a crime which attracts the death penalty. That Mr Tsvangirai was released and may well not be summoned to face the charges until after the election, if then, shows that this was yet another example of the political harassment in which Mr Mugabe's regime specialises. If the opposition leader is really such a threat to the country's security as to warrant trial for treason, then it stands to reason that his place is in prison, rather than out campaigning for election.
The evidence on which the charges are based seems equally spurious. It is contained in a mysterious video broadcast on Australian television, which purports to show Mr Tsvangirai in talks to arrange the "elimination" of Mr Mugabe. The video, which bore all the hallmarks of having been heavily edited, if not doctored, has been extensively replayed and reported in the state-controlled Zimbabwe media. Again, the aim appears to be not to prevent Mr Tsvangirai from competing for the presidency, but to discredit him with the voters; to do everything to render the opposition unelectable, while still going through the motions of an election.
Even this, however, may not be enough. According to unconfirmed reports seeping out through unidentified "diplomatic sources", Mr Mugabe's internal polling shows that despite all his precautions, he could yet lose on 9-10 March. Anticipating this possibility, he is supposedly seeking refuge abroad. Such information seepage could be deliberate disinformation - designed to scare wavering voters who might have something to fear from a change of regime. If genuine, though, these reports testify to mounting desperation. The glimmer of hope in Zimbabwe's pervasive political gloom is that the voters may be courageous enough to scorn the coercion. The more desperate the actions of Mr Mugabe, the more brightly that hope shines through.
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 27 February
Rivals 'smeared' as regime accuses two more leaders
Harare - Two more leading figures in Zimbabwe's opposition party were charged with treason yesterday as President Mugabe stepped up his drive to secure victory in next month's election. Prof Welshman Ncube, secretary-general of the Movement for Democratic Change, and Renson Gasela, an opposition MP, were summoned by CID officers in Harare. After being formally charged with treason, which carries the death penalty, they were allowed to leave. Both men were present at one of the meetings, covertly filmed last year, at which Mr Mugabe's assassination was allegedly discussed. The talks were held with Dickens and Madson, a political consultancy hired by Mr Mugabe's regime, which arranged for the secret film to be shot. Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC's candidate against Mr Mugabe in the election due on March 9 and 10, was charged on Monday. Critics say the regime is now trying to discredit his senior colleagues. Both Prof Ncube and Mr Gasela attended one of the key meetings held in London last year. They deny the charge. Innocent Chagonda, the lawyer representing both men, said: "The intention is to discredit the MDC."
The move came as Zimbabwe began closing its borders to visitors from Europe. Most news organisations have been denied permission to cover the presidential election and the unprecedented restrictions are probably designed to prevent journalists from entering the country. Dutch aid workers based in Mozambique were refused entry at the Forbes border crossing last week. A businessman in the eastern border town of Mutare said his contacts in Mozambique had not been allowed across. Other businessmen said the Chirundu border crossing with Zambia has been virtually sealed to everyone except Zimbabweans and citizens of neighbouring countries. If they are allowed in at all, British visitors get just two days in Zimbabwe. Until last month they were allowed to stay for three weeks. As Zimbabwe sought to close itself off from outside scrutiny, families were seeking information on 14 MDC members, including Hans Christian, a Swiss national, who were arrested on Friday. There were initially held in Marondera police station, 45 miles east of Harare, and accused of setting fire to a vehicle belonging to the ruling Zanu PF party. Friends say they were assaulted and were not produced for a court appearance on Monday. Lawyers have also been denied access to them.
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From The Times (UK), 27 February
More Mugabe opponents are charged with treason
Harare - International monitors were asked yesterday to demand that President Mugabe close down scores of camps around the country for the ruling party’s youth militia, which is carrying out what appears to be a final blitz on voters before next week’s presidential election. Morgan Tsvangirai, head of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said that observer groups had been intervening at bases that he said were being used as terrorist camps. "I am certain that on the days of the vote, they (the militia) will be used to frogmarch voters to the polling stations," he said after meeting observers. "We have said they have a responsibility to go to Mugabe and say: "Can you disband these militia base camps?"
The authorities stepped up pressure on the opposition as police charged Welshman Ncube, the MDC secretary-general, and Renson Gasela, the shadow agriculture minister, with treason over involvement in an alleged plot to assassinate Mr Mugabe. They said that in interrogation by police yesterday they were accused of conspiring with Mr Tsvangirai, who was also charged. Like Mr Tsvangirai, they were allowed to leave with their lawyer, despite the severity of the alleged offence. Treason is punishable by death under Zimbabwean law. Observers were attacked twice by ruling Zanu PF youths at the weekend. "They are supported by Government, sustained by Government," Mr Tsvangirai said. No comment was available from the observer groups. Western diplomats say that the monitors are having an increasing influence. "If Mr Mugabe is asked (to act) and refuses, he runs the increasing risk of the elections being declared illegitimate," a diplomat said. After three members of the Southern African observer group were stoned on Sunday, the delegation expressed doubts that voting on March 9-10 could be free and fair.
Mr Mugabe presided over the passing-out parade of the first 1,000 members of the "youth national service" last November and since then the movement has grown into an army of thousands of jobless, ill-educated young men and women, many scarcely in their teens, whose sole aim is the violent intimidation of MDC supporters. The MDC has issued a list of 146 locations where rudimentary base camps now exist, in commandeered bars, abandoned farms, government offices, schools and even a rehabilitation centre for handicapped children and a Methodist camp. From there they are deployed in large groups to townships, farms and business centres, where the possession of a Zanu PF card is enforced by assault.
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From The Daily News, 26 February
MDC supporter murdered
An MDC supporter in Rushinga, Takesure Nhitsa, died at Chimhanda Hospital after he was severely beaten up by Zanu PF youths who accused him of cutting off water supplies. An official at the hospital said Nhitsa, who worked as a pump attendant with the Department of Water Development in Rushinga, was admitted on Tuesday last week and died the following day. A statement issued by the MDC in Harare said Nhitsa was approached by the Zanu PF youths who accused him of cutting off water supplies and of being an MDC member. "The group severely assaulted him," said the statement. In a related incident, Babillon Matambo, a war veteran, and Taurai Chimutanda, a Zanu PF supporter, were arrested by the police for burning down houses belonging to MDC members. The Rushinga police confirmed the arrests, but said Chimutanda has since been released. In Goromonzi district, Wiseman Mutero, the MDC treasurer, and Parirenyatwa Chari, the youth chairman, were attacked last Tuesday by Zanu PF supporters led by Godwin Nyarira and Albert Chimanika. The two sought refuge at the Goromonzi police station but were arrested for allegedly triggering the attack by sounding MDC whistles. Zanu PF supporters later set Mutero's house on fire.
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From The Daily News, 26 February
Zanu PF mob attacks Chipinge North MP
Mutare - Mathias Matewu Mlambo, the MP for Chipinge North, on Saturday escaped death by a whisker when a group of about 200 Zanu PF youths attacked him at Pfidza growth point. Mlambo was addressing an MDC presidential election campaign rally when the attack took place. Mlambo said the attack took place at around 2pm. He said: "I arrived at the growth point at around 2pm and saw at least 200 people waiting. Little did I know that MDC supporters had already been chased away and replaced by Zanu PF youths. One of them approached me and ordered me to leave if I valued my life. I thought he was joking as I had a rally scheduled for that venue and which had been approved by the police. Before I knew it, the mob started throwing stones at me. As I fled, my car, a Nissan Twin Cab, was damaged." Mlambo said he reported the case to Chipinge police station and was issued with a crime report number 22102.
At Tanganda township, Mlambo was stopped by another group of Zanu PF supporters who recognised him. He said he was warned him this was a no-go area for MDC members. "I resisted and they started throwing stones at me. One of our members sustained cuts to his leg. I made another report at the same police station and was issued with a case number 012444. This is highly disturbing. MDC MPs are Morgan Tsvangirai’s election agents. How are we supposed to campaign in such an atmosphere?" he said. Tsvangirai is the MDC presidential candidate. He is pitted against President Mugabe of Zanu PF, Wilson Kumbula, Abel Siwela, both of whom are running as independents, and Shakespeare Maya of the National Alliance for Good Governance. Zanu PF has intensified its terror campaign in Manicaland as the election scheduled for 9 and 10 March draws nearer. More than 6 000 MDC members have reportedly fled their respective constituencies.
Meanwhile, the ongoing voter registration in Manicaland has raised eyebrows amid fears it could be a well calculated move by Zanu PF to rig the election. In the past two weeks, more than 1 000 people have been registered as new voters in Mutare in what MDC officials have described as a fraudulent exercise. Charles Mhende, the provincial registrar, confirmed the registration of new voters, but said the exercise had nothing to do with next week’s presidential poll. He said: "The registration of new voters is an ongoing exercise which is conducted at any given time."
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From The Independent (UK), 27 February
Starving voters more worried about food crisis
Durban - Food shortages are approaching critical levels in parts of Zimbabwe, raising the spectre of some voters starving to death before the presidential poll in two weeks. Children have been fainting in schools, pregnant women miscarrying from malnutrition and people going for days without food. Grain and vegetable oil shortages prompted by severe drought, endemic poverty and the state-sponsored invasion of commercial farms by "war veterans", are beginning to bite. The staple maize crop has dropped by nearly 50 per cent. The United Nations estimates that about half a million of Zimbabwe's 12.5 million people are already going dangerously hungry, and many of them are also angry - bad news for President Robert Mugabe, who blames the shortages on drought and grain hoarding by white farmers intent on toppling him. In the parched south, people have accused the government of "playing with their lives".
Outside a supermarket, a young woman with a baby on her back, begs: "Please buy me some food. Anything. I haven't eaten since yesterday." Around the country, irritated people stand in long queues for hours for small rations of maize, and police have had to calm unruly crowds. Eddie Cross, economic spokesman for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), whose head, Morgan Tsvangirai, is Mr Mugabe's main rival, said: "The situation is frightening. Food shortages are causing extreme hardship, across the board and across the country. The political implications are profound. I would hate to run a campaign amidst a food crisis for which there is no solution. Also, 'war vets' are leaving commercial farms in droves, because their crops have failed for lack of water. Zanu PF's fast-track land reform - the heart of its programme is collapsing. People are blaming it for their hunger."
People are most at risk of starvation in the south, west and far north of Zimbabwe, naturally arid areas where subsistence maize crops have shrivelled with the absence of rain for nearly two months. An estimated 2.7 million people in Masvingo and Matabeleland - more than half of the population of those provinces - face extreme hardship. New figures by food industry leaders, released to The Independent, estimate a shortfall of maize of 300,000 tons, and stocks to deplete by February and March. In 2002-2003, there is forecast to be a shortfall of more than a million tons. Three years ago, Zimbabwe was the bread basket of southern Africa, fully self-sufficient in basic foodstuffs with surpluses for export including maize, wheat and soybean meal. It supplied 25 per cent of the world's flue-cured tobacco and 8 per cent of European horticulture imports. Now it is a large net food importer, and wheat, tobacco production and horticultural output are down 25 to 30 per cent. Most serious is the 50 per cent fall in maize. Because maize is in short supply, demand for bread has soared. This is rapidly depleting wheat stocks, which are expected to run out by June.
The World Food Programme began distributing imported food relief to 40,000 people in Matabeleland North this week. It calculates that 19 of the country's 57 districts are at risk. "The situation could get rapidly worse," says the WFP's Anna Shoffon in Harare. As the economy shrinks, companies close, jobs are lost and 117 per cent inflation erodes incomes and causes food prices to rocket. Even where food is available, growing numbers of people cannot afford to eat in a country where more than a third live below the poverty line, with less than $1 (70p) a day to meet their needs. Mr Mugabe has promised people in his re-election campaign that nobody will starve, and that 200,000 tons of maize are speeding their way towards Zimbabwe from South Africa. But the food is not coming in anywhere near fast enough.
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From The National Post (Canada), 26 February
Mugabe gets ready to rig his re-election
With fewer than two weeks to go before the presidential election here the tension in this city is palpable. If the election were to be remotely free or fair there is no doubt the citizens of Zimbabwe's capital would vote against President Robert Mugabe almost to the last man or woman. Every time there is even a rumour that mealie meal (the staple African diet) is to be delivered to this or that supermarket people start mobbing the delivery lorries and forming huge queues at the shops. They are hungry, and in some parts of the country people are already beginning to die of starvation due to the government takeover of productive white-owned farms.
At a cafe I stopped at today the waitress broke down and cried when I gave her a tip. "This means my child will eat tonight," she said. It turned out that she earns Z$8,000 a month (C$234) but that the bus home costs Z$500 (C$15) - and home is 24 kilometres away, a distance she usually walked. I expressed amazement that she could walk 48 km a day. "I walk as far as I can and hitch lifts," she said, "but the men who pick you up all assume you want to sleep with them." So what do you do? I asked. "Carry condoms," she said with a grimace. She is apolitical, knows nothing about the main opposition candidate - Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change - and has heard endlessly on the state radio and TV that "he is a bad, bad man," but she will still vote for him. "The people are suffering," she says simply. "I'm one of the lucky ones, I'm employed."
But the bad news is that Mugabe's youth militia - the Green Bombers, as they're known - are back in town. They've been booked into local hotels once or twice this month and created a fair amount of mayhem. The accountant I know who audits several of these hotels tells me that their bills are paid by the only two parastatals with any money left in the till, the Grain Marketing Board and the National Oil Company, Noczim. Eight hundred of these young thugs have been booked into Harare hotels for the past 10 days of the election campaign and they apparently have orders to beat up any whites they see, plus any MDC sympathizers. In general, their job is to minimize the MDC vote in Harare by making people too scared to vote.
The election observers here from South Africa and the surrounding African countries are trying hard to look the other way and will doubtless proclaim the election free and fair whatever happens. Even after two South African observers were attacked by a mob of 200 Zanu PF thugs who stoned virtually to destruction the MDC office they were in, the head of the observer mission, Sam Motsuenyane, refused to blame Zanu PF and said that it had simply been "an amorphous mob." The South African High Commission in Harare says it has been telling Pretoria for ages that Mugabe is responsible for the violence, that a free and fair election is not possible and that Mugabe will rig the result if necessary - but that Pretoria just won't listen. It appears South African President Thabo Mbeki has, for his own reasons, decided that the election has to be "free and fair" and that he is instructing Motsuenyane to take that line.
Despite all of this, there is still the chance that a tidal wave of Tsvangirai support will prevail - though there is a general assumption that the government will stuff the ballot boxes if it can. To make this easier the government has passed a new law making it illegal for election monitors to stay with the ballot boxes until they are counted. There is much speculation as to whether Mugabe will have Tsvangirai arrested before election day and charged with trying to murder him. The "assassination plot" Tsvangirai is supposed to have hatched with a Canadian firm has quite clearly been clumsily concocted by the Mugabe government itself and is believed by almost no one. It is difficult to see that Tsvangirai's arrest would help Mugabe much - unless some hand-picked judge were to refuse Tsvangirai bail. Perhaps more to the point is the threat by some Mugabe supporters that they will take the law into their own hands and deal with (i.e. kill) Tsvangirai if the state does not, though it would be impossible to convince most people that such an assassination had not been planned in State House.
Nonetheless, the possibility of the electoral process breaking down into violence is very real. The trade unions have already said they will strike if there is a "stolen" election and Mugabe has responded by saying that if re-elected he will ban the unions, get rid of most whites and depose the courageous Roman Catholic bishop of Matebeleland, Pius Ncube. There is also far too much "kit" around, as it is called in hunting circles here: AK-47s and RPG-7s from Mozambique abound, as do all manner of other weaponry handed down from the wars in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and the Congo. Last week I met a man with a boat on Cabora Bassa who, to protect it from pirates, has mounted a three-barrelled rapid-fire anti-aircraft gun, a Yugoslav remake of a Swiss original, on the front of his boat which, firing level, he says, will blow any boat out of the water.
All of which is more than a shame. Each morning I get up and am freshly amazed at how beautiful Zimbabwe is, how friendly and well-educated its people are, what a blessed land this is. It is a country that could be turned round quickly. The main question is what will the international community do to prevent further mayhem here. It is a question which will have to be answered soon.
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From The Financial Times (UK), 28 February
Court rulings boost Zimbabwe opposition
Harare - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe suffered two potentially serious setbacks in the courts yesterday when both the Supreme and High courts gave judgments against his government that are likely to boost the opposition vote at next month's presidential election. The legal challenges were mounted by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and civil rights groups. One of the three controversial bills rushed through parliament last month - the General Laws Amendment Act - was struck down by the Supreme Court in a four-to-one judgment. This act contains 40 different laws covering a range of electoral issues, including the appointment of monitors, voter education and the security of ballot boxes after the polls close. Opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai's advisers believe the judgment will boost his campaign.
The act precludes election monitors other than those appointed by the government. Now this has been struck down, there will be demands for international and independent domestic observers to be accorded monitor status, which will enable them to keep a much closer watch on the actual polling process and reduce the extent of vote-rigging. One of the act's provisions entitles polling officers to demand evidence of residence or citizenship from people already registered on the voter roll. Opposition activists feared this would be used by government polling officers to minimise the turnout, since it is widely believed that a large turnout on March 9-10 will favour Mr Tsvangirai. The General Laws act has also been used to give Mr Mugabe temporary powers to take over white-owned commercial farms without going through the courts. This too has been struck down, which means that government land acquisition orders can again be challenged in the courts.
Because the act was struck down by a majority in the Supreme Court, the government cannot appeal against the judgment. Lawyers say, however, that Mr Mugabe may use his presidential powers to override the Supreme Court, as he has done in the past. By contrast, the High Court ruling by Judge Ismail Adam, which extends the period during which residents with dual citizenship may renounce foreign citizenship, is likely to be taken to appeal by the government. The judgment is electorally important because it means thousands of Zimbabweans who have a technical right to citizenship of another country, but who did not renounce that right by the end of last year, will still be eligible to vote.
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 28 February
Zimbabwe in fear, says poll monitor
Harare - The leader of the Southern African observers of Zimbabwe's election condemned the campaign yesterday as "not free". In an unprecedented attack, he also described the country as being in a "state of fear" after Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, was detained yet again by police. Mr Tsvangirai was held for 30 minutes after officers raided a private house in Harare and claimed that it was being used for an "illegal gathering". Mr Tsvangirai was meeting Dr Rene Loewenson, a health policy consultant, at the house in the suburb of Milton Park. Dr Loewenson is a specialist on Africa's Aids epidemic and Mr Tsvangirai had sought her advice. She was also arrested and taken to Harare central police station by plain clothes officers. She was released without charge several hours later.
Duke Lefhoko, head of the Southern African Development Community's observer mission, said after learning of the incident: "This is way out of line, that someone can be arrested at a meeting in a private house. I am shocked by this and some things I have seen here." SADC, a grouping of Southern African states, has been generally supportive of President Mugabe and its observers gave the parliamentary election of 2000 a clean bill of health. But Mr Lefhoko added: "The political situation in Zimbabwe, as of today, is not free. People are nervous, reserved, there is a general state of fear, but we have more than a week to go and are hoping for improvements."
Mr Lefhoko condemned the police, who stand accused of turning a blind eye to atrocities committed by mobs loyal to Mr Mugabe. "We have seen the police in action with our own eyes, and they are unresponsive, uncooperative, and won't talk to people," he said. That an African observer has spoken out in this way reveals a new strength of feeling and a determination not to be misled by propaganda. At least 24 political murders have been recorded so far this year and Mr Mugabe's gangs are working from 60 bases scattered around Zimbabwe. Mr Lefhoko added that his delegation had met John Nkomo, the home affairs minister, and been given assurances that the police would be "more pro-active" in future.
Mr Mugabe suffered a defeat at the hands of the Supreme Court last night. The justices threw out legislation giving his regime sweeping powers over the entire electoral process. The court ruled that the law illegally passed through parliament in January after being defeated at its final reading by opposition MPs. The judgment means that postal votes will be allowed and civic groups will be permitted to conduct programmes of voter education. In practice, the decision comes so late that it will make no difference. With only nine days before polling begins, there is no time to take advantage of this easing of the draconian restrictions which critics say were designed to favour Mr Mugabe.
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From News24 (SA), 27 February
MDC polling agents attacked
Harare - About 50 trainee polling agents of the opposition MDC party were attacked and severely injured on Sunday after Zanu PF supporters raided a house at a local mission school, 20km west of Gweru, where they were being trained. Police confirmed the attacks and said some of the injured were still at Lower Gweru Mission Hospital while others were at Gweru General Hospital. "We have arrested five suspects, among them two war veterans identified as Silas Wafawanaka and John Ntini," said an official at Gweru Rural Police Station. Renson Gasela, the MDC Member of Parliament for Gweru Rural described the attacks as unfortunate as they were unprovoked. The latest attack is part of a series of disruptions on the activities of the opposition countrywide in which police and war veterans banned 120 political rallies, especially in the rural areas.
"Our polling agents were being trained on how to conduct themselves on election dates March 9 and 10 when they were beaten up badly," he said. The training was being conducted at MDC activist Livingstone Moyo's house. The attacks occurred a few minutes before a Zanu PF campaign rally addressed by parliamentary Speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa, kicked off just two kilometres away. "The Zanu-PF supporters locked us inside and attacked us with stones, logs and machetes. We only managed to force our way out when they threatened to set the house on fire," a shaken Moyo said. The supporters later looted several household goods and fled to their hired buses. They are believed to have been bussed from Gweru and Kwekwe on Ziscosteel Company and Gweru Teachers' College buses. Moyo said the police only arrived at the scene of the attack six hours later although the police station is just two kilometres away. On Tuesday, several groups of observers, including two South Africans visited the area and talked to some of the survivors, he said.
President Mugabe seems determined to do everything possible to win the election. The government has reduced polling stations in opposition party's strongholds, while increasing the numbers in areas where the ruling Zanu PF enjoyed support. "Many Zimbabweans will be disenfranchised by the Registrar-General's decision on the number of polling stations," said Learnmore Jongwe, the MDC information and publicity secretary. "The strategy is carefully designed to produce long queues in MDC strongholds, slow down the voting process and frustrate the people in these areas so that they will not all vote." In Harare and Chitungwiza, both MDC strongholds, the number of polling stations have been reduced by 30% from 240 in the June 2000 parliamentary election to 167 in next month's election.
For example, in Harare East constituency, the number of polling stations has fallen from 21 to 11. In Harare North, the polling stations have been slashed by nearly half from 17 to nine, while the Zengeza constituency now has seven polling stations compared to 12 in the June 2000 election. In Bulawayo, which has eight constituencies, the polling stations have been reduced by 18% from 164 to 134. Bulawayo North has lost eight polling stations. For Gweru, the number of polling stations has been reduced by 34% from 44 to 29. In Kwekwe, the polling stations are down to 13 from 17 during the last election. No explanation for the reduction of polling stations was given. "While the urban constituencies have lost polling stations, rural areas, which are erroneously perceived by the ruling party as its strongholds, have made significant gains. In rural Midlands for instance, the number of polling stations has increased by 34% from 497 to 699. The major beneficiaries are the Gokwe constituencies which have gained 124 new polling stations," Jongwe said. The chief elections officer, Retired Brigadier Douglas Nyikayaramba, said he knew nothing about these developments. "The Electoral Supervisory Commission has not yet been presented with the full list of polling stations by the Registrar-General. We are having a meeting on February 28 with the Registrar-General when we will know the exact figure of the polling stations," he said.
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From The News Room, 27 February
Harassment continues
Nine MDC activists, arrested on Saturday in Marondera appeared in the local magistrates’ court on Wednesday morning. They are accused of planning and executing a petrol bomb attack on a Zanu PF vehicle parked at Marondera police station. The nine deny the charges, and in addition showed the magistrate the injuries they claim to have received during beatings by the police while in custody. They were remanded in custody until Thursday morning when the hearing will continue.
Tafadzwa Musekiwa, the MDC MP for Zengeza, had his house severely damaged after an attack by Zanu PF youths from the party's base in the area. The attack, which took place in the early hours of the morning, was carried out by an estimated 200 youths who chanted anti-MDC slogans. The roof of the house was severely damaged while neighbouring houses had their windows broken. Police did not attend to the incident; they termed the incident political and therefore outside their jurisdiction. Musekiwa said he would institute legal action against the police and government.
In Karoi on Tuesday, Biggie Murove was recovering from a stressful day he had spent at the police station arranging for the release of eight MDC activists jailed for the past month without trial, when a group of about 300 Zanu PF youths were dropped by council trucks a few metres from his home. At around 10 pm, the youths started throwing stones at his house. Although police witnessed the incident, they were unable to stop the attack. The gang later went on the rampage in Chikangwe Township where they destroyed and burnt fruit, vegetables and other items at Mrs Murove's open market. They also destroyed all windows of houses belonging to the eight MDC supporters and a shop belonging to a retired Catholic elder. Early on Wednesday morning, the police arrived at Murove’s house claiming they were searching for "fugitives". Their search was unsuccessful.
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Comment from The International Herald Tribune, 27
Not the way to govern Zimbabwe
Pierre Schori
Last Friday, after my expulsion from Zimbabwe on Feb. 16 and the consequent departure of the other observers from the European Union, two members of the South African observer mission were attacked while meeting with members of the leading opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change. The meeting place was surrounded by more than 200 members of Zanu PF Youth, a branch of President Robert Mugabe's ruling party. The building was stoned and at least two MDC members were taken to the hospital. The South African car was also stoned. On Sunday three observers from the Southern African Development Community were attacked by Zanu PF elements in Chinhoyi. A car belonging to the Commonwealth observer team was also stoned. These incidents confirm one of the elements of my report to the 15 EU foreign ministers in Brussels, namely, that compared with the parliamentary elections of 2000, violence is greater and has spread to urban areas. This time various government branches are interfering more brutally in favor of the president. Military top brass recently declared that they would not accept an election result which went "against the revolution." Freedom of the media and the right of citizens freely to express their views have been drastically restrained by new laws, just in time for the elections.
In my case, the Immigration Office was unleashed upon me four times in order to force my signature on a document in which I would state that I was in Zimbabwe on holiday. The reason for this was that, according to the government, a tourist cannot talk to the press or be employed. It was clearly said that talking about the EU mission would be seen as a political statement and hence a breach of law, as well as "working" in that mission. As I had not entered the country with a tourist visa nor ticked "tourist" in the appropriate box of the entry form at the airport, it was necessary for the government to get me to sign in as a tourist. They would then feel free to restrict my speech and activity as head of the EU observers. I refused to do so, while expressing admiration for the beauty of the country, so they cancelled my visa and ordered me to leave the same day.
The government had invited the EU (with the exception of Britain) to observe the elections. Then, when the EU had designated me as chief observer, the authorities excluded another five states. The remaining mission would also have to be integrated with the ACP group, which consists of 77 countries from Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific regions, and come under its leadership, a surprise also to the ACP. Given the restrictions and harassment that we were confronted with, I came to the sad conclusion that this was no environment for a credible and effective EU election observer mission. The only other time I have been expelled from a country was in October 1969, during the colonial dictatorship in Portugal. The reasons: for meeting with the opposition leader, Mario Soares, later the democratically elected prime minister and president, and also, ironically, for Sweden's support of the liberation struggle in Southern Africa, including that of Robert Mugabe. Eight years later, at a UN anti-apartheid conference in Lagos, Mugabe asked to meet me and Olof Palme, then Sweden's opposition leader. Mugabe thanked us for our solidarity and expressed admiration for Sweden. He said he wanted to send his wife Sally to study our social welfare system.
The European Union has supported Zimbabwe ever since its independence in 1980. Today Zimbabwe receives two-thirds of all its foreign assistance from the EU; the aid is mainly focused on poverty alleviation and anti-AIDS projects. Zimbabwe also has trade privileges for export of tobacco, beef, cut flowers and ferro-alloys. President Mugabe has been in power since 1980. Our recommendations after the 2000 elections said that it was imperative for the government to move swiftly to re-establish the rule of law and to act against those who had been involved in human rights abuses. Instead the human rights situation has worsened with increased political violence and severe restrictions on the media and political parties. All this is in contradiction with international standards for free and fair elections.
The EU foreign ministers agreed on Feb. 18 that Zimbabwe was in violation of the Cotonou Agreement, signed in June 2000, which regulates, for the next 20 years, an integrated framework of privileged relationships between the EU, the largest donor and trade partner of developing countries, and the 77 ACP countries. The agreement covers trade and investment policies, development aid and the environment, gender issues and culture, institutional reforms and political dialogue, good governance, human rights, democratic principles, the rule of law and the involvement of civil society. The EU wants to build a strong partnership with a democratic Zimbabwe and has shown its commitment to this goal for more than 20 years. African leaders met last year in Abuja, Nigeria, to discuss Zimbabwe. Nigeria, South Africa, Mozambique and Malawi have since voiced their concern, as has UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan in a Jan. 15 statement.
This is not a confrontation between developed and developing countries. It is not about "the EU being an arrogant bully with colonial attitudes," as the government newspaper, The Herald, keeps repeating. It is a matter of universal values, laid down in the UN Charter and the Cotonou Agreement. It is about the principles that the peasant is equal to the president on election day, that the power of the people lies in the secret vote, that the revolutionary legitimacy of the bullet must be replaced by the democratic legitimacy of the ballot. Above all, it is about how we must work together in this increasingly unjust, highly competitive and globalized world, where sound economic performance, good governance and international cooperation are a must. In Zimbabwe the Cotonou Agreement is encountering its first major challenge. Developed and developing countries must forge new and lasting relations in forthcoming UN conferences, in March in Monterrey, Mexico, on financing for development, and in September in Johannesburg, on sustainable development.
The writer, Sweden's ambassador to the United Nations, who led the EU observer mission for the presidential election due in Zimbabwe on March 9 and 10, was expelled from that country last week. He contributed this comment to the International Herald Tribune.
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From ZWNEWS, 28 February
Degrees in Violence: Robert Mugabe and the Struggle for Power in Zimbabwe by David Blair
A new book on Zimbabwe is published today. Enquire at your local bookstore. This book is probably not available in Zimbabwe...
Robert Mugabe is a unique figure among African leaders. Having led the struggle against colonial rule, he has held office uninterruptedly since independence. Now, after 21 years of dominance, Mugabe is waging a bitter struggle to hold power against an opposition born from the spiralling economic and social collapse of Zimbabwe. This timely and compelling book tells the story of Zimbabwe from the hopeful era of new independence to the present reality of petrol queues, food riots and a terror campaign waged by Mugabe supporters. David Blair is a staff foreign correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. Born in Malawi in 1973 he grew up in Lesotho and began working as a journalist in Uganda. He was recently named Young Journalist of the Year by the Foreign Press Association. He was forced to leave Zimbabwe in June 2001 as Robert Mugabe's government sought to silence the media. He left a country in turmoil, gripped by a ferocious battle for power.
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From The Independent (UK), 1 March
Mugabe's police arrest 31 amid poll-rigging fears
Zimbabwean police arrested 31 opposition supporters yesterday in a violent raid on a training session of polling agents in Harare. It was the latest example of pre-election unrest that has brought the country to the brink of suspension from the Commonwealth. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is challenging 78-year-old President Robert Mugabe in hopes of ending his 22-year rule. Leaders meeting at the Commonwealth summit at the weekend are due to consider suspending Zimbabwe for its wholesale flouting of democratic rules but appear resigned to the prospect of action being deferred until after the election. As Tony Blair flew to the summit in Australia, his officials conceded that the meeting was unlikely to reach agreement on sanctions against Zimbabwe because of the imminence of the presidential election on 9-10 March.
The Prime Minister wants Zimbabwe suspended from the Commonwealth but admits there is no consensus among the 54 Commonwealth countries. The most that Mr Blair can expect to win is a call for "free and fair" elections, with the issue of action against Zimbabwe put off until after the poll. A spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Learnmore Jongwe, said police who raided the training meeting in Harare yesterday, beating up nine people in the building, gave no reason except that it was an "illegal gathering". However, he pointed out that the training of polling agents, who will monitor the vote, was in line with electoral laws. Mr Jongwe said: "We condemn the arrests and the attacks, especially from the police who are there to protect us. It is part of a disturbing pattern in which police are at the forefront of attacks on members of the MDC." However, police said the MDC supporters were trailed back to the building after a clash with Zanu PF supporters.
It was also reported yesterday that hundreds of Zimbabweans have vanished from the voters' rolls days ahead of the elections. They will join hundreds of thousands of mostly opposition supporters who have been in effect disenfranchised by a government apparently intent on rigging the poll in its favour. Despite a decision on Wednesday by the Supreme Court theoretically opening the way for hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans living abroad to vote by post, in practice, they and others missing from the roll are unlikely to be able to cast their ballots. The government said yesterday that it would abide by the judges' ruling. But the MDC's justice spokesman, David Coltart, said the government had neither the will nor the ability to organise postal votes or reinstate missing names before the election. "At this stage, it is unlikely that thousands of eligible voters who have gone missing from the roll will be reinstated. It is a cynical move by Zanu PF, which knows that in practice appeals against disenfranchisement will just clog up the courts and will not be heard in time," he said.
However, thousands of disenfranchised expatriates, including Britons, will be able to vote after the high court extended the deadline for expatriates to end dual citizenship - although some 2,400 Britons had to revoke their Zimbabwean citizenship by January. According to the influential Financial Gazette, the newly disenfranchised, among them senior MDC officials, join some 3,000 voters already removed from the roll by the registrar general, Tobaiwa Mudede. Although many have appealed to have their names reinstated, the MDC fears many others who do not realise their names are missing will be turned away at polling stations. Mr Mudede blamed "human error" but the MDC believes opposition supporters are being "systematically struck off" to rig the vote. An MDC spokesman, Paul Themba Nyathi, said: "I can confidently say that a sizeable chunk of voters between 18 and 25 will not be able to vote."
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From the New York Times, 28 February
Court doesn’t faze government
Ten days before the presidential election, the Supreme Court threw out a new law restricting election monitors, saying that Parliament had passed it improperly. But since it did not rule that it was unconstitutional, government officials said they would issue regulations to put it into effect. The law bars nongovernmental organizations from monitoring elections and said all local monitors had to be drawn from the civil service. It was criticized by the opposition, who said civil servants would be biased in favor of President Robert Mugabe.
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From IOL Online (SA), 1 March
MDC members beaten, arrested in police raid
Harare - Just nine days ahead of crucial presidential elections in Zimbabwe under the glare of international scrutiny, the opposition said police raided party offices in Harare and beat up some of its officials. Simultaneously on Thursday, the government denied assertions made Monday by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) that its leader Morgan Tsvangirai had been charged with treason, an affair that further galvanised foreign critics of President Robert Mugabe ahead of the March 9-10 vote. The denial came as Commonwealth leaders prepared to hold a summit at which they will debate sanctions against Zimbabwe over persistent violence and harassment of opposition activists, and tough legislation seen as aimed at ensuring Mugabe's re-election.
The European Union and the United States have already slapped sanctions on Mugabe and his close aides over political conditions ahead of the vote, during which Tsvangirai will pose an unprecedented challenge to Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980. In Harare on Thursday, police raided MDC offices "and started beating up people at random," the MDC said in a statement, adding that nine people were injured in the fracas. Police said they arrested 38 MDC members earlier on Thursday in the working-class suburb of Mbare and would charge them with causing public disturbances. Earlier the MDC reported that "heavily armed police" had besieged MDC provincial offices in the eastern city of Mutare and arrested 17 MDC officials and supporters in Rusape, also in eastern Zimbabwe. MDC offices and individuals have been frequent targets of attacks in the run-up to the presidential vote, and the party says more than 90 of its supporters have been killed since 2000.
Meanwhile on Thursday, Zimbabwe's Vice President Joseph Msika blamed the press for widespread reports that treason charges have been brought against Tsvangirai over an alleged plot to assassinate Mugabe. He issued the denial after meeting with South Africa's Deputy President Jacob Zuma, who said soon after arriving home in Johannesburg that "the Zimbabweans assured the South Africans" that Tsvangirai had simply been questioned by police and not charged. Tsvangirai's lawyer on Thursday insisted that police had "preferred" treason charges against Tsvangirai and two other senior officials, meaning that a court would have to consider them. "As far as we are concerned police are preferring charges of treason," Innocent Chagonda told reporters. The affair arose over a videotape given to the authorities by a former Israeli intelligence agent, Ari Ben Menashe, and screened by an Australian television station on February 13. The tape purports to show Tsvangirai discussing a plot to "eliminate" Mugabe with Ben Menashe and his business associates. Tsvangirai rejected claims he plotted to kill the president, saying he was set up by government agents in a bid to sideline him in the presidential race.
But Zuma said: "They (the Zimbabwean government) gave assurances that those contesting the elections would not be interfered with, that the Zimbabwean government believed in the principle of fair play for all leaders." The prospect of a treason trial prompted Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer to threaten unilateral sanctions against Harare by Canberra. South Africa has defended Zimbabwe against Western cricitism, and is expected along with Africa's other economic powerhouse Nigeria to help block Commonwealth sanctions when the organisation meets in Australia this weekend. Britain, which has pushed hard for the Commonwealth to suspend Zimbabwe, appeared to recognise on Thursday that a consensus was out of reach. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Tony Blair said Britain hopes the meeting "will send a very clear signal to Zimbabwe that the Commonwealth will be watching the elections very closely."
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From The Independent (UK), 1 March
Tsvangirai sues Australian TV station over plot allegations
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai Thursday launched legal action against an Australian television station over its claims that he had conspired to assassinate President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), filed a statement of claim, or lawsuit, in the New South Wales state Supreme Court Thursday against SBS Television for its broadcast earlier this month of a secretly filmed meeting in which he allegedly planned the overthrow or "elimination" of Mugabe. Tsvangirai's spokesman in Australia, Zimbabwe Shadow Minister for International Affairs Tendai Biti, said videos released by the SBS were nothing but "malicious propaganda ... against our party leader and against our party."
He said the allegations were false, and that SBS had been "duped" by Mugabe's supporters. "The whole essence of that action is to vindicate our name and to vindicate the truth," Biti told reporters in Sydney. "We are a lawful and loyal opposition in Zimbabwe and there is absolutely, absolutely no way that ourselves as a party or our leadership would ever contemplate, anticipate these sort of heinous allegations that have been made in those tapes," he added. SBS television's "Dateline" program on February 13 aired a surveillance tape between a person identified as Tsvangirai and political consultants in Montreal, Canada. SBS said it stands by the story. Biti also urged countries attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in the northeastern Australia city of Brisbane over the weekend to reconsider Zimbabwe's membership to the Commonwealth until a free and fair election process is restored.
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From The Daily Times (Malawi), 28 February
11 ghost' NGOs in elections observer team
Lilongwe - The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Lilongwe, which is supposed to fund a 35-member team to monitor elections in Zimbabwe, has asked the head of the delegation to review the composition of the group before it releases funds. Diplomatic sources said yesterday this follows the discovery by the embassy that 11 NGOs listed on the delegation do not exist and the Norwegians found it difficult to sponsor such a team. 'Our findings corroborated what other concerned NGOs, like the Human Rights Network, discovered and presented to us,' said the source. The Human Rights Network, a 30-member network of NGOs in the country, yesterday confirmed in a statement the registrar's office failed to locate 11 of the NGOs on its registers. 'We have checked with the Registrar General's office and discovered that about 11 NGOs do not exist,' Rogers Newa, chairman for the network, said a statement. Newa listed the Human Rights Network, Movement for Political and Civil Rights, Human Rights Democratisation Advocacy, Association for Social Reform, Africa Media Malawi Chapter, Association Against Domestic Violence, Centre for Land and Environment, Promotion for Human Rights Organisation, Women Interest Groups and Council for Socio-Economic Development of Women and Youth, as ghost NGOs.
But leader of delegation designate Mary Nyadovi-Kerr maintained the NGOs exist and dismissed comments from civil society that she created the ghost NGOs. She insisted the trip is on this week. Kerr, who is also Special Assistant to the President for NGOs, told MBC that she has invited credible NGOs like PAC, Christian Service Committee and the Centre for Land and Environment. The delegation, which was scheduled to leave last week for Harare, is still stranded following the Norwegian decision and has since trimmed the delegation to 20 awaiting government funds. A member on the delegation who asked for anonymity said they have been told that they will leave Thursday (today) by road after Ministry of Foreign Affairs releases the funds. Newa disassociated the network from the delegation saying that Malawi needed to send a strong group because it regards the Zimbabwe elections as very crucial for the region. Misa Malawi Chapter chair Lance Ngulube, whose organisation was listed on the delegation but presented by people it is not ware of, said that using Misa was deceitful. 'As a reputable media freedom advocacy body in the region that has expressed disgust at latest developments in Zimbabwe regarding state of the media, we find it unpalatable that our name is mentioned as one of the NGOs sending members to observe elections and yet we were not consulted,' Ngulube said.
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From VOA News, 1 March
Official: US will react if repression mars Zimbabwe election
The Bush administration's top Africa policy official says fraud and violence will likely mar next month's presidential election in Zimbabwe. However, Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Walter Kansteiner insists the administration will not stand by idly if Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe resorts to repression to remain in power. Secretary Kansteiner spoke Thursday before the U.S. House of Representatives' Africa subcommmittee. The panel clearly expected the Zimbabwe government to do its worst to ensure Mr. Mugabe remains in power after next month's election. Ranking democratic Congressman Donald Payne read from a letter he once wrote to President Mugabe, who has run the African country since it gained formal independence from Britain 22 years ago. He bemoaned the violence that has taken scores of lives in the past two years.
"Post-independence Zimbabwe clearly demonstrates much of the best of Africa and what Africans are capable of doing despite decades of repressive white rule," he said. "But in recent years, conditions have gone from bad to worse: The economy is in a shambles and your once politically stable country is increasingly becoming chaotic. Human rights abuses are increasing and your government seems to care little about the rule of law." Legislators also quoted from a South African news report that implies the Zimbabwe government is using false witnesses to accuse opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of plotting to kill Mr. Mugabe. There has been no formal indictment yet against the opposition leader. In the election, the president faces a stiff challenge from Mr. Tsvangirai, whose Movement for Democratic Change took almost half of all parliamentary seats at the last election two years ago.
Secretary Kansteiner agreed with the panel that the outlook for a clean election remains bleak. So bleak, in fact, that the United States will not send observers to March's vote. "Nonetheless, it is possible that the brave people of Zimbabwe will vote with such conviction and in such numbers that the election will produce a meaningful result," he said. "The voice of the people can still be heard, even with the unlevel playing field that we see emerging in the country today." Last week, the Bush administration imposed travel sanctions on Mr. Mugabe and his closest associates, barring their entry in the United States. Mr. Kansteiner insisted that the Administration will keep up the pressure on the Zimbabwean leader. "The government of Zimbabwe should have no illusions about the consequences of a seriously flawed or annulled election," he said. "And the administration, working closely with you all, would like to continue pressing, urging, cajoling and watching and assisting those in Zimbabwe who do want to see a democratic outcome come to fruition." The Zimbabwean election is scheduled for March 9-10.
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From The Washington Post, 1 March
Young voters pose a threat to Mugabe
Harare - He is a bitter young man, and not afraid to say so. Life, he says, went bad early and hasn't gotten better. "I have no job, no prospects," said Adam Madhuku, 22. "I have no money to go to school, no money to even buy a loaf of bread for my mother because inflation is so high, and even when I do have a little money, there is no bread on the shelves. The grocery [stores] are empty. Two of my best friends are dying of AIDS and the government spends taxpayers' money sending our army to the Congo to help fight a war that has nothing to do with Zimbabwe. The police dither while mobs of government supporters attack people for engaging their democratic rights. I cannot even afford the taxis but the [governing party officials] all drive in brand new [Mercedes] and 4-by-4s. I have a girlfriend and I want to marry, but what can I offer her? Now I ask you: Why in God's name should I be mad at the British?"
Pencil-thin and smooth-skinned, Madhuku was born in 1980, the year that this former British colony won its independence and elected as its leader a hero of the liberation movement, Robert Mugabe. In his anger and alienation, Madhuku represents the generational divide that poses perhaps the greatest threat to topple Mugabe, the only leader this southern African country has ever known. Mugabe campaigns for re-election by repeatedly calling the surging opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), a puppet of the British and other foreign countries who want to re-colonize Zimbabwe. In speeches, he derides the MDC's presidential candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, as "a white man masquerading as a black" and "a tea boy for his white boss."
But in trying to invoke the old wounds of colonial rule and foreign domination, Mugabe, 78, is appealing to instincts that are no longer the norm here. Of Zimbabwe's 12 million people, half are over the age of 18. But nearly 60 percent of adults are younger than 30, with virtually no memory of what it was like to live in Rhodesia, as Zimbabwe was known before independence. For them, and particularly the ones who live in urban centers like Harare and Bulawayo, the issue is no longer white imperialism or Mugabe's triumph over it. Instead, their issues are the bread-and-butter concerns of daily life. Unemployment is nearly 60 percent. The annual inflation rate stands at 112 percent. Mobs of government supporters have terrorized MDC supporters and chased farmers and their workers off their land, leaving Zimbabwe without enough food to feed itself or, with aid donors pulling out, even the foreign exchange it needs to buy products from abroad. Nearly a third of all adults are infected with the virus that causes AIDS.
And with the presidential election 10 days away, recent polls show Mugabe winning no more than a third of the vote against Tsvangirai, a former trade union leader. "Think about what it is like when you are a young person," said Nelson Chamisa, who is 23 and the head of the MDC's youth league. "You want to go to school to prepare for your future, and you like to go out and take your girlfriend out. Most of us can't do any of that. And for the few who can, you can only go see movies at the theaters that were released a year ago in the [U.S] because the theater owners don't have the foreign exchange to buy new movies. That's not British imperialism that's doing that to us. That's our own government. For the young people in this country, Robert Mugabe stands accused."
Political analysts say the revision of election laws this year by the governing party, Zanu PF, was clearly intended to address Mugabe's poor standing among the young by requiring voters to produce proof that they own or rent their own homes or to present a utility bill that is listed in their name. "That's no accident," said Brian Rafthopoulous, a political analyst. "With the economy in such bad shape, Zanu PF knows that a lot of young people are living at home with their parents because they don't have jobs. That could deny the vote to hundreds of thousands of people who would otherwise cast ballots." Created in 2000, the MDC draws much of its support from Zimbabwe's youngest adults, said party spokesman Learnmore Jongwe. Of roughly 3 million party members, he said, 1.8 million are 30 or younger. Whether they will be the decisive factor in the election is unclear, however. Given the new election laws and the government's campaign of intimidation and violence against the opposition, Rafthopoulous said, the number of young people who will actually go to the polls will not be known until after the election.
Since February 2000, when voters rejected a referendum on consolidating Mugabe's authority, nearly 100 Zimbabweans have been killed in political violence, most of them MDC supporters. Political analysts say, however, that while much of the violence last year was carried out by so-called veterans from the country's independence war, youth brigade members have been responsible for most attacks in recent months. About 25 people have been killed since the beginning of the year. "We are greatly indebted to President Mugabe and Zanu PF for what they did during the struggle," said the MDC's Chamisa, "but we have the rest of our lives to live and we can't live it fighting a war that's already been won . . . President Mugabe has made the liberation struggle meaningless. He has squandered the very victory he secured for us."
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From The Times (UK), 2 March
Opposition supporters mutilated by youth militias
Harare - President Mugabe’s youth militias have resorted to mutilation of their victims to cow them into voting for him. Three young supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change have had the initials MDC carved into their backs with knives at Marondera, southeast Harare, in the past week. Masimba Matambanevanhu showed reporters the 9in letters cut into his upper back. Immediately below was a criss-crossing of deeper gashes, needing 30 stitches. His buttocks were covered with severe burn marks and there were deep bruises and abrasions all over his body. He said he and a friend were dragged from their homes on Monday night by Zanu PF supporters, assaulted and interrogated. "They started beating us with sticks and one by one asking questions, beating. If you fail to answer, they continue to beat until you are unconscious." He blacked out but soon awoke. "I felt they were cutting me on my back. I didn’t know what they were doing. Later I found there was something in writing on my back." The same had happened to his colleague. Mr Matambanevanhu said that he did not know how the burns were inflicted, because both of them had been unconscious. They were taken to the local state hospital. "I knew all of them. I used to be a Zanu PF supporter before there was MDC. Then I moved to MDC." On Wednesday the same youths came into the hospital ward. "I didn’t know what they were doing there," he said. He was then moved to the safety of a private hospital. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum said that the first mutilation occurred last week, also in Marondera.
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From The Times (UK), 2 March
Harare judges hit Mugabe rival with new poll ruling
Harare - Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe’s opposition leader, suffered a fresh setback yesterday when he was forced to cancel a rally and the courts tightened the electoral laws against his party. Nevertheless, he declared that he was confident of victory in next week’s presidential elections. "I have never been so confident," he said after returning from the town of Marondera, 50 miles southeast of Harare, where mobs of ruling party youths had blocked roads leading to the rally venue, harassed and assaulted people and flung burning tyres into the path of vehicles. Heavily armed police and soldiers surrounded the stadium in the once-prosperous agricultural town’s showgrounds. "There were very few people there," Kennedy Hungwe, a resident, said. "Everybody is afraid. It looked as if there would have been a lot of violence if it went ahead." Fearing an attack on Mr Tsvangirai’s convoy on the road to the rally, police were asked for an escort, according to Gift Chimanikire, the deputy secretary-general of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). "They refused the escort," he said.
"The intimidation is of no effect," Mr Tsvangirai said. "The more they resort to violence, the more they are alienating themselves from the people. Unfortunately for my opponent (President Mugabe), he believes that people frogmarched to rallies are an indication of support." He recalled that immediately before parliamentary elections in 2000, 50,000 people had been present at a Mugabe rally in Harare. "The next day they voted against him," he said. Mr Tsvangirai and other party officials have been forced to abandon 80 campaign rallies since mid-January. They have been banned by police or disrupted in attacks by riot police or ruling party mobs. Last week Mr Tsvangirai was fired on by police when he stopped to address a small roadside gathering in southern Zimbabwe. "Seventy per cent of Zimbabweans believe their vote is secret," he said. "I am sure everyone has been waiting for the day of judgement."
Mr Mugabe’s campaign rally machine has continued without interruption around the country. Yesterday he was quoted as telling peasants in northern Zimbabwe that Tony Blair could "go to Hell" if he would not recognise a Zanu PF victory. "Why should they poke their pink noses in our business?" he demanded. Mr Mugabe said: "Blair stood in Parliament to say the British should stay ready to recognise and support the victory of the MDC and should not stay ready to recognise the victory of Zanu PF. But of course we say: "Go to Hell. Go to Hell. It is not the right or the responsibility of the British to decide on our elections. We do not decide on theirs and why should they poke their pink noses in our business?"
Alarm over the Government’s attempt to rig the voting on March 9 and 10 grew yesterday as a bench of pro-Mugabe judges in the Supreme Court backed new government laws meant to disqualify thousands of Zimbabweans from the right to vote. Led by the Chief Justice, Godfrey Chidyausiku, four of the five judges ruled that voters would have to cast their ballots in the constituencies where they were registered. They overturned an earlier High Court ruling that said people could vote in polling stations anywhere in the country. Lawyers said that the ruling mainly affected MDC supporters, who had fled their homes in the face of violent intimidation. The judges also endorsed another government edict to disenfranchise Zimbabweans who had a right to foreign citizenship but who had failed to declare their choice by January 7. This affects mainly whites, who are seen as staunchly pro-MDC.
Patrick Chinamasa, the Justice Minister, said he would introduce new electoral regulations that would revive a law struck down this week because it had been unlawfully passed by Parliament. These will reinstitute a ban on civic organisations acting as official election monitors, prevent them from teaching voter education, stop election agents from being present when ballot boxes are opened and from accompanying the boxes to counting centres. The Government was outvoted by the MDC in January when it first tried to pass the law, but reintroduced it the next day. The Supreme Court said on Wednesday that the law had been passed in breach of the Constitution and Parliament’s own rules. Mr Chinamasa claimed that the revocation meant that monitors and observers were not allowed to take part in the presidential election. "For the sake of transparency we will proceed through regulations (to bring back the law)," he said.
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From News24 (SA), 1 March
US moves closer to Zim curbs
Washington - The United States has moved closer to slapping economic sanctions on Zimbabwe as political conditions deteriorate ahead of next month's election. "We have been actively consulting with other countries on the issue of economic sanctions," said the state department's assistant secretary for the bureau of African affairs, Walter Kansteiner. The sanctions would target individuals responsible for the deliberate breakdown in the rule of law, politically motivated violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe. "We are looking at mechanisms whereby we could freeze individual assets and perhaps corporate assets," Kansteiner told a house international relations panel. Washington already has imposed travel sanctions on President Robert Mugabe and his close associates.
Violence has surged in Zimbabwe in the run-up to the March 9-10 presidential election, in which Mugabe is battling to extend his 22-year rule against a tough challenge from Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai. "Today, we are seeing a relentless government harassment of the independent media; the operation of a newly-established, government-trained youth militia, which attacks opposition supporters ... police disruptions of opposition political rallies ... and an escalation of political killings," charged Representative Ed Royce. Kansteiner agreed the Zimbabwean government's campaign of repression had been "too profound and too pervasive to allow for an untainted election", adding "the government of Zimbabwe should have no illusions about the consequences of a seriously flawed or annulled election". Kansteiner also warned that an emerging humanitarian crisis could compound the woes of the country ensconced in a political and economic crisis, and have disastrous consequences for neighbouring nations. "Zimbabwe right now is an embarrassment to Africa," he said. Zimbabwe's future beyond the election was also dismal and likely to require an enormous investment of capital and infrastructure to get back on its feet as one of the brighter lights on the continent that once had a stable, tourist-friendly reputation, Kansteiner warned. "The place is bust. It's bankrupt," he said. "But you can't do any (rebuilding) until you get over the political hurdle."
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From The Sydney Morning Herald, 2 March
Decision on Zimbabwe to await poll
Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon yesterday signalled that Commonwealth leaders will not suspend Zimbabwe before next weekend's election -despite what he described as a deteriorating situation. But the Prime Minister, John Howard, meanwhile toughened his rhetoric against Zimbabwe, the knottiest issue facing the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, which opens this morning. In an interview with ABC Asia Pacific TV broadcast on Thursday night, he said the Commonwealth should maintain the Harare principles on minimum democratic standards. "If the Harare principles are to mean something now and into the future, they have to be applied in a fairly consistent fashion."
The Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group discussed Zimbabwe at its meeting yesterday, but Mr McKinnon was tight-lipped about what the group would put to the leaders. Officials said they would certainly consider ways of authorising the Commonwealth to intervene in member states where threats to democracy fell short of an armed coup. One source said leaders would provide for new criteria which would be applied to Zimbabwe after the March 9-10 election. Zimbabwe's visiting opposition foreign policy spokesman, Tendai Biti, told the Herald the Commonwealth "must give a warning" in anticipation that President Robert Mugabe would steal the election and in anticipation there would be "a breakdown in law and order". Mr Biti said there were "precedents" for the international community to intervene where a government lost control "or too much control results in the genocide of innocent people". It might also become necessary for the Commonwealth to help with urgent food aid as tens of thousands were facing starvation because of economic mismanagement and misrule.
The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, was due to meet Mr Howard late last night. Britain, like Australia, has taken a strong position on Zimbabwe, but African nations have refused to go along with it. Before leaving London, Mr Blair indicated Zimbabwe was unlikely to be suspended this weekend. His spokesman said although the Zimbabwe Government was prepared to inflict suffering on its people and flout Commonwealth values, it was "unrealistic' to expect CHOGM to take a decision to suspend Zimbabwe just a few days before the elections were to be held. Australia last hosted CHOGM in Melbourne in 1981. There are 54 Commonwealth countries but Pakistan is suspended and thereby not eligible. All but two - Grenada, and Antigua & Barbuda - of the 53 eligible countries are expected to attend.
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Comment from The New York Times, 1 March
Mr. Mugabe's destructive course
An honest election in Zimbabwe next week could well end President Robert Mugabe's 22-year grip on power there. To prevent that, Mr. Mugabe has been doing all he can to deny a fair chance to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Voters have been arbitrarily disqualified, European and African election observers harassed and the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, implausibly charged with treason. Should the opposition win anyway, army officers have pledged to keep Mr. Mugabe in power. Repressive new laws permit the banning of public rallies and silencing of critical reporting. A fraudulent election could seriously harm not only Zimbabwe, but also many of its neighbors. These countries, especially South Africa, need to take a stronger stand against Mr. Mugabe's attempts to suffocate democracy.
Zimbabwe was once one of southern Africa's most democratic and prosperous countries. Today it is a wreck that threatens the region's stability and prospects. The economy has been contracting sharply for three years. Average incomes have fallen dramatically and famine threatens. The European Union imposed sanctions on Mr. Mugabe and his close cronies after the head of its team of election observers was expelled. Washington has rightly banned American visas for Mr. Mugabe's inner circle. But the impact of these measures has been blunted by the failure of South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, and the 14-country Southern African Development Community to take strong action too. Mr. Mugabe is still shielded by misplaced deference from Mr. Mbeki and other African leaders who view him as a former icon of the African liberation struggle.
The liberation Africa needs today is from deepening poverty, corrupt governments, shameful neglect by Western aid givers and the skittishness of foreign investors. Last month, Mr. Mbeki was in New York soliciting support for a farsighted international partnership designed to attack these problems head on, linking an African commitment to better governance with a call for greater international investment. By failing to take strong action against Mr. Mugabe's manipulations, Mr. Mbeki betrays the spirit of this promising initiative.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 1 March
Diamond dealers fear Mugabe defeat
Panic is setting in among diamond dealers with links to the Zimbabwe government who fear that a defeat for President Robert Mugabe could jeopardise their interests in the region. Sources said a looming victory for Morgan Tsvangirai has seen frantic moves by diamond companies that have benefited from Zimbabwe's presence in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the illicit traffic in "blood diamonds" that has followed. This explains, they said, the dramatic disclosure by Canadian consultancy Dickens & Madson, which has been linked to diamond dealing, of a plot to assassinate Mugabe by Tsvangirai. Intelligence sources this week said the relationship between Zimbabwe's leaders and rogue businessmen, both local and international, involved in trafficking in arms, gemstones and precious metals dating back to the Mozambican civil war in the early 1980s, was under threat. The sources said Zanu PF's partners in the diamond and precious metals trade assisted Zimbabwe to fight Renamo and open up the Beira Corridor in the 1980s. "These are guys who once supported Renamo but turned against the movement and provided information to Zimbabwe thereby undermining rebel positions," a source said.
The news followed reports this week that John Bredenkamp, who is exploiting diamond and cobalt deposits in the DRC, had recently put together plans to sell off his claims. Bredenkamp tried to sell his cobalt and diamond concessions last month but the move was blocked by the Congolese who were unhappy about it, especially after Zimbabwe had played a key role in ensuring the ceding of the claims to the businessman, the source said. According to a United Nations Security Council Report, under pressure from Zimbabwe Bredenkamp's Tremalt Ltd in January last year formed a joint venture with Gecamines, called Kababancola Mining Company (KMC). In a 25-year agreement, KMC acquired rights to a concession representing the richest Gecamines holdings, the report said. Bredenkamp pledged to invest $50 million in the mining operations, which translated to 80% of the venture. Profits were to be split between the government of the DRC (68%) and Tremalt (32%). Gecamines is the largest mining operation in the DRC and has holdings in government-controlled Katanga province which contain one of the largest concentrations of high- grade copper and cobalt in the world.
Apart from diamonds Zimbabwe is also involved in what the latest Global Witness report calls the largest logging concession in the world, Socebo (Societe Congolaise d'Exploitation du Bois), a joint venture between Zimbabwean military controlled Osleg (Operation Sovereign Legitimacy) and Kinshasa-based company Cosleg. The company has started to exploit 33 million hectares of forest in the DRC, 15% of the total land area. Logging has already commenced in Katanga, carried out by the Zimbabwean military in conjunction with a company called SAB Congo. The export sales arm of SAB Congo is a London-based company, African Hardwood Marketing Ltd. Sources said the ring had since Zimbabwe's move into the DRC ensured that the diamond industry in Zimbabwe remained a closely guarded secret. Proposals to open up the industry and develop a processing plant have largely been ignored.
Last year United States-based Flashes of Color, a gemstone buying firm, sent a letter to President Mugabe proposing the setting up of a diamond industry to process gemstones from the DRC. To date no response has come from the Office of the President. The company co-owner, John Marsischky, told the Independent last week that he had been approached by numerous senior politicians and military leaders during a visit to Harare, all of them offering to sell diamonds which had no certificates of origin. Congolese officials are believed to be keen to prosecute both Congolese and foreign companies or individuals who have not adhered to the terms of agreements reached for the exploitation of their resources. They are particularly keen to secure restitution from Israeli generals who have been prominent in the Congolese diamond trade. The timing of the release of a surveillance video in which Dickens & Madson directors led Tsvangirai in explaining what would follow an assassination or coup plot against Mugabe has been seen as linked to a scramble by diamond dealers, many in South Africa, who will no longer be able to launder their stones through Harare.
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 3 March
Time for you to go, Africa tells Mugabe
Nigeria, South Africa and other SADC countries mount multi-pronged effort to broker peace deal
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has given an undertaking to step down as head of state, but only after contesting next weekend's presidential elections. Southern African government officials have told the Sunday Times that Mugabe promised to end his 22-year reign after being advised to do so by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Zimbabwean intelligence. The South African and Nigerian governments, who are concerned about the fallout from next week's election, have been working to ensure both Mugabe's Zanu PF and the Movement for Democratic Change accept a package of measures designed to ensure political and economic stability no matter who wins. They have been worried that instability will continue if Mugabe continues to hold on to power.
During his last visit to Harare, in January, Obasanjo tried to negotiate a deal with Mugabe which would have seen the ruling Zanu PF select another presidential candidate for the election. According to regional officials, Obasanjo's initiative received the support of South African President Thabo Mbeki. "Even at that late stage, Obasanjo was trying to convince him that it would be best if he stepped down on condition of a number of guarantees," one official said. The guarantees included securing Mugabe's future and making sure the law would not be used against him. Last year, senior South African and Zimbabwean intelligence officials discussed a similar strategy. Intelligence agencies of other Southern African Development Community countries were canvassed and also advised Zimbabwean intelligence officials to convince their president to step down. The interaction took place before Zanu PF's national conference in December with the view to allowing an alternate candidate to be chosen then. "He [Mugabe] did not take kindly to this. So it fell flat," an official said. Obasanjo then made the last-ditch attempt to talk to Mugabe. "The unofficial response from Mugabe was that the time is not opportune at the moment. He said he must go ahead with the election now, but afterwards he will pull out," he said. However, there is no firm agreement to bind Mugabe to the undertaking.
ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe confirmed this week that the party had also embarked on "several initiatives" with Zanu PF and the MDC to defuse tensions in Zimbabwe. These included discussions around two "friendly amendments" to the constitution in favour of the MDC. These are: Aligning the term of parliament to that of the presidency; and Placing a ceiling on the number of consecutive terms served by an elected president. The constitution would also provide for the establishment of an independent electoral commission to preside over the elections. This would have meant the election would have been held only in about 18 months' time. "This formed the basis of our proposal to Zanu in December . . . In that time there would have been reduced tensions and levels of violence," Motlanthe said. "They [Zanu] said it was too late in the day to consider this."
The ANC also tried to set up a mechanism for dialogue between the two warring parties outside of parliament. "We have to continue trying or that country can be pushed into a deeper abyss. There is some element of self-interest on our part," Motlanthe said. He said there were serious concerns about Zimbabwe's economy. "There needs to be more focus on the reconstruction and development of the economy. There is no foreign capital flow and that's why they [the Zimbabwean government] are not in the least bit worried about the threat of sanctions. They are already operational," he said. Following talks between Mugabe and Mbeki, a team of South African and Zimbabwean ministers was set up to work on financial reforms to prevent further economic crisis. After the election, the team will resume its work. The Sunday Times has also learnt that the South African government is undertaking a situation analysis to anticipate what will happen in Zimbabwe in the next four to five months. "This scenario-planning exercise projects what would happen in the case of Mugabe winning and also what is likely to take place if (MDC leader Morgan) Tsvangirai wins," an official said. "This will assist us in preventing a meltdown in Zimbabwe. The post-election period poses major economic challenges not only for Zimbabwe but also the region. We need to be prepared to ensure that the Zimbabwean economy is set on the right footing," he said.
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From The New York Times, 3 March
Opposition leader in Zimbabwe calls for reconciliation
Bulawayo - With only a week to go before Zimbabwe's presidential election, the rival candidates swept through this city today, rallying thousands of cheering, whistling and singing supporters. Bulawayo, the country's second- largest city, is a stronghold for the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, which appeals to urban voters with promises to end soaring inflation, food shortages and political violence. So the opposition candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, was greeted like a hero. His advisers were introduced as "the government in waiting," and his supporters shouted the party slogan, "Change! Change! Change!" President Robert Mugabe, the aging guerrilla fighter, has run Zimbabwe since white rule ended in 1980. He has derided Mr. Tsvangirai as a front man for the nation's white minority, which is helping to finance the opposition campaign. The president blamed the white minority and Britain, the country's colonial ruler, for Zimbabwe's severe economic problems and he urged citizens to vote for the party of liberation.
But Mr. Tsvangirai told the cheering crowd here that the nation had to move forward. "The challenge is a choice between the future and the past," Mr. Tsvangirai said. "Mugabe is living in the past. We say to him clearly, `Thank you very much for what you did.' But it's not between Tsvangirai or Mugabe. It's with the failed policies of the past and the promise of our future, our children, our children's bright future." In his speech, Mr. Tsvangirai called for national reconciliation in a country that is so politically polarized that violent clashes often erupt between the two competing parties. He promised to create a truth commission that would investigate political crimes and to ease Zimbabwe's economic crisis. But his words were abruptly interrupted by the rumble of a military helicopter that circled twice around the stadium here as if to demonstrate the power of the sitting government. Mr. Tsvangirai's supporters quickly leapt to their feet, jeering and waving their arms. But it was still a jarring reminder of the ominous undercurrents in this campaign.
Earlier this year, the country's generals suggested that they would not support Mr. Tsvangirai if he was elected president because he had not participated in the guerrilla struggle against white rule. Some South African officials fear that Zimbabwe will be shaken by a military coup if Mr. Tsvangirai is elected or by civil unrest if Mr. Mugabe is declared the winner. Such worries are reverberating through the region, which is often viewed as one of Africa's most stable areas. Already, neighboring countries have watched jittery tourists and foreign investors turn their backs on the region as a result of political violence and farm invasions. "If it doesn't go well, all the countries in the region will be affected," Duke Lefhoko, the leader of the Southern African team of election observers, said in an interview this week. "All must be tried. To what extent it will work, I don't know. But all must be tried to impact on the situation." Today, riot police rolled through the streets to prevent any violent clashes between the competing campaigns. In January, when the two parties were last scheduled to hold competing rallies, their supporters fought in the streets in clashes that ultimately left one man dead and dozens injured. "The ideal situation would have been that they have their rallies on different days, but since they were determined to have their rallies on the same day, we will have to deal with it," said Wayne Bvudzijena, the spokesman for the national police. "We expect the leaders of the political parties to at least appeal to their supporters not to engage in acts that might lead people into violence."
In recent days, Mr. Mugabe has called on his supporters to campaign peacefully. He has also urged the nation to blame whites, who control most of the fertile land and industries here, for the country's economic woes instead of blaming the government. In full-page advertisements in local newspapers today, the government said white businessmen were hoarding food, causing the country's food shortages. "First they hoard food or even burn it," the advertisement said of white businessmen. "And then they say there is a food shortage which they blame on the government. Don't reward food hoarding by voting for those behind it." Mr. Tsvangirai said today that people should continue to recognize the men and women who fought against white rule. But he said they should not forget that some of the liberation leaders had betrayed the nation's trust by promoting corruption and violence. "The tragedy of our liberation struggle is that the so-called liberators, the ruling elite which amassed power to itself, betrayed the objectives and the dreams of that liberation struggle," Mr. Tsvangirai said.
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From The Independent (UK), 3 March
Mugabe opponents forced to campaign at dead of night
Matabeleland - Thatched homes and bushes flash by, lit only by a glorious full moon as we speed north in the dead of night. Pamphlets spew out behind us and flutter wildly to the ground. There are more than 30,000 fliers promoting Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the back. My companions are on the election trail for an opposition party so harassed by President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF government that it has mostly gone underground, using the cover of night to strew pamphlets, emails and a "whispering campaign" to reach voters with its messages. More than 100 MDC rallies have been prohibited by the police, and many that have been held have been violently disrupted by government supporters who have for months also been campaigning at night - manning roadblocks or roaming from door to door, beating or harassing people who do not have Zanu PF cards. There have been tens of thousands of reported cases of violence and intimidation, and some 100 MDC supporters murdered, in the two years since Zanu PF panicked at the prospect of losing power to a swelling opposition after two decades in power. Matabeleland is an MDC stronghold, but there is still reason to fear intimidation. Our truck's numberplates are false, and the men tossing pamphlets are nervous. "If we come across another vehicle, duck so you can't be seen," says one. "If we get chased, hold on tight."
The province is home to the Ndebele, descendants of dissident Zulus who fled north from King Shaka's expanding empire in the 19th century. At a recent rally in Matabeleland, Mr Mugabe reportedly warned the Ndebele that if they voted against him they should "pack their bags" and go back to South Africa. In the 1980s, Mr Mugabe sent in the brutal Fifth Brigade, which crushed dissent among the Ndebele minority at the cost of 20,000 lives. Surveys forecast that Mr Mugabe will win, at most, 30 per cent of the popular vote. Faced with loss of power and the collapse of a patronage system that has richly rewarded party loyalty with jobs, money and land, Zanu PF is resorting to desperate measures.
Officials in two provinces are reported to have told villagers to line up behind their headmen at the poll "so that it would be known how they voted". Everything is being done to make up the potential shortfall in votes, from the selective registration of voters to reducing the number of polling stations in MDC-supporting urban areas while increasing those in rural parts. The Electoral Supervisory Commission has been stuffed with security officials and the state-controlled broadcasting corporation is becoming ever more partisan. While many Zimbabweans fear electoral manipulation may enable Mr Mug |
