Messages From Zimbabwe

After allegedly murdering a whistle blowing Zimbabwe Election Commission official, state agents last weekend forcibly took the body of Ignatius Mushangwe from his Waterfalls home and buried it in the Mukumba Village of Chihota. A report by the Zimbabwe Times website quotes a family member saying Mushangwe was meant to be buried at the Granville Cemetery in Harare by his family. However agents from the notorious Central Intelligence Organization forced his wife and eldest son to sign a letter consenting to the burial in Chihota. The wife protested the forced change but was told ‘security concerns’ warranted his burial outside Harare. The website reports that, ‘a family member was then force-marched to the Registrar of Births and Deaths to change the burial order so the burial would now take place in Chihota.’

The CIO are said to have taken over the entire funeral with several agents present at the burial. Viewing of the body was confined to ‘very close family members.’ A source confirmed that the agents claimed they had orders from the Presidents Office to carry out a hasty burial. ‘By the time many people arrived in the village, he had already been buried. He was buried by strangers, with very few of his family members there to witness the burial. We are completely at a loss of words,’ a source told the website. More details are emerging on the murder of Mushangwe who allegedly spilled the beans on how Mugabe’s regime planned to print surplus ballot papers to rig the June 27 Presidential run-off. An intelligence source has claimed that the ZEC director of training and development was, ‘murdered by a hit-squad from the military intelligence, allegedly led by one Staff Sergeant Makwande, to silence him in an operation that was approved by the Joint Operations Command (JOC).’

The source described the assassination as, ‘a dry operation, a dry disposal’ because it was carried out in a hurry. After being kidnapped in June, Mushangwe’s partially charred body was found dumped in Norton last week. Liberty Mupakati, a former civil servant who worked with Mushangwe, told Newsreel on Thursday that the hasty burial was meant to keep the media away and prevent photographs and other forms of recording. He said the idea was to limit exposure of the issue as much as possible and so control levels of outrage. He gave an example of the body viewing being confined to close relatives as another attempt at diluting the impact of his brutal death.

(Source)

Eddie Cross on the new South African president’s failure to press for change in Zimbabwe

Nothing could illustrate the failure of African leadership more clearly than the farce that took place in Harare this weekend. Following the debacle last week when Morgan Tsvangirai refused to travel on an emergency travel document restricted to Swaziland, the SADC organ on politics and security convened in Harare this Monday. It was attended by the Presidents of South Africa and Mozambique as well as the Prime Minister of Swaziland and an official from Angola.

They know exactly what the problem is - in March the MDC beat Zanu PF in a closely contested election and its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai beat Mugabe by a wide margin. These leaders know that Morgan got more than 50 per cent of the vote - I understand his actual vote was 54 per cent but after five weeks of procrastination and desperate efforts to falsify the poll the Junta was forced to admit that Mugabe had been beaten but that Tsvangirai had received less than 50 per cent and would have to face a run off.

The South Africans know full well that the real result was a clear victory for MDC and a humiliation for Mugabe, but went along with the charade and allowed the run off to take place. What followed was three months of intense political violence unleashed on the population by 100 000 youth militia under military leadership in over 2000 camps spread throughout the country.

When finally it became apparent that any attempt by the MDC to monitor the election would be faced with violence and even the murder of MDC polling agents, the MDC decided to pull out of the contest. Zanu PF went ahead and in complete contrast to the March election, Mugabe was declared the winner in 48 hours and sworn in, in unseemly haste.

The African observer missions then turned Zanu’s world upside down by declaring that the election had ‘not been a reflection of the people’s will’ and stating that Mugabe had not been elected President. Battered and bruised, the MDC and the hapless electorate picked themselves up and were then faced with a demand by SADC leaders that they ‘resume’ the talks with Zanu PF under the mediation of Thabo Mbeki.

Mbeki picked up from where his previous mediation had left off, as if nothing had happened in the interim. We are now 4 months down the road on that new initiative and having agreed and signed a power sharing agreement on the 15th September; we are still trying to get the deal implemented. In signing the deal, the MDC massively compromised its rights as the Party that had won the elections outright in March.

Mugabe, who by all accounts lost the election in March and certainly has no legal or democratic justification to call himself President, continues to act as if he had won the election and Hansard still lists all ZANU PF ministers and Deputy Ministers as Ministers of Government. No doubt they are still on their full salaries and perks even though a number of them were defeated by MDC in the election in March and all of them were stood down as Ministers when Parliament was sworn in a few weeks ago.

Just to compound this situation Mugabe is treated as a State President by SADC and given full political and diplomatic recognition. The so called ‘Global Agreement’ provides for a clear separation of powers between the Prime Minister and the President and also sets out in precise terms how the different arms of government are expected to work together.

Only an idiot could interpret the agreement as meaning that ZANU PF is still in charge and MDC is the junior partner. It is self evident that the allocation of ministerial portfolios should be divided equitably, So when, after weeks of pointless argument ZANU PF published an allocation of Ministerial portfolios that gave ZANU PF complete control of the security machinery of the state as well as all resource ministries and left the rest to the MDC, it was a step too far.

That brought the region back into the process and gave us the hope that the regional leadership would recognise the illogical and unacceptable nature of such an allocation and impose a solution on the local players that made sense. First it was Mbeki and he made a hash of things - actually endorsing the ZANU PF allocation of posts! Then came the Troika and the aborted meeting in Swaziland.

Morgan had raised the issue of his passport with the negotiators and when he was issued with a Emergency Travel Document with a single destination restriction he refused to travel. In fact the issue goes far beyond just the question of withholding his travel documents (the passport has been ready for weeks and is sitting in the desk of the Registrar General) it was just the latest of a series of incidents that show that the Junta in Harare has no intention of allowing the new government to be formed.

They are continuing to restrict and interfere with food distribution by the international community. They have retained tight control over commercial food distribution. The security forces continue to attack any attempts by civil society to support the negotiation process and the media is as warped and restricted as ever. There has been no attempt to implement the ‘Global Agreement’ in any form up to now.

When Morgan Tsvangirai failed to attend the Troika meeting it was aborted and reorganised for Harare a week later. In Harare the key player was always going to be the new President of South Africa, Mr. Motlanthe. This was his first real test when it comes to foreign affairs and for most of us it seemed completely logical that he would step up to the plate and smash a home run.

But no - after 13 hours of intense ‘negotiations’ they came out of the closet and issued a statement that did not change one single element in the situation (see here). The issue would go a full meeting of SADC Heads of State in two weeks time. What an even larger group of hopeless leaders will do is difficult to imagine. The key player remains Motlanthe, he alone has the power and influence to force a resolution and it just that that is required. The Junta will never give up power without the use of force in whatever form and if that is not going to come from the streets, it has to come diplomatically behind closed doors.

In 1976 that pressure came from the South Africans in support of an initiative by the American Secretary of State, in 1979 it was pressure from Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania. The only question now is who will do the necessary in 2008?

While this charade is being played out, southern Africa burns. In the midst of the global financial crisis, we look indecisive and ineffective. By failing to take crucial decisions on issues such as inter Party violence in South Africa and the resolution of the crisis in Zimbabwe - all within our own clear competence, we are failing our respective countries, the region and our people’s best interests.

It was up to the Secretary General of the United Nations to spell out what was needed. He called for an equitable allocation of Ministerial portfolios and the formation of a new government in Harare as soon as possible. He said that only such a move would bring the political and economic crisis under control. He is right, are our leaders up to it this time? Failure is just that would be ‘too ghastly to contemplate’.

(Source)

Tuesday 28 October 2008, Harvest House, Harare

Fellow Zimbabweans, members of the media fraternity, the Extra-Ordinary Summit of the SADC Organ on Politics Defence and Security Cooperation Troika concluded in the early hours of the 28th of October 2008. In the communiqué released by the Troika, pursuant to this summit, the Troika has decided to refer the Zimbabwe issue to a full summit of SADC which should be held as soon as possible.

On our part, we thank the Troika for yet again sacrificing their time, patience and experience on the issue of Zimbabwe, more particularly, President Monthlante of South Africa and President Guebuzza of Mozambique and every other leader who attended the summit. Zimbabwe is privileged that it can count as friends, countries in the region and distinguished African statesmen such as President Guebuzza and President Monthlante.

It is regrettable that the Troika could not narrow the gaps between the Zimbabwe parties. In our view, an urgent summit towards the resolution of the Zimbabwe crisis is paramount. Zimbabweans are suffering and dying. The State has dismally failed to provide the least basic social amenities and our people have been reduced to a primitive mode of production in depths that have not been known even in many warring situations.

At the core of our differences, in our view, is the lack of sincerity and good faith on the part of ZANU PF. The fact that contrary to the Global Political Agenda (GPA), ZANU PF is still interfering with the distribution of humanitarian assistance, and the fact that it is still emasculating basic freedoms is equally unacceptable.

We condemn in the strongest language the recent assaults of the members of the Zimbabwe Students Union (ZINASU) and the continued incarceration of the members of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA).

Even yesterday as the dialogue process was in progress, ZANU PF had the audacity of insulting and assaulting civic society and MDC activists who were merely expressing their freedom of expression. That lack of sincerity is demonstrated in the total disrespect of the MDC and its leader Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai and the attempt to reduce the same to disinterested bystanders in the cooperative government despite the fact that it is the MDC that has the legitimate peoples’ mandate following its victory on the 29th of March 2008.

It is our hope that the SADC Summit will be convened with utmost urgency to deliberate on the outstanding issues;

1. The first critical outstanding issue is the allocation of portfolio ministries as enshrined in Article 20.1.6 (5) of the GPA. On this issue, the firm position of the MDC is that there are fundamental principles that are key, not just to the MDC, but to the people of Zimbabwe.

1.1. There cannot be responsibility without authority and,

1.2. There has to be equitable distribution of portfolio ministries.

In this regard the MDC has suggested a methodology in respect of which the key ministries are paired in the orders of importance and relative equality. We identified 10 (ten) key ministries which we believe are supposed to be shared equitably. For instance, we have paired Home Affairs to Defence, Justice and Legal Affairs to Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs, Mines and Minerals Development to Environment and Youth to Women. In our view equity and responsibility with authority can be achieved if the ministries are therefore allocated on the basis of the above methodology.

However, there is an attempt to ignore or overlook these fundamental principles and hence the claim in some circles that only the Portfolio Ministry of Home Affairs is outstanding. Nothing can be further from the truth.

2. The second outstanding issue is the appointment of the ten Provincial Governors in line with the outcome of the 29th of March elections.

3. The third outstanding issue is the question of the composition, functions and constitution of the National Security Council. This is a critical issue in view of the dangerous and partisan role that has been displayed by the intelligence services in this country.

4. The fourth outstanding issue pertains to the appointment of Permanent Secretaries and Ambassadors.

5. The fifth outstanding issue is the question of Constitutional Amendment No. 19 which is the legal document that is necessary and conditional in bringing the GPA into life.

6. The last point is the morally irreprehensible fact that the fraudulent alteration of the agreement of the 11th of September 2008 and the one that was signed on the 15th of September 2008. It is our understanding that the Troika in fact made a resolution that it is the agreement of the 11th of September 2008 that should be binding and we are indeed surprised that it was not captured in the communiqué.

From the above, it is clear that there is so much that still has to be done and a lot of goodwill, patience and wisdom, which so far has not been evident or has not been exercised.

On our part, we are fully alive to the historical obligations on our shoulders and the expectations of Zimbabweans. However, the one instruction that those suffering and abused people have been telling us at our massive rallies at Zimbabwe Grounds, Mkoba Stadium, Mutungagore Primary School, White City Stadium, Mamutse Stadium and all over Zimbabwe is a bold but simple one, A BAD DEAL IS NO DEAL AT ALL.

TENDAI BITI, MP

MDC SECRETARY GENERAL

(Source: via Skype)

A fourth ‘hidden’ political party has joined Zimbabwe’s power sharing talks further scuttling the process of forming an all-inclusive Government meant to bring the much-awaited stability to the country.

Members of ZAPU, a liberation struggle movement that was swallowed by ZANU PF during the formation of Unity Accord in 1987, have now come up in open saying they wanted the Government to honor promises that were made during the accord.

When the accord, was signed after five years of civil strive, it was agreed that although the two parties ZANU PF and ZAPU will form one part, the members of the ZAPU are supposed to get the post of the Vice President and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Since the accord this status quo has remained but now faces a test, as the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai is demanding the same portfolio during the current negotiations.
It is the issue of the Home Affairs ministry that has led to an impasse between ZANU PF and MDC that is threatening to tear the agreement apart

ZANU PF spokesman Patrick Chinamasa said ZANU PF could not let go the ministry since according to the Unity Accord, the portfolio was allocated to ZAPU.

“That is not negotiable. We cannot throw away the Unity Accord because of the MDC. The Home Affairs ministry belongs to ZAPU,” said Chinamasa.

However Chinamasa remarks have raised condemnation from political analysts and the e MDC.

MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said ZANU PF cannot bring in-house issues into the new negotiations.

“That is an in-house issue and they have to see how they will solve it. What we know is that we are negotiations with ZANU PF and the other MDC led by Mutambara and not ZAPU,” he said.

Political analysts have also said this was a sign of double standards by ZANU PF.

They noted that on the other hand ZANU PF goes around and say the two parties were united so they was no more ZAPU, but want to bring back the part only when it suits them.

“If it suits them, there is no ZAPU, but if it does then ZAPU is there. This is a sign of double standards and we cannot expect in houses issues to be brought when there is a new dispensation. Are they trying to say that the MDC must also bring some old alliances in the talks as well? It will cause more confusion,” said a political commentator with the University of Science and Technology.

Although political leaders in the country signed a power sharing deal in mid September, they have failed to form a new Government over the issue of allocation of ministers.

The MDC is accusing ZANU PF of trying to grab all the key ministries.

Chief negotiator and former South African President Thabo Mbeki spend four days in Zimbabwe trying to broker a deal but failed.

He referred the matter to SADC who failed to meet after the Government failed to issue Tsvangirai with a passport. The meeting will now be held on Monday.

(Source)

When the supermarkets do get some maize meal in they only accept cash money for it, with the Reserve Bank restrictions on withdrawal amounts most the populace go hungry. I as a business owner in Chiredzi have been unable to purchase food for my hungry staff for the last 2 weeks. I am now on a new system of payment and will soon be able to purchase this maize meal for them when it is available.

Hundreds of people in and around Chiredzi are surviving purely on stolen sugar cane, there are wads of chewed sugar cane every where, on the bush paths you see many people carrying large stacks of can and eating it at the same time, everybody is chewing sugar cane here.

There are many reports of starvation coming out of the communal areas; the worst to suffer are firstly children and then the women.

Local businesses and I am sure that this goes for the whole of Zimbabwe, are refusing to accept cheques as payment and are now demanding fuel or forex instead. This is firstly because of the withdrawal limit of $1o,ooo and $20,000 set by the Reserve bank on businesses and private accounts respectively. How do companies pay their staff or buy food for them when only allowed to withdraw such a little?

Secondly if businesses are paid by cheque, by the time that it has registered in the account usually 3 to 5 days, they have more than lost their profit because of the hyper inflation.

This will mean a lot less business for the banks.

If Zimbabweans had a real free and fair election now I doubt that Mugabe and his ZANU PF party would get more than 10% of the votes, most in his party have relatives who are in dire straights and starving in the communal areas.

Gerry Whitehead

(Source: by email)

Opposition party leaders and diplomats have described the power-sharing agreement signed on September 15 as a “forgery” after it was discovered the document was an altered version of the original one agreed to on September 11. The issue has brought into question circumstances surrounding the deal which has caused anger and infighting in ZANU PF and the MDC. The parties are divided over the deal and have of late been battling to seal widening cracks. The September 15 document that was signed at the Rainbow Towers Hotel in Harare by President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai, and deputy prime minister-designate Arthur Mutambara with facilitator former South African President Thabo Mbeki, contains crucial omissions. Sources said the main MDC faction’s chief negotiator Tendai Biti has written to Mbeki about the changes - which he described as a “forgery” - and was assured that the issue would be rectified.

It is not known who made the alterations, but the agreement was tampered with after it was given to ZANU PF to allow government to do official binding and inserting in folders. In the September 11 document signed by all leaders, Section 20.1.7 which deals with senior government appointments states that “the parties agree that with respect to occupants of senior government positions such as permanent secretaries and ambassadors, the leadership of government, comprising the president, deputy presidents, prime minister and the deputy prime ministers will consult and agree on such prior to their appointment”. The paragraph is missing in the September 15 agreement. In place of that paragraph in the final agreement, Section 20.1.7 now has “Senate”. Even then the senate issue was changed.

In the September 11 agreement, the paragraph on the senate, Section 20.1.9 read: “The president shall, in his discretion, appoint five persons to the existing positions of presidential senatorial appointments. There shall be created an additional six (6) appointed senatorial posts, which shall be filled by persons appointed by the president, four (4) of whom will be nominated by MDC-T and two (2) by MDC-M.” This was changed in the final agreement. The final agreement now reads: “The president shall, in his discretion, appoint five persons to the existing positions of presidential senatorial appointments. “There shall be created an additional nine (9) appointed senatorial posts, which shall be filled by persons appointed by the president of whom three (3) will be nominated by ZANU PF, 3 by MDC-T and 3 by MDC-M”.

MDC leaders and diplomats said although the changes do not fundamentally alter the balance of power as enshrined in the agreement, they do raise questions of “chicanery” during the talks. “In criminal law this is called forgery,” a senior MDC official said. “We have raised this with Mbeki and we were assured that the issue would be rectified.” One diplomat said: “Although these issues appear minor, the question is not the alterations per se, but the motive behind it. Who did it and why?” Tsvangirai recently referred to this as “omissions” at a press briefing and indicated the issue was part of outstanding matters in the talks.

(Source)

Prime Minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai has slammed President Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF for negotiating in bad faith over the allocation of government ministries and other aspects of the power-sharing agreement.

Tsvangirai’s assault on Mugabe came just days before the resumption on Monday of talks on the distribution of ministries which have been dragging on for about a month.

The attack reveals renewed tensions between the two bitter political rivals. The move is also part of Tsvangirai’s broad strategy to mobilise regional and international opinion against Mugabe ahead of the talks in Harare on Monday.

Tsvangirai told African diplomats yesterday in the capital that Mugabe and his party were not honest in the talks as shown by his failure to attend the Sadc troika meeting in Mbabane, Swaziland, earlier this week. The MDC leader briefed diplomats on the talks on allocation of ministries, the ground covered so far, and the problems encountered.

Sources said he spoke about what he described as Mugabe’s lack of sincerity in the talks, disrespect for African leaders and institutions, deception, acting in bad faith, and giving the MDC responsibilities without authority.

Tsvangirai is said to have expressed frustration with the way Mugabe has been behaving since the signing of the main agreement last month. It is understood he also dealt with the issue of former South African president Thabo Mbeki whom he said was not an impartial mediator.

This followed Mbeki’s report to the Sadc troika, which endorsed Mugabe’s gazetting of ministries on October 10, including the allocation of finance to Tsvangirai and rotation of Home Affairs between ZANU PF and the main MDC faction.

The MDC leader also dealt with the controversial issue of his passport, which he has been denied by the government.

Tsvangirai failed to attend a Sadc meeting in Swaziland on Monday due to problems over his travel document. He is currently using an emergency travel document because he has no passport. The government claims it cannot give him a new passport because it has no special paper to process it due to targeted sanctions by the West which they blame on the MDC.

Before briefing African diplomats yesterday, Tsvangirai had on Wednesday also briefed envoys from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The OECD is an international organisation of 30 countries that accept the principles of representative democracy and free-market economies.

Those present at the meeting, held at the Spanish ambassador’s residence, were from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada, Austria, Italy, Greece, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Portugal.

Tsvangirai said the fallout over his passport, which symbolised the limit on freedom of movement, was evidence that Mugabe was not sincere. He also wondered why Mugabe flew to Swaziland on a state aircraft, using public resources and leaving him behind.

Leader of the smaller formation of the MDC Arthur Mutambara on Monday attacked government over the Tsvangirai passport saga and warned that if the talks failed he would not join government, but would instead campaign for its further isolation.

South Africa’s governing ANC leader Jacob Zuma this week criticised as “weird” government’s decision not to give Tsvangirai a passport to go to Swaziland.

“Now you cannot have this kind of a situation when you are dealing with such an important matter. One of the very key figures cannot attend because he does not have a passport. I think that sounds weird,” Zuma said.

“If we have a package that has been agreed upon, hailed by the world, why should we have difficulty implementing it? After all, this is not a permanent arrangement. We are talking about an interim arrangement. Why should it be so difficult?”

Sources said Tsvangirai told diplomats that for the MDC the “bottom line in the deadlock and its resolution was the ministries of finance and home affairs”. Talks broke down last week largely over home affairs.

However, the MDC says there is still a problem over ministries of local government, foreign affairs, lands and agriculture, information, women, youth, justice and defence. Although defence has gone to Mugabe as the head of state and government, the MDC is using it to bargain for home affairs.

The failure by Mugabe and MDC leaders to agree on ministries has taken the Zimbabwe crisis back into the international spotlight. Top United Nations envoy Haile Menkerios, who is involved in the Zimbabwe issue as part of the mediation, was yesterday set to discuss the political crisis with Swaziland’s King Mswati, the chair of the Sadc organ on politics, defence and security.

The talks come three days after Mswati failed to host the Sadc meeting in Mbabane due to the passport saga.

Menkerios, also set to discuss the conflict in Congo and other regional security issues with Mswati, was expected to put pressure on the Swazi leader to get tougher with Mugabe on the issue. Sadc leaders are growing impatient with Mugabe, diplomats say.

Menkerios on Tuesday voiced confidence that a deal would be reached in Zimbabwe on Monday.

“I am confident that a deal will be reached between the two because both sides know by now that there is no other way but to sit down and reach an agreement,” he said in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The MDC said yesterday Tsvangirai would attend the Harare meeting on Monday.

(Source)

Inflation is somewhere in the millions - or perhaps the billions - and the economy is the fastest shrinking on Earth. But Zimbabwe is the “best investment opportunity” in Africa, financiers at a seminar in South Africa have heard. In the surreal atmosphere of President Robert Mugabe’s domain, this proposition may have a certain logic. Throughout the economic meltdown, Zimbabwe’s stock market has soared because hyperinflation means that people must pour their money into shares to preserve its value. On Monday, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) industrials index rose by over 241 per cent. During the investment seminar, a live feed of ZSE prices showed many stocks going up by several hundred per cent, with the leader, Zimnat, up 1,150 per cent in a day. There were no fallers. Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Dollar plummeted, falling to 306.8 million against its US counterpart in the course of a morning. But Sean Gammon, managing director of Imara Capital Zimbabwe, believes there will be immense investment potential when Zimbabwe experiences political change and currency reforms. When outside aid begins to flow and hyperinflation is tamed, the Zimbabwe Dollar will appreciate rapidly.

“It’s the best opportunity in Africa at the moment. It’s risk and reward but the potential upsides are great,” he said. His firm has sent between $250 and $300 million of foreign investment into Zimbabwe in the last three years, he said. But the flow has decreased in recent months as the regime tries to lock funds inside Zimbabwe by making it more difficult to transfer foreign currency out again. For some would-be buyers, the potential is huge. Khati Mokhobo, the director of new business development for Sun International, a hotel chain, said he was looking to spend $100 million to buy and refurbish a property in Victoria Falls. “It was once quite popular with foreign tourists. If the political situation is resolved it could be restored to its former glory. We would consider moving in before the political situation is resolved if you could find the right property. The better option would be buy now and hold, take a view on the future and wait for things to change,” he said.

(Source)

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki is on a collision course with Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party after he endorsed President Robert Mugabe’s controversial decision to award his ruling ZANU PF party all the powerful ministries that the opposition want shared equally. Mbeki’s decision, contained in his facilitator’s report of which we have a copy, is likely to derail his entire mediation exercise in Zimbabwe as the MDC has come out with guns blazing and written him a “scathing response” telling the ousted South African leader that he has outlived his usefulness as mediator and must therefore quit. In his report, Mbeki largely supports the allocation of portfolios as unilaterally gazetted by Mugabe two weeks back with a few amendments proposed during Mbeki’s failed mediation mission last week.

“The facilitation commends the current allocation of ministerial posts to the parties for their adoption,” said Mbeki’s report in reference to the allocation decreed by Mugabe plus the few variations to the finance and home affairs portfolios. To the extent possible, all the parties have been allocated portfolios which allow them to have a presence in each of the priority sectors identified above.” Mbeki was referring to the urgent priority sectors identified in the power-sharing agreement signed on September 15. These seven priority tasks for the new unity government were the restoration of economic stability, delivery of social services, the rule of law, adoption of a new constitution, the land question, restructuring state organs and institutions, and national healing, cohesion and unity. Mbeki argued that these priority tasks should define which among the portfolios would serve as key ministries and should also be regarded as the common standard of measuring equity in power sharing. He then went on to analyse the ministries as allocated by Mugabe against each of the seven priority areas above.

The former President concluded that Mugabe’s gazetted list was fair as it would allow all three parties to play a role in these priority tasks, an argument fiercely rejected by Tsvangirai’s MDC (MDC-T). Mugabe had already rejected MDC-T’s proposal on allotting ministries submitted to Mbeki. For instance, Mbeki said MDC-T would play a key role in the priority area of writing a new constitution as it had been allocated the Ministry of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs. Mbeki also endorsed a proposal by Arthur Mutambara, who heads a breakaway faction of the MDC, and supported by Mugabe for Tsvangirai and ZANU PF to share the Ministry of Home Affairs on a rotational six-month basis. This, he said, would enable both parties to partake in the other priority task of restoring the rule of law. But the proposal had been rejected as not feasible by Tsvangirai who wanted sole control of home affairs, responsible for the police, since Mugabe already controlled state security and defence.

In Mbeki’s view, the list gazetted by Mugabe would allow Tsvangirai to play a key role in the priority area of restoration of economic stability since he would control the Ministry of Finance, which Mugabe had agreed to relinquish, as well as other ministries like economic planning and investment promotions, energy and power development, state enterprises and parastatals. But MDC-T also rejected that argument, noting that Mugabe had given himself control of all resource-based ministries like mines and mining development, agriculture, lands and resettlement, environment and natural resources and tourism. This would effectively keep the MDC away from all the critical resource-based ministries considered critical for economic transformation. Mbeki’s analysis on the priority areas effectively endorsed Mugabe’s own unilateral allocation.

Mbeki’s report did not even mention other key ministries disputed by MDC-T like defence, state security, information, foreign affairs and others as they did not directly fall in line with his suggestion of using priority tasks in the September 15 agreement to determine designation and allocation of lead ministries. These portfolios would therefore remain in Mugabe’s hands. MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti said he was not at liberty to comment on the facilitator’s controversial report. “We are shocked that you have that confidential document. We have however responded directly to him (Mbeki) but we won’t comment on our response in the media,” said Biti. However, ZimOnline is informed that the MDC-T’s response is so scathing and effectively accuses Mbeki of being Mugabe’s hatchet man. It asks him to “retire” as mediator, one source said.

Mbeki’s spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga refused to comment saying the Zimbabwe talks were not being carried out in public. Mugabe has himself publicly boasted that his unilaterally gazetted list leaves him in “the driving seat” in government. MDC officials are therefore puzzled that Mbeki endorses the same list with slight pro-Mugabe variations. Meanwhile, the MDC-T, which boycotted a Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) troika summit on Monday over the Zimbabwe government’s decision to refuse Tsvangirai a passport, has threatened not to participate in the troika’s meeting rescheduled for next week in Harare if authorities persist with denying the MDC leader his passport.

(Source)

Botswana has called for a re-run of Zimbabwean presidential election and strongly condemned the failure to issue Zimbabwean opposition leader, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai with a passport as a show of bad faith by President Robert Mugabe.

“This is unfortunate, totally unacceptable and an indication of bad faith,” the Botswana Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement. The statement called for a re-run of the Zimbabwean presidential election to resolve the power-sharing deadlock in the crisis torn-country.

It said the only viable solution to the Zimbabwe crisis is to let the people decide who their true leaders should be. “In this regard, the only way forward in Zimbabwe is a re-run of the presidential election under international supervision to avoid a repetition of the violence and political intimidation that characterised the failed June 27, 2008 presidential run-off,” the statement said.

It added that Botswana president Ian Khama has informed SADC chairman and South African president Mr Kgalema Motlanthe, AU chairman and Tanzania president Mr Jakaya Kikwete and UN secretary general, Mr Ban-Ki Moon about the need for a re-run and international intervention in Zimbabwe. Botswana feels that the socio-political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe threatens regional peace, stability and development and could only increase the current suffering of Zimbabweans.

The statement from the Botswana Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country is disappointed by the failure of political parties in Zimbabwe to agree on power-sharing deal. The statement said the stalemate has been caused by “one party seeking to dominate seeking to dominate power cannot” and this cannot go unchallenged.

The spokesman of the Botswana Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Clifford Maribe told the Nation that his country will continue with its tough stance on Zimbabwe if the power-sharing deal does not work.

“It should be understood that our position is informed by the fact that we wish for the people of Zimbabwe what we wish for ourselves. We, therefore, cannot stand aside and watch silently as our neighbours, relatives and fellow human beings suffer abuse at the hands of those who are supposed to protect them. We also take this stand out of concern that further deterioration of the political and economic situation in Zimbabwe threatens regional peace, stability and economic development,” Mr Maribe said.

He added that the power sharing deal provided the parties with an opportunity to resolve their differences and set Zimbabwe on a path of national reconciliation, economic reconstruction and recovery. “Unfortunately the deadlock over how cabinet posts should be divided among the three parties has stalled this process. This is a disturbing development which cannot be ignored as further delay in forming a government and implementing the power-sharing agreement can only increase the plight of the people of Zimbabwe,” Maribe added.

He stated that Botswana currently hosts, at a great expense to its national budget, thousands of Zimbabwean nationals who are driven into neighbouring countries by the situation in their country. “This situation cannot be allowed to go on unchallenged,” he said.

Mr Maribe dismissed fears in some quarters that Zimbabwe might take retaliatory measures against Botswana for its tough stance against Mr Mugabe’s regime. Zimbabwe is Botswana’s second biggest trading partner behind South Africa. Botswana’s gets some of its power from Mozambique through a line running through Zimbabwe. Any disruptions on this supply usually causes problems in Botswana.

However, Mr Maribe does not see Zimbabwe doing anything to sabotage Botswana. “Zimbabwe desperately needs assistance from the international community of which Botswana is a member. All we want is a peaceful, stable and economically prosperous Zimbabwe which can play its rightful role in increasing intra-SADC trade, economic cooperation and regional integration,” he said.

(Source)