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Archived News
24th June 2003
Namibian Human Rights says charge Mugabe
Support Pretoria hunger strikers action for Morgan Tsvangirai
MDC Executive Statement - don't be provoked
Mugabe stung - bans strikes in public sector
Roy Bennett farm looted by ZANU-PF
Tsvangirai protests his innocence
Daily News claims an elaborate, hollow fib
MPs sue Zim government
Even Zimbabwe's dead need fuel
Zim train up in flames
Mugabe for ever?
Mugabe 'considering retirement'
High Commissioner threatens and assaults reporter
Mugabe government in new contract with treason witness
Govt in U-turn over licence withdrawals
Zimbabwe allows private oil imports to ease shortage
Zimbabweans stash money in foreign accounts
Issues not black and white for Gray
Bail decision in Zimbabwe treason trial due Friday
Succession debate widens
Now Mugabe takes revenge on transport companies
Zim ambassador charged
Tsvangirai files urgent petition
Private sector talks state out of Libya oil deal
Mugabe opponent freed on bail
Boxes of dollars free Tsvangirai
Zimbabwe to run out of bread in a week
'Don't go to Zim yet'
No plans to amend Posa - Chinamasa
Those hangings...
We won't stop now, vows MDC
SA blames MDC for collapse of talks
'Mugabe is paranoid about UK coup plot'
Mugabe threatened by debating pupils
Few have but most have not in Harare
Tsvangirai rejects Lekota's Zim talks claims
Is Mugabe trying to buy time?
Why Mugabe won't quit: Chikerema
Men in leg-irons can't negotiate
No animal spared in Zimbabwe massacre
Zanu PF woos MDC
Snap election?
Fraud suspect pulls disappearing act
Zim's Moyo 'almost drowned'
Freeing a nation from a tyrant's grip
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 17 June
Tsvangirai protests his innocence
Harare
The treason trial of Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, accused of plotting to eliminate President Robert Mugabe ahead of presidential elections last year, resumed on Tuesday. The trial, which resumed after a three week break, concerns the first charges of treason brought against the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader and two key members of his party, Welshman Ncube and Renson Gasela. Tsvangirai has also been charged with treason - punishable by death in Zimbabwe -- in connection with anti-government protests organised by his party two weeks ago. He appeared in the Harare high court looking drawn and tired after having spent 12 days in police custody following his arrest on the last day of the MDC-organised protests, during which the state accused him of inciting Zimbabweans to violently oust Mugabe. Tsvangirai is still waiting for a high court judge to decide whether he should be granted bail on the second treason charges.
The charges being heard on Tuesday against the MDC trio arise from evidence contained in a grainy video tape of a meeting they held with a Canada-based consultancy firm, run by former Israeli intelligence agent Ari Ben Menashe. Ben Menashe has accused the MDC leaders of plotting to murder Mugabe, but Tsvangirai and his two party officials claim they were set up by the Dickens and Madson consultancy in a bid to sideline Tsvangirai politically, after he emerged as the most significant threat to Mugabe's 23-year hold on power. On Tuesday, Happyton Bonyongwe, head of Zimbabwe's intelligence service, gave evidence to the court on the Central Intelligence Office's (CIO) relations with Ben Menashe. Bonyongwe was cross-examined at length by defence lawyer George Bizos - the high-profile South African lawyer who argued Nelson Mandela's innocence in a treason trial 40 years ago - on services rendered to the CIO by Ben Menashe in exchange for significant sums of money. Ben Menashe was allegedly paid $200 000 for five days of work done for the CIO.
"Information about the movements of the accused, among other things, I can't be more specific," was Bonyongwe's unclear reply. "You are trying to cover up the truth," said Bizos, asserting that Ben Menashe had been paid to concoct a plot against the MDC leaders. Ben Menashe told the court in February, when the trial opened, that Tsvangirai had clearly asked him to help kill Mugabe ahead of presidential elections last year. But in the videotape shown by prosecutors on the second day of the trial, Tsvangirai was heard to say: "The discussion was never about the elimination of Mugabe, it was about the election, and the post-election outcome."
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From The Herald, 18 June
Daily News claims an elaborate, hollow fib
Herald Reporter
The Government yesterday dismissed as an "elaborate and hollow fib" claims by The Daily News that President Mugabe had told President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa that he wants to step down in the next 12 months and back Speaker of Parliament Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa to take over as President. The Department of Information and Publicity in the Office of the President and Cabinet said yesterday's front page claims by "the perverse, Strive Masiyiwa-fronted and British-owned Daily News about the purported content of an alleged telephone conversation between Presidents Mugabe and Mbeki make a common liar look unimpeachably upright, indeed make the gutter press look noble". The Daily News alleged in its lead story that Cde Mugabe had told Mr Mbeki that he wants to step down and backs the Speaker of Parliament, Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa, to take over as President. It also alleged that Cde Mugabe was working out a transitional mechanism that would allow a new leadership in Zimbabwe in the next 12 months.
"Sydney Masamvu, the paper's inept assistant editor and accomplished speculative reporter responsible for writing this elaborate and hollow fib, contrives an imaginary telephone communication between the two Heads of State in the vain hope of reviving MDC's terminally collapsed hopes by flying the kite to help it out of its present political morass and the ignominy arising from a spectacularly failed illegal mass action. The latest falsehood by The Daily News builds on, indeed compounds, another it published on Saturday claiming President Mbeki was pressing for the release of Tsvangirai who is in lawful remand custody on charges that not only are obvious, well understood and frowned upon by genuine democrats, but are also before a competent court of law.
"President Mugabe's views on succession are not only an open book but consistent with the democratic principle that only the people alone reserve the inalienable right to decide who shall govern them through the ballot box. It is in deference to this basic principle of democratic governance that the President has invited the people of Zimbabwe to openly debate the issue of succession without let and hindrance. Equally, the Zanu PF Constitution is abundantly clear on procedures to be followed by those seeking leadership of the party." The department said it was also commonsensical that barely a year and three months after the last presidential election, the Office of Presidency was not available for contest now or in 12 months. "Indeed, it cannot be made available merely because the acts of bravado by the quisling MDC, which earlier on was proclaiming a change of government next month, have predictably gone awry, lending its terminally dwindling membership into irrecoverable nadir of despair," it said. "Obviously all these are no considerations for the likes of Masamvu, for his 'publisher', his MDC party and for his British handlers who think that the question of who governs sovereign nations is a matter of back-hand scenarios by latter-day colonialists; indeed a matter of neo-colonial thuggery and terrorism licensed or disguised as mass action. The 'final push', it would appear, has finally become a pull to fibs and fables of a paper utterly unreliable on every minor point. That is why nobody believes anything published by The Daily news these days," said the department.
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From The Mercury (SA), 18 June
MPs sue Zim government
By Brian Latham
Harare: Two Movement for Democratic Change MPs and 10 opposition activists are suing the Zimbabwe government for about 9 million Zimbabwe dollars after they said they were wrongfully arrested in February this year. Meanwhile, the fate of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai remains in the balance as Zimbabwe waits to hear whether he will be granted bail on a second count of treason. After 11 days in cells, clad in only khaki shorts, a short-sleeved shirt and flip flops, the MDC leader has to brave the winter cold in cells where even a single blanket is considered a luxury. Despite speculation that South Africa has exerted pressure to release Tsvangirai, he remains incarcerated. Tendai Biti, MDC MP for Harare East and fellow MP Paul Madzore, together with 10 MDC supporters are suing Zimbabwe's home affairs minister Kembo Mohadi, police chief Augustine Chihuri and a member of Zimbabwe's feared law and order police department. A lawyer representing the MDC 12 said they were arrested "without reasonable suspicion and just cause" before being detained.
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From BBC News, 15 June
Even Zimbabwe's dead need fuel
By Themba Nkosi
The dead have become the latest victims of Zimbabwe's endless fuel shortages. Some dead people have had to endure humiliation by fuel attendants and garage owners, who demand to see the corpses before they can sell fuel to hearse drivers enroute to cemeteries. When the fuel shortages became serious, undertakers were given priority at petrol stations. But then conmen started masquerading as undertakers and hearse drivers and bought large quantities of fuel from garages and sold it at exorbitant prices on the black market. In some cases, the conmen managed to produce what looked like genuine burial certificates at petrol stations and were given fuel by unsuspecting attendants. The government and civic groups have condemned the practice with church leaders describing it as "satanic". But garage owners have defended the practice saying it is the only way to avoid selling the scarce liquid to conmen masquerading as undertakers. "We have been getting a lot of people claiming to be from funeral parlours, some of them carrying fake burial certificates," said one garage owner. "In the end we discovered that conmen had exploited the privileges given to undertakers from genuine funeral parlours." Funeral parlours fall under the Essential Services Act. In Harare, undertakers were forced to take four bodies to a service station after the garage owners demanded proof that the driver of the hearse was genuine. In some cases, the funeral parlours tell bereaved families to source their own fuel before bodies can be transported to cemeteries for burial. The undertakers have lodged their complaints with the Minister of Energy and Power Development, Amos Midzi.
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From News24 (SA), 17 June
Zim train up in flames
Harare - Goods worth millions of dollars were destroyed on Tuesday when a train carrying diesel fuel and building materials derailed at Colleen Bawn, near Gwanda, 400km southwest of Zimbabwe's capital Harare, state radio reported. The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation said the driver of the goods train was injured but was extricated from the wreckage by rescuers. There were no reports of other casualties. The ZBC said the accident occurred early on Tuesday morning at the same spot on the privately-operated Bulawayo Beitbridge Railway where a derailment occurred in April. An investigation is under way.
Eye-witnesses have contacted us to say that four engines and twenty-two wagons were derailed. Two semi-filled tankers of diesel overturned, and one wagon-load of bricks was destroyed. The driver suffered a broken leg, and is believed to have suffered spinal injuries. By last night, a through-way for traffic on that section of the line had been restored.
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Comment from The Star (SA), 17 June
Mugabe for ever?
By the Editor
The most alarming and chilling aspect of President Robert Mugabe's recent television interview in Harare was his declaration: "I am getting younger." True, he laughed as he spoke, but is it possible that he was serious? Could it be that Zimbabwe scientists in a secret laboratory have discovered the elixir of life? That would account not only for Mugabe's dogged determination to hang on to power while his country implodes, but also for the otherwise inexplicable support he receives from fellow African leaders. Have they been brought into line by the promise of a vial or two of the precious fluid? Perish the thought!
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 19 June
Mugabe 'considering retirement'
By Christopher Munnion in Johannesburg
Robert Mugabe is considering stepping down as Zimbabwe's president within a year under "certain conditions", South African government sources said yesterday. His demands include the right to nominate his successor and international and local recognition that he remains the country's properly elected founding president to enable him to enjoy "honourable retirement", they said. The 79-year-old autocrat, whose obsession with clinging to power has brought his once-prosperous nation to the edge of economic collapse and political chaos, is said to have assured President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa of his retirement plans in a telephone call last week. Mr Mbeki sees Mr Mugabe as a major impediment to his dream of successfully launching Nepad - the "new partnership for Africa's development" under which African nations commit themselves to good governance in return for international financial aid. Mr Mbeki called Mr Mugabe on the eve of the World Economic Forum Africa in Durban, a crucial meeting for Nepad ambitions, at which the South African leader was host. Mr Mbeki was said to have been enraged by images emerging from Zimbabwe of Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change being hauled before court in chains to face a second charge of high treason for organising protests against the Mugabe government. According to sources, Mr Mbeki told Mr Mugabe of South Africa's "displeasure". A surprisingly conciliatory Mr Mugabe assured the South African leader of his plans for conditional retirement but emphasised that he would not quit under pressure from "troublemakers" or "international subversives". But Mr Mugabe has repeatedly broken assurances given to South Africa. His office issued a statement yesterday rejecting any suggestion of his resignation.
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From The International Freedom of Expression Exchange Clearing House (Canada), 18 June
High Commissioner threatens and assaults reporter
Toronto - On 11 June 2003, Hloniphani Chengeta, a journalist with the weekly "Sunday Tribune", was assaulted by the Zimbabwean High Commissioner to Botswana, Phelekezela Mphoko. On 1 June, Chengeta travelled to Zimbabwe to cover the mass demonstrations organised by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The demonstrations were due to start the following day. Upon his return from Zimbabwe, Chengeta filed a story about the rally he had covered at Barbourfields Stadium in Bulawayo, where a high-ranking delegation from the ruling Zanu PF, comprising Information and Publicity Secretary Nathan Shamuyarira and Trade Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi, addressed its supporters. The article quoted Shamuyarira saying that he had reliable and independent information that Botswana was going to be used as a launch pad in case of intervention to achieve regime change, similar to that in Iraq by the United States (U.S.) and Britain, Chengeta told MISA's Botswana chapter.
The day after the newspaper hit the streets on 9 June, the high commissioner visited the offices of the "Sunday Tribune", where he demanded to see Chengeta. He complained that Chengeta fabricated the story about Shamuyarira and that such a rally never took place. He also demanded that the newspaper print a retraction and inform its readers that the reporter had lied. When Chengeta tried to reason with him and explain that he had nothing to apologise for as he was sure about his facts, Mphoko threatened to beat him up. The "Sunday Tribune"'s editor and Chengeta later went to see Mphoko and the matter was discussed at length. Mphoko threatened to initiate a lawsuit, but Chengeta remained adamant about his refusal to retract the article. On 11 June, Mphoko returned to the "Sunday Tribune" offices and demanded to see Chengeta. He walked into the newsroom, where he accused Chengeta of lying about his country and being a MDC and U.S. government agent. Mphoko then jumped on Chengeta, pulled him up by the scruff of his neck, pinned him to the wall and pressed hard against Chengeta's throat in full view of his colleagues. One of his colleagues came to Chengeta's rescue.
"Sunday Tribune" managing editor Masego Butale confirmed the incident and said, "we witnessed Chengeta being choked on the neck. Whether the story was true or false, it does not warrant the high commissioner assaulting him. There are civil ways to settle the matter, unlike resolving it with beatings." However, in a telephone interview with MISA-Botswana, the high commissioner denied assaulting Chengeta and said there was no rally on the given date, as all meetings scheduled for that day were called off due to the protests. In a press release sent to MISA-Botswana, the Zimbabwe High Commission stated that it had, "consulted extensively on this issue with various institutions in Zimbabwe and Dr Shamuyarira was never in Bulawayo during that period and did not in any way make the alleged accusations against Botswana . . . the story is thus false and unfounded and should be dismissed with the contempt it deserves." Butale and Chengeta said they reported the matter to the Gaborone West police, who have since forwarded their findings to Police Commissioner Norman Moleboge. Currently, the matter is under review, as the High Commissioner is covered by diplomatic immunity. The "Sunday Tribune" is a weekly newspaper with a circulation of 10,000. It is locally owned by Bukinemu Enterprises Ltd.
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From SABC News, 18 June
Mugabe government in new contract with treason witness
Zimbabwe's government renewed a contract with its main prosecution witness just weeks before putting the main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on trial for treason, the country's spy chief said today. Happyton Bonyongwe told the High Court in the capital Harare that President Robert Mugabe's government had renewed a consultancy contract with Canadian-based political consultant Ari Ben-Menashe to mend the African country's image abroad. Like its economy, Zimbabwe's image has been pummelled since Mugabe condoned mass occupation of white-owned farms in 2000, and his subsequent presidential election victory in March 2002 that the opposition and some Western leaders said was rigged. Ben-Menashe is the key state witness in the trial of Tsvangirai, accused of plotting to assassinate Mugabe. The case hinges on a videotaped meeting between Tsvangirai and Ben-Menashe in Montreal. Tsvangirai and two party colleagues could face the death penalty if convicted. Bonyongwe said Ben-Menashe's contract was renewed in January 2003 shortly before the treason trial opened on February 3. He did not say how much the new contract was worth, but said the government had paid $8 000 to another Canadian-based state witness for the time he spent testifying, and another $10 000 to Ben-Menashe's assistant for injuries she incurred in an accident he said was linked to the case. Defence lawyers have dismissed Ben-Menashe as unreliable and say the video was doctored to discredit the MDC, the most potent challenge to Mugabe's power since he led the country to independence from Britain in 1980. Tsvangirai is currently in detention pending a bail decision on a second set of treason charges stemming from a five-day strike his Movement for Democratic Change organised early in June which paralysed industry.
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From The Financial Gazette, 19 June
Govt in U-turn over licence withdrawals
Hama Saburi, Deputy Editor-in-Chief
The government is backing off from ill-conceived and politically-motivated plans to withdraw licences from companies that took part in the five-day mass protest organised early this month by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), but is now instead mulling tough laws that would compel employers to dismiss workers who join mass stayaways. Reliable sources said the government's volte-face came after strong representations from industry and commerce who argued that instead of government cracking the whip on the companies it had to seek ways to soothe business fears, reactivate the stricken economy and reverse the current economic melt-down. They managed to wring concessions from the government, already under immense external pressure for using heavy-handed tactics to quell mass protests. The government is said to have softened its stance this week fearing that it could cripple fragile relations with business by withdrawing licences from companies suspected of collaborating with the main opposition party. Harmonious links between business and government is seen as vital to the success of the National Economic Recovery Programme (NERP) adopted in the first quarter of the year to put the once-robust Zimbabwean economy back on the rails. Government sources said the Ministry of Industry and International Trade had been warned against doing anything that worsens an already negative investor perception, at a time when the convulsions being suffered by the Zimbabwean economy are reportedly having a ripple effect on the economies of neighbouring countries. There was also concern that actions that seem to militate against the ownership of private capital could confirm Zimbabwe as a lawless state and add weight to overtures that the southern African country should be isolated.
Samuel Mumbengegwi, the Minister of Industry, was quoted in the local press last week saying six companies were on the verge of having their licences withdrawn after failing to convince the ministry on why they closed shop during the five days. The minister and leading hawks in the government, ahead of the mass action, issued stern warnings against companies that would participate in the mass stayaway. Government's threats came as it emerged that a number of top politicians, known to have been beneficiaries of influence-peddling in the past, were lining themselves up to take over companies aligned to the opposition party. Mumbengegwi could not be contacted for comment as he was said to be in Mauritius. He is expected back on Monday. Kenneth Manyonda, Mumbengegwi's deputy, skirted the issue yesterday saying it was still premature to discuss it. Manyonda said: "If we don't get sufficient and convincing evidence, it would be stupid to take any action, except to give stern warning." He said further investigations would be required to ensure his ministry does not plunge itself into trouble. "The problem is that we are working on what we hear and when you take action, you should remove any element of doubt. We have to be responsible with what we do in the end. We want to remove the margin of error," said the former governor of Manicaland. Manyonda said the government was considering making it mandatory for employers to dismiss employees who shun work in pursuit of "political objectives." "We are working with the Ministry of Labour to effect this," he said. Jim Sanders, president of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, said his organisation had not received complaints from its membership of about 1 600 companies on the threats by the ministry. However, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) would circulate a statement deploring the victimisation of companies. Legal experts said there were legal issues that make it difficult for government to withdraw licences.
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From ABC News (Australia), 18 June
Zimbabwe allows private oil imports to ease shortage
Zimbabwe will allow private businesses with foreign currency to import their own fuel to ease a serious shortage crippling the country's transport and industry, a senior official said. Zimbabwe has suffered a serious fuel shortage since November when a barter deal with Libya for the supply of nearly 70 per cent of its needs collapsed. The fuel crunch has exacerbated the crisis gripping the troubled southern African country, where President Robert Mugabe faces political unrest and mounting economic problems including inflation now riding at over 300 per cent, one of the highest rates in the world. Deputy Energy Minister Reuben Marumahoko told the official Herald newspaper that Mr Mugabe's Government, which has had a monopoly on fuel imports decades, was now allowing oil firms to import fuel for individual companies with foreign currency. "The oil industry has been deregulated and what it means is that we are allowing the oil industry to bring its own fuel," he said.
An oil industry spokesman said oil companies, including multinationals which have been mostly confined to the retail sector, were taking orders from companies to import a minimum of 25,000 litres of fuel. "Companies with foreign currency accounts can now import fuel in US dollars through the scheme where they will be issued with coupons which can then be exchanged for fuel," he said. Zimbabwe has suffered intermittent fuel shortages for the last three years mainly due to lack of foreign currency. The Government says the Libya deal ran into problems because Zimbabwe was unable to supply the beef, sugar and tobacco it agreed to exchange under the deal. The fuel shortages have been one symptom of Zimbabwe's deepening economic crisis, which has also left consumers struggling with shortages of basic goods including bread, milk, cooking oil and sugar. Mr Mugabe blames the food shortages on drought and economic sabotage by his local and foreign critics, who in turn say the crisis has been made worse by Mr Mugabe's seizures of white-owned farms for distribution to landless blacks, a policy which has disrupted the key commercial agricultural sector.
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From SABC News, 18 June
Zimbabweans stash money in foreign accounts
Zimbabweans have stashed more than $1 billion in foreign accounts as their country bleeds under a severe foreign currency crisis. A study by leading financial institution in Harare says the figure could be higher if corporate tax dodging and keeping export earnings outside Zimbabwe are included. $1 billion in foreign accounts, that is a startling figure for many in Zimbabwe who are battling with no fuel and sometimes electricity power cuts. The irony is, the money being kept by its nationals outside is enough to take care of the country's fuel and electricity requirements for a year. Barbican Financial Holdings, is responsible for the research that is putting to question the conscience of some of the country's nationals. The research shows much of this $1 billion is in South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. Economists say it is this money, kept offshore, that is fuelling the black market. Zimbabwe's finance minister, recently said new measures will be announced to attract the foreign currency sitting outside the country when its desperately needed at home. These measures will form part of a new monetary policy due to be announced later this month. Desperate as Zimbabwe may be for foreign currency, many agree there will be no significant inflows until tangible incentives are put in place. Until that happens some Zimbabweans will continue to dodge the law and keep their hard currency outside the borders.
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From The Age (Australia), 18 June
Issues not black and white for Gray
By Nabila Ahmed
When the anti-Robert Mugabe protesters line up outside the Zimbabwean embassy in London for their weekly rally this Saturday, they might be shocked by the presence of an unexpected visitor. Malcolm Gray, outgoing president of the International Cricket Council and driving force behind its controversial decision to make cricket teams, including England and Australia, fulfil their schedule in Zimbabwe during this year's World Cup, might just decide he has something to say. "I might go and say, 'Listen! I'm this bloke and I agree with everything you say!' " Gray told The Age. The 63-year-old, whose three-year reign as ICC president ends in London this week, has always maintained he held a personal view on whether cricket teams, or indeed any sporting side, should go to a country ruled by a tyrannical despot. As president of cricket's governing body, he maintained it was not up to sporting teams to make political statements and that playing matches in Harare and Bulawayo did not necessarily translate to an endorsement of the Mugabe regime. When England refused - after weeks of agonising deliberations from both players and officials - to play its match against Zimbabwe in Harare in the World Cup, the ICC took the four crucial points and awarded them to Zimbabwe.
In the face of extreme pressure, including hundreds of letters from Zimbabwean residents to Gray and newspapers around the world, he held firm in his belief that he did not have the mandate to make a political judgement and that matters of the state were far beyond the jurisdiction of a sporting body anyway. But in a recent interview with The Age, Gray revealed his true feelings on the matter, telling of his attendance at an anti-Mugabe rally in the months before the World Cup. "About 12 months or so ago, I was in London and it was a Saturday...each Saturday, the anti-Mugabe people hold a rally outside the Zimbabwean embassy so I went along to that," he said. "I didn't say who I was or anything," he added. Gray's eyes well with tears even now when he thinks of the turmoil Mugabe's government has caused for many residents. "I would get these letters, hundreds of them. Some were terrific, well written, cogent, good letters. Others were almost hate mail. You know, 'you weak so and so.' There's a couple of them where they'd write about what was happening to their mother. They would make you weep - some of them did make me weep." But Gray claims the ultimate decision to make teams play in Zimbabwe during the World Cup was not difficult to make. "I suppose what some people were arguing was that by going there you are helping the regime. I argued differently...I think that by going there, the whole furore focused huge international attention on the issue, which Zimbabwe wouldn't have got," he said. While not regretting the decision he made, Gray remains disappointed with the British and the Australian governments, which cautioned the teams against going to Zimbabwe but left the final decision up to the respective national bodies. "I believe that our stance was absolutely, completely and utterly correct and not only for that time, but for every time in any sport when politics are involved, not politics of the sport but national politics, it's up to the governments to be decisive about it. But politicians are clever and hide behind the sports administrators - that's what the British Government did."
The Zimbabwe issue, coupled with the New Zealand team's refusal to play in Kenya because of security concerns, had the potential to widen further the growing split in world cricket between the East - namely the subcontinental teams - and the West - traditionally England, Australia and New Zealand - when India willingly went to Harare and Sri Lanka to Nairobi. But it was the ICC's firm stance and eventual punishment of England and New Zealand that averted a full-scale disaster. Gray believes the East-West divide is caused in part by deep-rooted beliefs stemming from historical conflicts. "It is human nature for people to flock together and grow a colour mentality...One thing I've learned in this job is just how racist people are. I didn't realise everybody was as racist as they are," he said. While Gray is reluctant to acknowledge a split as such, he cannot see the problem going away any time soon, either. But, he hopes that in the end, people will put aside their small-minded squabbles for the good of the game. "It's constantly brought up that there may be a split. I believe the real threat of it is not as high as people think...ultimately, common sense will prevail that if there is a split, they're just going to ruin the sport, which ultimately will ruin their own patch, their own power, their own finances."
Already, the governance of cricket is being highlighted by Gray as the major challenge for the sport in coming years. He believes cricket has been ill-equipped historically to deal with modern-day challenges, with administrators unable to handle the amounts of money the sport can generate. "One of the big dangers for cricket is that the sport doesn't necessarily have the ability to handle big amounts of money and I would say that of the Australian Cricket Board," he said. "I am more convinced than ever that the most significant issue still confronting international cricket is its own governance. I think there is a slow realisation that the governance has got to get better. Some people resist that change and resist it passionately usually because it's taking some of their power or their ego satisfaction away. But I think we're slowly getting there." Gray pinpoints the achievements of the anti-corruption unit as the highlight of his tenure, but warns that cricket needs to remain vigilant if the disease that brought the sport to its knees is to be kept away. A former boss of the ACB, Gray leaves the game largely satisfied with his work and has vowed not to return to cricket because "there's nothing worse than boring old men hanging around making constant reference to the good old days". This weekend, when his work is done at the ICC headquarters at Lord's, he will fly back home to Melbourne, his family and real estate business. But first, he has a long-standing Saturday morning date.
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From Reuters, 19 June
Bail decision in Zimbabwe treason trial due Friday
Harare - Zimbabwe's High Court will rule on Friday whether to grant bail to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, detained for nearly two weeks on a second charge of treason, a state lawyer said on Thursday. The ruling was set for nine a.m. (0700 GMT), state lawyer Morgen Nemadire said at the High Court, where Tsvangirai is on trial accused of plotting to murder President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai, who heads the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was arrested on June 6 and charged again with treason for allegedly trying to topple Mugabe by staging a paralysing five-day national strike in the first week of June. Tsvangirai's lawyers have argued that the MDC leader was simply advocating peaceful protest and that his arrest is an attempt to silence him politically. Treason carries a possible death sentence in the southern African country, now grappling with its worst economic and political crisis since independence from Britain in 1980.
The once-prosperous nation suffers chronic food and fuel shortages and inflation has soared to 300 percent - one of the highest rates in the world. The MDC charges that Mugabe has fatally mismanaged the economy, in part by condoning the seizure of white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks. It also says the 79-year-old president has stepped up political repression following his victory in 2002 elections that both the MDC and several Western nations said were rigged. Mugabe dismisses Tsvangirai's MDC - the most vibrant opposition he has faced in more than two decades in power - as a stooge of Western governments opposed to his land reform programme and says Zimbabwe is being undermined by both domestic and foreign enemies. On Thursday, Mugabe went before a cheering crowd of some 20,000 supporters and repeated charges that Tsvangirai was acting on behalf of Zimbabwe's old colonial ruler, Britain. ''Tsvangirai is trying to live his wild dream of marching to State House at the urging of his British sponsors. That will not be allowed,'' Mugabe said at the rally in Shurugwi, about 350 kms (210 miles) south of Harare. ''If Tsvangirai wants power he must use constitutional means and abandon his wild ideas that he can just seize power from me at State House,'' Mugabe said.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 20 June
Succession debate widens
Staff writer
As President Mugabe's handlers fight to stifle debate on the succession issue, speculation remains rife that his departure from office may be sooner than he is prepared to admit. Newspaper reports in Britain yesterday, citing South African government sources, said Mugabe would be prepared to go within a year if the conditions were right. These include recognition of his legitimacy - at home and abroad, an "honourable" retirement with freedom from prosecution by international courts, and a seamless transition to a candidate of his choice. Speculation has been fuelled rather than quenched by Speaker of parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa's denial last weekend of any presidential ambitions. Mugabe is understood to be keen to regulate the succession debate, which means prospective candidates will need to keep their heads down until an internal decision-making process is complete. Mugabe's recent forays across the country to speak at what looked like election rallies could offer a clue to his wish to take charge of a process that earlier showed signs of getting out of hand.
Recent contacts with President Thabo Mbeki over Morgan Tsvangirai's incarceration and Mbeki's statement at the conclusion of last week's World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Durban that the coming year would see a resolution of the Zimbabwe crisis through inter-party dialogue suggest South African interest in a solution to the political impasse in Harare is still very much alive. "We will have an agreement in Zimbabwe between government and the opposition about all the challenges that face Zimbabwe," Mbeki confidently predicted Mozambique's President Joachim Chissano said at the WEF meeting that as a result of peer pressure Mugabe would be revoking oppressive laws against the media and opposition. Mnangagwa remains the most visible contender although with the economic crisis impacting on Zanu PF's leadership, former Finance minister Simba Makoni's prospects are improving despite the absence of a local support base. Undeterred by orders to keep quiet, Zanu PF's Bulawayo province has moved ahead, throwing its weight behind party chairman and Special Affairs minister John Nkomo. The province this week announced that succession issues should be dealt with using the set party protocol of seniority, a process that would favour Nkomo's candidacy. Information and Publicity minister Jonathan Moyo this week rubbished suggestions that Mugabe was preparing to go. The state mouthpiece the Herald this week quoted Moyo dismissing any suggestion of dialogue aimed at ensuring Mugabe's early retirement. "Zanu PF will not negotiate with anyone, let alone (the) sell-out MDC, on the legitimacy of President Mugabe," he said. "The issue of legitimacy is not negotiable and will thus not be negotiated because it was decided by the people." Despite Moyo's hostility to any talk of Mugabe's early exit, the party's Bulawayo provincial leaders said the people currently being touted did not qualify to succeed Mugabe. Zanu PF's Information secretary Nathan Shamuyarira yesterday said the party president was elected at a congress. "He can come from any organ of the party. Any member can be elected," said Shamuyarira.
But Zanu PF Bulawayo provincial secretary for information and publicity, Sikhumbuzo Ndiweni, this week said party rules had to be followed in choosing Mugabe's successor. "The party presidium," said Ndiweni, "is made up of four people who are President Mugabe, his two vice-presidents (Simon) Muzenda and (Joseph) Msika, and the party national chairman John Nkomo. "Those are the people who should fit into the succession equation." He said when Mugabe finally retires he would do so with his two vice-presidents, which would leave Nkomo as the only senior replacement from the presidium. "Nkomo, by virtue of being in the current presidium, would articulate national issues better than anyone outside the presidium," said Ndiweni. He said the current succession debate ignores set structures of the party. "There is a set structure when it comes to succession and the party is structured in a manner that makes succession automatic and this is not open to debate," said Ndiweni. He said in the event of the president retiring, the three other leaders in the party would be elevated in terms of seniority. "The party is clear on what happens when it comes to replacing leaders and after the presidium has retired the party says the next top person should be a woman. Here we are talking about people like Joyce Mujuru, Oppah Muchinguri, Thenjiwe Lesabe and others," said Ndiweni. He said Nkomo was acceptable to all provinces and his election by those provinces to the national chairmanship was ample evidence of his national appeal. "Nkomo was elected by Masvingo, Matabeleland and Mashonaland provinces when he trounced Mnangagwa in the national chairmanship elections," he said. But Ndiweni's views are unlikely to find favour among Mugabe's inner circle where individuals with vested interests are likely to block the ambitions of "unapproved" candidate.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 19 June
Now Mugabe takes revenge on transport companies
Harare - The Zimbabwe government is to withdraw the operating licences of transport companies that shut down during a week of mass action early this month to protest against President Robert Mugabe's government, state-run ZBC radio station said on Thursday. Some 44 transport companies in the private sector have already had their licences withdrawn or are in the process of losing them, the radio said. At the beginning of the protests, called by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the government ordered businesses that had shut to reopen or lose their licences. The government accused company leaders of barring their employees from working during the week-long protests which took the form of work stoppages and "peaceful marches for democracy," in the MDC's words. The work stoppages were well followed in Zimbabwe's cities but attempts to hold marches were put down, often violently, by the security forces and pro-government militias. Hundreds of MDC members and backers were arrested during the protests, including the party's leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has been accused by the state of calling on Zimbabweans to violently oust Mugabe and charged with treason - the second such charge against him, and punishable by death. Tsvangirai was still in police custody on Thursday, awaiting a high court decision on whether to grant him bail. The MDC blames Mugabe's government for the economic and social woes in Zimbabwe, where unemployment is at around 70%, annual inflation higher than 300%, and nearly half the population is threatened by famine caused by a drought and the government's chaotic land reforms.
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From News24 (SA), 19 June
Zim ambassador charged
Gaborone - A journalist has filed assault charges against Zimbabwe's ambassador to Botswana who he says attacked him over an article he wrote, police said on Thursday. Hloniphani Chengeta, a journalist for Botswana's Sunday Tribune claimed Phelekezela Mphoko grabbed him and held him against a wall after the diplomat objected to a report he had written. "We have received a complaint and we are dealing with it," Botswana's Police Commissioner, Norman Malebogo said. It is unclear whether Mphoko's diplomatic immunity would frustrate attempts to prosecute him. "We are conferring with Foreign Affairs on the matter. A decision has not yet been taken as to how the suspect should be dealt with," Malebogo said. The incident followed the publishing of an article in which the journalist quoted the information and publicity secretary of Zimbabwe's ruling party, Nathan Shamuyarira, saying that Botswana was being used by British and US troops to launch a regime change in Zimbabwe. Shamuyarira was also quoted as claiming that Botswana was working with Zimbabwe's opposition party and Western powers to remove President Robert Mugabe from power. Chengeta said that Mphoko "grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and held me against the wall. One of my colleagues managed to pull him off." The watchdog Media Institute of Southern Africa issued a statement on the alleged assault, saying Zimbabwe's High Commission to Botswana denied the allegations.
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From The Daily News, 19 June
Tsvangirai files urgent petition
Staff Reporter
Lawyers representing Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai have filed an application asking the High Court to urgently set a date to hear the party's challenge of President Robert Mugabe's 2002 presidential election victory. The election petition was filed 15 months ago and no date has been set for a hearing. MDC shadow justice minister David Coltart said Tsvangirai's lawyers had last Friday filed a mandamus, a court petition asking the High Court to urgently set a date for the hearing. He said the opposition party expected the petition hearing to be set within the next few weeks following the filing of the mandamus. In their heads of argument, the lawyers, led by Advocate Adrian de Bourbon, said Registrar of the High Court Jacob Manzunzu ignored an order by Judge President Paddington Garwe to set a date for the hearing. According to the High Court application, Justice Garwe on 15 January ordered that Manzunzu was to liaise with the judge assigned to hear the petition and was "as soon as possible" to give notice of a hearing not less than 30 days from that date. In last week's application, Tsvangirai's lawyers submitted that the people of Zimbabwe were entitled to know whether Mugabe was fairly and lawfully declared as the winner of the 2002 presidential election. "Equally, the people of Zimbabwe are entitled to know whether or not Tsvangirai ought to be serving as their president," de Bourbon said in the application. "It is regrettably the case that delays in determining this dispute may lead some to the perception that this Honourable Court is taking sides in the dispute." He said any delay served neither the interests of justice nor those of the people of Zimbabwe. He said a delay served only the interests of Mugabe's supporters, adding that urgency in electoral petition matters was paramount.
Tsvangirai's lawyers noted that Mugabe had already gone through a fifth of his term while the case remained unresolved. "The law requires that his entitlement to continue serving be subject to scrutiny through the trial procedure of the election petition. If he considers that he was properly elected, then he can show in court that the challenge to the election by the applicant (Tsvangirai) is misplaced," part of the petition reads. "If he was not properly elected, then the people of Zimbabwe have the right to be represented by the person who was duly elected, or to have another election to determine who should be president of this country. The delay in setting down the election petition merely interferes with those rights." The MDC has assembled a defence team led by South African senior counsel Jemmy Gauntlet, who will be assisted by Zimbabwean advocates de Bourbon and Pearson Nherera. Coltart yesterday told The Daily News that the state and the MDC had agreed that the hearing of the petition would be in two phases. He said the first phase would be to deal with legal issues, mainly concerning the Electoral Act, which the MDC wants to prove were flouted, resulting in Mugabe's victory. The second phase would involve oral and physical evidence which the MDC believes contributed to Mugabe's flawed victory. "The fact that Mugabe wants Tsvangirai to withdraw the case before talking to us shows that he knows that the case will be very damaging to him, as there is overwhelming evidence against him," said Coltart. He was referring to statements by Mugabe that the MDC should recognise him as the legitimate leader of Zimbabwe before dialogue can resume between the country's main political parties.
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From The Daily News, 19 June
Private sector talks state out of Libya oil deal
MacDonald Dzirutwe
Zimbabwe's private sector, which is attempting to secure foreign currency for fuel imports, is believed to be trying to talk the government out of a joint venture with Libyan oil company Tamoil Trading, it was learnt this week. Sources close to the matter said local banks, private oil firms and exporters feared that the oil deal could mortgage National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM) assets to Libya. The sources revealed that during ongoing consultative meetings between the government, oil companies and bankers, the private sector had encouraged the government to shelve the deal. The officials argued that with the $5 levy the government will charge on every litre of fuel sold in Zimbabwe, NOCZIM would be able to repay its local and foreign debt, which would make a deal with Tamoil irrelevant. The government last month announced that a new fuel deal with Tamoil had been struck and would result in fuel supplies resuming from the north African country at the end of the year. Oil industry officials said Tamoil was interested in using the proposed joint venture to gain access to Zimbabwe's prized Feruka pipeline and to establish fuel outlets before the government deregulated the fuel sector. The sources said once Zimbabwe's fuel sector was deregulated, this would make the joint venture - which was supposed to create a joint venture firm called Tamoil Zimbabwe Limited - uncompetitive. By jointly running the Feruka pipeline with NOCZIM, Tamoil would be able to monopolise the pipeline and sideline other competitors from using it, the sources added. They said if the government was to suddenly liberalise the fuel sector, Tamoil's fuel would not be able to compete with that provided by multinationals and some local oil companies. They said the multinational companies and local firms had the advantage of having at their disposal extensive fleets of fuel tankers to transport fuel and service stations to sell it from.
"At the moment, Tamoil only has fuel but it does not have any transportation mechanism or fuel outlets through which it can sell it. That's why the sudden rush to sign a deal with NOCZIM," a well placed source told The Business Daily. The source added: "Their major problem is that they will not be able to sell the commodity. If you look at multinationals like BP Shell, Mobil or Caltex, for example, they can transport the fuel and also sell it through their various service stations. So what it means is that under the present circumstances, the Libyan oil will not have a market and will be more expensive. That is why they are running around to clinch a deal." Libyan Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mahmoud Azabbi, who has been involved in negotiations with the Zimbabwe authorities over the joint venture company, yesterday referred all questions to NOCZIM. NOCZIM managing director Webster Muriritirwa promised to return calls from The Business Daily but had not done so at the time of going to print. Energy and Power Development Minister Amos Midzi was said to be attending an urgent meeting yesterday afternoon and was not available for comment. According to the Petroleum Marketers' Association of Zimbabwe, which is seeking an initial exchange rate of $1 700 for fuel imports, fuel pumped through the Feruka pipeline would be $16.39 cheaper than that imported by road through Beitbridge.
Although NOCZIM has said it now intends to import fuel only for central government and strategic sectors, it is understood that Tamoil also wanted the joint venture company to supply fuel to private customers. NOCZIM figures show that out of 2.2 million litres of diesel consumed by Zimbabwe a day, the private sector accounts for 70 percent and also consumes 85 percent of the 1.4 million litres of petrol used in the country every day. Fuel industry officials said this would make it more lucrative for Tamoil to supply fuel to private clients. But the officials said even after securing the pipeline, Tamoil would still have a distribution problem, hence efforts to quickly seal a deal with NOCZIM to enable it to speedily acquire existing fuel service stations. If a deal is signed, Tamoil wants to introduce mobile service stations to reach out to customers in remote parts of the country. In the past year, more local oil companies have been setting out distribution points in preparation for the liberalisation of the fuel sector.
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From BBC News, 20 June
Mugabe opponent freed on bail
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who is facing treason charges, has been granted bail and released from custody. He was whisked away by supporters to his home in the suburbs of Harare. The prosecution had opposed bail, which was set at Z$10m. "This is an occupational hazard but it has consolidated our determination," Mr Tsvangirai said outside the court. He was detained a fortnight ago after a week of mass protests intended to topple President Robert Mugabe. The judge warned him that he must not "incite his supporters to remove the government through violence", or he would violate his bail conditions and risk being returned to jail. Mr Tsvangirai had already been charged with two counts of treason over an alleged plot to assassinate Mr Mugabe, and had been on trial on those charges since February. He denies treason, which carries the death penalty. The opposition leader says he called this month's protests to try to force the president to negotiate as the country falls into economic and political chaos. In March 2002, Mr Tsvangirai challenged Mr Mugabe for the presidency, standing for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). But he lost, in an election widely seen as fraudulent. The government had said that if Mr Tsvangirai was released on bail, he would continue to incite revolt against the authorities. But High Court Judge Susan Mavangira rejected the argument. "I've come to the conclusion that the state can strike a balance between the liberty of the accused person and the administration of justice," she said. When he was bailed on the earlier charges, the bond was set at Z$3m, and Mr Tsvangirai was required to surrender his passport. Judge Mavangira said that bail was higher this time, because of acute inflation in Zimbabwe. The opposition says President Mugabe's policies - such as the seizure of white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks - are to blame for the country's economic collapse.
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From The Times (UK), 21 June
Boxes of dollars free Tsvangirai
From Michael Hartnack in Harare
A High Court judge ordered the release yesterday of Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), on Z$110 million (£77,000) bail and sureties while he awaits trial on a second charge of high treason. Mr Tsvangirai was cheered and greeted by dozens of his supporters as he left prison for his home in a Harare suburb. MDC officials had difficulty getting Z$10 million in cash, as demanded by the judge, Susan Mavangira, because of an acute shortage of banknotes. The Reserve Bank has run out of imported paper and ink to print notes, while inflation soars above 269 per cent. Court officials were stunned when Mr Tsvangirai's lawyers brought the money in Z$50 bills - the only denomination banks could supply - in three huge cardboard boxes. It took more than an hour to count. Mr Tsvangirai, 51, was ordered to produce a Z$100 million surety in the form of title deeds to property, and banned from making any statement "calling for the violent or unlawful removal of the President and the Government". His trial on a previous treason charge continues.
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From The Daily News, 20 June
Zimbabwe to run out of bread in a week
Precious Shumba
Zimbabwe will run out of bread within a week because international freighters will not release 62 000 tonnes of wheat bought by the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) because the parastatal has not paid for the shipment of the grain, Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) vice-president for Harare David Govere told a meeting of business leaders in Harare yesterday. Govere, whose ZNCC is the biggest representative body for industry and commerce in the country, said Zimbabwe would be without bread before the week was out because the GMB had exhausted its wheat stocks. The GMB, which under Zimbabwe's law is only company permitted to buy or sell wheat, is the sole supplier of wheat to millers. Govere said: "The GMB has no single bag of wheat and the country has run out of flour. Bread will disappear from the shelves before the week is out. About 62 000 tonnes of wheat are at Beira port in Mozambique and the GMB has failed to pay for the movement of that wheat. Most bakeries now are trying to maximise profits in the face of these shortages and are just making rolls and buns. That wheat should have come into the country long back but it has actually been at Beira for the past six weeks." The ZNCC official spoke as it emerged another 60 000 of the staple maize grain bought by the GMB from Argentina was also stuck at ports in South Africa and Mozambique because the state-grain utility had not paid freighters for transportation of the maize. According to a report by the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), three vessels laden with maize for Zimbabwe were docked at South Africa's East London port and at Beira but will not offload because the GMB had not yet paid them for moving the maize. The CFU report released this month read in part: "At present, three vessels currently outside East London, Republic of South Africa, and Mozambique ports holding approximately 60 000 tonnes, are waiting for payment before discharging them into the country."
GMB chief executive officer Samuel Muvhuti refused to take questions on the matter instead accusing The Daily News of wanting to tarnish the image of the ruling Zanu PF party, the government and its parastatals. Muvhuti, who is a former colonel in Zimbabwe's army said, "What good is it talking to you? I will not talk to you. You have done everything to demonise Zanu PF, the government and its companies. let us not waste each other's time." Authorities at Beira port could not be reached for comment on the matter yesterday while a trade adviser at South Africa's High Commission in Harare James Kaziboni refused to speak on the issue. Bakers Association of Zimbabwe chairman Armitage Chikwavira yesterday told this newspaper that the cash-strapped GMB had told the bakers it was no longer able to supply millers the 6 000 tonnes of wheat they were giving them each per week. Chikwavira said the baking industry was considering laying off some of the 20 000 workers it employs because of the wheat shortages, which he said they had been told were because the National Railways of Zimbabwe did not have enough locomotives to move wheat from Beira to Harare. He said: "The only wheat that is left for Zimbabwe is at Beira and the Forbes Border Post near Mutare. That wheat cannot be brought into the country because, as we understand it, the National Railways of Zimbabwe has no locomotives to pull the 204 wagons to Harare. "The situation is desperate and we are considering retrenching part of the 20 000 labour force in the bakers' industry."
An official at the NRZ's head office in Bulawayo yesterday confirmed the rail company did not have enough locomotives. The officials said: "Most of our locomotives have been transporting maize to Matabeleland region where the drought hit most." According to the CFU report the maize bought by the GMB was scheduled to have arrived in Zimbabwe by the end of last month but owing to logistical constraints, including the unavailability of money to pay for the storage and the transportation it was still stuck at ports in the two neighbouring countries. Zimbabwe is in the grip of severe food crises after poor rains in the last farming seasons and chaotic government land reforms combined to cut food production by more than 50 percent. An acute foreign currency crisis has hampered efforts by the government and its GMB to import food.
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From News24 (SA), 20 June
'Don't go to Zim yet'
Cape Town - Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana says it is still too early for the International Labour Organision (ILO) to send a contact mission to Zimbabwe. Minister Mdladlana, who is attending the 91st session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva, told a gathering of the 176 member states that he noted with great concern the conclusion reached by the Committee on the Application of Standards. It decided to send a contact group to Zimbabwe to check on freedom of association concerns, in particular the implementation of arbitration mechanisms in collective bargaining. Mdladlana spokesperson Snuki Zikalala said from Switzerland that the minister was concerned that sending the group - apparently planned to take place in the next three months - was too soon as Zimbabwe had recently amended its labour law. "The minister said the ILO should be made aware that the presidents of South Africa, Nigeria and Malawi have intervened and made certain that the Zimbabwe government amends the labour law and this has just happened." The South African ministry reported that the Zimbabwe Labour and Social Affairs Minister July Moyo had placed on the committee's records a series of steps which had been taken, including the establishment of a dispute settlement mechanism for collective bargaining. Mdladlana said in a statement from Geneva: "We support the view that the committee should have taken note of these legislative changes and allowed a committee of experts to examine these before arriving on the conclusion to prematurely place Zimbabwe in a special paragraph," said Mdladlana.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 20 June
No plans to amend Posa - Chinamasa
Staff writer
Confusion over whether government plans to amend the Public Order and Security Act (Posa) continues to swirl with Mozambican President Joachim Chissano last week suggesting such a move was imminent. But Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa yesterday shot down the suggestion saying the legislation would remain intact as it provided "a useful weapon to fight opposition-sponsored lawlessness". Chissano told the World Economic Forum meeting in Durban last week that African leaders' engagement with Zimbabwe had resulted in President Mugabe agreeing to repeal oppressive laws against the media and the opposition. Chinamasa in an interview yesterday said Posa would not be amended. "There is no such proposal and there will not be any proposal to amend Posa," said Chinamasa. "As the Minister of Justice, let me say that there is no problem with Posa because it is the only tool that we have to fight lawlessness by those who want to remove a legitimately elected government. The country has now almost returned to normal (after the mass action) and we were not going to succeed without Posa," said Chinamasa. South African President Thabo Mbeki at the beginning of the year told the press after meeting British Prime Minister Tony Blair that Zimbabwe would amend its security laws. Chinamasa immediately dismissed the assertion. While Chinamasa has remained firm that Posa will not be amended, it is becoming clear that leaders in the region have been given assurances at some level that Mugabe has agreed to such a move. On suggestions in the state media that Zanu PF Minister of State for Parastatals Paul Mangwana would be taking up the post of Attorney-General, Chinamasa said newspapers were "free to speculate".
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Comment from ZWNEWS, 21 June
Those hangings...
By Michael Hartnack
Without word to their families, Zimbabwe's regime suddenly hanged four men on June 13 in the Harare prison complex where opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was being held. The circumstances surrounding the convictions six years ago of two of the executed men were dubious, and details of the convictions of the other two were simply not disclosed. All that was bad enough. But there was more to come: Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change believes the timing of the hangings was political - to intimidate its leader. MDC justice spokesman David Coltart described the hangings, the first in Zimbabwe in more than a year, as a "brutal show of force" aimed at intimidating Tsvangirai. "The hangings are typical, entirely consistent with Mugabe's vindictive nature," said Coltart. "They are appalling, given the deterioration of our justice system - there is deep concern innocent people might go to the gallows." The MDC linked the timing of the executions to a statement by Robert Mugabe earlier that day that he was "glad Tsvangirai is in state house (prison) now".
Released prisoners report the atmosphere in the complex, off Harare's Enterprise Road, is electric as men are taken to the gallows, with other inmates kept locked in their cells to check demonstrations of sympathy such as hymn-singing. On Friday, a judge ordered Tsvangirai released on bail after spending two weeks in the complex. He faces two charges of treason, the most recent stemming from a successful work stayaway this month called by the MDC to demand an end to Mugabe's 23-year rule. Lawyers said that no advance warning of the executions was given to the men's families. No formal public announcement was made, but David Mangoma, permanent secretary to the Ministry of Justice, confirmed the executions to state-run Herald newspaper. Two of those executed, Stephen Chidhumo and Elias Chauke, were among a group of four who escaped from Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison on the outskirts of Harare six years ago, while serving sentences for robbery. One of the escapees, Pedisayi Musariri, snatched a rifle and killed a warder, and he was shot dead. The fourth man, Marika Ngulube, broke his leg in a fall from the prison walls and was left with his injuries unattended in a prison cell where he died. Lawyers said his death amounted to unlawful killing by the state. Chidhumo and Chauke were later sentenced to death for killing the warder after Judge Godfrey Chidyausiku, now the Chief Justice, announced in a controversial ruling that "it did not matter who fired the fatal shot." A recent constitutional amendment prevented Chidhuma and Chauke from obtaining clemency because of their long sojourn on death row. The other two executed men were William Mukurugunye and John Nyamazana. They were both alleged to have committed murder without extenuating circumstances, but no details were given.
The hangings underlined fears that, on top of killings with impunity by state agents and pro-Mugabe thugs of at least 200 opposition supporters farmers in the past three years, there is an increasing risk of innocent people being sentenced to death by the courts. For example, six opposition supporters are being tried in the High Court for the murder of an ex-guerrilla, Cain Nkala, depicted as a political martyr by the state propaganda machine. Defence lawyers say Nkala was abducted and killed by fellow Zanu PF supporters because he was trying to expose a corruption scandal. Even The Herald, which usually follows the regime line slavishly, expressed unease. In an editorial it urged more debate about the effectiveness of the death penalty as a deterrent, adding, "Another cogent argument is that there could be a mistake, and an innocent person could be wrongly convicted and hanged." Since 1980 independence Mugabe's administration has sent 73 men to the gallows despite a nationwide petition for abolition led by Catholic churchmen. In 1988, 13 hangings were kept secret during a state visit by Pope John Paul. Six years earlier, Mugabe had ignored a personal appeal from the Pope to spare two Frenchmen who served as mercenaries in the Rhodesian army. During the 1982-87 unrest in Matabeleland, Mugabe's government unhesitatingly executed captured dissidents, but was quick to pardon 2 000 security force and ruling party members accused of murder. One had shot dead five opposition supporters on Hwange railway station. Asked to comment on the latest hangings, Amnesty International spokesman George Ngwa said at the human rights organisation's headquarters in London, "As far as we are concerned the death penalty is brutal and does not solve anything."
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 22 June
We won't stop now, vows MDC
Tsvangirai's R100 000 bail seen as a bid to bankrupt opposition
Ranjeni Munusamy
The Movement for Democratic Change has done "nothing unlawful" and will continue its campaign to break Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe' s stranglehold on power, the opposition party has vowed. The MDC has remained unrepentant following the two-week detention and release on Friday of its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai. The party has pledged to keep the pressure on Mugabe's government to force the ruling Zanu PF into negotiations without pre-conditions. MDC secretary-general Professor Welshman Ncube told the Sunday Times that his party's campaign to force change in Zimbabwe would "not be affected by the number of times we get arrested". "When we engaged in mass action, it was clear what would happen. For a week, we brought this country to a standstill. No opposition party on this continent has ever managed to shut down a country for a week. It was a demonstration of what we can do - and we will not stop now," Ncube said. He said Tsvangirai had been detained in "sub-human conditions" which were "undignified and cruel". "Zimbabwean prisons and police cells are the worst that mankind could ever have invented . . . It was as if he walked into hell," Ncube said. The prisons are said to be overcrowded, and food shortages in the country have compounded the problem . But despite this, Tsvangirai had kept up his spirits, he said. "I have just left his house. He is actually quite well under the circumstances. He is upbeat and happy to be home," Ncube said.
In a day of high drama, Tsvangirai, who had been charged with treason following the MDC's week-long mass action campaign earlier this month, was granted bail of Z$10-million. Immediately following his release, he was taken to another court room where he, Ncube and another MDC official, Renson Gasela, are on trial for plotting to kill Mugabe. MDC officials earlier carried four cardboard boxes stuffed with money to the court to pay Tsvangirai's bail. "We have drained the coffers of the party. But we also receive offer after offer from ordinary Zimbabweans from all walks of life who brought just Z$1 000 to half a million . "This is reassuring to us as to where people stand. They are willing to cushion us from the attempt by the state to bankrupt us," said Ncube. In addition to the bail payment, Judge Susan Mavangira ordered Tsvangirai to lodge title deeds for property worth Z$100-million. Ncube said the MDC put up the title deeds for its Harare head office to ensure Tsvangirai's release. Mavangira also barred Tsvangirai from making "any statement that advocates the removal of the government or the state president by violence".
Ncube said the objective of his party was not to overthrow Mugabe but to force Zanu PF into negotiations. Mugabe has stated that he is not prepared to talk to the MDC until the party recognises him as the legitimate leader of Zimbabwe and withdraws its court challenge of last year's presidential elections. Ncube said the MDC was reviewing the effects of its week-long mass action drive and would soon call a meeting of its national executive to study the progress reports being compiled by the party's sub-committees. The opposition would give Zanu PF time to reflect on the events of the past few weeks and would "consider the interests" of the people of Zimbabwe if the hostility between the two parties continued, said Ncube. South African President Thabo Mbeki came under fire in Parliament this week for remaining silent about Tsvangirai's incarceration, even when the MDC leader was led into court in shackles. "We hope that behind the scenes he has not been silent," said Ncube. He said the MDC shared Mbeki's view that dialogue between the ruling party and the opposition was the only solution to Zimbabwe's political crisis and economic meltdown. "There are emissaries - from South Africa's churches, local businessmen and local churches - who are shuttling between us and Zanu PF. We told them that we are ready for dialogue anytime, anywhere - as long as there are no conditions," said Ncube.
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From The Daily News, 21 June
SA blames MDC for collapse of talks
SAPA/Staff Reporter
Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai broke off talks with the ruling Zanu PF to launch his recent abortive mass action campaign, South Africa's Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said in Cape Town on Thursday. Tsvangirai's "unfortunate" move had weakened South Africa' s position as a mediator in the conflict, Lekota, who is also national chairperson of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), told the Cape Town Press Club. "After we had prevailed on Zanu and themselves to have the discussions, he now leaves the discussions and calls this mass action thing, that now puts him in jail. Why do you leave the talks when the people agree let's go and talk?" an animated Lekota said in reply to questions on South Africa's stand on Zimbabwe. "He must go with his own position to the talks, and then Zanu PF must come with their own position. But when he left that, we felt he weakened our position. We really felt he weakened our position, but we'll continue, even now, we continue to say to Mugabe, they've got to go to the talks." Tsvangirai, who was released on bail yesterday, was in remand prison for allegedly inciting the violent overthrow of President Robert Mugabe's government during rallies ahead of the planned mass action. The protests were thwarted by a massive show of force from the security forces. The opposition leader was arrested on 6 June, the last day of the planned mass action.
Lekota told the Press club South Africa had played a "principal role", along with Nigeria, in encouraging the talks. Reminded that the ANC itself had staged anti-government marches in the years before the transition to democracy in 1994, he said: "But that was saying to the government, let's go to the talks; the government was refusing to go to the talks. When President Thabo Mbeki and (Nigerian) President Obasanjo were there, an agreement was reached that they must go to the talks. It doesn't matter that there are conditions. We went to the talks with conditions. Nobody goes to the talks without conditions. We went to the talks when some of our comrades were sitting in jail on Robben Island. But when you want to negotiate and sort issues out, you can't have a total ideal solution before the talks." Treason carries a possible death penalty in Zimbabwe. Tsvangirai already is on trial on a separate treason charge that accuses him of plotting to assassinate Mugabe two years ago. MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube, said: "If the South Africans cannot bring Zanu PF to the negotiating table then they should not look for scapegoats. Mugabe announced publicly that he was not going to have dialogue with the MDC until we recognise his legitimacy. No one has indicated a different position to us. Neither the MDC nor Morgan Tsvangirai has broken off any talks. We don't understand what these South Africans are up to. The mass action was to force Zanu PF to return to the negotiating table with no conditions attached. It is the MDC that has said that the talks should resume without any conditions. We are on record as saying that we are prepared for dialogue which is unconditional, so which conditions are the South Africans talking about? Any person who says that the MDC broke off the dialogue should be coming straight from Mars."
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From The Sunday Telegraph (UK), 22 June
'Mugabe is paranoid about UK coup plot'
By David Harrison
A day after being released from jail, Zimbabwe's opposition leader yesterday accused President Robert Mugabe of "paranoia" over Britain's role in the former colony. Morgan Tsvangirai, who spent 10 days in prison on treason charges for allegedly plotting to overthrow Mr Mugabe, said that the president, who claimed that Britain was funding the opposition party and trying to recolonise Zimbabwe had resorted to "cheap propaganda". Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, Mr Tsvangirai said: "It is propaganda that Mr Mugabe's regime has created. The reality is that the opposition in this country enjoys the support of a majority of Zimbabweans and we will prove that in free and fair elections. We do not need Britain to tell us that unemployment is high, that people are starving and suffering brutality under Mugabe's rule." Mr Mugabe has repeatedly accused Britain of backing Mr Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change in attacks that have become increasingly strident in the past few weeks. Last week he threatened to expel Sir Brian Donnelly, the British High Commissioner in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, for interfering in the country's politics by helping the MDC to fund and stage week-long protests against Mr Mugabe's rule. Sir Brian rejected the charges.
Mr Tsvangirai said that the allegations against Sir Brian were nonsense. Speaking in the garden of his home in Harare, he said: "I hope Sir Brian will take no notice of this personal vitriol. I have had my share of tantrums from the old man. It is something we have to live with until he goes." Mr Tsvangirai, whose party poses the most serious challenge that Mr Mugabe's Zanu PF has faced, said that Britain was playing "a positive role" in opposing Mr Mugabe because the historical links meant that Britain knew Zimbabwe well. "But they are giving us broad support with the rest of the European Union, America and other democratic countries because we are a democratic party," he added. The opposition leader said he had asked Britain to keep a low profile in Zimbabwe to avoid "playing into Mugabe's hands and giving him an excuse to launch more nonsense propaganda". He accused Mr Mugabe of trying to build a country on a policy of racial and ethnic hatred that failed even to recognise the role of the opposition. Sir Brian declined to comment on Mr Tsvangira's release but western diplomats said it was "a welcome development". One said: "It's good that the opposition leader has been released but there are many who feel he should never have been arrested or held in custody in the first place."
Mr Tsvangirai reacted to reports that Mr Mugabe had told the South African Government that he would step down within a year by saying that 12 months was too long for the people of Zimbabwe who were suffering repression, brutality and death at the hands of his regime. Zimbabwe, a once-prosperous nation known as the "jewel of Africa" is in its worst ever economic crisis with inflation running at 300 per cent, unemployment at 80 per cent and serious shortages, foreign currency and basic foods. Mr Tsvangirai pledged that his party would not be intimidated by the ruling Zanu PF's party's brutality and that his time in jail had made him "more determined than ever to campaign peacefully but forcefully to defeat Mr Mugabe's party in free and fair elections". He said he was treated with respect in the Harare remand prison but conditions inside were "appalling" and prisoners were dying almost every day. "The food was very bad and there are no medicines. It is terrible." Mr Tsvangirai was released on record bail of 10 million Zimbabwe dollars. He was also ordered to hand over property deeds and rights to other assets worth 100 million Zimbabwe dollars. The High Court judge, Justice Susan Mavangira, rejected arguments from state lawyers that he would continue to urge his supporters to revolt against Mr Mugabe if released. Mr Tsvangirai said he had only ever advocated peaceful protest and that more "mass actions" were possible in an effort to persuade Mr Mugabe, 79, to discuss the political and economic crisis and his possible retirement after 23 years in power. The anti-government strikes and protests called by Mr Tsvangirai earlier this month shut down much of the fragile economy but planned street marches were crushed by police and Zanu PF militia before they could start. Mr Tsvangirai and two opposition officials are already on trial on treason charges for allegedly plotting to assassinate Mr Mugabe two years ago. The three say they were framed by the government.
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 22 June
Mugabe threatened by debating pupils
Sunday Times Foreign Desk
An annual regional high school debating event, held in Bulawayo since 2000, has proven to be a security threat to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. On Friday morning, between 30 and 40 uniformed riot policemen, along with 10 plain-clothes cops and several members of the Central Intelligence Organisation, swooped on the Bulawayo Theatre, where some 300 pupils were gathered to discuss an issue of some importance regarding their future. "The topic was overcoming the stigma of HIV/Aids; the dilemma for African youth and the strategies and challenges for the future," said Batsani Kimba, a spokesman for the Bulawayo Dialogue Institute, the event organisers. "There was chaos here today," Kimba told the Sunday Times. "The children were running around in terror as the police told them to leave the theatre." When one of the adjudicators, Qhubani Moyo, approached the police to inquire about the raid, he was promptly arrested. Police then arrested nine other adjudicators and officials at the event. "You see, Mugabe is coming to Bulawayo tomorrow [Thursday], so all public meetings have been banned," Kimba said. "Whenever Mugabe goes anywhere, the CIO move in about two weeks beforehand to make sure that there are no protests or meetings. But this was not political. This was an event for scholars." Moyo is chairman of the Bulawayo Dialogue Institute. Another adjudicator arrested, Prince Sinamane, is the institute's president and a prominent Rotarian. Although no official comment was available, the Sunday Times has spoken to a witness who confirmed the raid took place. The witness said there was some concern about those arrested: "The lawyers have not been able to see them, and can't get them food. We, ourselves, are in hiding now."
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From The Sunday Times (SA), 22 June
Few have but most have not in Harare
Michael Schmidt
The living is easy in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare - as long as you are a foreigner earning US dollars or another strong currency. In the past year, the cost of living for Harare's foreign visitors has plummeted, with the city going from being the 26th most-expensive in the world to second cheapest, according to an international cost of living survey. But for most Zimbabwean consumers - and for domestic businesses - this has not put a dab more butter on their bread. Using New York as its benchmark, the 2003 survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, released this week, reported that Harare had recorded the "biggest drop in the rankings this year, falling from position 26 to 143". Only the Paraguayan capital, Asunción, was cheaper. Johannesburg, the cheapest city last year, became only the ninth cheapest. The survey attributed Zimbabwe's freefall "to the drastic depreciation of its currency", which plunged from Z$65 to the dollar in March 2002 to Z$824 to the dollar this March. But James Jowa, chief economist at the Zimbabwean National Chamber of Commerce, said the collapse of the Zimbabwean dollar, a result of the unstable political climate, had caused private companies to lose international lines of credit, making them unable to export and earn much-needed foreign exchange. Many had moved at least part of their operations to neighbouring countries, while others had scaled down to the extent that the country was "de-industrialising". And Elizabeth Nerwande, executive director of the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, said ordinary Zimbabweans were starving as prices rocketed out of control. We only have two classes. There is no more middle class; you either have it or you don't." Nerwande said that with an inflation rate of 300% - dramatically up from less than 150% a year ago - many workers could not afford even the average Z$30 000 monthly bus fare needed to get to work. And if they did make it to work, they often worked hungry, unable to meet the Z$141 000 a month the average family of six needed to buy basic commodities.
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From The Sunday Independent (SA), 22 June
Tsvangirai rejects Lekota's Zim talks claims
By Brian Latham and Peter Fabricius
Harare and Johannesburg - Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), on Saturday rejected claims by Mosiuoa Lekota, South Africa's defence minister, that he was responsible for scuttling talks with President Robert Mugabe's government brokered by President Thabo Mbeki. He called Lekota's claim "ridiculous" and insisted that the MDC wanted a peaceful resolution to Zimbabwe's crisis. "We have not abandoned talks. If anything, talks have been scuttled by Zanu PF," he said at a press conference in Harare. Lekota was reported as telling the Cape Town Press Club this week that the MDC's mass action campaign had upset efforts by Mbeki and other African leaders to broker peace talks between Mugabe's government and the MDC. Tsvangirai was released on bail on Friday after spending two weeks in Harare's squalid Remand Prison on a treason charge for allegedly calling on his followers to overthrow Mugabe in a mass action campaign.
Legal experts believe Judge Susan Mavingira's ruling granting Tsvangirai bail indicates that she believed the government had charged Tsvangirai with treason merely to silence him. "The present charge seems to arise when attempts to silence the applicant, his co-accused and the MDC fail," she wrote at one point, noting that the government had previously tried to alter Tsvangirai's bail conditions on another treason charge to prevent him from making statements calling for Mugabe to be removed from office. Mavingira continued: "Of further significance is the fact that state counsel did not specifically respond to the applicant's counsel's submission that the present allegations were only an afterthought conceived after the state had failed in its application for variation of bail conditions and that if such variation had been granted, the present allegations would impliedly not have arisen." Mavingira noted that it was possible to balance the state's concerns without depriving Tsvangirai of his liberty. She granted Tsvangirai bail on condition that he did not make statements advocating or inciting his followers to remove the president or his government from office "by violence or other unlawful means".
Tsvangirai also revealed at the press conference on Saturday that he had written to Mbeki, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Malawian President Bakili Muluzi after the three heads of state visited Harare last month to try to broker peace talks between the MDC and government. "What we did was send a follow-up letter to the African presidents because Mugabe embarked on an uncontrolled and brutal campaign against the people. We wanted to know 'where we are now'," Tsvangirai said. "Nothing can be more ridiculous than saying I have abandoned the talks," he said, referring to Lekota's reported criticism. "The MDC's position is unchanged. We want dialogue and the mass action was designed to pressure Zanu PF to the negotiating table. I think the press reports are an expression of the South African government's frustration rather than the reality on the ground." Tsvangirai said he had never encouraged his millions of supporters to overthrow the Zimbabwean government. "We have gone to the high court to challenge Mugabe's electoral victory, not to overthrow him," he said. "That's why Mugabe has reacted with paranoia, closing the roads to State House." The MDC leader said that jail had hardened his resolve: "I'll continue with my political work and we'll continue to exert as much pressure as we can on this regime until it sees sense." However, he said, further mass action needed "more thought".
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From The Sunday Independent (SA), 22 June
Is Mugabe trying to buy time?
By Basildon Peta
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe will step down as leader of the ruling Zanu PF party at its annual congress in six months' time as the first step towards his retirement, if he keeps a promise he has made to President Thabo Mbeki. The 79-year-old Zimbabwean leader will, however, remain head of state to allow his successor to consolidate his power in Zanu PF before the successor takes over the country, probably within another six months. Despite a denial from Mugabe's office and a vague response from Mbeki's office, the Independent Foreign Service has established that Mugabe and Mbeki indeed spoke just before Mbeki attended the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in Durban. Mbeki confidently predicted at the summit that the Zimbabwean crisis - and several others on the continent - would be resolved within a year. According to impeccable sources, Mbeki, who has been under international pressure to take a firmer public stance on Zimbabwe, told Mugabe that the situation in Zimbabwe was becoming untenable.
Since his efforts and those of other African leaders to broker dialogue between Zanu PF and the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had stalled, Mbeki asked Mugabe for his own programme of action. Mugabe told Mbeki he would relinquish the leadership of Zanu PF in December and allow a successor, possibly Emmerson Mnangagwa, the speaker of parliament, to take over. Mnangagwa would consolidate his power base, pending his taking over of the full running of Zimbabwe within another six months from December. It was on the basis of this discussion that Mbeki told the WEF that a settlement would be found in Zimbabwe within a year, the sources said. If by mid next year, Zanu PF still does not command a two-thirds parliamentary majority to allow it to change the constitution and allow Mugabe's successor to take over as president without a requisite new election in 90 days, Mugabe will still call for an election because he is sure his successor will win. Zanu PF is four seats shy of the necessary two-thirds majority. There are, however, three by-elections coming up soon and chances of more in the future.
The Zimbabwean sources said that despite Mugabe's promises, Mbeki was being a little "naive" in making his bold prediction of a settlement of the Zimbabwe crisis in 12 months. They said Mbeki had probably not yet fully understood Mugabe's shrewdness. They said he could very well relinquish the leadership of Zanu PF in December but still try to hang on to the presidency until 2005, when he could call for a presidential election to run concurrently with parliamentary elections. "Despite all the criticisms against Mbeki... he has kept pressure on Mugabe to try to get a settlement... But it is also likely that Mugabe is making these promises to buy time and deflect the pressure," one source said. Mbeki is believed to be in favour of any move that will see Mugabe out of office but Zanu PF remaining in power with a new leader. The sources said Mbeki had also raised his concern with Mugabe over the arrest of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Mbeki had said the arrest could only lead to more chaos.
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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 22 June
Why Mugabe won't quit: Chikerema
By Henry Makiwa
Veteran nationalist and President Robert Mugabe's close relative, James Dambaza Chikerema, says the embattled statesman will not quit office because he dreads standing trial for the 1980s Gukurahundi massacres in the Matabeleland and Midlands provinces and other gross abuse of human rights. Chikerema, Mugabe's cousin, says the ageing Zimbabwean leader will cling to the presidency "until death do them part". Mugabe was extremely frightened of being prosecuted for the tribally-motivated political disturbances in southern Zimbabwe during his first decade in power, said Chikerema. "All that succession talk is just gibberish ... Mugabe is not leaving office until he dies. Can't you see that he doesn't even want to discuss the issue of who his successor will be," Chikerema said in an interview with The Standard at his farm on the outskirts of Harare's up-market Borrowdale suburb. "Mugabe is scared stiff of his 1980s sins and is strongly suspicious that once he bows out of office, his entire world will crumble around him. He doesn't see any assurance of security from prosecution if he relinquishes power. He has tasted the power of the presidency, he will be there until death," said the veteran nationalist.
Chikerema, one of the few surviving founding fathers of nationalist politics, says Mugabe's father, Gabriel Matibiri Karigamombe, was a cousin to his mother. This makes Mugabe a customary uncle to Chikerema. Both Chikerema and Mugabe were born and educated at Kutama Mission near Mugabe's rural Zvimba home. Chikerema scoffed at suggestions that either Speaker of Parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa or former Finance Minister Simba Makoni would take over from Mugabe as president before his current tenure of office expires in 2008. "Mnangagwa is scary to everyone within Zanu PF and no one would support him as President. Besides, Mnangagwa has a tarnished international image," said Chikerema. "Mugabe himself is suspicious of him; he knows Mnangagwa may sacrifice him by putting him to trial in order to cleanse his image were he to become president. Makoni, on the other hand, might be brilliant as a technocrat but his greatest undoing is that he never had roots in the ruling party because he never took part in the liberation struggle."
Chikerema laughs uncontrollably when asked if Jonathan Moyo, the junior Minister of State for Information and Publicity in the President's Office, could assume the reigns of power. "That would be the joke of the millennium! We really used to admire Moyo when he was a critic of the Zanu PF regime during his days at the University of Zimbabwe. But how he has switched roles is the reverse of what happened to the biblical Paul at Damascus. Moyo will never be President. He cannot be trusted," Chikerema said. He however maintains that for the country's prospects to brighten, Mugabe has to go. "Mugabe is a reticent, intelligent and quiet man ... he is very calculative, he never does anything without calculating. I can bet that whatever is happening in Zimbabwean politics today, Mugabe had foreseen and calculated it a long time ago. But he has to go for the good of this country and its future," Chikerema said. Chikerema chronicled a catalogue of Mugabe's mistakes from independence in 1980 saying he had erred by making attempts to set up a one-party State, creating a system of ruling by patronage, promoting corruption and embarking on an economically crippling land reform process. He said: "The nation now needs fresh and young blood. The Morgan Tsvangirais (Movement for Democratic Change President) and the Makonis - not the rigid old men like Mugabe. We need people who can plead Zimbabwe's case to the international community and get us appeased of our shameful status."
Chikerema says he has no regrets with being on the sidelines of mainstream politics because he still speaks to Mugabe, and Tsvangirai visits him occasionally for advice. He says he still sees traces of Mugabe's childhood personality in the way he runs the country today. "When Gushungo (Mugabe's totem and clan name) was a youth, he was quite moody. Aigona kungotsamwa otora mombe dzake onofudzira kure! (He could just sulk and withdraw his herd from the others' and drive them to secluded pastures!)," Chikerema said. "I still believe Mugabe is still suffering from those fits of paranoia, anoda kufudzira Zimbabwe kusina vamwe (Mugabe wants to extricate Zimbabwe from the rest of the world). He is too proud ... he has antagonised the rest of the world against Zimbabwe." Chikerema, who is a year younger than the 79-year-old Mugabe, was among the founding members of the first Zimbabwean nationalist party to fight colonialism, the African Youth League (AYL). In 1948, together with the late Vice President, Joshua Nkomo and the late George Nyandoro, they formed the Southern Rhodesia African National Congress which laid the foundation for the National Democratic Party and later the Zimbabwe African Peoples' Union (Zapu). Chikerema was briefly detained in Gokwe before he skipped the then Rhodesia for China and Russia where he got military training. He returned just before independence in 1980.
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Comment from The Sunday Times (SA), 22 June
Men in leg-irons can't negotiate
Former President Nelson Mandela, while still serving time on Robben Island, famously told his captors and the world that only free men could negotiate. Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is no Nelson Mandela, but the same principle should be applied in his case. South Africa's much-criticised "quiet diplomacy" with Zimbabwe has hinged on manoeuvring Tsvangirai and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe into a corner where they are left with no choice but to negotiate with one another. But just as there were signals that this was about to take place, the carpet was pulled from under the feet of the would-be negotiators. Tsvangirai found himself in shackles before a court, answering to charges of treason for organising a mass stayaway. From such a position, it is difficult to see how Zimbabwe's leaders will ever find themselves engaged in serious talks.
This lamentable situation has been compounded by ill-considered remarks by South African leaders who appear insensitive to the plight of those opposing Mugabe's tyranny in Zimbabwe. Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota told Parliament this week that Tsvangirai should not have scuppered talks to lead mass action against Mugabe. This is a startling statement from a man who was at the forefront of South Africa's mass-action movement, which aimed to pressure the apartheid government into making real concessions at the negotiating table. Lekota should know better than most that the use of state power to oppress a people cannot go unopposed by those seeking a democratic society. At best, Lekota's statement is a signal of the frustration that our government is feeling at the failure of "quiet diplomacy" to show results. At worst, it is an indication that he and his principals would prefer to see an emasculated opposition at the negotiating table in order to ensure an outcome that is skewed in Mugabe's favour.
There have been enough signals of misplaced struggle loyalty to Mugabe in the recent past to suggest that there may be some truth in the latter scenario. The notion that power might somehow be shared equally between Tsvangirai and Mugabe or - God forbid - that the opposition should emerge triumphant clearly gives Lekota sleepless nights. The spectre of a liberation movement packing its boxes to make way for an opposition movement must be haunting, even though there is not the remotest prospect of this taking place in South Africa in the near future. Although it is entitled to hold this sentiment, the government should not allow its judgment to be clouded. Zimbabwe will not be saved from self-destruction by talks in which one party is in leg-irons. If Lekota wants South Africa to be an honest broker, he should sheathe the rhetoric and get on with the realpolitik.
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From The Sunday Telegraph (UK), 22 June
No animal spared in Zimbabwe massacre
By David Harrison in the Save Valley, Zimbabwe
The message fixed to a tree in the game reserve is stark: "Farm No 31," it reads, "Dealers in Death." It was put there by Zimbabwe's so-called war veterans to intimidate white landowners on the 850,000-acre Save Valley Conservancy, near the border with Mozambique. The war veterans - unleashed by President Robert Mugabe to seize white-owned farms - are not, however, killing only people: they are slaughtering animals on an unprecedented scale. Already they have forced out the owners and poached every animal on at least three of the 22 huge ranches that make up the conservancy. Now they are pouring on to neighbouring ranches and repeating the process. The poaching is indiscriminate and no animal is spared. The main targets are antelope, wildebeest and zebra, but lion, elephant, rhino, leopard, buffalo and giraffe have all been killed by the poachers and their snares. Wildlife authorities say that unless urgent action is taken to stop the slaughter, the conservancy's entire stock of wildlife will be destroyed within three years. The pattern is being repeated on game reserves across the country with wildlife losses of more than 70 per cent reported in many areas. In the neighbouring Bubiana conservancy, four of the 10 ranches have been seized and cleared of wildlife. Barberton Lodge, has lost more than 400 animals to poachers in the past three years, including 71 zebra, 63 kudu antelope and four giraffe. Fourteen black rhino, a critically endangered species, have been caught in snares, each requiring extensive surgery to save their lives. The state-owned national parks have also been targeted by poachers. Four rhino have been killed in Hwange national park. Nationally, an estimated 100 black rhino have been slaughtered for their horns - which can fetch up to £60,000 - in the past three years. Johnny Rodrigues, the chairman of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force, an umbrella group of wildlife charities, said: "If it carries on at this rate, within 10 years there will be no wildlife left anywhere in Zimbabwe."
As I travelled through the Save Valley last week there was an eerie quiet. "You used to see lions and leopards around here," one landowner told me. "And you could always hear them." No more. The lion and leopard have been silenced. At one ranch I was shown row after row of skeletons - kept for research purposes - that belonged to animals killed by the poachers' snares. The privately owned commercial reserves are being hit hardest. Invaders seize the land, which is largely unsuitable for farming. Desperate for food, the veterans lay metal traps to catch animals to eat or to sell to others. Mike Clark, the chairman of the Commercial Farmers' Union in Masvingo province, said: "A couple of years ago this area was teeming with wildlife. Now you can walk around all day and not see a single animal." Another ranch-owner, who declined to be named, said: "They see wildlife as meat on legs. We know there are food shortages but they are using the land-reform programme as an excuse for out-and-out theft and they won't leave until there is nothing left." The poachers are ruthless and wardens on the conservancy face violent attacks if they intervene. Two weeks ago poachers forced the chief scout on the Humani reserve to lie on his stomach while they beat him viciously with sticks, breaking the bones in his feet. The Humani reserve borders the three Save Valley ranches that have been "poached out" and is under severe pressure from the "settlers". Hundreds have poured in recently, building villages of small wooden huts. Roger Whittall, 60, whose family has owned the reserve for more than 80 years, is unwilling to talk about the settlers for fear of a backlash. He will talk only about "the poachers" and says his biggest concern is that the penalties are too low. "The police have made more efforts recently but the courts give poachers a rap over the knuckles and they are back poaching the next day," he said. The penalty for killing wildlife is usually a fine of 5,000 Zimbabwe dollars (less than £4) or "community service", which can mean weeding the court's garden or washing the magistrate's car.
The upheaval in Zimbabwe has caused a near-collapse of the tourism industry, particularly of safaris, which were hugely popular until the land invasions began three years ago. Game hunting - in which mostly American, European and South African hunters pay to shoot an officially approved quota of animals - is managing to stay afloat, although numbers are down by almost 50 per cent. Mr Whittall, whose son Guy and nephew Andy are former Zimbabwe international cricketers, said his hunting business was down by "30 to 40 per cent". His wife, Anne, admits that times are "difficult" but says they have no plans to leave "unless it becomes really impossible. We have to hang on and hope". Mr Rodrigues accused President Mugabe's government of doing nothing to prevent the tragedy. He said: "They are sitting back while our wildlife heritage is being wiped out and businesses are being destroyed."
Service of Solidarity
A Service of Solidarity with victims of torture in Zimbabwe will be held on Thursday 26 June at St Martin-in-the Field, Trafalgar Square, London, starting at 11 am. The service will feature personal testimonies and readings, and music from the Zimbabwe Association Choir. The service will be followed by a procession to the Zimbabwe High Commission in the Strand, where tributes will be laid. There will be an exhibition of writing and photography outside the High Commission, and a closing ceremony of prayers and dedications will be held at 6 pm. All are welcome.
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From The Daily News, 23 June
Zanu PF woos MDC
Staff Reporter
Some senior ruling Zanu PF party officials attempted to lure opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leaders to agree to dialogue and possibly a power-sharing pact between the two parties while MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was in jail last week. The plan, if it had succeeded, would have seen Tsvangirai and other MDC hard-liners sidelined while leaders of the opposition party considered to be moderate would have been given positions in a government of national unity in exchange for their backing for constitutional amendments to create an executive prime minister and a ceremonial president in a power-sharing arrangement. The deal would also have smoothened President Robert Mugabe's exit from politics, a source privy to the clandestine moves said yesterday. Zanu PF national chairman John Nkomo refused to take questions on the matter, instead referring this paper to the ruling party's spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira. Shamuyarira could not be reached for comment on the issue by the time of going to print last night. MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube confirmed that there had been moves to push for dialogue between the country's two biggest political parties while Tsvangirai was away in prison but Ncube said his party had rejected negotiations when its leader was in jail. Ncube said: "We were aware of those desperate moves from senior Zanu PF officials to push for dialogue in the past two weeks. The MDC would not engage in any form of dialogue while its leadership was incarcerated. Prisoners don't negotiate. If anybody thought that imprisoning Tsvangirai would soften the ground to initiate and expedite dialogue then that was misplaced hope. The jailed cannot negotiate with their jailers." Tsvangirai was released on bail last Friday after spending two weeks in remand prison on fresh charges of treason for allegedly calling for Mugabe's unlawful removal from office. He denies the charge.
Talks between the MDC and Zanu PF to break Zimbabwe's political impasse collapsed last year when the ruling party refused further dialogue unless Tsvangirai withdrew a court application challenging Mugabe's re-election in a controversial and violence-marred presidential ballot last year. Zanu PF also wants Tsvangirai to recognise Mugabe as the legitimate leader of Zimbabwe. Tsvangirai and his MDC have refused to accept Mugabe's presidency and insist they will not withdraw their court application challenging his re-election. The well-placed sources said rival camps in Zanu PF battling to position themselves to take over once and if the ageing Mugabe retired had pushed for Tsvangirai's detention with the hope of taking advantage of his absence to entice some of the senior but moderate officials in the MDC into hammering a secret power-sharing agreement. A former trade unionist-turned-opposition politician, Tsvangirai is viewed by power brokers in Zanu PF as the stumbling block to resumption of dialogue that could lead to a power-sharing pact between Zanu PF and the MDC in which the latter would be a junior partner.
According to the sources, a delegation of church leaders had intensified moves to initiate dialogue between Zanu PF and the MDC after allegedly holding a meeting with Nkomo and Shamuyarira. While the church delegation had in the past been trying to bring Zimbabwe's political leaders to the table and may have sought genuine dialogue between Zanu PF and the MDC, ruling party officials are said to have attempted to u |
