Messages From Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s consul-general in South Africa, Chris Mapanga, has denied reports that the passport production centre in Harare was gutted by fire.

Reports last week said the identification processing centre based at KG Six Army headquarters was gutted on New Year’s Day, bringing business to a halt.

Mapanga said the report was a lie.

He said the building had only experienced an electric fault and “everything is perfectly in order”.

“There is no story here. It’s a lie,” he said, accusing some journalists in South Africa and the Western media of always trying to paint a bad picture of Zimbabwe.

Mapanga said the reports were trying to lie to Zimbabweans living in this country (South Africa) that they would not get the passports they had applied for to sort themselves out with the Department of Home Affairs.

He said there was no need for him to reassure his people that they would get their passports as the reports were false and “everything was in order”.

Since the new documentation process started over three months ago, the Zimbabwean government sent dozens of officers to South Africa to process passports, birth certificates and ID documents.

(Source)

Zimbabwe heads into a political storm in the new year with President Robert Mugabe pushing for an early election opposed by rivals and threatening to nationalise foreign firms in revenge for Western sanctions.

Political hardliners around Mugabe are also threatening rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai with treason charges over leaked secret briefings with U.S. officials.

While Mugabe and Tsvangirai agreed last month to resume discussions to address rifts in their power-sharing government, no progress has been made as Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party beats war drums for an election it wants by mid-2011.

Mugabe, forced into a unity government with Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) after a disputed 2008 election, is not keen on extending the coalition and wants a referendum on a new constitution in early 2011 and a general election by June – two years ahead of schedule.

The MDC, which had suggested early elections to break deadlocks in the coalition, now says the climate is not conducive for a free and fair vote and is demanding political reforms before any polls.

So far, Mugabe has dismissed criticism that the early poll and his targeting of foreign firms pose a serious risk to Zimbabwe’s economic recovery and social stability.

NATIONALISATION THREAT

Mugabe has warned ZANU-PF will nationalise firms from countries that have imposed sanctions over his state’s suspected human rights abuses, arguing they cannot operate freely while Western powers punish his party. [ID:nLDE6BE0TZ]

The threat adds to worries of foreign investors in the resource-rich state, which introduced a law saying 51 percent of firms worth over $500,000 should be owned by black Zimbabweans.

Mugabe signed an Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act in 2008 and the government has issued regulations providing details of how foreign-owned companies should achieve at least 51 percent blacks within five years.

There are, however, sharp differences on the policy which his rivals say could hurt economic recovery.

What to watch:

- How Mugabe reacts to any extension of travel, investment and financial sanctions against his associates at annual review meetings of the European Union in February.

- Timelines and details of how the government plans to proceed with the empowerment programme in the different economic sectors, which would address investor fears.

TREASON CHARGE

Attorney-General Johannes Tomana has ordered a probe against Tsvangirai over State Department cables released by WikiLeaks about his briefings with U.S. ambassador Charles Ray, which some of Mugabe’s officials see as “bordering on treason”.

According to another confidential U.S. cable dated October 2009 on WikiLeaks, a senior MDC official suggested that the United States should contribute to a fund to buy off security service chiefs to achieve regime change in Zimbabwe.

What to watch:

- The probe gives Mugabe’s camp options to pursue treason charges against MDC leadership, but political analysts say this could be part of a psychological war against Tsvangirai.

ELECTION RESISTANCE

Attempts by backbenchers in parliament across the political divide to resist an early election appear to have failed.

But Tsvangirai’s MDC and a smaller MDC faction, which is also in the unity government, still hope to lobby leaders in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to pressure Mugabe against early elections.

What to watch:

- MDC diplomatic campaign, and any reaction from influential regional leaders, especially South African President Jacob Zuma who is the region’s mediator in the Zimbabwe political crisis.

CRACKDOWN ON CRITICS

A ZANU-PF annual conference held two weeks ago, which formally endorsed Mugabe as candidate for elections in 2011, passed resolutions threatening to expel foreign diplomats and to ban non-governmental organisations “meddling, and interfering in Zimbabwe’s internal political affairs”.

Analysts say while Tsvangirai and his lieutenants have legitimate complaints against Mugabe over outstanding reforms, there is growing frustration among his supporters that he is being outwitted by Mugabe, a cunning political veteran.

White farmers who have lost their properties under Mugabe’s land seizures over the last decade say Tsvangirai has lost his voice on their case – an issue the MDC fears Mugabe would use to portray him as a stooge.

A traditionally supportive private media has turned increasingly critical of Tsvangirai’s leadership, calling on him to exploit public goodwill in his fight against Mugabe.

Mugabe, 86, and in power since independence from Britain in 1980, sees the MDC as a political puppet playing to a Western gallery. The MDC denies this and in turn dismisses Mugabe as a power-crazy dictator.

What to watch:

- Any moves against foreign-funded civic organisations involved in election education and monitoring work.

- Tsvangirai’s supporters walking out of some government functions and demonstrating against some of Mugabe’s officials, in media stunts which could invite police reaction.

CONSTITUTION

Although a multi-party parliamentary committee leading a constitutional review process says it will respect the wishes of ordinary Zimbabweans, the final charter is a likely compromise between ZANU-PF and the MDC who both lack a two-thirds majority in parliament needed to pass the new supreme law on their own.

A referendum on a version in which there is no agreement between the two parties could lead to violence.

Tsvangirai says Mugabe has already used his traditional political shock troops — liberation war veterans, party youth brigades and security forces — to whip up support in the countryside, which has allowed ZANU-PF to dominate public debate on the new constitution.

ZANU-PF denies the charge and says Tsvangirai is already preparing an excuse for his party’s defeat.

What to watch:

- Compromise deal. Many Zimbabweans hope that a new charter, replacing the pre-independence document, will strengthen the role of parliament, curtail presidential powers and guarantee civil, political and media liberties.

MEDIA REFORMS

The Coalition has licensed several private newspapers after establishing a new media commission, but Tsvangirai has so far failed to push Mugabe to open up radio and television.

Mugabe’s officials say they are still looking at the issue – nearly two years after the power-sharing government was set up – and analysts say this will become more difficult as the country heads towards elections.

They have also resisted calls to repeal tough media laws barring foreign journalists from working long-term in the country and still quietly restrict visiting journalists.

What to watch:

- Authorities rejecting applications for private broadcast licences, raising further friction within the coalition.

RIGHTS ABUSES

Although the unity government has set up an independent human rights commission to handle abuses, critics say it is taking too long to start work and an atmosphere of fear still exists in the country.

Rights groups say Mugabe’s supporters have increased psychological pressure on the MDC, and are threatening a wave of violence similar to one that marred the 2008 elections.

Mugabe has ignored demands by Tsvangirai for security sector reforms, and in a demonstration of his political impotence, the MDC leader has been stopped by police or forced to postpone some meetings with supporters in township halls in the capital.

What to watch:

- Changes to security laws but with limited impact. Parliament is debating changes to a tough Public Order and Security Act, that calls on political parties to obtain police clearance to hold rallies.

Still, the police may ignore the law even if it is amended.

(Source)

A Zimbabwean sanusi (Ndebele fortune-teller) who preferred not to be identified for fear of reprisals by security agents told Radio Netherlands Worldwide that his ancestors have warned him that Zimbabwe will slide back into chaos. Tensions will rise between the country’s two ethnic groups, the Ndebele and Shona and blood will be spilt.

“I see leadership vacuum in this country when President Robert Mugabe dies. ZANU-PF leaders will fight each other to replace him and Morgan Tsvangirai will not rule Zimbabwe,” said the sanusi.

He says he sees a new leader emerging from the ranks of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) faction led by Tsvangirai. The new leader, says the fortune teller, will have to deal with serious problems that will arise from Matabeleland province whose leaders are advocating for autonomy or devolution of power.

“I also see a big man dying in South Africa but I won’t say his name. There is trouble coming for people in Central and West Africa. I see many people dying there,” adds the sanusi.

The Bulawayo-based fortune teller is the only one left in the city after the death of Scotsman Bill MacLeod who predicted the genocide in Central Africa in the late 80s. MacLeod predicted the emergence of a political party that would kick Mugabe out of power by the end of the century.

That party turned out to be the MDC which came close to defeating Mugabe in 2000. It was said that Mugabe lost the election in 2000 to MDC and again in 2008 to Tsvangirai.

The sanusi’s fear of being identified comes after he was arrested in 1979 by the Rhodesian government at the time. In that year, he predicted that two civilian aircrafts would be brought down by members of the guerrillas. He was accused of working with them.

(Source)

Last year, early on Christmas Eve morning, representatives from the U.S., United Kingdom, Netherlands, and the European Union arrived for a meeting with Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Appointed prime minister earlier that year as part of a power-sharing agreement after the fraud- and violence-ridden 2008 presidential election, Tsvangirai and his political party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), are considered Zimbabwe’s greatest hopes for unseating the country’s long-time de facto dictator Robert Mugabe and bringing democratic reforms to the country.

The topic of the meeting was the sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by a collection of western countries, including the U.S. and E.U. Tsvangirai told the western officials that, while there had been some progress in the last year, Mugabe and his supporters were dragging their feet on delivering political reforms. To overcome this, he said that the sanctions on Zimbabwe “must be kept in place” to induce Mugabe into giving up some political power. The prime minister openly admitted the incongruity between his private support for the sanctions and his public statements in opposition. If his political adversaries knew Tsvangirai secretly supported the sanctions, deeply unpopular with Zimbabweans, they would have a powerful weapon to attack and discredit the democratic reformer.

Later that day, the U.S. embassy in Zimbabwe dutifully reported the details of the meeting to Washington in a confidential U.S. State Department diplomatic cable. And slightly less than one year later, WikiLeaks released it to the world.

The reaction in Zimbabwe was swift. Zimbabwe’s Mugabe-appointed attorney general announced he was investigating the Prime Minister on treason charges based exclusively on the contents of the leaked cable. While it’s unlikely Tsvangirai could be convicted on the contents of the cable alone, the political damage has already been done. The cable provides Mugabe the opportunity to portray Tsvangirai as an agent of foreign governments working against the people of Zimbabwe. Furthermore, it could provide Mugabe with the pretense to abandon the coalition government that allowed Tsvangirai to become prime minister in 2009.

It’s difficult to see this as anything but a major setback for democracy in Zimbabwe. Even if Tsvangirai is not charged with treason, the opponents to democratic reforms have won a significant victory. First, popular support for Tsvangirai and the MDC will suffer due to Mugabe’s inevitable smear campaign, including the attorney general’s “investigation.” Second, the Prime Minister might be forced to take positions in opposition to the international community to avoid accusation of being a foreign corroborator. Third, Zimbabwe’s fragile coalition government could collapse completely. Whatever happens, democratic reforms in Zimbabwe are far less likely now than before the leak.

To their supporters, WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange are heroes of the democratic cause. Assange himself has claimed that his organization promotes democracy by strengthening the media. But in Zimbabwe, Assange’s pursuit of this noble goal has provided a tyrant with the ammunition to wound, and perhaps kill, any chance for multiparty democracy. Earlier this month, Assange claimed that “not a single person, as far as anyone is aware, has been harmed” by Wikileaks’ practices. This is no longer true, if it ever was.

Any damage to democratic reforms from WikiLeaks likely comes not from malice but naivety. Assange is probably not best described, as Vice President Joe Biden recently put it, a “high-tech terrorist.” Rather, he, his organization, and their activist supporters believe that they can promote democracy by making an enemy of secrecy itself. What we’re seeing in Zimbabwe, however, is that those methods won’t necessarily be without significant collateral damage.

(Source)

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to this press conference which comes after day-long deliberations by the national executive committee and the national council of the MDC.

Let me say at the outset that the MDC is a people-centred party and the people are always at the core of our business and deliberations.

We are the true repository of the people’s aspirations and we have a duty to make a public announcement when we take far-reaching decisions in the interest of the people of Zimbabwe.

We have remained resolute, in the full knowledge that we are the true people’s representatives because of the clear mandate given to us in a legitimate election.

Today’s meeting of the national council is the last meeting of the year; a tumultuous year in which we have experienced both progress and frustrations in our quest to bring about real change to the people of Zimbabwe.

It is a year in which evidence abounds that our participation in government has added value and improved the lives of the people.

But it is also a year in which we have recorded frustrations as a result of stagnation in the resolution of the outstanding issues of the GPA and President Robert Mugabe’s unilateral and unconstitutional acts.

These frustrations have slowed the pace of democratic reforms, which are the core business of the inclusive government if we are to prepare conditions conductive for a free and fair election as spelt out in the GPA.

However, these frustrations have not dampened our spirits, but have instead spurred us to continue with our collective journey of hope towards a new Zimbabwe and a new beginning.

The MDC National Council met today and among other things, the Council debated the following;

• The state of the State and the general living conditions of the people of Zimbabwe,

• The state of the Party,

• The issue of the country’s resources including the issues of diamonds and empowerment,

• The question of violence, the rule of law and security of the person, and

• The question of elections and the country’s state of preparedness.

Having so debated the above issues, Council resolved as follows;

1. THE STATE OF THE PARTY

a. Council noted the provisions of Article 5.2.2 of the Party’s Constitution with regards to the holding of a Congress and therefore directs that the Party Congress shall be held by the 30th of May 2011.

b. Council further waives strict compliance with the time limits provided in the Constitution.

2. THE CONSTITUTION-MAKING PROCESS

a. Council notes the problems of legitimacy, violence and infringement and assault of the constitution-making process.

b. The party further notes the derailment of the peoples’ will in this process.

c. Be that as it may, Council directs that the current constitution making process must be concluded and a referendum must be held.

3. THE GLOBAL POLITICAL AGREEMENT

a. Council notes the existence of the following outstanding issues;

• The swearing-in of Roy Bennett,

• The issue of the RBZ Governor and Attorney General,

• Provincial Governors,

• Review and reallocation of ministerial mandates,

• The unilateral alternation of ministerial mandates, and

b. Pursuant to the aborted Extra-Ordinary Meeting of the SADC Organ Troika of the 20th of November 2010, Council calls on SADC to immediately reconvene the aborted meeting to discuss the following

• The outstanding issues,

• The roadmap to elections, and

• Toxic issues including the issue of violence, deployment, of security agents in the countryside and a corrosive media.

c. Council expresses its regret at the failure to execute the 24 agreed issues and now calls on the Principals of the parties to take measures to implement and execute the agreed positions as reflected in the Negotiators report dated the 3rd of April 2010 and more importantly, to enforce and uphold the Implementation Matrix as agreed by the Principals on the 8th of June 2010.

4. ELECTIONS AND ELECTORAL PROCESSES

a. Council notes and restates the position that an election in Zimbabwe should be held to deal with the question of illegitimacy associated with the farcical Presidential run-off election of June 2008.

b. For the avoidance of doubt, Council resolves that the next election should be solely for the disputed Presidential election of 2008 with a harmonised election to be held in 2013 as prescribed in the Constitution.

c. Further, Council restates that ZANU PF nor its President do not have the right of unilaterally calling for the aforesaid Presidential election and that Article 23.1.b of the GPA and the 8th Schedule of the Constitution which requires agreement, should be respected.

d. Further, Council notes that the SADC Roadmap on elections dealing with

• The creation of adequate conditions for a free and fair elections,

• Guarantees against violence and security of the person,

• Proper monitoring and policing of the election including the question of SADC presence six months before and six months after the election, and

• Guarantees with respect to the honouring of the peoples’ will, and urge that the same be put in place before the aforesaid elections.

5. CONDITIONS OF THE PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE

• Council notes the suffering of the Zimbabwean people and the attempts of the Inclusive Government to mitigate the aforesaid suffering.

• However, Council notes the leakages, corruption, opaqueness and lack of accountability associated particularly with minerals and extractive industries in general.

• Chiadzwa

i. Council therefore applauds and supports the Government decision that all alluvial diamonds should be owned and mined by the State, and

ii. Urges the immediate crafting of the Diamond Act that will legalise the above issue and create the National Sovereign Fund.

d. Civil Service Audit

i. Council notes the existence of thousands of ghost workers in government who are affecting government capacity to remunerate the genuine civil servant.

ii. Council therefore urges the immediate publication and execution of the long awaited public service audit.

6. VIOLENCE AND INTIMIDATION

• Council condemns in the strongest language all acts of violence targeted against MDC members by rogue elements within the State,

• Further, Council notes the deployment of serving and retired security personnel in the countryside as a machination of inculcating a culture of fear amongst the rural people,

• Council therefore calls on the withdrawal of all deployed security personnel in the countryside.

• Council calls on the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration to speed up the process of national healing to abate any forms of political violence.

• Council calls on the International Criminal Court to name and prosecute all perpetrators of post-election violence in Kenya.

• Further, Council calls on the Attorney General and the Judiciary to prosecute all perpetrators of violence.

• Furthermore, Council calls on the South African Government to release the South African Judges Report into electoral violence of 2002 and the South African Generals’ Report of the 2008 electoral violence.

7. RESOLUTION ON IVORY COAST

• Council applauds the people of Ivory Coast for voting peacefully.

• Council notes the defiance and lack of respect of democracy and the will of the people by losing candidate Laurent Gbagbo in failing to relinquish power tantamount to a military coup.

• Council applauds ECOWAS and the AU in their efforts to finding sustainable peaceful solutions in Ivory Coast.

• Further, Council calls on Mr Laurent Gbagbo to respect the will of the people, the election results and concede state power to Mr Alassane Quattara and his political party to allow for stability and growth in the West African country.

8. RESOLUTION ON WIKILEAKS

• Council notes attempts to divide the party and cause division in the Party by ZANU PF and state agencies.

• Council also notes the continuation of this agenda through various channels including diplomatic leaks now known as WikiLeaks.

• Council therefore condemns the aforesaid attempts to divide us and indeed the reports in the aforesaid WikiLeaks.

• Council restates the strength of the party and reaffirms that the party cannot be divided or de-branded by the loony actions of a dying ZANU PF empire.

I thank you.

(Source)

Prime Morgan Tsvangirai has called for an ending to the unending bickering in the coalition government in order to woo back the much needed investors.

Tsvangirai who was speaking at the launch of the much hyped One Stop Shop Investment Centre (OSS) that was also attended by his co principals in the hybrid government Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara and President Robert Mugabe said that the setting up of the centre was a welcome development but added that more has to be done so as to restore investor confidence that has been eroded by the standoff in the government.

“Apart from setting up the OSS there are certain things that have to be considered. Firstly we must ensure that there is a stable political environment, investors will shy away from perceived political instability,” said Tsvangirai.

The envisaged investors flow to the country that was tickled by the setting up of the GNU that has now all but collapsed has been very slow and many people are now pensive that the investors will come to the country primarily due to policies such as the investment laws that strip investors of their 51 percent investment.

“The formation of the GNU and subsequent stabilisation of the economy to restoration of confidence and investor interests in the country.

However discordant voices will continue to undermine the growing confidence in the country. We have to guarantee policy consistence. We have policies that have not been fully implemented leading to a development of a wait and see attitude by investors,” said Tsvangirai.

However, Mugabe was reading from a different verse altogether and as always went on to repeat the mantra of sanctions.

The policy inconsistence that was referred to by Tsvangirai was even apparent at the launch when Mugabe said that investors would be scared away by the laws  in the country but would eventually investors in the country.

“This process (OSS) should, however, ensure that foreigners do not encroach into investment areas reserved for locals in terms of our Indigenisation and Empowerment Programme,” said Mugabe.

(Source)

An MDC-T activist here, Givemore Sabawu, died last week after he was allegedly forced by ZANU PF youth to drink beer mixed with poison.

“ZANU PF youths, Michael Chimusekedzo, Fungai Geremu and Lovemore Chiropa, forced Givemore Sabawu of ward 17 to drink poisoned beer last week. Sabawu later died from the poisoning. The incident left villagers in a state of shock as ZANU PF terror tactics reached alarming heights,” said a villager on condition of anonymity.

According to villagers police took no action and the suspects roamed scot-free in the area.

ZANU PF also reverted to its old and failed campaign strategy of using food handouts as a political tool. Suspected MDC supporters in Chimukoko area were being denied access to the handouts until they turned ZANU PF.

As GPA nears its expiry, political temperatures have risen with ZANU PF intensifying terror tactics ahead of elections pencilled for mid next year. The former ruling party was banking on violence to win the watershed elections.

Already several suspected MDC supporters have lost lives in both urban and rural areas at the hands of known ZANU PF thugs. Mugabe has vowed to hold elections by June 2011 as he claimed the inclusive government forced incompatible partners to share same bed.

While Mugabe insisted elections would go ahead next year under whatever conditions, Morgan Tsvangirai, indicated his party would not participate in elections conducted under an undemocratic and hostile atmosphere.

(Source)

Several think tank analysts have recommended that the international community take a “tough and quiet” approach against President Robert Mugabe and Zanu (PF), according to a latest report by Wikileaks.

According to a document called Africa:US Versus UK Priorities, London Think Tanks Comment published on a new Wikileaks website, Zimbabwe should and will remain a top priority for the UK.

The original Wikileaks website was closed after the controversial leaks of the classified documents and its founder, Julian Assange, has been described as a “high tech terrorist” and is now being hunted by police on sex crime charges.

However, it noted that President Mugabe’s history of bombastic statements had only served to solidify his status as a colonial liberation leader.

“From a strategic perspective, these analysts termed the United State’s focus on Zimbabwe as “surprising” because Zimbabwe was not a threat, but largely a contained crisis. They said that Zimbabwe’s crisis should be treated as a regional issue, not an international one, and that the US government should not sacrifice it’s relations with South Africa, the more strategic partner, over Zimbabwe, even if the political events in Zimbabwe run contrary to the US government’s democracy agenda.”

They asserted that the international community’s concern about Zimbabwe being a regional destabiliser was largely unfounded, as most of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) – especially South Africa – “can take care of themselves.”

Wikileaks has been releasing classified United States diplomatic cables sent to and from US embassies in countries throughout the world. These cables include orders sent out from the Department of State, embassy reporting about the local governments and details of US government activities in each country.

It has published 251,287 cables, originating from 274 embassies and dating from 28th December 1966 to 28th February 2010. Of this total, 15, 652 of the cables were marked Secret, 101,748 Confidential and 133,887 Unclassified, although even the ‘unclassified’ documents contain sensitive information.

It said in its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) that the motives for releasing these documents were based on the US founding father James Madison who famously said: “Knowledge will forever govern ignorance and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.”

“This basic philosophy of the American revolution inspires all our work,” it said.

The cables appear to be the single most significant historical archive ever released and affect basic and heartfelt issues all over the world; geopolitics and democracy; human rights and the rule of law; national resources and global trade.

US authorities have said the release may put people at risk.

Wikileaks said it had a four-year publishing history during which it had released documents pertaining to over 100 countries. There was no report, including from the US Government, of any of their releases ever having caused harm to any individual.

It said as part of its review process, it requested the US State Department, which had claimed to have conducted an extensive review of the material of its own over the last few months, to provide the titles of the cables which they should look at with extra care.

It said the State Department refused to provide that information, or negotiate any other arrangement, suggesting that its desire to cover up at all costs eclipses its bona fide desire to minimise potential harm.

The State Department gave its side of the correspondence to the New York Times and elsewhere at the same time.

Instead of publishing the documents all at once, the organisation will be releasing the embassy files in stages over the next few months.

“The subject matter of these cables is of such importance, and the geographical spread so broad, that to do otherwise would not do this material justice.

“We owe it to the people who entrusted us with the documents to ensure that there is time for them to be written about, commented on and discussed widely in public, something that is impossible if hundreds of thousands of documents are released at once. We will therefore be releasing the documents gradually over the coming weeks and months.”

Wikileaks is staging the release of the embassy cables in order to maximise the impact of their release and do justice to the source material. A later phase of this release will involve working with partners in a far wider selection of countries to ensure each country gets to see the real workings of its government’s relations with the USA.

It said it protected its sources. “We will not publicly comment on the source of any of our releases, how the information was obtained, or on the security measures used to protect sources identities. Our submission systems are secure and anonymised.”

The US embassy cables cover serious issues for every country in the world with a US diplomatic presence.

“As far as knowledge about what is truly going on in the world can influence our decisions, this material must result in political change and reform,” it said.

“One newspaper has alleged the cables might destabilise the Middle East. These cables, by giving the players an unvarnished description of how they are seen, there will be a common ground on which to effectively negotiate peace and stability. We do not see this as a risk of destabilisation, but an opportunity for stabilisation and reform in the Middle East.

(Source)

ZANU PF says its ageing leader, Robert Mugabe does not need a home in the UK as suggested by a former British minister this week whom the revolutionary party accuses of being silly and naïve to think the “warrior” would leave his territory.

ZANU PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo said suggestions by Lord Renton to give Mugabe a home in the UK as part of efforts to resolve the Zimbabwe economic and political situation were a joke.

“It’s silly. President Mugabe does not need a home anywhere other than Zimbabwe. He was born here, fought here and he is still fighting and from here the illegal sanctions imposed on the country,” Gumbo told the Daily News. “You can’t expect a warrior like President Mugabe to leave his territory and accept a home in the UK. It’s a joke made in poor taste.”

Gumbo said Mugabe would always be a Zimbabwean first and any suggestion that he be given a home in the UK was stupid.

Former British Minister for the Home Office and Foreign Office, Lord Renton, told the House of Lords during question time on Tuesday that offering Mugabe a home would be the best way for the British government to help the people of Zimbabwe.

Renton said: “Would you agree that the best way for us to help and assist the economic recovery of Zimbabwe would be to offer President Mugabe a safe, comfortable and well looked after home in Britain?”

Renton was Margaret Thatcher’s chief whip between 1989 and 1990 and served in John Major’s government as minister for the arts between 1990 and 1992.

Mugabe and his allies in ZANU PF have been slapped with travel bans by the UK and the European Union in response to Harare’s flagrant violations of human rights and lack of respect for the rule of law.

A former darling of the West and the UK, in particular, the 86 year-old Zimbabwean leader’s relations with London are now very frosty.

Mugabe has not been to the UK in almost a decade since former premier Tony Blair imposed targeted sanctions on him and colleagues in ZANU PF.

But Mugabe has consistently and spiritedly accused both the UK and US of using sanctions to hurt his administration as a punitive measure for embarking on  the agrarian reforms in 2000 which drove white commercial farmers off prime farming land.

ZANU PF and Mugabe accuse Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of taking instructions from the West and of being “used” as their agent to topple the aged President.

(Source)

Zimbabwe police in Mashonaland East have launched a blitz confiscating shortwave radio sets parcelled out to villagers by non-governmental organisations campaigning for the freeing of the airwaves. Information obtained by Radio VOP on Thursday indicated that the police had been raiding homesteads starting with Murehwa centre in search of the “offending” SW radio sets, in what civil society organisations view as part of a ZANU PF strategy to stop rural folk from accessing alternative media sources other than the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC).

Due to ZBC’s partisan reporting in favour of President Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF, Non-governmental organisations have been doling out free SW radios to enable villagers to tune into foreign-based radio stations which beam into the country such as Radio VOP, SW Radio Africa and and the Washington-based Studio Seven run by the Voice of America.

An official with ZimRights told Radio VOP that police officers in the company of members of the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) are going around Murehwa District threatening villagers in possession of the NGO donated sets before proceeding to confiscate them.  “Three men from Chitowa village fell victim to this police raid early this week and they have been able to identify the police details as Constables Sibanda and Basopo,” said the source.

In a statement to Radio VOP confirming the police actions, ZimRights in Harare said police claimed the distribution of the radio sets were done “behind their backs and without their knowledge.”

“Consequently, they (police) question the motive of the organisations in giving the radios behind their back,” said ZimRights.  “They argue that the radios are propaganda driving tools meant to discredit the government. The police claimed that with the radios, the people cannot access official Zimbabwe radio stations. They also cited ZIMRA (Zimbabwe Revenue Authority) complaints about evasion of tax during the importation of the radios,” it added.

National police spokesman, Wayne Bvudzijena said he was not aware of the incidents but promised to investigate.

ZimRights said it was demanding an immediate stop to the victimisation of rural people as well as the violation of their right to access to information and freedom of expression. “Police should practice what they are mandated to do instead of pursuing political agendas, an undesirable characteristic of state security,” said ZimRights.

Despite media reforms being top of the agenda of the government of national unity, ZANU PF is refusing to free the airwaves.

(Source)