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Archived News
9th March 2005
Fair Zim polls 'impossible'
Mugabe wants senate
Distance yourself from Mugabe, Mozambique told
Cosatu plans poll protest on Zimbabwe border
Mugabe locks out ex-Zanu PF boss from rally
Africa verdict will be pivotal
Mbeki predicts fair Zimbabwe polls
Home affairs minister to head SADC team to Zimbabwe
SADC Forum outraged at exclusion from poll
White land grab policy has failed, Mugabe confesses
Moyo wins eviction reprieve
Asylum seeker fears for her life
Ex-UN commander calls for intervention
Court orders arrest of Miss Tourism World president
Revealed: Straw's secret bid to stop Zimbabwe cricket tour
Mbeki 'wrong' on Zimbabwe's poll
Nonsense from on high
MDC denied access to state media
45 Daily News journalists to face trial
Czech firms in arms scandal
Jailed South Africans homeward bound
Singh flees arrest
US sees Zim as a threat
Heated exchange
Rice meets with South Africa foreign minister
Jailed MP's wife fights Mugabe so that suffering is not in vain
MDC candidate tortured, detained
Zanu aims for two-thirds
Police 'force' MDC to abandon meeting
Priest suspended by Harare's Anglican bishop 'resigns'
10 more die of hunger in Bulawayo
Zimbabwean activists tell of beatings
Subtle manoeuvring replaces overt violence in run-up to polls
Under cover in Zimbabwe
Scandal rocks Miss Tourism World pageant
SA observer mission confusion
Harare probe delays coup suspects' return
As vote nears, hope of change in Zimbabwe
Singh, Orji case takes new twist
Editors take SA govt to task over Zim
DA rift over Zim delegate resolved
Recording the fight for justice in Mugabe's land
Taking on Mugabe
Zimbabwe strangles platinum mines
OBE TV boss says signature was forged
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From News24 (SA), 1 March
Fair Zim polls 'impossible'
Johannesburg - There is no chance of the upcoming Zimbabwean election being free and fair, experts said at a meeting in Johannesburg on Tuesday. "An atmosphere of fear pervades the whole country," said Andrew Moyse, co-ordinator of the media monitoring project of Zimbabwe. "There is no chance that a free and fair election can be held in Zimbabwe." Arnold Tsunga of Zimbabwe's lawyers for human rights added: "All the legislation being pushed through now pertaining to the election is an exercise in deception." He said it seemed the Zimbabwean government was trying to follow Southern African Development Community (SADC) guidelines on elections, but in reality this was a deception. "They are deceiving the Zimbabwean public, it is self-deception and they're deceiving the SADC members." Tsunga said the guidelines for free and fair elections adopted by SADC members had no legal standing. "They are only aspirational, there are no sanctions if a member state fails to adhere to them." Member countries were also under no obligation to invite SADC election monitors to observe the election. The pieces of legislation prohibiting a democratic election process were "endless", Tsunga said. "There are Acts that stifle freedom of expression and access to information. We are not allowed to hold a public meeting without permission. There are endless prohibitions."
Moyse said media organisations and journalists were terrorised in Zimbabwe in an attempt to stifle any criticism of the ruling party. "In the past two weeks a newspaper was banned and three journalists, all of them Zimbabweans, were chased out of the country." But this, he added, was nothing to what had been happening to the media in the past five years. Five papers, all of them independent, were closed down. Moyse said the government "hijacked" the public broadcaster to "run a propaganda campaign" in favour of the government and vilify the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). "When Zanu PF launched its election campaign, it was broadcast for four hours and it was the main news for two days afterwards. When the MDC launched its election campaign, they got exactly one minute, 25 seconds airtime." He said the newly promulgated legislation on access to public media "looked good", but all would depend on how it was applied. Referring to the SADC guidelines for a free and fair election, Moyse said there was no mention of fair and unbiased reporting. "It seems that SADC accepted biased reporting in favour of ruling parties and relied on privately owned media to create a balance. We all know what happened to the privately owned media in Zimbabwe."
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From News24 (SA), 1 March
Mugabe wants senate
Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has resurrected plans to set up a second chamber of parliament in a move dismissed by opposition leaders on Tuesday as a way of giving positions to his cronies. Mugabe said he wants to hold elections for a new senate in June, within three months of a hotly contested national assembly vote on March 31, the state-run Herald newspaper reported. A previous plan to set up a 60-seat senate, included in a proposed new constitution, was rejected in a 2000 referendum. To make the change now, Mugabe's Zanu PF would need to secure a two-thirds majority in the March vote. Zanu PF is already only a handful of seats short of the votes it needs. The ruling party claimed just 62 of parliament's 120 elected seats in the last election in 2000. But Mugabe appoints an additional 30 seats, giving his party a sweeping majority. The last election was marred by violence and allegations of vote rigging, and opposition leaders are already saying that this vote will be far from free and fair.
Mugabe, addressing supporters in the northern Hurungwe district on Monday, said ruling party members who failed to secure nomination to run for a seat in the national assembly in March could find a place in the senate. "Those candidates who lost must not despair. We are one family," Mugabe was quoted as saying. David Coltart, an official with the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said his party did not object in principle to setting up a senate. But he said he was wary of the government's intentions. "This smacks of yet another attempt by Zanu PF to create positions for cronies, rather than an attempt to make our institutions of governance more democratic," he said. "We believe constitutional reform should involve the public, civil society and should result in wide-ranging changes to our constitution, including a dramatic reduction in the powers of the executive, and a corresponding increase in power to the legislature and judiciary."
Zimbabwe had a senate after independence from white rule in 1980, but it was abolished in 1990. The Herald, which serves as a government mouthpiece, said the new body would likely be structured along the same lines as the 2000 proposal. That would mean the senate would have 60 members, 40 of them selected on the basis of proportional representation from Zimbabwe's 10 provinces. The other 20 would include traditional leaders - most of whom support the ruling party - and other Zimbabweans whom the Herald said "would have contributed immensely to the country's development." The paper did not specify the selection procedures. With less than a month to go before the elections, Mugabe has stepped up his campaign, donating computers to impoverished rural schools around the country. The opposition, meanwhile, complains that at least three of its parliamentary candidates and two other party members have been arrested for putting up campaign posters.
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From The Daily News Online Edition, 2 March
Distance yourself from Mugabe, Mozambique told
Maputo - Mozambique's best known writer, the novelist Mia Couto, has called for a radical change in the country's policy towards Zimbabwe. In his regular column in the independent weekly "Savana", Couto noted that the philosophy of governance espoused by the country's new president, Armando Guebuza, involves a break with the spirit of "deixa-andar" - a Portuguese term that expresses passivity and drift, just letting events pass. Where this drift is most evident in Mozambican foreign policy, Couto wrote, is in "the continued inability to break with Robert Mugabe". "Initially one could understand the historical ties, the responsibility of the state, the need to prevent a wave of instability in the region", he said. "But now the internal political situation in Zimbabwe is so clear that defending the regime requires enormous blindness. Elections are approaching and all the news indicates that an unacceptable swindle is being prepared against those who defend democracy and freedom. What is at stake is the prestige of our foreign policy and of our country. The prestige of our country, and of SADC (Southern African Development Community), which Mugabe is trying to use as his final shield", warned Couto.
He did not see how the country could claim to break with bad governance, while at the same time defending the Zimbabwean regime. Zimbabwe did not only provide a shocking example of bad governance, but the country's ruinous mismanagement "has destroyed one of the most flourishing economies on the continent", Couto continued. He noted how the head of the Zimbabwean armed forces had once threatened not to allow the opposition to win elections. With Mozambique's current stance, "we are sanctioning this kind of abuse and assault against democracy". "It is easy to write opinion articles and comment on matters, sitting behind a computer", Couto admitted. "But one can always hope that the new government might surprise us, and help us recover our self-esteem". It was self-respect, Couto concluded, that at certain moments demanded "a rupture, when it is a question of defending principles, and consistency between words and deeds".
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From Sapa, 1 March
Cosatu plans poll protest on Zimbabwe border
By Sally Archibald
Workers will picket overnight at Zimbabwe border posts the day before elections take place in that country, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) said on Tuesday. The protests on March 30 would be the culmination of other blockades and demonstrations throughout March at the Beit Bridge border post and at the Zimbabwe High Commission in Pretoria. Cosatu secretary-general Zwelenzima Vavi said the protests signified how little faith workers in Zimbabwe and South Africa had in the elections set to take place on March 31. "Clearly we can see what will happen beyond March 31; the winner will be the one with the odds skewed in his favour," Vavi said at a press conference in Johannesburg. He said Cosatu expected to continue fighting for worker's rights after the elections, and were "bracing ourselves for further actions". Cosatu would not call for economic sanctions against the country unless requested to by the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions, Vavi said. "We are not leading the struggle, we are supporting the Zimbabwean workers. The main struggle must happen in Zimbabwe," he said.
Protests at the Zimbabwe High Commission would take place on March 9 and March 16, with a mass march to the commission on March 23, Vavi said. The border blockades would occur on March 11, and 18, with another mass march and night vigil on March 30. He said the regional branches were in the process of submitting applications to the police and local authorities for permission to demonstrate. Vavi said this sort of border mass action was neither abnormal nor illegal. He would be "very worried" if permissions were not granted, he said. "We would have to ask what is special with Zimbabwe?" Asked what Cosatu hoped to achieve with its actions this month, Vavi said: "A struggle is not an event. It is a process that may, in time, produce a result. We were asked the same question when we were struggling against apartheid, but we persisted." The trade union federation also revealed the programme for its 20th anniversary conference which will take place from March 5 to 7 in Midrand. Speakers include Deputy President Jacob Zuma, labour minister Membathisi Mdladlana, and critics of Cosatu from left and right of the political spectrum, Vavi said. "We are not just inviting good friends who agree with us." He said the conference aimed to spark critical thinking about the performance of Cosatu over the last 10 years, and its future direction.
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From Zim Online (SA), 2 March
Mugabe locks out ex-Zanu PF boss from rally
Harare - State security agents, allegedly acting on President Robert Mugabe' s orders, last Sunday prevented former ruling Zanu PF party top official, Philip Chiyangwa, from entering a stadium where Mugabe was addressing a party gathering. Insiders told Zim Online yesterday that Chiyangwa - a former chairman of Zanu PF for Mashonaland West province and a relative of Mugabe - was locked out of Chinhoyi stadium because Mugabe had instructed his security men to ensure the businessman-cum politician and three other senior Zanu PF officials accused of spying to never get near him again. "The President (Mugabe) has made it abundantly clear he does not wish to see Chiyangwa near him again," said a Zanu PF legislator. He added: "When Chiyangwa tried to enter the stadium, the President's security men refused him entry. The President does not want him anywhere near. It is a matter of time before he is expelled from the party following the President's declaration against sell-outs within the party." Chiyangwa, who has since been cleared of the spy charges by the courts, refused to discuss the lock-out and switched off his mobile phone when pressed for comment on the matter. Those close to him say the flamboyant Harare businessman blames journalists for contributing towards his political downfall.
At the stadium where Zanu PF supporters were celebrating the appointment of Joyce Mujuru as party and state second vice-president, Mugabe used the occasion to lambast and heap scorn on spies and sell-outs he claimed had infiltrated the party. Mugabe told the party gathering: "It does not matter whether you are my relative or close friend, a sell-out is just a sell-out. Even my own mother's child if he or she sells out, I will condemn him." Chiyangwa, arrested last December together with three others was released from prison unconditionally two weeks ago after the High Court ruled that there was no basis for him to be kept on remand. Three other men, Zanu PF external affairs director Itai Marchi, Zimbabwe's ambassador designate to Mozambique Godfrey Dvzairo and Zanu PF-linked banking executive Tendai Matambanadzo are serving a total of 16 years in jail after being convicted of spying. According to sources, senior Zanu PF politicians from Mashonaland West were following Mugabe's Sunday address now pushing for Chiyangwa to be expelled from the party.
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Comment from Business Day (SA), 2 March
Africa verdict will be pivotal
Diana Games and Greg Mills
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Nowhere is this more true than with Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections, scheduled for March 31. With just under a month to go, it seems the ruling Zanu PF has snookered the region again, with the electoral landscape looking worse than in 2000 and certainly not conducive to a free and fair election. This is clear to everyone except, it seems, regional leaders, who are doing their best to convince themselves and everyone else that President Robert Mugabe is acting in good faith. Over the years, no one has come to expect much from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) - but its protocol, Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections, was impressive. Region watchers believed that it might be a new start, particularly with Mauritius, a no-nonsense country, in charge. But alas, this has not proved to be the case. Zimbabwe has already violated a wide range of provisions in the protocol and nothing has been said.
Mugabe's few gestures towards electoral reform, made to avoid censure at the Mauritius summit where the protocol was signed, seem to have been offered up to obscure what would happen next - further skewing of the electoral process in favour of the government and a greater clampdown on freedoms. A "new" electoral commission has been established, but it is chaired by a pro-government judge appointed by Mugabe. For the first time, soldiers and policemen will act as election officials. Election observers must be accredited by a committee dominated by nominees of cabinet ministers and the president, and only people invited by a minister or the Electoral Supervisory Commission - dominated by government appointees - will be eligible for accreditation. The opposition has to apply for permission to hold campaign meetings in order not to fall foul of the Public Order and Security Act, one of the country's most repressive pieces of legislation. Opposition parties are forbidden to have foreign funding and are not deemed eligible for government funding. Only government-licensed journalists and publications may report events. Nearly 2-million "ghost" voters have been found on the voters' roll and the military has been involved in the demarcation of electoral areas, which has seen the elimination of three opposition seats and three new ones created in Zanu PF strongholds.
Less than a month before the poll, Harare has not issued invitations to election observers. The SADC protocol requires invitations to be made 90 days before the poll to allow for adequate preparation of a regional team. The much applauded protocol, in its first real test, has been violated. Regional leaders have been disempowered by their own protocol which, like the African peer review mechanism, relies on the integrity of government signatories to abide by it and contains no punitive or enforcement measures. The short-term future of Zimbabwe depends on whether the March 31 poll is declared free and fair - not necessarily by the international community, which does not seem to have the power to change events in Zimbabwe much, but by African countries, many of which have provided a bulwark against change there. No matter what the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and international teams might think, the African "green light" is crucial in providing Mugabe and Zanu PF with the legitimacy they crave to perpetuate their rule by whatever means necessary. As with the presidential election three years ago, it is difficult to envisage a circumstance in which the African teams will not close ranks around the ruling party. South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, in the face of well-published evidence to the contrary, has already intimated that conditions look acceptable for elections to occur.
This assessment ignores the overall worsening of the political and economic environment inside Zimbabwe. Any concessions Mugabe has made have been overshadowed by the tightening of laws governing elections, the role of civil society and the media. Some economic recovery may be possible under the "close ranks" election scenario, but it will in the main be dislocated from non-African assistance, except for burgeoning Chinese economic interests. But this outcome will depend, too, on what response the MDC adopts. Zimbabwe's opposition faced a dilemma: if they had chosen not to participate in the elections, they would have been labelled spoilers and lost relevance; if they did, they risked legitimising an apparently inevitably fraudulent process. But this is not a zero-sum game. Now it has confirmed its participation, the ball is firmly in the court of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his colleagues. heir key asset and political leverage is the legitimacy that they will accord to the process or not. This, in turn, depends on how the party handles itself and its campaign in the weeks before, and especially following, the election.
The MDC has to learn to play to its strengths and highlight the comparative weaknesses of Zanu PF. These strengths include sound, youthful and pragmatic leadership; a culture of nonviolence; broad-based support; and sensible policies. The MDC has to offer a reasonable alternative to the internecine, eccentric, egocentric and increasingly costly behaviour of the ruling party. This demands a clear and continuous articulation of its core principles of inclusiveness, not elitism; economic recovery, not continued collapse; and popular support, not party centrism. Presuming the election follows the predictable path of a hollow Zanu PF victory, most interesting is the MDC's role afterwards. It has a number of possible strategies. First, the "obstructionist parliamentarian" model, fighting for its cause from inside parliament. Even though this may find favour with MDC members concerned about their livelihood in the parliamentary gravy train, this role is likely to serve simply to grant a stamp of approval to Mugabe, the election process and Zanu PF misrule. A second option is not to enter parliament and publicly contest the election result, using party structures and its union base to mobilise mass protests - the "Ukrainian option". But the MDC has hitherto shown little capacity or stomach for this type of action, and it is uncertain whether Tsvangirai can make the leap to mass insurrection. Of course, the Zimbabwean people have the power of change in their hands. But there is also a heavy responsibility on the shoulders of SADC countries to show proper commitment to their own principles of African democracy in order not to render them valueless.
Games is director of Africa@Work; Dr Mills is the national director of the South African Institute of International Affairs
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From The Cape Times (SA), 3 March
Mbeki predicts fair Zimbabwe polls
By Angela Quintal and Jeremy Michaels
President Thabo Mbeki yesterday expressed full confidence in Zimbabwe's ability to hold free and fair elections and said its new electoral law was the first to adhere to SADC's election protocol. Speaking to reporters after meeting outgoing Namibian President Sam Nujoma, Mbeki expressed his strongest statement to date on the March 31 parliamentary elections. "I have no reason to think that anything will happen... that anybody in Zimbabwe will act in a way that will militate against the elections being free and fair." Asked how this was possible given that Zimbabwe was contravening SADC's new election regime, he said: "I don't know what has happened in Zimbabwe which is a violation of the SADC protocol. As far as I know, things like an independent electoral commission, access to the public media, the absence of violence and intimidation... those matters have been addressed." On the conduct of the actual election campaign, Mbeki said the SADC observer mission would look at that. South Africa had been asked to send 10 representatives. Mbeki highlighted the recent arrest of 44 Zanu-PF youths for attacking supporters of the opposition MDC. He noted that they had been denied bail and would appear in court after the elections.
In parliament, Deputy President Jacob Zuma charged that Tony Leon and his DA had already decided that the elections in Zimbabwe later this month would not be free and fair. "It seems as if the Honourable Leon is attempting to pre-empt the elections... " Zuma said yesterday. Zuma's comments came during a heated session in the national assembly which saw the ANC and the Pan Africanist Congress squaring up against the DA. "We are not in the business of condemning countries because it's not our business to run other countries," he said in response to a question from DA Chief Whip Douglas Gibson. Gibson pointed to Archbishop Pius Ncube's criticism of South Africa's "quiet diplomacy" policy and asked whether the government had "a bottom line" on the elections. "Are there any circumstances that will persuade the Mbeki government that the Zimbabwean election is not free and fair, or is the president determined to certify it free and fair, come what may?" asked Gibson. Independent Democrats MP Vincent Gore said while his party believed it was "essential not to pre-empt the outcome of the election", there were "very worrying signs the election will not be free and fair".
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From SABC News, 3 March
Home affairs minister to head SADC team to Zimbabwe
Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, the home affairs minister, will head a Southern African Development Community (SADC) team to observe the Zimbabwean parliamentary elections later this month. Ronnie Mamoepa, the foreign affairs spokesperson, said today the departure date of the delegation was being finalised by the SADC secretariat in Botswana. "South Africa is headin g the observer mission by virtue of its current position as chair of the SADC organ on defence, security and politics," Mamoepa said. President Thabo Mbeki told reporters in Cape Town yesterday that the SADC delegation "should have been there already". What SADC was interested in was free and fair elections in Zimbabwe, as it would be interested in free and fair elections in any of its member states. "The SADC delegation that goes to Zimbabwe would maintain contact with all of the parties contesting the election and work with all of them to make sure the will of the people of Zimbabwe is properly expressed," Mbeki said.
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From Business Day (SA), 2 March
SADC Forum outraged at exclusion from poll
Johannesburg - Confrontation is looming between Zimbabwe and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Parliamentary Forum over Zimbabwe's general election due later this month. The forum, which includes permanent representatives from most countries in the region, wrote to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe last week expressing outrage at its omission from the list of invited observers. Secretary-general Kasuka Mutukwa reportedly asked why his group had been excluded when it had always monitored elections in SADC countries. The SADC forum declared Zimbabwe's hotly disputed 2002 presidential election not free and fair. It was widely attacked by Mugabe's government for its decision - which was similar to that of other observers such as Commonwealth, invited European Union countries, Japan and some African countries including Ghana and Senegal. SA and other SADC countries, China and Russia gave the election a clean bill of health. It is understood Mugabe has not yet replied to the letter.
Zimbabwean parliamentary speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa led SADC's election team to observe the Malawian election last year. Zimbabwe, is already on a collision course with SADC countries over its refusal to adequately comply with the regional bloc's election guidelines. The dispute between Mugabe's government and the SADC forum came as Zimbabwe started accrediting local and foreign observers yesterday after weeks of uncertainty over the issue. Zimbabwe has only invited 23 African countries, five from Asia, three from the Americas and only Russia from Europe to observe its election. After a lot of uncertainty, Zimbabwe finally sent out invitation letters to observers last week. President Thabo Mbeki, who chairs the SADC organ on politics, defence and security, is currently trying to form the regional grouping's observer mission. SA, trying to help to ensure a free and fair election in Zimbabwe, will also send a parliamentary and a ruling African National Congress team to the country to observe the election.
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 3 March
White land grab policy has failed, Mugabe confesses
By David Blair in Johannesburg
President Robert Mugabe confessed yesterday that millions of acres of prime land seized from Zimbabwe's white farmers are now lying empty and idle. After years spent trumpeting the "success" of the land grab, Mr Mugabe, 81, admitted that most of the farms transferred to black owners have never been used. All but a handful of Zimbabwe's 4,000 white farmers lost their homes and livelihoods when armed gangs of Mugabe supporters began invading their property in 2000. In the first 18 months of the campaign, eight white landowners and 39 of their black workers were murdered, court orders defied and Zimbabwe's economy plunged into crisis. Mr Mugabe said this was the price that Zimbabwe would have to pay to redress the wrongs of the British colonial era, which left much of the best land in white hands. He claimed that the seizures would boost production and benefit millions of blacks. Yet in his home province yesterday, Mr Mugabe chided the new landowners for growing crops on less than half of their land. "President Mugabe expressed disappointment with the land use, saying only 44 per cent of the land distributed is being fully utilised," state television reported. "He warned the farmers that the government will not hesitate to redistribute land that is not being utilised."
Some 10.4 million acres were seized under a scheme designed to create a new class of black commercial farmer. By Mr Mugabe's figures, 5.8 million acres are lying fallow. Last year, Mr Mugabe boasted of a bumper harvest and said that Zimbabwe no longer needed help "foisted" on it from the United Nations World Food Programme. His land grab had made Zimbabwe "self sufficient", Mr Mugabe repeatedly claimed, and the national maize crop was a record 2.4 million tonnes. The Commercial Farmers' Union said that Zimbabwe grew only 850,000 tonnes of maize last year, not enough to meet domestic demand. In 1999, the last year before the land grab began, Zimbabwe grew 1.5 million tonnes. Then, Zimbabwe also earned about £263 million from tobacco exports. Last year, production had fallen by more than 70 per cent and earnings were down to £77 million. Critics said Mr Mugabe's admission exposed the land grab's "failure". "It has been a phenomenal and absolute failure on every level," said Tendai Biti, secretary for economic affairs of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. "It has failed both in terms of production of crops and in terms of the occupation of the land."
The new farmers are unable to raise bank loans because their properties are formally owned by the government and they have no individual title deeds. Without loans, they cannot buy seed, fertiliser or farming equipment and the regime has broken a pledge to supply them with tools. Some farmers have resorted to using horse-drawn ploughs. Many have given up trying to produce anything at all. Zimbabwe will hold parliamentary elections on March 31 and, for the first time in 10 years, Mr Mugabe is no longer holding out the offer of white-owned land as a vote-winner. Instead, his speeches are dominated by attacks on Tony Blair, who he claims is plotting to recolonise Zimbabwe. About 400 white farmers remain in Zimbabwe, with about one third of this year's tobacco crop of 89,000 tonnes coming from only 250 white landowners.
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 2 March
Moyo wins eviction reprieve
Harare - The Zimbabwe High Court has given former information minister Jonathan Moyo a 12-day reprieve to vacate a government house following his dismissal last month, his lawyer said on Wednesday. "He has been given up to March 14 to vacate," lawyer Johannes Tomana said. "We are happy, though it's less than what we had asked for. We had asked for a month or three for him to vacate ... in fact, he was initially told he had up to three months to leave the house. The judge had to strike a balance, so he has granted him up to March 14." Moyo, who was about to be thrown out of the government house in the plush Harare suburb of Gunhill on Sunday, filed an urgent application in court late on Tuesday for an order to stop his immediate eviction. Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe dismissed Moyo, the architect of the country's tough media laws, on February 19 following his decision to register as an independent candidate for the country's parliamentary elections on March 31, and said Moyo would have to give up all perks immediately. But Moyo's lawyers argued that he had not been given a notice period of three months to vacate the house. According to the state-owned Herald newspaper, the government line was that Moyo "did not have a lease agreement to warrant him to be given three months' notice to leave the property".
Zimbabwe's ruling party barred Moyo from contesting in the March 31 parliamentary elections as a candidate from the western Tsholotsho constituency after he attended an unsanctioned meeting that allegedly went against Mugabe's directive for party leaders to nominate a woman as one of the two vice-presidents. Moyo (48) was then sacked. His dismissal capped a nearly six-year meteoric rise for the former academic, who went from being one of Mugabe's harshest critics to his loudest cheerleader. Moyo made his mark as the architect of the draconian Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, passed into law in 2002, barring foreign journalists from working in Zimbabwe for long periods and tightening controls on domestic media. Four independent newspapers have been shut down and several journalists arrested under the law framed ahead of a parliamentary election in 2000 that the opposition and many foreign observers charge was marred by fraud. His argument for the tough media law was that it was necessary to protect Zimbabwe from foreign journalists whom he viewed as pawns of Western countries such as Britain and the United States, which have harshly criticised the Mugabe regime.
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From BBC News, 2 March
Asylum seeker fears for her life
Catherine Lee
A woman, whose family were killed after opposing President Mugabe's regime, says she fears for her life if she has to return to Zimbabwe. Edneth Gotora fled the country and is now settled on Teesside, but her application for asylum was refused, and she now faces deportation. Her local church in Stockton organised a petition in her support, which has been signed by almost 18,000 people. Local MP, Frank Cook, is arranging for it to be presented to the Home Office. Mrs Gotora's husband had been a prominent figure in the Movement for Democratic Change, and was critical of Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF party. In March 2002, he was taken away and killed, and their four-year-old daughter murdered in her bed. After a series of threats, Mrs Gotora was abducted and taken to a rehabilitation camp where she was told she would be encouraged to "follow the right path" - a result normally achieved by the practice of torture. At the camp she says she was raped so badly that she had to be taken to hospital, from where she made her escape. She settled in Stockton, but her application for asylum was refused on the grounds that it was her husband who was the activist. As he was dead she would be in no danger and must return to Zimbabwe. However, Mrs Gotora disputes this. She said: "I was raped. We are being tortured. So really I fear for my life if I am to be returned to Zimbabwe right now." She was backed up by her local United Reformed Church, which organised and widely circulated a petition. The Reverend Colin Offor said: "There was a deluge. I wasn't expecting such a big response, it made me very unpopular with the postman. Certainly the local church community has taken this to heart. In this part of the world I think people are much more friendly and welcoming to people in trouble."
The petition has been handed over to Frank Cook, Labour MP for Stockton North. Mr Cook said: "I have spoken with the staff in Charles Clarke's private office and am awaiting word from them for a suitable date and time for us to arrive on their doorstep and present this petition. The pitiful thing is that we pay lip service with a great passion condemning domestic violence, but this is taking place in Zimbabwe on a national scale, and it seems that unless some level of discretion is exercised by the Home Office Mrs Gotora is going to be returned to the same blood-stained kitchen, and this I cannot accept. Ministers have authority to consider the particular circumstances of any given case and exercise a level of discretion which takes a case out of routine regulation. This is one such case." The Home Office does not comment on individual cases, but said in a statement: "We are committed to the protection of genuine refugees who seek asylum in the UK. Each asylum claim is considered by the Home Office on its individual merits, in accordance with our obligations under the 1951 UN Refugee Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the European Convention on Human Rights."
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From The Daily News Online Edition, 2 March
Ex-UN commander calls for intervention
Johannesburg - A commander of a United Nations (UN) peace-keeping force during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda has warned there is urgent need for regional and international intervention to prevent Zimbabwe's political crisis from further deteriorating. Lt-Gen Romeo Dallaire, a Canadian who commanded the UN force during one of the worst genocides in human history, said lack of regional and international action on Zimbabwe was a perfect example of a lack of political will to prevent crises from developing. Lt -Gen Dallaire drew parallels between the strife in the troubled Darfur region of Sudan, where there is international inaction, and Zimbabwe which the SADC region and South Africa, in particular, have largely remained silent on. He issued the warning during his address at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria on Friday. Lt-Gen Dallaire lectures widely around the world on peacekeeping, providing an insight into his bitter experiences in Rwanda where about one million Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed between April and May 1994. He has also written a book on the genocide entitled Shake Hands with the Devil.
"South Africa should not feel held back by its apartheid past from playing a far greater leadership role in the region," he said. "Lack of regional and international action on Darfur and Zimbabwe are perfect examples of a lack of political will to prevent crises developing." During the build up to the Rwandan genocide, Lt-Gen Dallaire repeatedly warned the UN Security Council and the United States government that there was an urgent need to intervene to help the tiny central African country from sliding into chaos. His fears were ignored. Instead, the UN Security Council and the United States reduced the number of the UN peace keeping mission in Rwanda that time preferring to boost its presence in Kosovo. This proved disastrous as Lt-Gen Dallaire's peace keeping mission could not help but just watch as Hutu extremists in Rwanda went on a killing spree of Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus. Both the UN and the United States have publicly apologised for failing to react to Lt-Gen Dallaire's repeated warnings. Although the political situation in Zimbabwe could not be as tense as it was in Rwanda during the build-up to the massacres, observers fear the political situation could deteriorate if there is no immediate regional or international intervention.
President Mugabe's Zanu PF government is blamed for using violence and intimidation to cow supporters of the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Journalists from the independent media and foreign correspondents have also been targeted by President Mugabe's government in its quest to silence any form of criticism to its maladministration and poor human rights record. Reports of violence and intimidation targeted at supporters of the MDC and journalists from the independent press and foreign correspondents are said to be on the increase ahead of the crucial March 31 election. Analysts have warned of disastrous consequences if the elections are held in an environment deemed to be heavily tilted in favour of the ruling party. During his brief stay in South Africa, Lt-Gen Dallaire met South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki and senior defence force members.
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From The Daily Mirror, 3 March
Court orders arrest of Miss Tourism World president
Joseph Katete
The High Court last night issued an order for the arrest of Miss Tourism World Organisation president John Singh on charges of breaching a contract between himself and Original Black Entertainment Television (OBE TV)-a company shooting documentaries on Zimbabwean Tourism. Justice Judge Antoinette Gwavava delivered the judgement after OBE TV, through Harare lawyer, Aston Musunga, filed an urgent application for Singh's arrest on allegations of refusing to pay US$ 200 000 and a further 6 890 British pounds to the complainant amid fears that he was on his way out of the country. However, Singh was still in Harare last night when The Daily Mirror contacted him for comment. Musunga said: "The High Court has issued for John Singh's arrest. This will be done through the Deputy Sheriff to whom Singh can pay the money to." Speaking to this newspaper after the judgment, Michael Orji, OBE TV's director of Strategic Business Group, said: "He (Singh) was refusing to pay OBE TV and some of the contestants the money he owes them."
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From The Independent (UK), 3 March
Revealed: Straw's secret bid to stop Zimbabwe cricket tour
Pandora column
By Guy Adams
Jack Straw copped plenty of stick last year, when he was filmed shaking hands with Robert Mugabe in the run-up to England's controversial cricket tour of Zimbabwe. The Foreign Secretary is no useful idiot, though. For Pandora can reveal that - contrary to previous reports - he made an extraordinary attempt to prevent England's cricketers visiting the country. Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show Straw wrote to the England and Wales Cricket Board in January last year, urging them to cancel the trip. In an emotive letter, he described the "appalling human rights situation" under Mugabe's regime. "The situation in Zimbabwe is bleak and deteriorating," he wrote. "It is the Government's view that the overall situation is worse today than it was during the Cricket World Cup. "Zimbabwe is increasingly isolated from the international community ... You may wish to consider whether a high-profile England cricket tour at this time is consistent with that." The letter's existence contradicts Tory claims that Straw's "soft" on Mugabe, and will further tarnish the ECB, which went ahead with the tour anyway. Sadly, the ECB has blocked the release of several other letters because - according to the Foreign Office - "they would view disclosure of these communications as a breach of confidence." There's more on this murky business and I'll return to it tomorrow.
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From BBC News, 3 March
Mbeki 'wrong' on Zimbabwe's poll
Zimbabwe's main opposition party has sharply criticised South Africa's leader for saying that this month's elections would be free and fair. "It's wrong. President Thabo Mbeki is totally misinformed," an opposition spokesman told the BBC. Mr Mbeki said that President Robert Mugabe's government had taken action to ensure a level playing field and there was no violence or intimidation. South Africa is seen as a key player in efforts to end Zimbabwe's crisis. As the regional power, it has considerable influence but Mr Mbeki has consistently refused to openly criticise Mr Mugabe, who is accused of using fraud and violence to ensure victory in the 2000 and 2002 elections. Mr Mbeki insists that his policy of "quiet diplomacy" is more effective. But Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi told the BBC News website he was "stunned" to hear Mr Mbeki's comments in the run-up to the 31 March parliamentary election. "He probably knows things that those of us who are on the ground do not know," he said. "Trying to reward [the ruling] Zanu PF by pre-empting the results on 31st is not helpful."
"Things like the independent electoral commission, things like access to the public media, things like the absence of violence and intimidation, those matters have been addressed," Mr Mbeki said on Wednesday. But Mr Nyathi said the electoral changes were superficial. For example, state media news broadcasts continue to ignore opposition rallies and give blanket coverage to Zanu PF, he said, although he admitted that MDC adverts were now being broadcast. Mr Nyathi said that there were fewer cases of physical violence in this campaign but said an MDC candidate had been abducted and beaten up last week. He also accused the police of using their tough security powers in an overtly partisan way. He said those who attacked MDC activists usually went unpunished, while opposition rallies were rarely authorised and Zanu PF was allowed to campaign freely.
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Comment from Business Day (SA), 4 March
Nonsense from on high
President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday that he did not think anybody in Zimbabwe was likely to prevent free and fair elections there on March 31, and that he knew of nothing that had happened in Zimbabwe that was contrary to Southern African Development Community (SADC) rules governing democratic elections established in Mauritius last year. Clearly, talks between Mbeki and Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) are meaningless. The MDC regularly compiles a check sheet of Zimbabwean government behaviour, measured against the SADC resolutions which Mbeki supports. Most are well-known. Some recent highlights:
The SADC principles insist on "full participation of citizens in the political process". Yet the Zimbabwean Public Order and Security Act requires notice of intention to hold a public meeting, and the police commonly interpret this to mean that no gathering can take place without police permission. Even when permission is granted to opposition meetings, onerous conditions apply. The act also gives the police the power to ban meetings. The SADC principles insist on freedom of association. Yet the Public Order and Safety Act is manifestly used to denigrate this principle and the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) Bill, which requires NGOs to register with the Zanu PF-controlled NGO council, is a clear breach of the principle. The SADC principles insist on political tolerance. Yet Robert Mugabe's government often closes down newspapers (it happened again last week) with which it disagrees by way of deregistering them - the law requiring registration itself being a clear act of political intolerance.
The SADC principles insist on equal opportunity to exercise the right to vote and to be voted for. Yet the restriction of postal ballots under the Zimbabwean Electoral Act restricts postal ballots to soldiers and diplomats, disenfranchising millions of Zimbabweans living abroad. Soldiers are required to vote in the presence of their commanding officers. Furthermore, independent voter education is illegal. The SADC principles insist on equal access to state media for all political parties. Yet the opposition is frequently refused the right of access to state media and independent broadcasting groups have been refused licences. The SADC principles insist on the independence of the judiciary and the impartiality of electoral institutions. Yet all electoral officers are appointed by the president and the independence of the Zimbabwean judiciary is highly debatable. The SADC principles insist on constitutional and legal guarantees of the freedoms and rights of citizens. Yet it is a criminal offence to make an abusive statement, even if true, about the president.
The SADC principles insist on non-discrimination in voters' registration. Yet all election officials are appointed by the president and the registrar-general is a member of the ruling party and has allowed a voters' roll to appear with thousands of dead people's names on it. The SADC principles insist on the existence of an updated and accessible voters' roll. Yet the Electoral Act, as interpreted by the supreme court, only allows a paper register despite the fact that it is available in an electronic format. The SADC principles insist that polling stations be in neutral places. Yet the Electoral Act requires only that they be set up in "convenient" places, determined solely by electoral officers, who are appointed by the president. The SADC principles insist that counting of votes takes place at polling stations. Yet the electoral act allows votes to be counted in the absence of party representatives. And so on, and on, and on. Mbeki is talking nonsense. The forthcoming election in Zimbabwe is already unfree and unfair.
From ZWNEWS: If you would like to read the SADC checklist referred to above, please let us know. It will be sent to you as a Word attachment to an email message.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 4 March
MDC denied access to state media
Gift Phiri
Zimbabwe's state media this week effectively denied the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) access ahead of the legislative vote on March 31. In correspondence to the opposition party obtained by the Zimbabwe Independent yesterday, the editors of both the Herald and Newsnet said they would not guarantee the MDC unfettered access to the media. "We will not be offering any political party any special access to the Herald, which is a title in the stable of a public liability company with several hundred shareholders, quoted on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange and governed by a board of directors elected by shareholders at annual general meetings," Herald editor Pikirayi Deketeke wrote in a letter to MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube. "This is unlike the broadcasting services, which traditionally offer special free party political broadcasts during general elections." The MDC had written to the state-controlled daily seeking media coverage for its events. The statement was made despite the fact that Zimbabwe is a recent signatory to the SADC protocol on principles and guidelines on democratic elections which, among other provisions, stress the need for political tolerance and binds member-states to allow all political parties equitable access to the state media. While it is true that the Herald has several shareholders, the government holds 51% shareholding in the listed company in trust for the Zimbabwean people, making it a public company. Deketeke stated that the only access to the Herald would be through normal advertising. "On advertising, our policy is that if any party or candidate wishes to buy space for an advertisement they may do so subject to our normal commercial conditions," Deketeke said. "These do include the right to reject advertising material that we consider unsuitable because, for example, it is immoral, salacious, false or illegal." While Newsnet editor-in-chief Tazzen Mandizvidza agreed to allocate some free-to-air programmes to the MDC, the opposition party immediately protested that the time was inadequate and heavily tilted in favour of the ruling Zanu PF.
According to Mandizvidza's correspondence, the opposition will be granted an interview with the state broadcaster on March 7 and 18 only. It will be given just one discussion programme on March 14 and finally covered on March 25 when the party will make its second manifesto presentation. While the opposition has been given negligible access to the state media, the governing Zanu PF has unfettered access, sometimes dominating entire main news bulletins. The MDC has been given 91 minutes for advertising and this airtime can only be taken up in advertising slots of not more than 60 seconds. According to the advertising rates, it will cost $3,7 million to broadcast a television advert for 60 seconds during prime time and the state broadcaster is demanding cash upfront. MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi bemoaned the exorbitant tariffs, emphasising that the MDC would find it difficult to advertise. This assertion was repeated by the party's secretary for constitutional and legal affairs, David Coltart, who said: "Since the protocol was signed, there is nothing yet to show that the government of Robert Mugabe is committed to the SADC Protocol ... On the contrary, government is ensuring every day that the election will not be free and fair." Brian Kagoro, chief executive of Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, a group of pro-democracy NGOs, said there was nothing surprising about the statements. "The SADC protocol is just a collection of basic guidelines," Kagoro said. "The guidelines are just that - guidelines - and because they are not part of the country's enforceable laws, the Zanu PF government can choose to ignore them or implement a few for cosmetic purposes to avoid international isolation."
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From Zim Online (SA), 4 March
45 Daily News journalists to face trial
Harare - The Zimbabwe government is reviving cases against more than 45 journalists of the banned Daily News it accuses of having illegally worked for the paper without being registered with its Media and Information Commission. A senior official at the Attorney General's office, who did not want to be named, told ZimOnline yesterday that the journalists would be dragged to court "anytime after the elections" as part of an onslaught on independent journalists and foreign correspondents in the country. "Instructions from above are that the journalists should not be let free," the official said. He added: "They should be prosecuted and we are now finalising preparations for a trial. They will be charged under AIPPA (Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act) for working as journalists without accreditation." A lawyer for the journalists, Beatrice Mtetwa, said the police had told her that the matter against the journalists was being revived and that they could possibly be tried in June. She said: "I have been told that the journalists will now be prosecuted. I was told by the police that a trial date has been set and it would be in June. But I have not yet received official communication on the exact trial date. I am still waiting for that." The journalists were initially charged in September 2003 when the newspaper was forcibly shut down and its equipment seized by the government after a ruling by the Supreme Court that it was operating outside the law because it was not registered with the state commission. At the time, the journalists argued that they had applied to the government commission for registration but the state media watchdog had not responded to their applications. The matter however appeared to have died a natural death after the state never followed up the issue. Several of the journalists have since left the country. The official from the AG's office said those who were no longer in the country and could not be brought to court would be tried in absentia. Under AIPPA journalists and media companies must register with the state commission to operate in Zimbabwe. Companies publishing newspapers without being registered will be shut down and their equipment seized while journalists practising without a licence will be jailed for up to two years.
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From News24 (SA), 3 March
Czech firms in arms scandal
Prague - A newspaper on Thursday reported finding new evidence that Czech arms makers exported weapons to the Democratic Republic of Congo despite international embargoes during the country's recent war. The ongoing investigation into sales of thousands of machine guns, anti-tank rockets and missile launchers in 2000 also linked the alleged deals to Czech Prime Minister Stanislav Gross, who was then serving as interior minister, and former Foreign Minister Jan Kavan, who later served as president of the United Nations General Assembly. Gross has not commented, and Kavan told the newspaper Hospordarske noviny that he remembers agreeing to arms deals after his advisors said they would not violate international law. Spokespeople for the companies, Ceska Zbrojovka and Arms Moravia, defended the deals as legal and transparent. The report said the Czech government licensed two companies to sell arms to Zimbabwe after the companies failed to get permission to sell directly to Congo. A former Uninted Nations observer in Congo, Ladislav Sornas, told the paper that arms shipped to the Zimbabwe military at that time routinely reached Congo, since their armies cooperated. A European Union arms embargo against Congo was in effect between 1993 and 2002. The Czech Republic joined the European Union last year. A UN arms embargo against Congo remains in effect. The alleged deals involved up to 12 500 machine guns, 1 000 anti-tank rockets and 70 missile launchers, the newspaper said. For years, Transparency International and other groups have criticised the Czech government and its arms industry for questionable deals involving unstable countries in Africa and Asia.
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From The Star (SA), 4 March
Jailed South Africans homeward bound
The wheels have been in motion for the homecoming of 64 suspected South African mercenaries jailed in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean authorities were processing deportation papers for the men, after which they would be handed over to immigration officials, Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said yesterday. The men are to be freed after having their prison sentences cut by four months. There was no clarity yesterday afternoon as to the exact time of the men's return. Mamoepa said they might arrive in Johannesburg later yesterday, but the men's lawyer said he did not expect them back before tomorrow morning. "There is a long process involved in getting them out," lawyer Alwyn Griebenow said. Before they could be deported, the men's passports and private belongings in possession of the Zimbabwean authorities would have to be returned to them. There was also a lot of paperwork to be completed, Griebenow added. "The plane tickets cannot be bought before we know exactly when they are going to be freed. Our embassy officials in Harare are in discussions with prison and immigration officials on how and when the release will take place." Mamoepa said the men's lawyers would pay for their plane tickets. Griebenow was due to leave for Harare yesterday afternoon and arrive there at 9pm. "I should have more clarity by tomorrow morning as to what will happen and when," he said.
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From The Daily Mirror, 4 March
Singh flees arrest
Joseph Katete
Miss Tourism World president John Singh, against whom a writ of arrest was issued by the High Court on Wednesday evening, sneaked out of the country hardly three hours after the order was granted. He left aboard an Air Zimbabwe flight to London at around 10 pm the same night. Justice Antonia Guvava issued the writ following an urgent application by a London-based television station, Original Black Entertainment Television (OBE TV), to stop him leaving the country before he met his financial obligation with the station. The application was made after Singh allegedly refused to pay 10 percent from the deal he had entered into with the television station to promote Miss Tourism World pageant held in Harare at the weekend. Asked why Singh was refusing to pay, OBE TV's director of strategic business, Michael Orji, said the pageant president argued he had contracted a South African company - Diversity Management Company - to do the production and stagework for the finals instead of OBE TV as initially agreed. When the television station realised that Singh was due to leave the country on Wednesday, it filed an urgent court application to bar his departure before he settled the debt. The High Court gave Singh up to 7 pm to respond, but he did not.
When The Daily Mirror contacted him on his Harare mobile number (011606248), he said he was in a meeting at a local hotel and asked this reporter to call back at around10.30 pm. This would have been 30 minutes after his scheduled departure for London. OBE TV's lawyer, Aston Musunga of Musunga and Associates, alleged that a police officer stationed at the Harare International Airport denied the Deputy Sheriff, Everton Kunze, entry into the VIP lounge, where Singh was waiting for his flight, to serve the writ. However, there was no immediate comment from Police General Headquarters concerning Musunga's allegation. According to Musunga, OBE TV was supposed to be paid 10 percent of the US$2 million licence fee Singh was paid by the Zimbabwean government to host the pageant. He was also alleged to have refused to pay another 6 890 British pounds for expenses incurred by Singh and the first batch of contestants to arrive in Zimbabwe. Soon after Guvava issued the writ, Kunze, Orji and Musunga made their way to the airport, but were allegedly barred by the policeman from entering the VIP lounge. Kunze confirmed that their efforts to stop and arrest Singh on Wednesday night were fruitless but refused to give details on what had prevented him from effecting the order. "The nature of our job does not allow us to talk to the press, but perhaps Mr Musunga can help you with what happened," said Kunze.
Musunga said soon after the order was granted, they proceeded to the airport after being told that Singh had checked out of the Sheraton Harare Hotel. He said they arrived at the airport about 45 minutes before the London flight, but officers manning the VIP lounge denied them entry. Orji blamed the police for letting Singh out of the country. "The way the police officer blatantly refused to let us in and in the process stopped the Deputy Sheriff from carrying the order that the High Court had given to have him (Singh) stopped is a slap on the face of the country's judicial system," said Orji. The officer had argued that the High Court judge should have specified her name, title and office of jurisdiction for him to allow the men into the lounge. He said he was disappointed by the officer's action, as it would now be difficult for them to recover their money. He said it was highly unlikely that Singh would be extradited to Zimbabwe. Orji said it was imperative for them to press charges against Singh in Zimbabwe as the contract between the two parties was signed here, and that the country had hosted the pageant. An employee at Air Zimbabwe said Singh flew out of the country aboard an Air Zimbabwe plane at 10 pm on Wednesday. Contacted for comment, police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena professed ignorance of the whole matter. "I don't have any comment as I did not receive any reports," said Bvudzijena.
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From News24 (SA), 3 March
US sees Zim as a threat
Washington - The United States has decided to extend a freeze of assets belonging to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as well as about 80 other prominent Zimbabwean nationals, the White House announced on Wednesday. The sanctions were initially imposed on March 6 2003, in response to anti-democratic measures taken by authorities in Harare. The White House said in a statement the Zimbabwean government's "actions and policies pose a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States," and the freeze should be extended for a year, beginning March 6.
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From The Independent (UK), 4 March
Heated exchange
Pandora column
By Guy Adams
Yesterday, I reported that the England and Wales Cricket Board instructed the Foreign Office to suppress some documents relating to last year's England cricket tour of Zimbabwe. According to one who has seen them, the classified letters contain a heated exchange between Jack Straw - who advised cancelling the tour - and the ECB. They also involve discussion of a subject close to the Foreign Secretary's heart: whether the England team ought to shake hands with Robert Mugabe. "As a board, we often meet and correspond with the Government," says a spokesman for the ECB. "These letters could have been commercially sensitive or involve security issues. We have an ongoing relationship with both the International Cricket Council and Zimbabwe cricket."
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From Associated Press, 4 March
Rice meets with South Africa foreign minister
Washington - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South African Foreign Minister Noksazana Dlamini-Zuma agreed Friday that elections at the end of the month in Zimbabwe must be free and fair. Rice's spokesman, Richard Boucher, expressed hope that monitors from governments in southern Africa would be able to help by overseeing the election process, which culminates in a parliamentary vote March 31. Rice and the foreign minister ``had a very good, very friendly discussion'' on a number of fronts, including human rights, Iran's nuclear program and peace prospects in the Middle East, Boucher said. Still, he said, "we've expressed our concern about some of the developments in Zimbabwe that we think make it difficult to have a free and fair election." But, he said, "we certainly hope it can, and we welcome South Africa's effort in that regard." Rice welcomed the South African official to her office, saying, "South Africa and the United States are partners in many ways." Reporters and photographers were not permitted to remain after a picture-taking session to ask Rice or the foreign minister questions. They did not make themselves available afterward. Democracy advocates in Zimbabwe claimed Thursday that South African President Thabo Mbeki has betrayed them by endorsing an upcoming presidential election in spite of arrests of opposition politicians and laws that put the army in charge of polling stations.
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From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 5 March
Jailed MP's wife fights Mugabe so that suffering is not in vain
Harare - After losing her home, suffering a miscarriage and seeing her husband imprisoned in one of Zimbabwe's fetid jails, Heather Bennett wonders whether she is going slightly mad. The question has preyed on her mind ever since she decided to defy brutal intimidation and stand in her husband's place as an opposition candidate in the country's general election due on March 31. "If I didn't stand in his place, what was the point of so much suffering?" Mrs Bennett, 42, asked. Her husband, Roy, 48, is the MP for Chimanimani. Perhaps because he is a white farmer with an enormous following among his overwhelmingly black electorate, he has become a hate figure for President Robert Mugabe. Even by the standards of Zimbabwe's regime, the Bennett family has faced a ferocious campaign of intimidation, with Mr Bennett branded a criminal.
His wife will today pay her fortnightly 30-minute visit to Mutoko jail. The couple will, as usual, hide their tears from the guards. Their composure restored, they will talk quickly about their son, Charles, 19, and daughter, Casey, 16. "Roy doesn't want to talk about politics now, he only wants to hear news of family, friends, even the dogs," said Mrs Bennett. "Our daughter cannot cope seeing her father in prison. She sobs all the way home." Mr Bennett was jailed for 12 months with hard labour in October. His crime was to have pushed over a cabinet minister in response to a tirade of abuse during a heated debate. Mr Mugabe's Zanu PF party looked forward to recapturing Chimanimani, once among its safest seats. But after weeks of agonising, Mrs Bennett decided to stand for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. "It's so unfair, that's what really gets to me. Roy wanted me to stand because he said too many people had lost too much in the last five years for us to abandon the seat to Zanu PF. He said it was up to me to decide. I hoped Roy's campaign manager would stand in his place, but MDC supporters sent me a message that if Roy couldn't stand, then any other Bennett would do."
No one expected that Mr Mugabe would respond with such ferocity when the MDC challenged him. The campaign against Mr Bennett began immediately after he was chosen to contest Chimanimani in the 2000 election. On May 10, 2000, the family's farm was invaded. Mrs Bennett, five months' pregnant, was alone when mobs loyal to Mr Mugabe stormed their land. "They grabbed us and made us dance and chant and sing party songs, and they beat the workers. They kept on hitting one man with an axe handle and it was unbearable. I begged them to stop so they pushed a spear against my neck and forced me down," said Mrs Bennett. "That night the pain began. I lost the baby. It was a boy." This invasion subsided, but over the next four years the Bennetts recorded 89 attacks on themselves and their property. Two of their black workers, Stephen Tonera and Shemmy Chimbaraa, were murdered. Three women who lived on the farm were raped. Mr Bennett was arrested in 2002 and tortured for four days by the notorious Central Intelligence Organisation. Scores of cows were speared to death, their cat was burned alive. The farm workers and their families - about 1,000 people - were kicked out of their homes and forced to live in nearby caves.
Last October, officials from the agriculture ministry stole Mr Bennett's coffee harvest and sold it for £67,000. In late 2002, the Bennetts left the Charleswood farm, their home for almost 10 years. Everything they owned was stolen, the farm buildings and equipment vandalised or looted. Mrs Bennett learned last week that gangs were chopping down the coffee plantations. Today, Mr Bennett tends the prison's vegetable garden. "It is better than doing nothing. He is thin and walks in a weary sort of way. He has a beard and his hair is long to protect him from the sun," said Mrs Bennett. Tomorrow, she will address her first MDC rally. She is less fluent than her husband in Zimbabwe's main language, Shona, and nervous of "disappointing" people. "Roy is so noisy, so full of life, so funny, people are drawn to him. I am a quiet person."
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From Zim Online (SA), 5 March
MDC candidate tortured, detained
Harare - An opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party candidate in the upcoming election and another party official were on Thursday tortured by ruling Zanu PF party militants and later detained by the police when they attempted to press charges against their torturers. Prince Chibanda, who is standing for the MDC in Zvimba North constituency and the opposition party's information officer for the area, Paidamoyo Muzulu, were by late yesterday afternoon still detained at Chinhoyi police station, 120 km north-west of Harare. In a statement yesterday, the MDC said Chibanda was campaigning at Basset farm in Rafingora district in the constituency when a group of Zanu PF militants led by a self-styled liberation war veteran identified only as, Kangachepi, abducted him and his team. "Chibanda and his team were assaulted and taken to some torture camp on the farm. Eight of his team members managed to escape and reported the matter to the police while Chibanda and Paidamoyo remained under siege," the opposition party said. Following the report, the police went to Basset farm and picked up the Zanu PF militants and their MDC victims. But when Chibanda and Muzula attempted to press charges against their torturers at the police station, they were told that they instead were going to be detained while their assailants were to go free.
"The two MDC officials were taken to Chinhoyi police station together with the Zanu PF activists but were surprised when they (MDC officials) were told that they would have to spend the night in the cells because the officers who were supposed to attend to their case had gone home for the day," the MDC said. Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena could not be reached for comment on the matter yesterday. Violence against and victimisation of MDC candidates and supporters by Zanu PF militants and state security forces have steadily increased in the past two weeks as the crucial election on March 31 draws nearer. Two MDC candidates were arrested last week and several of the opposition party's activists harassed for putting up campaign posters. The opposition party began campaigning in earnest two weeks ago after rescinding a decision last year to boycott the parliamentary poll unless political violence was ended and the political playing field was levelled. President Robert Mugabe and police commissioner, Augustine Chihuri, have vowed not to tolerate political violence in order to ensure a peaceful, free and fair election. MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi yesterday said: "One wonders whether anyone can call this a free and fair election when complainants are arrested for reporting to the police."
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From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 4 March
Zanu aims for two-thirds
Godwin Gandu and Dumisani Muleya
Harare - The ruling Zanu PF in Zimbabwe has set its sights on achieving a two-thirds majority in the parliamentary elections scheduled to take place on March 31. The party's secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa, told the Mail & Guardian that "judging by the situation on the ground and the turnout at our rallies, the opposition presence in Parliament will be cut to 15 seats". The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has, however, hit back with claims that it will turn the tables on Zanu PF in its traditional rural strongholds, particularly in the Midlands and Masvingo provinces, where MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has been leading its campaign. MDC secretary Welshman Ncube claims they have been "drawing crowds of between 4 000 to 6 000 at rallies in rural districts". The MDC is confident it will secure "no less than 70 seats" out of the 120 constituencies being contested. "It's an unpredictable election," said Professor Henry Dzinotyiwei of the University of Zimbabwe. "A lot will depend on whether people will be enthusiastic to go and vote. Voter apathy in rural districts will work in the opposition's favour, apathy in urban areas will benefit the ruling party."
Both Zanu PF and the MDC recorded more than 10 000 people at their manifesto launch rallies, held a week apart. President Robert Mugabe took a break from the campaign trail this week to celebrate his 81st birthday in Marondera, 60km east of Harare. He has spent the past few weeks criss-crossing the country addressing public meetings and donating computers to schools to woo votes in the provinces whose chairpersons were suspended after the controversial Tsholotsho gathering. MDC spokesperson Paul Themba Nyathi accused Zanu PF of trying to buy votes by "donating computers when schools hardly had any textbooks and roofing material". Tsvangirai will be venturing into Mugabe's home province of Mashonaland West at the weekend. Axed former minister of information, Jonathan Moyo is gearing up for a rally on Saturday in Tsholotsho - where he will stand as an independent. Moyo, who was given his marching orders by Zanu PF for registering to contest the seat, currently held by the MDC, is defiant of the ruling party's decision to reserve the constituency for a woman.
On Wednesday, Mugabe laid into his erstwhile spin doctor: "The real Tsholotsho does not belong to this man." Speaking at the funeral of a former minister and Harare provincial governor Witness Mangwende, he said: "The chiefs there don't even know him. When we asked the chiefs, they said we do not know this man. You are the ones who brought him to us saying he will represent the party." Moyo, revered by friends and reviled by enemies with almost equal intensity, was the man who reinvigorated Zanu PF during the 2 000 election campaign with his sabre-rattling speeches and his heavy-handedness with the media and any other public critic of the government. After his dismissal from the party, he declared that he had saved Zanu PF from collapse. "I did not join a Zanu PF gravy train, but jumped from a sinking ship that's heading for ground after its captain had been left alone by his crew." Zanu PF's Didymus Mutasa, while acknowledging that Moyo had helped ensure the party's survival, dismissed suggestions that his departure would hamper its election campaign. "Moyo had lots of energy, ran around and worked very hard for the party, but no one is indispensable."
University of Zimbabwe political analyst Eldred Masunungure is of the view that Zanu PF and the government would be the poorer without Moyo, but noted that his own political prospects were "very bleak" outside the ruling party. He said Zimbabwe was rapidly "evolving into an entrenched two-party system with little or no room for independent politicians". Masunungure said it is a "clear exaggeration to say he [Moyo] saved Zanu PF from collapse". When Moyo was a Zanu PF campaign manager in 2000, the party was struggling to deal with a deepening political and economic crisis after it had been shaken to its foundations by a shock electoral defeat in a constitutional referendum in February 2000. Facing a grim future after the emergence of the opposition MDC in September 1999, Zanu PF urgently needed rejuvenation and Moyo, a rabid critic of Mugabe in the past, stepped up to the plate. His first mission was to revive Mugabe's failed totalitarian project, of the Eighties, with key elements including a de facto one-party state, a command economy and a virtually closed society.
Poll watch
Zimbabwe's former information minister Jonathan Moyo has taken legal steps to stop his eviction from a government house. He has been given a two-week reprieve; The MDC has been restricted from campaigning among Zimbabwe's armed forces and denied access to their families; The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation gave four minutes of coverage to the MDC election campaign launch and a two-hour slot to Mugabe to discuss Zanu PF's election promises; Zimbabwean paper, the Weekly Times, was shut down last week for allegedly violating the country's media laws. The Bulawayo-based paper had only published eight editions; The Zimbabwe Liberators Platform (ZLP), a civil society organisation that claims to represent 12 000 war veterans, was in South Africa this week as part of a tour to former liberation fighters in the SADC region. It has distanced itself from Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF in the election campaign; A new coalition of independent candidates emerged to contest the election as a united front. It has been formed from candidates expelled from the MDC and Zanu PF; The SADC Parliamentary Forum was informed that it will not be allowed to send an observer mission to monitor the elections. The mother body is, however, on the approved list, as is the African Union and the Non-Aligned Movement. The Commonwealth, from which Zimbabwe has withdrawn, the European Union and the United States, which recently branded Zimbabwe an "outpost of tyranny" have not cracked an invite. The invitations were sent out at least fifty days later than prescribed by the SADC protocol on elections; Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions' secretary general, Wellington Chibebe, appeared in court this week on charges of contravening the Public Order and Security Act in August last year. The case was withdrawn after the state's key witness, a police officer, crumbled under cross examination.
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From The Zimbabwe Independent, 4 March
Police 'force' MDC to abandon meeting
Loughty Dube
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was last week forced to abandon a regional campaign strategic meeting for MPs in the three Matabeleland provinces after police attempted to force themselves into the venue at a Bulawayo hotel. Police details from the law and order section pounced on the venue just a few minutes before the opposition legislators were due to begin a meeting called to discuss campaign strategies ahead of the election on March 31. The MDC was forced to change the venue to the party headquarters after police refused to leave. MDC spokesperson for Bulawayo province, Victor Moyo, said police behaviour was disgusting and interfered with their political activities. "The police officers refused to budge despite our insistence that this was a strategic meeting that needed our senior members only and there was no way we could allow the police to sit through the meeting. They refused to sanction the meeting and insisted that they be allowed in. We had no option but to abandon the meeting temporarily until we moved to the party's provincial headquarters," Moyo said. He said as a result, the party lost close to $6 million in venue booking fees and further expenses for booked meals and teas. Police spokesperson, Wayne Bvudzijena, said when police attend public functions their role is to provide security to citizens and property. "The police are always there at public meetings to protect citizens' lives and property. To suggest that they would be there for other purposes is not right," he said.
Moyo alleged that the police also stopped a road showboard the MDC had applied for in Nkulumane suburb on Saturday last week. "The road showboard is an effective campaign tool because we will be moving along in vehicles displaying our banners and giving out fliers to the public. But the police barred us from having the road showboard alleging that it was likely to incite public violence," said Moyo. He said the MDC was not happy with the way the police handled its applications to hold meetings and rallies. He said Zanu PF did not even apply to the police to hold rallies. "We have to approach the police four to five days before any meeting but Zanu PF is allowed to hold meetings any time they feel like without even notifying the police. Some of our meetings are not approved without any reasons given," Moyo said. Bvudzijena said it was not the duty of the police to stop a party from holding meetings. "The police are only notified but they do not stop any meeting or rallies. There are instances where some rallies clash and the police indicate alternative dates. They never force people to cancel meetings or rallies," he said. The police have in the past harassed and denied the opposition permission to hold rallies and meetings under the notorious Public Order and Security Act. Just last week police arrested MDC members at a similar strategic meeting held at a Harare hotel.
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From Episcopal News (US), 4 March
Priest suspended by Harare's Anglican bishop 'resigns'
A Zimbabwean Anglican cleric, suspended by his bishop for allowing an opposition lawmaker to donate money at a public thanksgiving service last year, is reported to have resigned. The cleric, Rev. Paul Gwese, was suspended by Bishop Nolbert Kunonga of Harare after the thanksgiving service last December but had the suspension lifted at the end of January following protests from parishioners of his church in Harare's Glen Norah township. However, a source in the church this week told Ecumenical News International that Gwese had left the parish two weeks ago and was now teaching at a private college in the Zimbabwean capital. Gwese's wife confirmed the priest and his family had vacated the church house in Glen Norah but referred further questions to her husband. Kunonga has made no secret of his support for the ruling Zanu PF party of President Robert Mugabe. He once described opponents of the president as "dogs barking at an elephant." The lawmaker who made the donation, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, is the member of parliament for Glen Norah and foreign affairs spokesperson for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party. Zimbabwe is holding parliamentary elections March 31 and the MDC was reported on Friday to have alleged that police were making overzealous arrests, and stifling opposition meetings. Gwese's parishioners had boycotted church services after the cleric's suspension and staged protests at St Mary's and All Saints cathedral in central Harare demanding his re-instatement. Church sources said Kunonga had wanted to transfer Gwese to a rural parish in Mhondoro about 100 kilometers from Harare.
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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 6 March
10 more die of hunger in Bulawayo
By our own staff
Bulawayo - At least 10 people succumbed to malnutrition-related illness in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city, last month, The Standard has learnt. This brings to 24 the number of people who have died from malnutrition related sicknesses since the beginning of this year. Statistics indicate that a total of 214 people have died from hunger-related conditions since last year. According to Bulawayo council minutes on health, housing and education for the month of February, of the 10 deceased people, seven were children, all under the age of five. The adults were aged between 59 and 70. The deceased were residents of Bulawayo's Emganwini, Entumbane, Cowdray Park, Entumbane, Eminyela, Nkulumane and Braeside suburbs. Bulawayo Executive Mayor, Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube, confirmed the deaths and called for the formation of charitable food organizations for children. "Very soon, probably before the end of this month, I will be launching a charitable organisation for the children living under difficult circumstances. "There is a lot of suffering in this city. Many children and some elderly people are dying as a result of malnutrition and this is what we are trying to avert," said Ndabeni-Ncube. He said he would mobilise financial resources from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in a bid to improve the standard of living of disadvantaged people in the city.
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From The Washington Post, 5 March
Zimbabwean activists tell of beatings
Campaign activities banned or perilous, opposition says
By Craig Timberg
Mutare - Activists from Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, were returning from a campaign rally recently when they stopped at a shopping center in search of some cold drinks. What they found instead, they said, were about 20 government soldiers in no mood for the niceties of democracy. One soldier, spotting the party's distinctive red-and-white T-shirts, announced, "This is a no-go area for MDC." According to the activists, who later described the encounter, the soldier added brusquely, "We've been tolerating you for a long time. Get into your car as quickly as you can and leave this place." Then, as the activists started to pull away in their pickup truck, the soldiers began hurling stones. One candidate for parliament, Gabriel Chiwara, 39, stumbled as he tried to climb into the front seat. Chiwara, an electrician, said the soldiers tackled him to the ground and kicked him for several minutes with their boots. As he begged for mercy, he said, the soldiers shouted: "You have to die! You are selling the country to the whites!"
As Zimbabwe approaches elections March 31, encountering "no-go areas" and official hostility has become a common experience for members of the opposition party. Despite promises from President Robert Mugabe to make certain the polling is "free and fair," opposition candidates said almost any form of campaigning puts them at risk of arrest, harassment and beatings. The Feb. 20 attack at the shopping center, about 50 miles from this northeastern city, was one of several reported since Mugabe, who is struggling to keep his party's edge in parliament after nearly 25 years of unbroken rule, publicly vowed that the coming elections would be free of violence. The account of the attack was based on interviews with party activists who were present. Because of government threats to jail foreign correspondents working in Zimbabwe, it was not possible to confirm the story with officials, but it resembles numerous reports of beatings of opposition activists compiled by journalists and human rights groups in recent years.
Mugabe has worked in recent months to convince international leaders, especially from friendly African governments, that this vote will be different from those in 2000 and 2002, when elections were condemned by international groups as unfairly slanted toward the ruling party. He has instituted several reforms, including the use of translucent voting boxes and one-day voting. South African President Thabo Mbeki, the region's diplomatic leader, has often defended Mugabe. He recently criticized U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for calling Zimbabwe one of the world's "outposts of tyranny." Yet opposition leaders in this nation of 13 million said almost every form of campaigning either has been restricted or is dangerous. They also said they have scant access to mass media because the government controls all radio stations, television broadcasting and daily newspapers. Perhaps most important, they said, voters have become discouraged and frightened by the rough tactics of Mugabe's party. It is often not clear whether the attacks have been orchestrated by Mugabe's party or merely inspired by his vitriolic rhetoric. Mugabe regularly accuses opponents of being traitors seeking to return Zimbabwe to the control of Britain, the colonial ruler here until 1980. "The terrain is very tough, and we think it is getting harsher and harsher," said Pishai Muchauraya, 31, one of the opposition candidates who were attacked. His mother, he said, has been denied government food handouts because of his affiliation.
In recent weeks, opposition party activists have reportedly been arrested for putting up campaign posters. One youth leader was arrested for criticizing Mugabe. Party planning meetings have been raided by police. And entire sections of the country - mainly the rural areas where Mugabe's crude calls to patriotism find the greatest support - have been deemed too dangerous for campaigning. Even in the cities, where opposition support runs strong, candidates cannot hold rallies, hand out pamphlets or knock on doors without obtaining prior approval from police, who have wide latitude to approve or deny such requests. When the police do approve an event, a list of conditions is issued, including a prohibition on using "language likely to undermine the authority of the President of Zimbabwe." Opposition candidates said that they gather with supporters mostly at night in private homes and that they rely on volunteers to quietly contact voters who might be interested in hearing campaign appeals. The election comes at a volatile time for Zimbabwe, which faces a devastated economy and growing hunger. The ruling party, Zanu PF, suffered its greatest public rift in December, leading to the estrangement of several party officials. Among those who left was Mugabe's information minister, Jonathan Moyo, who has since become an independent candidate for parliament. Moyo has turned his acid tongue on the ruling party, saying Mugabe is surrounded by "deadwood" who would have lost power years earlier without his help.
Zimbabweans are also feeling the effects of widespread hunger. In the vast cornfields that provide their staple food, the plants appear pale and stunted from drought. The nation's agricultural yield has not recovered from the disorder caused by Mugabe's five-year-old program of land reform, in which the acreage of white commercial farmers was seized -- often violently -- by veterans of the nation's independence war and others. "The corn is all gone now," said one elderly man in a village south of here. Rampant inflation continues as well, despite a decline in the official inflation rate, which once topped 600 percent, to 134 percent. Prices for food and other products are rising far faster than most salaries, while less than half of adults have steady jobs. But despite widespread frustration, Zimbabweans express little optimism that conditions will change after the elections. The ruling party altered the election law to allow soldiers under Mugabe's command to run rural polling stations. The opposition party charges that lists of registered voters have been rigged to pad totals in rural areas, where Mugabe's support is stronger, and hold them down in cities. The millions of Zimbabweans living abroad, who overwhelmingly oppose Mugabe, have been prohibited from voting.
Even if the opposition party gains a majority of votes, Mugabe and members of his government may legally appoint 30 of the 150 seats in parliament, giving him a comfortable margin if the election goes poorly. Yet opposition candidates said their main opponent was not Mugabe, but the apathy and fear created by years of authoritarian rule. Many voters, they said, will not risk crossing the ruling party if attacks on dissidents remain common. The Feb. 20 incident, as recounted by opposition activists, was especially brutal. One victim, Josphat Munhuumwe, 32, said he was inside a shop when he saw the soldiers attack Chiwara. He ran outside, he said, and they soon began kicking him brutally. Finally, he said, a man who appeared to be in command told the soldiers to stop, and they fled into the nearby woods. "They left me for dead," Munhuumwe said.
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From The Sunday Argus (SA), 6 March
Subtle manoeuvring replaces overt violence in run-up to polls
By Christelle Terreblanche
An informal fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe by members of South African civil society has found that although violence is considerably less of a problem than in previous pre-election periods, the playing fields are far from level. Charles Villa-Vicencio, the executive director of the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation spoke on behalf of the nine-person South Africa Solidarity Network mission that visited Zimbabwe this week. The delegation met a range of non-government organisations, church leaders and the main political parties. Their observations fly in the face of President Thabo Mbeki's statement this week that he had "no reason to think that anybody in Zimbabwe will act in a way that will militate against elections being free and fair". All agreed that there was less overt violence now than in the run-up to the 2000 national elections or the presidential elections in 2002, Villa-Vicencio said. "There is a downplaying of overt violence, such as the killings and harassment but this does not mean the playing fields have been levelled. Four years of intense violence cannot be done away with in a short 90-day pre-election period." He said that non-government and faith organisations highlighted the fact that the cost of the violence and the fear of defying the ruling Zanu PF was still potentially there, while many believed that submission to the authorities has been internalised.
The Zimbabwe Solidarity Network was recently established after a series of meetings and conferencesand includes the SA Council of Churches, the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, the Institute for Democracy in SA and the Centre for Policy Studies. The group was this week still waiting for an invitation to observe and monitor the March 31 national elections formally. "In the meantime, these organisations are all trying to gain as full an understanding of the pre-election period as possible and some visited Zimbabwe this week to link up with partner organisations," he explained. Villa-Vicencio stressed that their visit was an informal one by individuals representing the various organisations. He said they had found the churches extremely divided and as torn apart as the whole of Zimbabwean society. One of their observations was that the ruling party was fragmenting as the battle for the succession of President Robert Mugabe "reached deep into the party", exacerbated by his imposition of candidates on many constituencies. Predictions on the ground were that the opposition Movement for Democratic Change party would at least retain the 57 seats out of a total of 157 they won in 2000. Members of the ruling Zanu PF, on the other hand, were hoping to regain a two thirds majority.
"One gets an impression that there is extensive discontent on the ground, but whether this will translate as votes for the opposition is questionable," Villa-Vicencio said. "There is a very low level of voter education going on, estimated to be happening only in 11% of Zimbabwe. Militia groups are being mobilised in camps and the military and police are being called up. And there is still a lot of suspicion about the youth movement and their role. But there is little overt intimidation." Villa-Vicencio said they had heard two explanations for the slow pace of getting ready for the elections, including complying with the Southern African Development Community's (SADC) principles and the hoped-for repealing of oppressive legislation such as the strict media laws. "There are those who say Zanu PF is doing what it can to comply, but that bureaucracy moves slowly. The other argument is that the Zanu PF government is deliberately dragging its feet so that any repealing of laws or relaxing of legislation would happen at the last minute when it is almost too late." He said even the MDC was acknowledging a concerted effort by the government to curb violence. "But on another level one can say that the oppression, control and manipulation are now far more subtle. So the playing fields have decidedly not been levelled and the SADC principles are not strictly adhered to." The SA government was this week preparing eight observers led by Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula as part of the official SADC observer mission, while parliament's 20-strong observer team will leave for Zimbabwe on March 14.
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From The Sunday Argus (SA), 6 March
Under cover in Zimbabwe
Can the Zimbabwe elections be free and fair? No. Will anyone be able to prove it? No. There is a strange calm in the country, the calm of a beaten fighter's corner after a boxing match. No soldiers on the street, no signs of assault or intimidation, little hostility against foreigners. The crops are standing high on corporate farms around the capital and shelves are being filled with consumer goods. There is enough money in certain circles to cause traffic jams outside Harare's many glitzy hotels. But there is an all-pervasive atmosphere of resignation of the type that can only be produced by fear. In the town of Concession north-west of Harare one of the few remaining white farmers left pretends to help me with a faulty wheel while we hurriedly talk on an isolated dirt road. Every move is being watched, he says. The country has been organised in a pyramid of cells by Zanu PF and the paranoia over spies and agents of British prime minister Tony Blair, which has led to several high-level arrests and party expulsions, has spread to the bottom ranks. A Zanu PF win is a foregone conclusion, he says. He wishes they could just get it over with, so everybody can continue with their lives.
The few Zimbabweans who are prepared to talk politics with a stranger do so out of despair and frustration, and not from any election fever. A road worker points with pursed fingers at his mouth: We are hungry. A mineworker outside Mvurwi uses the chance presented by my request for directions to tell me they are not being paid and don't have money for food. Most people are too afraid to be drawn, or they give ritual answers, especially in the rural areas. All is well with land reform, says a new farmer, who keeps calling me "bwana". A non-government organisation employee refuses to let me into his house near Bindura. He has just returned from a compulsory Zanu PF meeting. What stood out for him was the passivity and lack of aggressive posturing. It was being taken for granted that Zanu PF would win, and the people at the meeting were instructed not to indulge in any violence until March 31. That is little consolation to him, he says. It is just for the sake of presenting a peaceful face to the outside world and getting a free and fair verdict from observers. After March 31, there will be hell to pay. He doesn't think he'll be able to stay in the country beyond the end of the year.
From an angry black commercial farmer I get the sense that the land resettlement scheme has deteriorated into such a mess that even staunch opposition supporters believe that only the ruling party can sort it out. So they'll turn their backs on the election, and let President Robert Mugabe win. The government media are already promoting the constitutional changes that would follow on a two-thirds majority. The changes will allow Mugabe to appoint his anointed successor, Vice President Joyce Mujuru, in his place instead of having to call a new presidential election. In Harare the absence of campaigning is striking. A few posters of independent stalwart Margaret Dongo and Movement for Democratic Change candidates have sprouted, but the Zanu PF machine is said to be in disarray. Only the state media is promoting the party, but they devote so much attention to shooting down the MDC that they actually promote the opposition as well. It is this bumbling, which extends to the electoral system, that will make it impossible to prove that the election wasn't free and fair.
Three or four dozen observer missions have been invited, but most are ideologically ambivalent, or come from countries that cannot be said to be models of democracy. Who is going to watch the observers? In 2002 members of the Southern African Development Community mission were reported to sit in their hotels all day long, but who will write the reports this year? Far too few independent journalists with the required experience of Zimbabwean ways and customs are left. Many journalists have entered the country clandestinely, apparently with the authorities turning a blind eye - to come and play their own role in faking a free and fair election. But because they work undercover, they will be unable to monitor events properly. Even if they arrived in sufficient numbers, they would have major obstacles to surmount in the collapsing infrastructure. In the five years since the first land invasions, the countryside has decayed. Some roads have become impassable, telephone lines have snapped and the vanished road signs make it a long and frustrating matter to find anything. Anybody will be able to say anything about the election after March 31, but none of it will be provable or conclusive. It's a pity: the country could have been a powerhouse of fresh ideas and an African dynamo, had Mugabe stepped down when he should have.
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From The Zimbabwe Standard, 6 March
Scandal rocks Miss Tourism World pageant
By our own Staff
Controversy-ridden Miss Tourism World pageant has been rocked by another scandal as it emerged that the winners of the beauty contest were not paid the US$100 000 that the top five finishers were supposed to share. Before the finals were held, more than a week ago, organisers of the event announced that the top five winners would share US$100 000 without giving the breakdown. Czech Republic's Zuzara Putnarova "won" the Miss Tourism World title while Spain's Raquel Babelcia was chosen first runner-up. Zimbabwe's Oslie Muringayi was chosen second runner-up while Ukraine's Oliynick was third runner-up. Shirley Aghoste of Nigeria was voted fourth runner-up. Muringayi's top finishing was regarded as reward to Zimbabwe for agreeing to host the pageant. The prize money for the winners was supposed to come from the US$2 million dollars that the government paid John Singh for the licence to host the pageant. Sources close to the pageant said Miss Tourism World, Putnarova had only been paid US$8 000, while contestants from Nigeria, Tanzania and Malaysia were owed more than US$ 5 000 for costs incurred while preparing for the pageant.
Several people told The Standard that Zimbabwe had become a lucrative hunting ground for international con-men eager to exploit a regime desperate to portray itself as a safe destination for international tourists. The president of the little known Miss World Tourism, Singh, fled Zimbabwe for London on Thursday night after Original Black Entertainment Television (OBTV) took him to court for failing to pay them for their role in promoting Miss Tourism World pageant. Michael Orji, OBTV's director, said he was supposed to be paid 10 percent of the US$2 million, which Zimbabwe paid for the licence. Speaking from India where she is exiled, Miss Tibet, Tashi Yangchen, described Singh as "a scoundrel". Cynics have suggested that reports that Zimbabwe had "won" the right to host the pageant after shrugging off stiff challenges from competing countries was a ploy meant to hoodwink the gullible Zimbabwean authorities into accepting to host the pageant and to pay the staggering US$2 million.
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From The Mercury (SA), 7 March
SA observer mission confusion
DA chief whip unaware of minister's selection
By Angela Quintal
The Southern African Development Community observer mission, which plans to be in Zimbabwe two weeks before the March 31 poll, was embroiled in controversy yesterday ahead of the announcement of its members. The 70-member mission headed by Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula plans to leave on March 15, said officials. Mapisa-Nqakula, who headed the SA parliamentary observer mission in the 2002 Zimbabwean elections, will announce her regional team today. SADC member states have nominated their own representatives. Ten of the members will be from South Africa, with at least two from the national assembly's home affairs committee. They include the committee's chairman and ANC MP Patrick Chauke and the DA's deputy spokesman on home affairs, Marius Swart. However, neither Swart nor his chief whip, Douglas Gibson, were aware of this yesterday. It is understood Mapisa-Nqakula plans to officially inform the South African team members first thing today. They will include a representative of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) and a member of the legal fraternity. In his reaction Gibson said: "I know absolutely nothing about it. Nobody nominates anybody to go anywhere but me." He had nominated DA MP Dianne Kohler-Bernard as the party's representative but had received a letter from ambassador Jessie Duarte on Friday rejecting her. Told of the choice of Swart instead, Gibson said: "It sounds typical of the disorganisation of the ANC-led government. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing." Gibson urged the SA government to get its act together and repeated that Kohler-Bernard and not Swart would be his party's nominee.
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From AFP, 6 March
Harare probe delays coup suspects' return
Immigration authorities in Zimbabwe are verifying the true nationalities of more than 60 mercenaries convicted of planning a coup in Equatorial Guinea before deporting them, the state-run daily Herald said on Saturday. The men, who were incarcerated in a top-security jail outside Harare for nearly a year after their arrest last March on charges of plotting a coup in the central African country, were set free last week by the country's high court. But immigration officials said they will have to stay in prison a little longer while it verifies their true countries of origin, as South Africa waited for the mercenaries to be sent back.Alwyn Griebenow, a South African lawyer for them, said on Saturday that "nothing is happening... We are waiting for Zimbabwean foreign affairs to inform the South African embassy". "We hope that, at the latest by Tuesday, the men will be out of Zimbabwe," Griebenow told AFP in Johannesburg by telephone. Zimbabwean sources have put the number due for release at 62, but lawyers have said 64. Although they were all travelling on South African passports when they were arrested on March 7 last year, they claimed to have been from different countries, including Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. Originally, 70 men were nabbed at Harare international airport when their plane stopped over to collect firearms allegedly to be used for guarding diamond mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Zimbabwe tried and convicted the men of plotting to stage a coup and topple long-time Equatorial Guinea leader Teodoro Obiang Nguema. They included their alleged leader Simon Mann, a former member of Britain's crack Special Air Services force, who is serving a four-year prison term. Of the 70 first detained, two were released without charge, two pilots still remain in jail until around May, two men were freed late last year due to failing health while one died of meningitis.
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From The Boston Globe, 7 March
As vote nears, hope of change in Zimbabwe
By John Donnelly
Domboshawa - Five years after government-backed toughs crushed political opposition to President Robert Mugabe and armed gangs started seizing white-owned farms, many Zimbabweans today say they are ready to push for genuine democracy in national elections this month. The possible sea change in this southern African nation of 12 million people arrives at a moment when Mugabe has apparently ordered his youth militia and soldiers to largely stay on the sidelines during the campaigns for parliament - a gamble, say diplomats and analysts, that the elections will help him regain legitimacy around the world. But the slight opening in political freedom - opposition candidate |
