Messages From Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe intends to abandon talks over a new constitution and call elections in June after deploying troops to intimidate voters into supporting him, three members of his party’s decision- making body said.

The soldiers have also been told to prevent the opposition from campaigning while candidates of Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front will take orders from the military and intelligence services, the party members said, declining to be identified because of concern about their safety. One of the members dictated a list to Bloomberg naming more than 60 military officers and where they will based during the campaign.

Calling a mid-year election would breach an agreement with Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change, which formed a coalition government with Zanu-PF in 2009, to draw up a new constitution and hold a referendum on that before elections were held. That agreement was brokered by neighboring countries including South Africa and brought to an end a decade-long recession. It left the MDC in control of the finance ministry while giving Mugabe authority over the military and police.

The MDC won a majority of parliamentary seats in the 2008 election and while Tsvangirai garnered the most votes in a first round presidential election held concurrently. He boycotted the runoff citing attacks his supporters by the army and police. That election and elections in 2005, 2002 and 2000 were marred by electoral irregularities, according to local and international observers including missions sent by the European Union.

Stalling on Elections

Mugabe, who has been in power since the country won its independence in 1980, said on state television on Jan. 24 that he may call an election without the adoption of a new constitution because the MDC is avoiding going to the polls. Earlier this month the MDC said in an e-mailed response to questions that some of its supporters around the country have been attacked by the military.

Rugare Gumbo, a spokesman for Zanu-PF, denied that the military will be deployed, in an interview from Harare, the capital. His party does plan to have elections called this year, he said. Talks over the constitution, already a year behind schedule, are due to be completed by June 30 and a referendum held after that.

Zanu-PF officials in the central province of Masvingo and the eastern province of Manicaland have already been summoned by the military and told that the campaign in their areas will be run by a senior airforce officer, one of the party officials said.

Sanctions Petition

The military will also be tasked with forcing Zimbabwean citizens to sign a petition denouncing sanctions imposed by the EU and the U.S. against Mugabe and many of his closest allies in government and the military, the party officials said.

Those sanctions are frequently cited by Mugabe and his party as the reason for the country’s poor performance economically because they say they amount to a directive to lenders to shun the country. Local directors of foreign-owned companies will also be pressured to denounce sanctions in the media or face harassment from the government, the officials said.

“The situation has the potential for a blood bath if these elections are rushed,” Tendai Biti, Zimbabwe’s finance minister and secretary general of the MDC, said in an interview from Harare today.

Zimbabwe has the world’s second-biggest reserves of platinum, after neighboring South Africa. Rio Tinto Plc, based in London, and Johannesburg-based Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. and Anglo Platinum Ltd. operate mines in the country.

(Source)

Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, is secretly arming Laurent Gbagbo, whose refusal to accept defeat in the presidential election in the Ivory Coast has brought his west African country to the brink of war.

A giant chartered Antonov An-22 cargo plane with Angolan registration delivered tons of weapons from Harare to Gbagbo over Christmas and the new year, highly placed intelligence sources in Zimbabwe’s capital revealed last week.

The aircraft took off from Manyame airbase outside Harare. The exact quantity of arms is not known but the Soviet-built Antonov can carry up to about 80 tons of cargo. Zimbabwean military and intelligence officials accompanied the weapons on the flight.

Earlier, the sources said, the plane had flown into Manyame with a consignment of small arms, mortars and rockets from China – Mugabe’s chief arms supplier – for the Zimbabwean army.

On Mugabe’s instructions, part of this shipment remained on board and was supplemented with more armaments from the stocks of Zimbabwe Defence Industries, the state arms maker. A few hours later the plane flew to the Ivory Coast where the cargo was secretly unloaded.

Sources in Harare said that Mugabe, 86, had authorised the arms shipment after an appeal from Gbagbo for military assistance in return for oil. The sources said that a mysterious Chinese businessman – identified only as Sam Pa – had played a pivotal role in organising the shipment so that it could not be traced back to Mugabe.

Sam Pa uses a variety of aliases. His main business interests are in oil in Angola but he has lately expanded into diamond-rich Zimbabwe, where he has established commercial relations with some of the most powerful figures in Mugabe’s inner circle.

The clandestine arms delivery pits Mugabe against the United Nations, west African leaders and the African Union. The UN has 10,000 peacekeepers in the Ivory Coast and has had an arms embargo in force since 2002.

International pressure is mounting on Gbagbo to hand over power peacefully to his rival, Alassane Ouattara, the would-be president, who won last November’s presidential election run-off, according to UN-verified results.

Economic sanctions and diplomatic measures are favoured to get Gbagbo to step down but force has not been ruled out as a last resort.

In the Ivory Coast, the army is the one part of the state machinery that has remained intensely loyal to the beleaguered Ivorian leader throughout the crisis.

Arrangements for face-to-face talks between the two rivals have twice failed because the army has refused to lift a blockade around a luxury hotel in Abidjan, the commercial capital, where Ouattara is holed up. If fighting does break out, the arms sent by Mugabe could be a crucial boost for the troops willing to try to keep Gbagbo in power.

(Source)

SO he’s back, and fighting fit, and never went near a hospital. “We were just resting,” said President Robert Mugabe on his return from Singapore.

The speculation – rampant in Harare and backed up by several well-placed sources – was that the 86-year-old had rushed back to Asia for a prostate operation, prompting a frenzy of succession plotting among the feuding factions of Mr Mugabe’s Zanu-PF.

“Nocturnal meetings, wheeler dealings – real fun and games. It’s a very unstable land,” one senior political insider told me.

Of course this sort of death-bed conjecture is probably as pointless as it is morbid and all fingers pointing to internal Zanu PF power struggles.

The Zimbabwe Mail can reveal that a senior Zanu PF official constantly gave us updates on President Mugabe’s health and also speculated that he would come back home declaring himself as fit and in front of State media and crawl back into bed, away from the public glare.

A heavily sedated Robert Mugabe is now believed to be under 24 hour medical surveillance by a team of Malaysian Medical doctors housed at Phillip Chiyangwa’s (his nephew) house, a stone throw from his mansion.

Of course, Zimbabweans have never known the truth about their devious President who spent his early years in office claiming that his testicles had been cut off by Ian Smith during torture and he would never bear any kids, and only to be surprised of the romping sessions with his secretary who is now the First Lady.

Depending on whom you ask, Mr Mugabe is either in perfect health, “declining steadily,” or “unlikely to bounce back.”

The only diagnoses that almost everyone agrees on are that the president takes fastidious care of himself, and that he will cling to power until his last breath.

And yet the plotting appears to be real. The lack of a clear successor to Mr Mugabe is a major headache for Zanu-PF.

The man to beat is Emmerson Mnangagwa – a hardliner with plenty of clout. Vice-President Joyce Mujuru is also well placed.

Then there are maybe half a dozen others, including Saviour Kasukuwere – “the second scariest man in Zimbabwe”, according to one of his most prominent rivals.

Intriguingly, although some western diplomats worry that the rules of succession may be murky enough to fuel instability or at least give plotters some extra wiggle-room. It looks as though the former opposition MDC may actually end up playing kingmaker in a parliamentary electoral college charged with finding a Zanu-PF replacement to complete Mr Mugabe’s term.

In that case, a senior MDC source tells me, Joyce Mujuru would probably end up with the presidency on the basis that she is “the better of the devils.”

Not that the MDC is relishing the idea of President Mugabe’s abrupt exit. There are real fears that it could trigger a new clampdown by Zanu-PF hardliners, forcing the party’s leadership to bolt to neighbouring Botswana “like lightning” – at least in the short-term.

And there are other – probably more pressing – reasons for the MDC to be worried. The movement’s secretary general, Tendai Biti has issued a warning on the elections.

So was the former opposition party right to cut a power-sharing deal with Zanu-PF back in 2008 in the first place?

The optimists point to Zimbabwe’s economic recovery, and to the possibility that free and fair elections can still be held.

The realists argue that at least the MDC has had a chance to catch its breath, lick its wounds, and get some hands-on experience of government.

But the pessimists – and in Zimbabwe that’s a big group – fear that Zanu-PF is many years away from even countenancing the possibility of relinquishing power, with or without Mr Mugabe at the helm.

They worry about the MDC’s ability to withstand another onslaught from the security forces, especially given that Prime Minister Tsvangirai appears, according to some, to be dwindling into little more than a golf-playing figurehead for the movement.

(Source)

Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Minister, Ignatius Chombo has threatened to fire MDC-T councillors in Victoria Falls Town council accusing them of politicising council business.

“Committed individuals will be appointed to take charge of council business in the resort town. It is very unfortunate that most of these councillors don’t know local government business.This time we are not begging them,” said Chombo.

Chombo’s threats follows  the arrest of three MDC-T councillors by Victoria Falls police last week on allegations of assaulting the town mayor Nkosilathi Jiyane.

Jiyane resigned from MDC-T recently claiming that he was being harassed by party leaders in Matabeleland North province. He now runs Victoria Falls Town Council as an independent but has strong links with some ZANU PF leaders.

Last month Chombo came to Jiyane’s defence after MDC-T councillors threatened to fire him accusing him of incompetence. The minister in turn accused the councillors for bringing internal party squabbles into local governance issues. MDC-T wanted to replace the mayor with a former commercial farmer Larry Cunnings.

Chombo has to date expelled 11 MDC councillors country wide and suspended two. The MDC-T has accused Chombo of fighting to reduce the number of its councillors in local authorities and also of frustrating corruption probes against him.

Zimbabwe’s elected councillors last week formed an association which seeks to challenge their harassment by Chombo.

(Source)

MDC Press Statement on the state of the party, the Congress, the organizational thrust and direction for the year 2011

Harvest House

22 January 2011

Introduction

The MDC National Executive met today and discussed a report on Congress preparation and progress, national issues of concern to the people of Zimbabwe, in particular the fuel crisis and the plight of the civil servants and the state of the party. The party noted the report from the President and the Secretary-General on the state of the party, the Congress, the organizational thrust and direction for the year 2011.

The President highlighted that the year 2011 is a turning point and a year of elevation, not only because it is the last mile in our journey to a new Zimbabwe and real change. He said our Congress in May will confirm that democracy is our totem, our culture and the very fabric of our existence. Further, he emphasized that we must demonstrate that we are worthy of the support the people continue to bestow upon the people’s party of excellence, the MDC.

This Congress will prove that we are the real solution to this temporary government. The President said indeed, our Congress will confirm that we are true democrats; that the democracy we crave for is at the core of our values and that it defines us as the MDC. The Congress will showcase the MDC character-the character of peace, vibrancy, transparency, solidarity, accountability and unity. The Congress will demonstrate that we are a united family of true democrats and that anyone is free to contest for any position.

We are a party that does its business without intimidation, coercion, violence or bribery. Corruption and other vices are alien to the MDC character. Our Congress will consolidate our gains and challenges of the past five years and send a clear message that we remain the true repository of the hopes and aspirations of the people of Zimbabwe. The MDC is the only game in town for real change for the people of Zimbabwe.

The Secretary-General presented a report on preparatory Committees, processes and timelines of the Congress. Further, the Secretary-General presented a special code of conduct that will guide MDC members in voting and being voted for during the period of our glorious internal democratic process. More importantly, the national executive deliberated extensively on the GPA and the inclusive government, the fears of floods, the fuel crisis, power shortages and the welfare of the civil servants.

The welfare of the civil servants

The National Executive expressed its sympathy and solidarity with civil servants in particular and workers in general over their conditions of service. At the core of our being as the MDC is the fabric of the right to strike and demand a decent living wage. In this regard, the plight of civil servants is a matter of national emergency. However, the Executive noted the destructive role being played by the Zanu PF side of the inclusive government in the quest to redress the concerns of the civil servants.

The Executive further noted the lack of accountability in the management of the proceeds from the sale of diamonds in Chiadzwa to address the plight of the civil servants. The Executive called for all the proceeds from the sale of diamonds to be channelled towards the civil servants and not to line private pockets as is currently the case. The Executive also called for the immediate action on all ghost workers, Zanu PF functionaries smuggled into civil service as youth and women officers in every ward in the country. Further, the Executive called for the release of the Public Service audit without delay as well the immediate cessation of all new recruitments of soldiers and other civil servants until the plight of the existing civil service is addressed.

Fuel and power shortages

The National Executive noted that three decades of Zanu PF corruption and mismanagement of the economy was at the centre of the current challenges of fuel and power. The Executive called on the inclusive government to immediately find permanent and sustainable solutions to the aforesaid challenges to mitigate the plight of Zimbabweans.

Floods

The Executive noted the danger posed by the possibility of floods in some parts of the country and called on actors in government to put in place mechanisms and plans to keep people out of danger in all the areas likely to be affected.

Committing our country and our party to God.

(Source: electronic via Skype)

Nearly a third of Zimbabwe’s 5.5 million registered voters are dead, researchers have found.

Others appear to be up to 120 years old, vastly exceeding the country’s average life expectancy of 44.

The independent Zimbabwe Election Support Network said the list should be overhauled before elections scheduled for this year.

The report also found that some 40% of voters had moved without updating their voting information.

Officials from the group said such problems open the way for “double voting and other rigging intentions”.

Rights groups have accused president Robert Mugabe, 86, and his loyalists of human rights violations and election rigging.

Mugabe has ruled the country since 1980.

(Source)

President Robert Mugabe is said to have suffered a setback in his recovery efforts after what had been initially billed as a minor medical procedure in Malaysia, an impeccable sources travelling with him revealed this morning.

A daily Telegraph story, which was widely circulated by the international media on Monday, alleged President Mugabe was in hospital in Malaysia after undergoing the unspecified “medical procedure”.

However, his spokesman who doubles up as his bodyguard, George Charamba denied the claims saying: “You seem to know more about the President than I do. As far as I am concerned, the President is on his annual leave and we made this public. He will be back soon.”

This morning, a source close to Mugabe’s family told our reporter that the President, who was well on his way to recovery, suffered a setback overnight and he was then taken back into surgery.

The source whose identify cannot be revealed said the President is struggling to shake off the pain after his prostate suddenly flared. The source said Mugabe will however soon be flying home with an expanded team of Malaysian Doctors who will be monitoring his health.

Mr Mugabe, who will turn 87 in February, had medical examinations while on holiday in Malaysia earlier this month. He returned home to Harare but his prostate flared and he has returned to Kuala Lumpur for the operation.

There has been speculation over the President’s health especially after reports emerged that he was receiving treatment outside the country.

As expected his spokesperson George Charamba on Monday poured cold water on the reports, insisting the President was on annual leave.

Media, Information and Publicity minister Webster Shamu was not helpful either, as he said he does not grant interviews over the phone and requested questions in writing.

But, Zanu PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo confirmed President Mugabe would be coming home soon although he could not give a date.

“I am not sure when he is coming but it will definitely be before the end of the month,” he said.

Gumbo however denied the President had undergone medical treatment and said this was “just speculation which people are entitled to”.

However sources said the President had indeed undergone a “medical procedure”.

They however said it was minor and that he should be back in the country and at work soon. The sources said he could return as early as Sunday.

John Nkomo, who has been the acting Head of State, has since reverted back to his position of Vice-President while his counterpart Joice Mujuru is now the Acting President until the return of the President.

This has heightened speculation over the health of the President, as each of the Vice-Presidents has in the past been appointed Acting President pending the return of the President.

However, this time the Vice-Presidents have rotated acting while the President was still out of the country.

Nkomo was the Acting President from the time the President started his annual leave until January 15.

Announcing the appointment of Vice-President Mujuru as Acting President on Wednesday, Charamba said:

“Please be advised that as of January 16, 2011, Honourable Vice-President JTR Mujuru is the Acting President of Zimbabwe until His Excellency President RG Mugabe who is on vacation comes back into office.”

Malaysian Home Affairs minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has declined to confirm or deny the reports.

“I cannot confirm that and I won’t (say) one way or the other,” the minister was quoted as saying in The Malaysian Insider newspaper on Monday.

Speculation over the President’s health has been going on for some time.

In September last year, President Mugabe publicly denied persistent rumours over his health.

“I don’t know how many times I die, but nobody has ever talked about my resurrection,” the President said at a meeting with Zimbabwean editors at State House.

“I suppose they don’t want to, because it would mean they would mention my resurrection several times and that would be quite divine an achievement for an individual who is not divine,” President Mugabe said.

“Jesus died once, and was resurrected only once, and poor (President) Mugabe several times. My time will come, but for now, no.”

(Source)

Zimbabwe’s meteorological department and Civil Protection Unit issued flood warnings for low-lying areas, saying heavy rains and already saturated soils could prove dangerous.

Several rivers in southern Zimbabwe are already flooding after the country received its highest rainfall in three decades, Civil Protection Unit director Madzudzo Pawadyira said today.

“While it is not yet an emergency, we strongly urge people living in low-lying areas to move to higher ground,” Pawadyira said by phone from the capital, Harare.

In neighboring South Africa, floods have hit nine provinces since mid-December, claiming at least 40 lives and displacing more than 6,000 people. Another 13 people have been killed in Mozambique, the state-owned Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique reported between Jan. 12 and today. Crops have been damaged across the region.

Pawadyira said his Civil Protection Unit was on “High Alert” and had warned authorities that it may require urgent assistance in the event of flooding.

In South Africa, Agri SA, a farmers’ organization, says it is “far too early” to calculate damage caused by the floods that have drowned crops.

“While the floods are subsiding, the weather bureau has predicted more rain in the coming days, so it may be a while before we can calculate numbers,” Agri economist Dawie Maree said by phone from the capital, Pretoria, today. “Very tentative and early” assessments of farm losses could amount to more than a billion rand ($145 million), he said.

Southern Africa’s main farming season for summer crops like corn, soy and sunflower falls between November and April.

(Source)

Officials in Zimbabwe have refused to confirm reports that President Robert Mugabe has undergone emergency prostate cancer surgery in Malaysia.

‘As far as I am concerned, the president is on his annual leave. He will be back soon,’ presidential spokesman George Charamba was quoted as saying in Tuesday’s edition of the independent daily Newsday.

The paper also quoted a spokesman for Mugabe’s ZANU (PF) party as saying: ‘As a party, what we know is that he is on annual leave.’

A report earlier this week in British daily The Telegraph said the 86-year-old leader had undergone examinations on the condition of his prostate gland while on vacation in Malaysia and then returned home.

He was then forced to fly back to Kuala Lumpur for surgery after his gland condition suddenly worsened, the paper said.

Speculation about the president’s health has been growing over the past year amid signs of increased frailty.

In February, Zimbabwean diplomats said he repeatedly nodded off while meeting them.

Mugabe was said to have collapsed with exhaustion at last year’s United Nations general assembly in New York, while members of his cabinet have at times complained about his lapses in concentration.

(Source)

Deputy Prime Minister and MDC-T Vice-President Thokozani Khuphe on Saturday took a swipe at the new leader of the smaller faction of the MDC, Welshman Ncube saying his election will not have any impact in Zimbabwean political circles.

Speaking to journalists in Bulawayo on Saturday, Khupe said Ncube should not be fooled into thinking that by being elected as the MDC-M president he will win any national elections.

“I beat him in Makokoba in 2008 elections and I can beat him any time if elections are called.He will never win any national elections and his party is now in a worse position than when Mutambara was leader, ” said Khuphe whose attack on Ncube revealed the bad blood between the two Matabeleland politicians.
Khupe said MDC-M can hold several congresses and change leaders but it will remain the same and won’t pose a threat to MDC-T.

“The change of leadership in that party will make them even weaker than they were in 2008, ” said Khuphe

Responding to Khupe’s scathing attack on Ncube MDC-N Bulawayo Province spokesperson, Edwin Ndlovu said Khupe should not be taken seriously as she was just a useless figure trying to seek attention.

“She is just a village idiot singing wedding songs at a funeral. People should not take her seriously because she is just a toothless and a useless figure trying to seek attention.Our advise to her is that she should not waste time commenting about our party. She should be dealing with divisions within the MDC-T which is failing to hold a congress,” said Ndlovu.

(Source)