Messages From Zimbabwe

I’ve talked about Roy Bennett and his imprisonment for weeks, talked about his courage, about Roy really being the heart and soul of the MDC opposition to Mugabe in Zimbabwe, and rejoiced when I learned he was released from the horrors of the Mutare prison – a prison that is known throughout Zimbabwe as Robert Mugabe’s torture prison. A place where if you are lucky enough to escape torture, you still have to fight off starvation because you are lucky to be fed once a week.

I met Roy Bennett in 2008. I was in Africa trying to help rid Zimbabwe of Robert Mugabe. I saw first hand the risk that Roy and others were taking to promote, through democratic means, new leadership and real change in Zimbabwe – waging a campaign against Robert Mugabe and the ruling Zanu-PF party. I saw the risk Morgan Tsvangirai was taking in having the guts to stand election and challenge Robert Mugabe with Roy’s help and the help of other brave Zimbabweans who were willing to make a stand for their country.

At least 110 of them are dead.

If you want to understand more about Roy Bennett, the kind of person he is, how in all the horror that has become Zimbabwe he represents real hope for the nation’s future, and how his ability to forgive is perhaps the key to reaching that future — you should take the time to read this story from The Times.

I have excerpted a few key paragraghs here:

On the Mutare prison. “Emerging from the gates of Mutare remand prison and struggling to hold back tears yesterday, he said that his incarceration had been “a harrowing experience”.

He said: “I would not wish it on my worst enemy. There are people there who look worse than the photographs of prisoners in Dachau and Auschwitz. They get a handful of sadza [thick maizemeal porridge] and water with salt. Five people died while I was there, and their bodies were collected after four or five days. There are people there who have been awaiting trial for three years.”

I was receiving updates on Roy throughout his imprisonment that began on February 13th. I knew that a prisoner died in Roy’s cell and that the body remained in the cell for days before it was removed. A week or so later I learned that another prisoner had died in the cell next to Roy’s and that the body was left in the cell for days again.

And I knew that food was scarce.

I learned stuff that I have to say didn’t make much sense to me. I learned that Roy had gotten so fed up with the conditions that he had started to organize the prison – and convinced the guards to let him lead his fellow prisoners in cleaning up the place. And I learned that a few days later the attitude of the guards changed and that they started to jump in with the prisoners in the cleaning effort. Could this possible be true? The first part sounded true – and my source was a friend I trusted but did he really win over the guards? I wasn’t sure until i read what The Times reporter found when he got to the Mutare Prison:

“The demeanour of the guards at the prison, which is close to Zimbabwe’s eastern border with Mozambique, was a testament to how fast the mood in the country is evolving. One of them told me excitedly when I arrived at the gates: “Mr Bennett is getting out today. Yes, we are happy.”

Last week another guard asked officials of Mr Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change, who had taken Mr Bennett disinfectant to clean the cell, and some food, for 18 “Free Roy” T-shirts. “Ten for the day guards, and eight for the night guards,” he said.

Supporters of the Prime Minister’s party, many of them wearing similar T-shirts, kept up a steady chorus of singing outside the rickety gates.”

Then I read the words that tell you about why Roy Bennett is so important to the future of his nation. One word. Forgiveness.

“Mr Bennett shared a small excrement-covered cell with 12 other men.

“It breaks my heart when I think of them,” he said, adding that those responsible for the repression and ruin of the country over the past decade should “go on their knees and beg forgiveness” from God.

However, he also urged Zimbabwe’s new coalition Government to forget the past and work together to rebuild the shattered nation. “Conditions in that jail are brought about by hate. I bear no malice. In my heart, all I can do is move forward to build the country. If we don’t forgive, and there isn’t a spirit of forgiveness, we are going nowhere.

“There are people who don’t want right to prevail, and want to keep believing that they have the power to do anything. But they are few and their time is near the end.”

I once again want to thank those who helped put a spotlight on Roy’s arrest and helped keep the story alive when so many in the press couldn’t be bothered with something happening in Africa.

Roy is right, Robert Mugabe and his regime’s time is nearing an end. It will take people like you, who are reading this, to do something simple. Tell a friend to read this post. Blog about it – retweet my twitters about Zimbabwe. When the press doesn’t think there is a story – we have to be the story’s tellers. People in Zimbabwe who have Internet access are literally printing out our blog posts and handing copies out in mass in their towns and villages. People are gaining confidence that they can create change in their own country. And as The Times story points out the mood in the country is changing very quickly. But we are providing more than morale.

When I twittered about this, David Shuster the host of MSNBC’s 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and @shuster1600 on Twitter, started to look into the story and reported about it – on the air. And day after day updated the story – reminding viewers that Roy Bennett was still in prisin and vowing to continue to update the story until Roy was released.

I know that Twitter had a lot to do with bringing too much attention to Roy Bennett’s imprisonment. The kind of attention that helped bring pressure on the Mugabe regime to release Roy Bennett. The simple act of telling others that this is going on is important – it matters and the more who know it is going on the more likely it will end. Roy Bennett’s imprisonment has ended. Now it is time tell our friends about Zimbabwe, and to urge them to tell their friends. The press and governments will get the message and the pressure will increase on Mugabe and his regime.

I am not much of an idealist any more – at least not in the way I considered myself an idealist before I found my way to Africa last year – but I still believe in the power of people conducting simple acts together for the purpose of achieving what is right.

I find it strange that I live in a world in which BILLIONS of people live on less than $2 a day yet many of us will pay 99 cents for an IPhone app that makes our phone fart. But I don’t write this out of guilt or to guilt you. Its just a fact that I find really strange.

Roy Bennett, Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC and the people of Zimbabwe need a little noise. That’s all it will take. Tell their story. Tell people to read this post. Retweet a twitter about Zimbabwe when you find it interesting, say something on your blog. Tell a reporter that they should follow and report this story.

Tell the story.

And Roy when this one gets to you – Thanks.

Joe Trippi served as the campaign chair of Howard Dean’s legendary campaign for President in 2004, and has worked on the campaigns of numerous other major Democratic politicians over the years. Joe is an ardent advocate of human rights and reform, having been involved  in the efforts for freedom in Zimbabwe for decades, and is working with the Change Congress campaign for domestic reform of US politics. This post was originally posted at his website JoeTrippi.com. Follow Joe on twitter at @JoeTrippi!

(Source)

The President of the smaller faction of the MDC, Welshman Ncube, believes President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai are colluding to stop him from taking up his post as Deputy Prime Minister.

He says Mugabe and Tsvangirai ganged up to block his suggestion to create a separate forum where party leaders could meet to receive and discuss reports from the GPA negotiators, the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee and the constitution commission, COPAC.

Ncube maintains these reports are supposed to be ratified by leaders of political parties, not leaders of government.

Ncube said he had come to terms with the fact that Mugabe and Tsvangirai were standing shoulder-to-shoulder with his party’s former president, Arthur Mutambara, but warned that any decision made in the regular principals’ meetings was not legally binding on his party.

The convoluted power struggle between Ncube and Mutambara began at the party’s congress on January 8-9. It has been characterised by fierce rhetoric, court action, dismissals and counter-dismissals and shifting political alliances.

“My secretary general and I went to see to Mugabe and said: ‘There is nothing on earth which will persuade you over the Mutambara issue, including having him in your meetings; so you can continue with your meetings. But there is a problem because he is not the leader of any party, so you need to create a forum where the leaders of the parties will receive the reports’,” said Ncube.

“The other example we gave was reports from JOMIC. ‘It doesn’t make sense for you to say these reports will be considered in your meetings with Tsvangirai and Mutambara because if you change anything that we would have agreed to at negotiators level it will not bind us as a party, we will refuse to be bound.’ That’s what we said to him.”

Ncube said Mugabe agreed, but told him: “Why don’t you start by persuading the Prime Minister so that I can talk to the Prime Minister when you have persuaded him?”

“So we put this proposal to Tsvangirai and he says, ‘I see no problem with it and I will talk to the president, I am in agreement, let’s deal with this. Mutambara can stay as Deputy Prime Minister as principal for government business and not for party business,’” said Ncube.

Ncube said the following Tuesday, after cabinet he went to see Mugabe again, together with his secretary general Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga.

“We said, ‘you promised to get your report to us on your conversation with the Prime Minister. Did you speak to him, have you reached any agreement?’ He then says, ‘as a matter of fact we met yesterday and discussed this issue. The Prime Minister and I agreed that we must await the court processes. On all of these things we must maintain the status quo and await the court process,’” reported Ncube.

He said there was no court interdict preventing Mugabe from exercising his powers and duties to relieve Mutambara, nor barring him from taking office.

(Source)

People help the elderly and share beer, some provide transport for those who do not have their own… and the burden of living in mother Zimbabwe seems a little lighter.

This sense of community harmony is seen nowhere better than in rural communities, where families struggling to find the elusive US$ are bartering amongst themselves without fear of being cheated, which they almost certainly would be in the big towns.

Recently I met an old granny in Seke rural and we talked as long lost relatives, the warmth that the old woman exuded was so inviting that I found myself wishing she was a true blood relative. It felt good to be a Zimbabwean.

We shared lighter moments of a time in Zimbabwe when a billion dollars could not buy a loaf of bread. It was a funny discussion, where we both managed to skip the valleys in the country’s history and touched on the hills which culminated in the introduction of the US dollar.

Life she told me is now better as compared to the inflation era, when it was hard to save. Now she told me with a gallon of maize she can trade with the miller at the noisy grinding meal to have her maize ground into meal.

In order to go to school, her orphaned grandchildren work at school for the teachers and save the money for school fees.

She does not have to worry much over putting a meal on the table, for with her bare hands she has a flourishing garden where she grows vegetables that she sells in the community, the income she uses to buy the basics.

I was lulled by her frugal existence, that seems so peaceful and free of trouble, but then I recalled that it is one thing about being Zimbabwean, we take life too lightly.

(Source)

President Mugabe says the ZANU PF 12th National People’s Conference slated for Bulawayo in December is the party’s last crucial meeting before national elections.

Speaking to journalists on arrival at the Harare International Airport yesterday from a visit to the Far East, the President said the conference was just as good as the party’s national congress.

“Yes, we are organising for the conference. It is a very important conference as we organise towards national elections. After that conference we will not have another conference before elections so it is an important conference -just as good as a congress.”

At congress, the party either elects new members of the Presidium and Politburo or endorses the current leadership.

Last year ZANU PF endorsed President Mugabe as the party’s candidate for national elections that were supposed to be held this year.

At the Bulawayo conference, sources said, ZANU PF is highly likely to endorse President Mugabe’s candidature for next year’s national elections.

President Mugabe, who is also the Head of State and Government and Commander in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, said he also had an opportunity to see her daughter Bona who is studying in Hong Kong during his visit to the Far East.

Asked about how he felt during the two days that he has been away President Mugabe who was I jovial mood said:

“I go away for two days, resting seeing my daughter two days and you think I have been nostalgic about having left home. East, West, home, home, home is best.”

The ZANU PF conference which is expected to be attended by 6 000 delegates is going to be held from December 6 to 10.

ZANU PF secretary for Information and Publicity Cde Rugare Gumbo yesterday said preparations for Bulawayo watershed conference were on course.

The party had come up with a conference co-ordinating committee to deal with conference preparations.

“Preparations for the conference are now at an advanced stage and we are meeting every month to discuss issues to do with the conference.

“We met last Thursday as the conference co-ordinating committee chaired by the national chairman Cde Simon Khaya Moyo,” he said.

Cde Gumbo said the party’s information sub-committee would agree on the theme of the conference in two weeks time.

The theme, he said, would be forwarded to the conference co-ordinating committee that would in turn submit it to the Politburo for consideration or approval.

“We also discussed on logistical issues like accommodation, transport, entertainment and health.”

Cde Gumbo said they were all out to make the conference a resounding success and said liberation movements from the region were expected to attend.

Early this month, ZANU PF trained its members drawn from all the country’s provinces on protocol as part of the conference preparations. Last year the party ZANU PF successfully held its 11th National People’s Congress in Mutare.

The conference resolved to forge ahead with the indigenisation programme meant to correct historical injustices caused by colonialism.

Government has since gazetted regulations on empowerment and companies have been submitting plans on how they intend to comply with the regulations that requires that 51 percent shareholding in companies with a minimum capitalisation of US$500000 be controlled by locals.

(Source)