Messages From Zimbabwe

We have won Zimbabwe. We have won.

No matter what happens in the days that follow, we need to remember that we have won.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is taking a long time to release the Presidential results and this is creating a sense of despondency around many in the country. We are getting worried messages from Zimbabweans and we are seeing and hearing people beginning to feel filled with despair.

We have won, so why has this not been announced?

Zimbabwe… this is Robert Mugabe we are dealing with, and his party is ZANU PF.

What did we expect?

Did we really expect that after our victory that Robert Mugabe would step forward like a gentleman and congratulate Morgan Tsvangirai before handing over power?

This is not what Robert Mugabe will do: he will struggle to the end; that is in his nature.

We need to set aside unrealistic expectations, and we must expect that we will witness all sorts of efforts from Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF to silence the will of the people.

None of this changes the fact that the majority of people in our country voted for change and nor does it change the fact that we have won.

Say no to despair!

In this uncertain period we must remember that dictators thrive on despair.

Mugabe and ZANU PF know that the longer ZEC delays with announcing the winner, the more likely it will be that people in our country will start to feel despondent. They know that people who are depressed and struggling with despair also find it hard to stand strong and to confront challenges.

The road to democracy is not a 100m sprint: it’s a marathon.

We are at that stage of the race where our limbs are tired and our muscles are aching and our body is telling us to slow down and maybe even give up. But this is the stage where our minds and our hearts have to take over and we need to keep focused and we need to stay strong and committed to seeing our will, loudly expressed through our votes on March 29th, come to fruit.

The next stage of the struggle we are all involved with now begins within ourselves. We have to stay strong. We must not be weakened by despair. We must not sink into doom and gloom. We must resist these impulses and remember a few truths.

Truth 1

For the first time in many, many years, it is us, the forces of democracy and freedom and of peace and justice, who have established the rules of the game. As a nation, with one clear voice, we voted for change. Those scores were placed on the doors for all of us to see with our own eyes. We know the results because we saw them.

Truth 2

For the first time in their 28 years of history, ZANU PF is obviously and publicly on the back foot. They are struggling to find a way to change the incontrovertible reality that they are finished. We are watching them respond to the simple truth that the people said ‘no more’. What we are witnessing now are the reactions of a dying regime dancing to tune we started to sing on March 29th.

Truth 3

If Mugabe had been victorious, the results would have been released a long time ago. We would have seen the inauguration ceremony already, and we would have seen the Heads of State of certain nations flying in to Zimbabwe to eat, drink and be merry at Mugabe’s party.

This has not happened; it has not happened, because Mugabe is not victorious and he knows it.

Truth 4

Yesterday an article appeared in the Sunday Mail (ZANU PF’s mouthpiece) telling us that ZANU PF is demanding that ZEC should defer announcing the results of the Presidential vote. The article said

“ZANU PF has requested the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to recount and audit all its electoral material relating to last week’s presidential election following revelations of errors and miscalculations in the compilation of the poll result. Consequent to the anomalies, the party has also requested that the commission defer the announcement of the presidential election result.”

Zimbabweans must note that a request for a recount of Presidential ballots before results are announced is unprocedural and premature. Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) have already issued a statement pointing out that this is wrong.

ZLHR say: “In relation to a presidential election, the Electoral Act, as amended, does not have any provision for a recount of the votes at all, and especially during the verification process.”

They go on to point out: “such a recount can only be requested once the declaration of due election has been made by the constituency elections officer or the senatorial constituency elections officer respectively” and that this request for a “recount must be done within 48 hours of the declaration of a candidate to be duly elected.”

This means that Robert Mugabe can only demand a recount of the votes after Morgan Tsvangirai has been declared the winner.

Robert Mugabe’s effort to subvert the electoral process must be seen for what it is: an attempt for him to avoid the humiliation of being publicly declared the loser.

Truth 5

The Sunday Mail article has also revealed Mugabe’s weakness and frailty.

Places ZANU PF cites as having votes miscounted includes Mberengwa East and South, “Where Cde Mugabe was deprived of 468 votes, one of his co-contestants, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC, had the benefit of 100.”

Zimbabweans must note that the figures under dispute are pathetically small - so small that in normal circumstances they would almost be considered irrelevant. To Robert Mugabe, however, they are very relevant because he is desperate and he is struggling to claw back the smallest number of votes.

Mugabe is not fighting for victory here; he is fighting for a run-off.

He is fighting for a run-off because he has lost the Presidential vote.

His fight now is for one last chance to try and steal a victory in a run-off. He knows he has been defeated, and so do we.

Truth 6

Last week The Herald reported that ZANU PF would be contesting results in 16 seats in the House of Assembly. Isn’t it very ironic, laughable even, that ZANU PF is trying to contest results?

We must remember that ZANU PF themselves have set a precedent when it comes to what happens when results are contested.

In 2000 the MDC contested 39 seats, but before the court could rule on these, ZANU PF insisted that those ZANU PF MPs who had been ‘elected’ (or had stolen) those seats, should be sworn in to the House of Assembly anyway.

So despite their claim that they will be contesting 16 seats, Zimbabweans can still expect to soon see a House of Assembly where ZANU PF is in the minority in accordance with the results announced by ZEC for the House of Assembly.

This means that the democratic opposition parties who have fought for justice for the people will be in the majority. This is a massive victory that marks a very big turning point in the history and future of Zimbabwe.

Truth 7

What many Zimbabweans don’t realise because they are cut off from communication with the rest of the world, is that the world is watching. We at Sokwanele know this because we are getting emails from the press, emails from people all over the world, and we have seen the traffic to our website and subscriptions to our newsletter increase exponentially.

This time the feedback we are getting is different.

In previous elections the world has watched Mugabe steal and cheat his way to victory. It has witnessed regional countries endorse victories in the face of overwhelming evidence that they were stolen.

The world’s reaction to those previous elections has been impotence; they have been left with a sense that there is nothing they can do in the face of what looks like yet another African cliché of misery and corruption - a tragedy that the region has allowed to take place.

For Zimbabweans, the world’s impotence has felt like a slap in the face, as if we have been abandoned to a life without justice, stripped of our basic human rights.

The difference on March 29th 2008 is that the world witnessed an old monster of a regime, one that appears to be a monolithic undefeatable force, be quietly overwhelmed at the ballot box.

We - ordinary Zimbabweans - did this despite every effort of the Mugabe regime to bias the election playing field in its favour; we did this despite years of abuse and violence; we did it despite the fact that we are poorer and hungrier and weaker than we have ever been.

The messages we are getting from outsiders around the world is that the dignity of the Zimbabwean people has impressed and moved those who are following our story.

Ours is no longer a typical African story of misery and failure.

It’s an incredible achievement, and almost a fairytale story of how the dignity and spirit of peace and justice can dominate the forces of evil. We did that, and the world is watching with barely suppressed excitement.

With all its heart, the international community wants to see us victorious; they are cheering for us from the sidelines and praying for us everywhere.

It may not feel like it, but we are not alone.

Truth 8

Zimbabweans have done this by themselves. No country anywhere in the world can claim that they created our victory.

We did it by ourselves.

Truth 9

We are on the brink of momentous change in our country. As individuals our lives will change for the better. Now is the time to defeat despair by daring to dream about what that change will be like.

Imagine what it will be like to have food on our shop shelves again, fuel at the petrol stations, power throughout the day, water that has been properly purified and comes out a tap when you switch it on.

Imagine education, jobs, and healthcare.

Imagine that when we go to visit South Africa it will be because we want to go on holiday rather than shopping trips to buy bread and soap and toilet paper.

Imagine our family and friends all coming home.

Above all, imagine a life without fear.

Truth 10

Zimbabwe is standing on the brink of being a beacon of hope for Africa.

With our dignity and adherence to democratic processes and values, and our rejection of violence as a route to change, we have shown the world and other African nations that the Zimbabwean people challenge the cliché that Africa is a continent plagued only by war and cruelty.

We have managed to resist all the violence that Mugabe has thrown at us, and time and time again we have turned to the ballot box.

When people turn to us and say ‘This is Africa‘; we can respond, ‘No it’s not, this is Zimbabwe‘.

We did it. Rather than feeling filled with despair, we should be feeling strong, and very, very proud.

What if there’s a run-off?

We do not want a run-off because we are the winners.

But it might happen, and if it does happen we must be prepared for it. We go into a run-off knowing that in a two-horse race there will be even more votes going towards Morgan Tsvangirai than in the House of Assembly results, where some of the votes went to Simba Makoni. Zimbabweans, excited by how far people at home have brought them will come home to add their votes to ours.

We all know, because we know Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF, that if we go to a run-off then it is likely to be a bumpy ride.

But we also know that Mugabe’s fight for power is just one fight on his hands. The bigger challenge he faces is the economy and poverty in our country. Robert Mugabe has no solutions to the problem of the economy.

He has passed laws which suppress the free press and control information in our country, making it hard for us to know the truth amidst all the rumours that circulate. But the one truth that Mugabe cannot hide from us is the reality that we are hungry, we have no jobs, we cannot school our children anymore, and we can barely survive from one day to the next.

To stand any chance of a victory, Robert Mugabe has to be able to tell us that he can make our lives better. Mugabe cannot offer us, the people, a solution to our problems unless he can secure support from the international community. All he can offer us is anti-western rhetoric and propaganda. This will not feed us, and it will not help us school our children. He cannot prevent us from knowing this as a fact.

To get the support of the international community, Robert Mugabe needs to be able to them that his victory is legitimate. Mugabe has relied on extreme violence in the past to secure his victories, but since the 2005 elections his propensity for violence has begun to try the patience of even the regional supporters.

Operation Murambatsvina, for example, brought condemnation from the UN onto the Zimbabwean government. This happened just after the 2005 elections. The images of our beaten and tortured civic and opposition leaders in March last year disgusted the world and shamed regional leaders. Those images showed the world what we in Zimbabwe already know; that the Mugabe regime can behave like violent thugs. Violence will not earn him the legitimacy he craves.

Nor will rigging and fraud: many in our country have worked hard to expose all of Mugabe’s tactics, and those people in the world who have the ability to help Zimbabwe recover now know his tricks.

If we go into a run-off, we will be prepared to continue exposing the rigging and the fraud and the violence.

We have the advantage this time that by delaying the results in the way he has, the world is already very suspicious of Mugabe’s motives and believe he is stalling and rigging. Their minds and ears are open and they are ready to listen to the truth from us.

What can we do as individuals?

1. Begin to break down the barriers between us

Mugabe has done his best to divide our nation, to turn us against each other and build suspicion and hatred. Now is the time to challenge those lies and begin to heal and build unity. Smile at those who you previously feared: the police and security forces. Show them in your behaviour and attitude that the future is positive and that we all stand to benefit.

2. Keep all of our spirits up

Do your best to remind those around you that just because ZANU PF and Robert Mugabe are thrashing about like a fish on a hook, it doesn’t mean that we have lost.

Support each other when we begin to let go of hope.

Never forget: we have won.

(Source: Sokwanele)

ZNU 118 is released. As you will no doubt hear, I am absolutely exhausted - mainly because I am fighting with a problem in my injured arm. I have not been sleeping very well, but will continue in my quest for the Zimbabwean people.This would be as good as any point to advise you all thatthere will not be a posting on Wednesday this week as I have an appointment with the Specialist to work out just what has gone wrong in my arm and what steps we are going to take to sort it all out.

In today’s podcast I look at the UN and AU Charters with the Zimbabwean crisis in mind, whilst the MDC offices in Harare are raided by armed policemen and hundreds arrested, the death toll in the post-election violence continues to rise, whilst the MDC majority in Parliament is confirmed in the recount.

We still await the Presidential election result.

The programme can be heard in the multiplayers in the right hand sidebar of The Bearded Man or here and can be either downloaded or played from here.

My historical podcasts (all 118) can be heard anytime from my Odeo page.

Thank you for your continued support of my weekly podcasts.

“Martyrs for democracy” is the headline on a touching message from Morgan Tsvangirai, published in a local newspaper on Friday, in a tribute to those killed since the elections on March 29. The message from Zimbabwe’s leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change appears on a page of the weekly tabloid, The Independent. He writes: “We appeal as Zimbabweans to our military, militia and to any of our fellow citizens to stop the bloodshed. There is no need for any loss of life. Not yours, not ours. Not any Zimbabweans. Count the votes not the dead bodies… sons and daughters of Zimbabwe are being murdered for no other reason than they voted… We shall act on their behalf to bring those committing crimes against humanity to an international court of justice.” He signs off: ‘”I will be with you shortly. Sincerely and sadly, Morgan.”

The page carries the names of eight dead, including five-year-old Brighton Mbwere, who died while he was asleep in his parents house in Manyika village in north-eastern Zimbabwe, which was torched 10 days ago. Others killed in the first rush of violence were Murondo Temba, Tendai Chibika and Moses Bashitiyawo from the north east, where the extraordinarily savage violence continues and where the best-known politician is David Parirenyatwa, the long-serving health minister and a medical doctor. He has refused to answer any questions put to him since he was exposed last week by The Guardian brandishing an AK-47 in front of constituents in his home area Murewha. Parirenyatwa retained his parliamentary seat in the March 29 elections but has been accused by some of his constituents, lying injured in Harare hospitals, of leading one of the most violent campaigns of retribution for ZANU PF’s electoral defeat.

Tawanda Chimbwanda died in Magunje, about 200km north of Harare and deep in President Robert Mugabe’s home province of Mashonaland West. Moses Makiwa was killed in Hwedza about 75km south east of Harare. Tapiwa Mubwanda, a former prisons officer from Hurungwe East, near Karoi, 200km north of Harare, was stabbed to death two weeks ago. His relatives have named those they saw attack him, including a prominent ZANU PF politician. Mubwanda’s relatives say the Central Intelligence Organisation tried to force the family to bury him in secret at night as soon as his body was released from the morgue, but they refused and buried him last week. No arrests have been made in connection with those killed - or in connection with about 450 people now being treated by medical staff working for Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights for injuries sustained in attacks. Also, no one has been arrested for the unknown number of workers kidnapped on commercial farms in north-eastern and south-eastern districts last week.

The MDC’s welfare department is now dispersed but still tries to check information. Zimbabwe’s cellphone networks rarely work and there are no landlines available in most deep rural areas where the worst violence is taking place. The MDC says it depends on information from a fragile network of people who have neither vehicles nor resources in districts where economic collapse has grounded most rural buses from getting to Harare. There have been more deaths, the MDC says, but welfare workers are struggling to confirm names and make reports to hostile policemen in rural areas. Most MDC administrative, political and communication staff are now under arrest. The party’s headquarters are closed and its computers have been seized. Its MPs are in hiding or out of the country.

Information filtering back to Harare from rural areas reports that, in some districts where the MDC has suffered most, some of its members are fighting back. This is in the north east and in the south east, near Headlands, where Didymus Mutasa, the security minister, controls a substantial arsenal of weapons and security personnel. Before the elections it was clear that some people who claimed to be Mutasa supporters were living in fear of him and the ruling party. One man, a peasant farmer, said he would vote for Mutasa because he feared Mutasa would find out if he did not, and he would then be evicted from land given to his father by ZANU PF. Wearing a ZANU PF t-shirt and cap, he admitted that he detested Mutasa but said: “Zanu PF gave land to my father, I must protect it.” Mutasa did not respond to questions put to him this week about violence in his area. There are uncomfirmed reports that there are at least five more dead in the Headlands area from both the MDC and ZANU PF.

Simba Makoni, an independent who contested the presidential elections, said yesterday he was “very, very concerned about the brutal force and violence used against voters and which is a result of political uncertainties and the delays in finalising the elections. “We are appealing to leaders to consider re-engaging because we need to move forward. There never was a better moment for dialogue among the leadership of this country.” Makoni, a former finance minister and life-long member of ZANU PF was expelled from the party in February.

(Source)

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Commission) has been following with deep concern the electoral impasse that has gripped the Republic of Zimbabwe, following the March 29 , 2008 Presidential, Senatorial and National Assembly Elections. The Commission notes that while the results of the Senatorial and National Assembly elections have been released, the results of the Presidential Elections are still pending more than two weeks after the voting.

The African Commission notes that while the voting process took place in a peaceful and generally satisfactory manner, the tabulation/counting of the votes has encountered some difficulties, resulting in an unusual delay in the publication of the results.

The Commission wishes to state that this unusual and prolonged delay flies in the face of the SADC Principles on Elections and may constitute a violation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, in particular, Article 13, which provides for the right to vote and participate in government. The African Commission is of the view that the right to vote and participate in government is not limited to the casting of a ballot paper but invariably includes the individual right to know, and in a timely manner, the outcome of the voting exercise.

The African Commission is concerned that the delay in the publication of the results has the potential of undermining human rights and the rule of law and may compromise an already volatile and tense situation.

The African Commission calls therefore on the government of the Republic of Zimbabwe in particular, to provide the Zimbabwe Elections Commission (ZEC), in an open and transparent manner and in accordance with the law, with all the necessary assistance it may require to enable it release the elections results immediately.

Where it becomes necessary for there to be a recount of the results, the African Commission wishes to call on all parties to work together and agree on an open and transparent formula for recount, which shall be done in accordance with the law, and in the presence of all the parties and election observers.

Finally, the African Commission avails its good offices to all the parties of the conflict, to work with the Zimbabwean people to find a lasting solution to this impasse.

(Source: via email)

Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party has said 10 of its supporters have been murdered in an orgy of violence it blamed on state security agents and militant activists of President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party. The MDC, which says violence started after it defeated ZANU PF in elections on March 29, has claimed that another 3000 supporters have been displaced from their homes. The opposition party has described the violence as a war being waged by state security agents and ZANU PF militias against Zimbabweans in a bid to cow them to back Mugabe in an anticipated run-off against Tsvangirai. But Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa denied the allegations of violence and challenged the MDC to produce names and details of people it claims were murdered in political violence. Below, ZimOnline lists names of six people that the MDC says are its supporters who were killed in political violence. The six are part of the 10 people the MDC says were murdered. The opposition party says it will release all the names of all victims in a full report on political violence it is compiling.

List of Victims:

Tapiwa Mumbwanda (57) - From Hurungwe West constituency in Mashonaland West province. He was attacked and murdered near his home by suspected ZANU PF activists on April 12. Hurungwe West is one of the areas hardest hit by political violence;

Murunde Tembo (age unknown) - From Mudzi North constituency in Mashonaland East province. He was brutally assaulted by suspected ZANU PF activists on April 15. He sustained serious injuries and broken legs. He died on his way to hospital;

Tatenda Chibika (age unknown) - From Mutoko East constituency in Mashonaland East province. He was shot and killed by ZANU PF supporter and war veteran Richard Makoni on April 17. The incident happened at Chibeta rural business centre in the constituency;

Moses Bashitiwayo (age unknown) - From Maramba-Pfungwe constituency in Mashonaland East province. Suspected ZANU PF supporters murdered him on April 17;

Moses Makiwa (age unknown) - From Lower Watershed area in Wedza constituency in Mashonaland East province. He was brutally assaulted and killed by ZANU PF supporters. He was buried on 19 April in Wedza;

Brighton Mbwera Jr. (5) - From Manyika village in Uzumba constituency in Mashonaland East province. He was burnt to death after ZANU PF activists set a house he was sleeping in on fire on April 18. The ZANU PF activists forced the parents (who are members of the MDC) to bury their child’s body without a postmortem being done. However, police intervened and ordered the body exhumed so that a postmortem could be conducted.

The MDC is the source of all the information above. ZimOnline has not independently verified this information.

(Source)

ZNU 117 released. In today’s programme I look at the presence of a Chinese ship loaded with weapons for Mugabe in Durban harbour, moving on to Maputu in Mozambique - or elsewhere. I also look at the recount that started on Saturday morning, and the violence being meted out on the MDC supporters. And I question why SADC has given Mbeki another mandate to mediate in negotiations once again - when he is incapable of an impartial view.The show can be heard in the multiplayers in the right hand side bar of The Bearded Man blog. It can also be heard here or even downloaded from here.

All of my previous programmes are available for playing on my Odeo page.

Thank you for your continuing support of my podcast endeavours.

Alex Magaisa

April 18, 2008

Morgan Tsvangirai: Because it wanted a taste of life on the other side of the road. It was exercising its right.

Patrick Chinamasa: No. The chicken did not cross the road. In fact we need to verify whether in fact it was a chicken. As far as we know, the chicken is still there. It could have been an eagle. We have to wait until verification is done.

Didymus Mutasa: I do not think it crossed the road. If it crossed the road it’s because the white farmer dragged it. But we cannot allow that to happen. It will have to come back.

Joseph Chinotimba: The kichen, no, chicken is a sell-out against the revolution. The ‘O’ vets will have to eat it!

Robert Mugabe: The chicken will never be allowed to cross the road. Not in my life time! Let those that run away to Bush and Brown do so. Not my chicken! My chicken will never cross the road. It will never be colonised again!

Thabo Mbeki: Er … uhm … I don’t see any chicken at the moment … Er … I think it is right for us to wait and see. Let things take the natural course. If if it did cross the road we will be told officially. If it wants to cross the road we will see it when it crosses. There is nothing to talk about at the moment … Er … I don’t see any problem right now.

Tendai Biti: We have irrefutable evidence from those who were at the road that the chicken has, indeed, without any shadow of doubt, crossed the road. I hereby declare that Chicken Huku Inkuku is now the legitimate resident of the other side of the road.

Bright Matonga: At the moment we know that it has not crossed the road, despite imperialist efforts to push it. We know they will try again and are now preparing to unleash the remaining 75% of our effort so that it can never be pushed again next time.

Nathaniel Manheru a.k.a. George Charamba: How can, a chicken, itself a hapless bird, be expected to cross the road unless it is pushed deviously and surreptitiously by the hand of the vicious and uncouth imperialists? The only chicken that can cross that road is a stooge, a puppet, an instrument of the West that will be rocket-propelled by the loud fart of Brown and Bush … Icho!

Levy Mwanawasa: It knew the ground on that side was sinking like the Titanic. It had to cross.

General Chiwenga: It can’t.

Commissioner-General Chihuri: It can’t cross the road.

Gordon Brown: It was running away from Mugabe.

Jacob Zuma: I think it is important that we be told whether or not the chicken actually crossed road. That should be very easy to do.

Jonathan Moyo: Of course, the chicken crossed the road because it could not stand the nonsense on the other side. But the shameless securocrats will do everything in their power to prevent everyone from knowing that it, indeed, and unequivocally crossed the road.

Judge of the High Court: Whether or not it crossed the road is a matter for the officials to declare at their own time. They have the power to order a re-check and verification as to whether it crossed the road before they can make the declaration.

Zimbabwe Electoral Commission: We are not in a position to say whether or not the chicken crossed the road. There are some people who have complained that it probably wasn’t a chicken at all and others saying it was being pushed or dragged against its will. We are currently considering whether to do a re-check before we can officially declare if the chicken crossed the road. We will take as long as we want to be fully certain that it was a chicken that crossed the road.

(Source: via email)

I am not surprised after covering the horror and drama soap opera called Mugabe. Mugabe is a clear danger and the fact that Mugabe is establishing concentration camps is one of them. The fact that there was a shipment of arms for Zimbabwe means that Mugabe has declared war on the nation of Zimbabwe. Tendai Biti: Secretary General of the MDC has just announced in the BBC that “Zimbabwe Is In A State of War”

REFERENCE:
BBC News: “MDC claims Zimbabwe Is At War”

Tendai Biti [Secretary General of the MDC or Movement for Democratic Change] has declared that a “state of war exists in Zimbabwe”. It is easy to dismiss these statements but the facts are speaking for themselves.

1. ZEC [Zimbabwe Electoral Commission] Deputy Chief Elections Officer Utoile Silaigwana has declared that “Recount Results Are Not Available at the Present Time and may take more than three days. We want to ensure that there are no mistakes this time around. Regardless, the count is going smoothly.” MDC Spokesman Nelson Chamisa declared that the process was a “circus” with “ZEC being an extension of ZANU-PF [Mugabe]” and withdrew from the recounting process. Nelson Chamisa also claims that Zimbabwe “is going the route of Rwanda”.

2. The Zimbabwean has reported atrocities in Mashonaland East. On the 15th of April 2008, members of ZANU PF under the leadership of ZANU PF MP for Mutoko East Ojo Nyakudanga and Colonel Katsvairo went to Chidya Village Mutoko East Constituency and ordered its inhabitants to undergo “re-education”. The people started to run in different directions. Tendai Chibika died in the process after being shot in the head. While the body of Tendai Chibika lies in the open without a burial, the inhabitants have fled to the mountains.

3. Steven John Martin was abducted in Chidya Village Mutoko East Constituency by the same members of ZANU PF and has not been seen since.

4. Members of the ZANU PF Militia [Mugabe] and “War Veterans” have invaded Ward 17 Vondozi North Constituency and destroyed 98% of the area. The people are now living under armed guard at Vongozi School in the school yard. We are not talking about 10 or 20 people but 300 people. Ward 17 Vondozi North Constituency has been sealed off from the world.

5. Radio New Zealand has stated that Australia is exerting pressure on South Africa to exert pressure on Zimbabwe.

(Source)

Zimbabwe officials began recounting ballots for two dozen legislative seats on Saturday, an exercise which could overturn the opposition’s landmark victory. Human rights groups continued to report allegations of beatings and torture of opponents deemed to have voted “wrongly” in the elections which humiliated long-time President Robert Mugabe. Three weeks after the March 29 vote, Zimbabweans are still awaiting results of the presidential vote which Mr Mugabe is widely believed to have lost. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai claims he won the election outright and that the delays are aimed at brutalising and intimidating voters and engineering a run-off vote. In one contested constituency, the Herald newspaper reported a failed petrol bomb attack on offices where ballot boxes were stored. The state-controlled paper quoted police as saying that three attackers threw a home-made bomb at the Gutu district administration office in the early hours of Friday, but that it did not explode. It said the attackers drove away when challenged by a police officer.

Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corp, also state-owned, reported that the recount could take as long as three days. The ruling party is challenging the count in 23 constituencies, most won by the opposition, including in Mr Mugabe’s home district of Zvimba. An opposition attempt to stop the recount was blocked in court on Friday. Earlier, a Zimbabwe court rejected an opposition appeal for the immediate release of the presidential results. Courts are stacked with Mr Mugabe loyalists. In Zvimba, officials excluded reporters as the count began in the presence of officials from the ruling and opposition parties as well as local observers. Reporters saw no international observers at Zvimba, although The Herald newspaper quoted officials of the Southern African Development Community as saying it had sent 50 monitors.

(Source)

The newly elected Councillor for ward 1 in Bulawayo, Eddie Manning and a colleague, Paddy Schalvyn were arrested on Tuesday for distributing a mild leaflet from the MDC about the stay away. The leaflet asked people to stay at home in protest at the failure by the State to release the results of the recent Presidential election, now three weeks over due.

Today, after three days in jail the two men were brought to court and found guilty and sentenced to 8 (eight) months in jail or a fine of Z$30000000000.00 (about R3000). This is outrageous and as the sentence was delivered this afternoon and we have a public holiday and a weekend coming it means they have to spend another 3 days in jail while we try to find the fine.

While they are in jail we have to feed them as the prison is unable to provide the food they need.

Where else in the world would this be called a crime! Where else would it attract such a sentence, this is a gross abuse of judicial authority.

(Source: via email)

Comment: First of all, sentencing these men to such a huge fine - or almost a year in prison beggars belief! Eight months for passing out some mildly worded leaflets? This is ‘justice’? But this sort of thing happens all the time in Zimbabwe. The same country that prosecutes a woman for calling Mugabe “Hitler” - when he calls himself “Hitler - tenfold”! Is agreeing with the soon-to-be-ex President a crime in Zimbabwe? Or was her crime for not acceding to his opinion that he is ten times worse than Hitler?

Take care.

‘debvhu