Messages From Zimbabwe

ZNU 130 is released this morning.

In this programme, I look at the remarks by Koffi Annan that the Zimbabwean crisis has “shamed Africa“, whilst I have another look at the failed opportunity of the free world to institute sanctions on Zimbabwe. I also look at how the crisis in Zimbabwe affects not only those inside the country, but Zimbabweans like myself, resident outside the country. And finally I look at the opinion of a Botswanan writer on the situation in Zimbabwe.

The programme can be heard by either using the multiplayers in the right hand sidebar of The Bearded Man blog, here or even downloaded from here.

My thanks for your continued support of my podcasts.

Take care.

‘debvhu

This article was in today’s “Sunday News”, the unofficial mouthpiece of Mugabe’s ZANU PF…

The country is under siege from die-hard colonialists who still have an ambition to colonize our beautiful Zimbabwe.

It will not succeed no matter what. The British and Americans, the people who recruited an erratic Morgan Tsvangirai to pose as an opposition activist at a time when he is their stooge, are front-runners.

 It is open to everybody to see that Morgan cannot run this country. I always try to show my friends now and then the weakness of Morgan.

 A man who presided over the split of his own party after the decision made by the MDC supreme body to participate in the 2005 senatorial elections, he willy-nilly breaks the constitution.

 He goes ahead with his culture and unconstitutionally fires Matibenga from her post in the women’s league.

Come election time he participates in all elections including the senatorial, which in the first election in 2005 labelled it a Zanu-PF project, then what has changed today?

He joins the presidential race and takes a lead in the first round then as the law state that in the presidential race the outright winner must attain51 percent of the votes, which was not there in the first round and possible forced a re-run.

 When sensing defeat he decided to jump in an unlawful manner. The electoral laws state that you can only chicken out of the race 21 days before the first round and not in the re-run.

 As a constitutional perennial violator he sees nothing wrong with that. I feel sorry for those who still see a leader in that man.

 For him to succeed in Zimbabwean politics, he should be taught about the importance of Pan-Africanism in politics of this liberated country.

Zimbabweans from all walks of life must guard jealously this beautiful country.

 Our African brothers have seen the light about the Western mechanisations.

 Swaziland does not qualify to comment on Zimbabwe and try to lecture us about democracy.

In Swaziland there is no opposition politics, by choice but all opposition ware banned.

 There is no independent paper (press), all this was banned. So what can Swazis say? Keep quiet.

 President Mugabe a champion of pan-Africanism should be supported by right thinking Zimbabweans.

 I would like to salute President Mbeki for standing his ground and showing these imperialists the capabilities of a true African leader.

 The erratic Morgan calls for inter-party talks and the elder statesman President Mugabe reciprocates.

 Morgan decides to boycott since he is a perennial boycotter.

 The talks were endorsed by the decision making body of his party but as a perennial constitution violator, he defies his party for the umpteenth time.

 He is a career opposition leader not Head of State.

 If we really love our country let’s forget about the election perennial loser, the perennial constitutional violator.

 Ian Khama, the Botswana leader has been against us “akusimangalisi ulwela omalumakhe amaBritish”.

 His mother is a die-hard British citizen. Blood is thicker than water.

 So do not be shocked by Mr Khama’s behaviour.

 Mwanawasa confessed the pressure from the British.

 Odinga is corruptly a prime minister in Kenya, he was cut from the same cloth with Morgan, so what can you expect. Zimbabwe will never be a colony again.

Mlweliwezwe Mthimkhulu, Bulawayo.

(Source)

Zimbabwe’s troubled central bank introduced new $100 billion banknotes Saturday in a desperate bid to ease the recurrent cash shortages plaguing the inflation-ravaged economy.

The new bills, officially come into circulation Monday but they on already on the foreign currency dealers market Saturday.

As high as they are, though, the new bills still aren’t enough to buy a loaf of bread. They can only buy four oranges.

Once-prosperous Zimbabwe has seen an unprecedented economic meltdown since its independence from Great Britain in 1980, with the official inflation rate now at 2.2 million percent.

(Source)

President Thabo Mbeki’s attempt to engage African Union Commissioner Jean Ping as a part-time negotiator in Zimbabwe’s power-sharing talks has been rejected by Morgan Tsvangirai, who says his appointment must be all or nothing. Despite the insistence on the part of South Africa’s Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad that Mbeki’s meeting with Ping on Friday will be purely procedural and for briefing purposes only, the Cape Times has learnt that the SADC facilitator had hoped the AU commissioner would join the negotiating table for a brief period in a bid to appease the Movement for Democratic Changes’s point of contention. The MDC has repeatedly said it did not trust Mbeki as an honest broker and has insisted meaningful dialogue could only take place when a non-SADC permanent envoy joined the negotiating table. The MDC says the issue is not negotiable.

The latest rebuttal comes as Zimbabwe’s main rival parties attempted to hammer out a so-called Memo of Understanding that would guide a two-week round of intensive negotiations this month around the issue of an inclusive government. The deadline for their considerations was today. However, with a number of issues still outstanding, the prospect of reaching consensus anytime soon is looking increasingly unlikely. It is understood that the weighting of the Senate, outlined in the draft MoU as 52-48 in favour of ZANU PF, is unacceptable to the MDC. Despite the failure on the part of the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on Zimbabwe, the MDC appears to be holding the greatest bargaining power. With Parliament due to be convened tomorrow, it is not clear how Robert Mugabe will react to the MDC’s apparent unwillingness to come on board and whether he will constitute a cabinet of his picking.

(Source)

The annual rate of inflation in Zimbabwe, already the highest in the world, has hit a new record level of 2.2 million percent, the central bank’s governor revealed on Wednesday.

“Statistics provided by the CSO (central statistical office) indicate that it is now at 2.2 (million percent),” Gideon Gono said in a brief address in Harare ahead of a speech by veteran President Robert Mugabe.

The figure is the first from the authorities in Zimbabwe since the announcement of the rate for February, when it was put at around 165,000 percent.

The head of the CSO, Moffat Nyoni, confirmed the figure but said it was only a rough barometer as it was based on limited data.

“We can confirm that that is the figure we have given to… users, but that is not the sort of data we would normally publish with confidence because it was not based on the sort of information we would normally use,” Nyoni told AFP.

“The information was based on fewer observations than we would be confident with due to scarcities.

“However, with the information we have managed to obtain, this is the rate of inflation.”

Mugabe, who was controversially re-elected for a sixth term in office last month in a ballot boycotted by the opposition, said that increasing levels of production was key to efforts to tame inflation.

“As a country our declared battle against the scourge of high inflation must be accomplished,” he said.

“The more goods we have, the less demand there will be…. Once demand is satisfied, then prices will begin to fall.”

The 84-year-old president, who has frequently blamed the country’s economic woes on a package of targeted sanctions imposed by the West, reiterated his attack on the “illegal” measures.

“We must be of one accord. The sanctions must be defeated,” he said.

Once one of Africa’s best peforming economies, Zimbabwe has been in meltdown since the turn of the decade when Mugabe embarked on a controversial land reform programme which saw thousands of white-owned farms seized by the state.

Inflation first passed the 1,000 percent threshold in May 2006 and has been rising almost continuously ever since.

The government has tried a series of measures designed to slow down the inflation juggernaut, including ordering shops and businesses to effectively halve the price of basic goods last year.

The plan was abandoned after it led to widespread shortages in shops.

Retailers now have to increase their prices several times a day for goods purchased with billion dollar bank notes.

With salaries lagging ever further behind the cost of living, many Zimbabweans now make do with only a meal a day and have long given up on so-called luxuries such as jam.

Even staples such as bread and cornmeal are now hard to come by, costing several weeks’ wages.

Urban areas have been hardest hit with rural areas managing to overcome the worst affects of what Gono has called Zimbabwe’s “economic HIV” by growing their own produce.

(Source)

Zimbabwe’s rival parties were locked in talks in Harare last night, putting the finishing touches to a draft document intended to pave the way for power-sharing negotiations to begin later this week. Even in its draft form, however, the so-called memo of understanding is already dividing the three parties it aims to unite. Scheduled to be signed tomorrow, the document was to lay the ground rules for a two-week round of intensive negotiations during which ZANU PF and both factions of the Movement for Democratic Change would discuss the formation of an inclusive government to put an end to the crisis. However, Morgan Tsvangirai’s wing of the MDC insist they won’t sign the draft until their demands are met. They are calling for the appointment of an African Union envoy to the Southern African Development Community-led talks, the release of all political prisoners, cessation of violence and disbandment of all militias before they join the negotiating table.

With just 24 hours to go until the scheduled signing ceremony, Tsvangirai suggested time was not on the negotiators’ side. “We will not sign until the conditions are met,” he said last night. “And Wednesday is too early” to get those conditions in place, he added. Even if the MDC conditions are met, the MDC’s chief negotiator, Tendai Biti, believes “ZANU PF will not budge on real issues of governance”. However, a member of President Robert Mugabe’s party, who spoke on condition of anonymity, suggested otherwise. He said finding a solution was in everybody’s interest. What ZANU PF is likely to do next if the MDC refuses to sign the memo of understanding is unclear. Under Zimbabwe’s constitution, the new parliament should be convened on Thursday, when a new cabinet should also be appointed. However, if the MDC refuses to agree to talks tomorrow, Mugabe could well constitute a cabinet of his own picking a day later - something the other parties would hope to avoid.

(Source)

The Movement for Democratic Change appreciates the focus of the United Nation Security Council on the Zimbabwean crisis.

We acknowledge that the Security Council has recognized the magnitude of the problems facing Zimbabwe and their impact on the southern African region.

The international community has recognised that the violence in Zimbabwe is state-sanctioned. Over a hundred people have been killed, many thousands beaten, tortured and displaced and millions now facing economic hardship and starvation.

The suffering of the Zimbabwean people is worsening every day and a peaceful negotiated transition is urgently required.

In light of this, the MDC calls upon the African Union to work with SADC in establishing the framework in which a negotiated solution can be formulated.

The MDC would like to express its gratitude to countries and organisations that continue to support the Zimbabwean people in their struggle for freedom and stability.

Ends….

(Source)

In a dramatic change in policy, South Africa has agreed to an “incremental” threat of UN sanctions against Zimbabwe. It’s a move that Zimbabwe has warned the Security Council could push the country toward civil war. Contrary to Pretoria’s steadfast position against even putting its neighbour on the Security Council agenda, South Africa has argued that the Mugabe regime should at least be given a 30-day warning of impending sanctions. According to diplomats in closed-door discussions at the Security Council this week, South African ambassador Dumisani Kumalo argued for threatening sanctions as an alternative to immediate imposition, as proposed in a US and British draft resolution. “We have been standing still and now you want to go 200 miles per hour,” Kumalo was quoted by diplomats as saying.

Kumalo pointed to a long tradition of Security Council sanctions, which have usually been preceded by 30- or 60-day warnings. Until the shift, SA had consistently argued that Zimbabwe should not be discussed at the council, as it did not meet the UN Charter’s criteria of threatening international peace and security. The tough American and British resolution would immediately slap an arms embargo on Zimbabwe, and financial and travel sanctions on a list of 12 high-ranking Zimbabwe officials, starting with President Robert Mugabe. Zimbabwe’s UN mission said, in a letter provided by the UN yesterday, that the punitive measures proposed by the US and Britain against President Robert Mugabe’s government could turn Zimbabwe into another Somalia, where warring factions have clashed for 17 years.

Those sanctions, the mission said, would lead to the removal of Zimbabwe’s “effective government and, most probably, start a civil war in the country because, in their obsession with ‘regime change’, Britain and the US are determined to ignore real, entrenched, fundamental and enduring issues that lie at the heart of Zimbabwe’s internal politics”. The mission claimed the nation was not at war with itself, posed no threat to its neighbours or any other country, and would put the Security Council in the position of becoming “a force-multiplier in support of Britain’s colonial crusade against Zimbabwe“. Mugabe’s government acknowledged through its UN mission “some isolated and localised cases of violence have indeed occurred in Zimbabwe” since the March 29 vote. But the mission’s letter accused Tsvangirai’s opposition party of “premeditation, planning, stage management and exaggeration of this violence, with ever-increasing signs of very active British and American encouragement and collusion, as part of a grand strategy aimed at inviting foreign intervention in Zimbabwe“.

Despite some anticipation, the US decided not to present its resolution for a vote yesterday. Diplomats said it would most likely be voted on at the weekend. Though Russia has expressed opposition to the resolution, diplomats speculated a veto would be an extreme move by Moscow. Nine votes, without a veto, are required for passage on the 15-member Security Council. The United States can count eight yes votes or abstentions. The ninth vote belongs to Burkina Faso, which is being lobbied hard for its support by both sides, diplomats said. American diplomats are said to be unconcerned about disturbing talks in Pretoria between the MDC and ZANU PF. ZANU PF and the MDC met yesterday in Pretoria for the first time since the controversial presidential run-off elections on June 27.

They advanced tentative power-sharing proposals, but are still divided on who will lead a coalition. In a phone interview with The Star yesterday, Tsvangirai said: “This is not talks. This is talks about talks.” As day one of the talks came to a close last night, The Star was reliably informed that ZANU PF wanted “an inclusive government”, in which Tsvangirai would be given “a senior post”, with Mugabe as executive president. For its part, the MDC was pushing for Tsvangirai to be installed as prime minister, with executive powers, with Mugabe as ceremonial president.

(Source)

MADRID (AFP) - Equatorial Guinea’s only opposition legislator said in an interview published Friday the situation in his country is worse than in Zimbabwe, but Western nations turn a blind eye because of its oil reserves.

“The situation is worse than in Zimbabwe,” Placido Mico Abogo said of the west African country, ruled with an iron fist by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema.

“The opposition has no political presence. There are no unions or professional associations. There is no media that escapes the government’s control,” he told Spanish newspaper El Pais.

“In Zimbabwe, there are independent tribunals. In our case, the judges have been appointed by Obiang and many belong to his party, even though that is illegal,” said the secretary general of the Convergence for Social Democracy Party (CPDS).

The CPDS is the country’s only true opposition party, and Placido Mico Abogo is its only deputy in parliament.

He said legislative elections in May, won overwhelmingly by Obiang’s ruling party and its allies, were “the most violent and manipulated” in history.

The lack of response by Western nations, which contrasts with their protests at the recent disputed re-election of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, is due to their oil interests in the country.

“The policies of the United States in Equatorial Guinea is to ensure the exploitation of its (oil) reserves, which means it is complicit in the dictatorship,” he said.

He also denounced the “backward step” by former colonial power Spain in its attitude toward the regime.

“The silence is the best ally of all dictatorships,” he said.

Obiang, who has been in power since a 1979 coup which ousted his uncle, has been frequently accused of violating human rights.

Equatorial Guinea currently ranks as sub-Saharan Africa’s third crude oil producer and has had double digit economic growth for several years, although the population enjoys little of the wealth generated.

Most live in dire poverty and the country ranks 127th out of 177 countries in the UN Development Programme’s human development index rankings, despite a per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of 7,874 dollars (just over 5,000 euros), making it the 73rd richest country in the world by GDP.

(Source)