Messages From Zimbabwe

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe gave another public slap to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and the unwieldy coalition government within which the two foes are supposed to be working together.

Mugabe arrested one of Tsvangirai’s cabinet ministers on spurious charges. And then, to pour salt in the wound, Mugabe managed to convince one of Zimbabwe’s courts to remove the speaker of the house, who is aligned with Tsvangirai, on a technicality.

These acts of provocation come on top of months of political violence in which Mugabe’s militias have attacked and tortured Tsvangirai supporters in Harare, the capital, and across the country.

Last week, for instance, 46 Zimbabweans appeared in court for allegedly plotting treason because they had gathered to watch videos of the events in Tunisia and Egypt. Many of those arrested said they were tortured by Zimbabwean authorities. The courts dismissed the charges against 39 of them and said the evidence looked weak against the remaining seven.

Tsvangirai angrily denounced Mugabe’s actions and said he wanted a “divorce” from the power-sharing government, which was designed after the 2008 elections and requires the two leaders and their parties to govern side-by-side.

Twenty-two ambassadors to Harare signed an unprecedentedly harsh letter denouncing Mugabe for the political violence. The EU spearheaded the letter, which was also signed by the ambassadors from the United States, Britain, France, Spain, Japan and most of Zimbabwe’s biggest donors.

Has Mugabe lost it? At 87 and in power for 31 years, is he an out-of-touch geriatric autocrat pushing his country toward a revolt like in Egypt or Tunisia?

Not at all. This is how Robert Mugabe campaigns for elections.

The leader controls all the levers of power in Zimbabwe and he is using the same old methods he always has for seizing victory at the polls.

Mugabe has, in the past, set up paramilitary camps across the country, in cities and in rural areas, from which his militia can intimidate and pressure opposition supporters. Mugabe has consistently pushed through dubious lawsuits against opposition leaders and has made repeated speeches in which he warns of more violence.

These are campaign tactics Mugabe used in the elections of 2000, 2002 and 2008 – and they worked. Mugabe is now using these same strategies to win yet another term.

It is not clear when Zimbabwe’s elections will be held. The accord that forced Mugabe and the opposition to form a coalition government calls for a new constitution to be drafted to prepare the grounds for elections. But when constitutional meetings were held last year, Mugabe’s thugs broke them up and beat the participants.

Mugabe announced in December that he intended to hold elections in 2011.

Harare’s townships, which have been bastions of support for the opposition, have been the victims of Mugabe-sponsored violence in recent weeks. Last week Mbare, Harare’s oldest black township, suffered a round of brutal attacks. And now posters of Mugabe adorn its market and bus terminal, according to Sky News.

Tsvangirai’s top aide and energy minister, Elton Mangoma, languishes in jail awaiting trial. Tsvangirai complains that the corruption charge against Mangoma is over a deal made by an official in his ministry and should not cause Mangoma to be jailed.

Tsvangirai further alleged that Mugabe’s cabinet and his Zanu-PF party are rife with corruption, according to the Zimbabwean. He cited the notorious Marange diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe where he said several companies have been granted mining rights without following proper procedures. Tsvangirai charged that $313 million have vanished from the state diamond revenues, yet there has been no investigation.

“Zanu-PF corruption infests and infects every aspect of our economy and government,” said Tsvangirai, who added that his party has lodged numerous complaints of corruption but few have been taken seriously by police.

Tsvangirai said the corruption charges against his supporters are “an attempt to cloud and obscure the massive corruption in Zimbabwe. … The people of Zimbabwe are not foolish. The people of Zimbabwe are not cowards. The people of Zimbabwe will not accept this.”

But Tsvangirai, compromised by the uncomfortable coalition with Mugabe, gives conflicting signals. Recently he described his relationship with Mugabe in such optimistic and upbeat terms that he dumbfounded the Financial Times correspondent Alec Russell. British Prime Minister David Cameron was similarly left speechless when Tsvangirai spoke of Mugabe in flattering terms in Davos, Switzerland, in January, Russell wrote.

It is hard to believe that four years ago this month Tsvangirai was beaten unconcious by Zimbabwean police, along with 30 other leaders of his MDC party. Those beatings were an example Mugabe’s campaign style. And in the 2008 election, Tsvangirai nearly unseated Mugabe, winning more votes in the first round.

Tsvangirai, 59, is an appealing figure who in the 1990s forged the country’s trade unions into the most potent opposition to Mugabe’s Zanu-PF. Then, in 1999, Tsvangirai launched the MDC to directly challenge Zanu-PF. Tsvangirai has lasted longer than anyone else as Mugabe’s rival.

Now it seems Mugabe has Tsvangirai exactly where he wants him, hamstrung and ineffective in the power-sharing government in which Mugabe holds the power and Tsvangirai must share whatever is left.

Tsvangirai may rail in anger against the arrest and beatings of his supporters. He may charge corruption and call for a divorce from Mugabe. But in the end, Tsvangirai stated that he and his party would remain in the coalition.

No, Mugabe is not crazy. He is laying the groundwork for another bloody campaign to extend his rule.

Underestimate Robert Mugabe at your peril, he is one of the most ruthless and cunning politicians in Africa, indeed in the world.

(Source)

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)

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)

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)

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and leader of the Movement Democratic Change (MDC) says he is ready for elections next year but not war.

He said in his Christmas message to Zimbabweans: “We won the Presidential, parliamentary and local government elections of 2008 and we are not afraid. The holder of the heavyweight title can never be more afraid than the challenger; the one itching to inflict revenge after being humiliated in the first round. And we won the first round. So we are ready for an election and not a war.

“We are only ready for a free and fair election, a peaceful election where violence, rigging, intimidation and a biased public media have no space; where our soldiers, our police, our central intelligence officers and our war veterans remain impartial actors that respect the Constitution of Zimbabwe. A free election where losers hand over power and winners begin urgently to transact the business of the people and to set in motion policies that will guarantee a prosperous future for us and our children.

“So we will only participate in a free, fair and violence-free election. But we will not participate in a war. We are simple defenceless citizens of this country fighting for change through peaceful and democratic means. So we will not participate in a blood-soaked event masquerading as an election.

“On 16 December 2010, our national council took a position that the outstanding electoral business is the unfinished Presidential election of 2008. There was no contestation on the outcome of the Parliamentary and local government elections. This means Zimbabweans should be given a chance to vote for a President of their choice in the next election. We have been forced to walk the road of violence and we are not prepared to walk it forever more.

“I, like every other Zimbabwean, have personally experienced this violence and I understand the pain of brutality and indignity. There have been disturbing and treasonous statements by a parasitic minority in ZANU PF that they will not allow an election to decide the future leaders of this country. The people of Zimbabwe, with the active assistance of SADC, must ensure that the people’s will prevails if we are to entrench a new culture of democracy in our country.

“I am aware that more needs to be done to realise our full potential in bringing hospitals and schools to their former glory and in ensuring that our silent factories start working again. But we have made our positive change in this government amid renewed tension which is threatening our collective march from a dark past of uncertainty to a future of hope and progress.”

“I have my own frustrations about many things in this government. Chief among my frustrations is the failure to implement the Global Political Agreement, the resurgence of violence in the country and President Robert

Mugabe’s unilateral and unconstitutional acts which have blighted the dawn of possible progress.

“I am frustrated because these things have stood between us and the great things we could have achieved as a coalition government. I am frustrated because we have taken Zimbabweans for a ride and betrayed the trust bestowed upon us by you, the people of Zimbabwe as well as SADC and the African Union as the guarantors of the Global Political Agreement.

“I am frustrated because we cannot implement the 24 issues we have agreed upon for the simple reason that President Mugabe has chosen to run away from his signature and treats fellow Principals with utter disdain and contempt.

“I am frustrated because the noble-constitution-making process has failed to stand the test of legitimacy after Zimbabweans were disallowed from freely expressing their views. However, we must continue with this process of crafting a new charter for ourselves while awaiting the making of a truly people-driven Constitution in a post-transitional environment.

“It is a shame that 30 years after independence, we still use a Constitution given to us as an order of the Queen at Lancaster House, albeit a Constitution mutilated 19 times. And we still have the have the temerity to call ourselves a sovereign nation while at the same time subverting a noble process of crafting our own, home-grown Constitution.

“I am frustrated because those who lost the election have chosen to mistake our goodwill and benevolence for a weakness. They have deluded themselves into thinking that they invited us. But we derive comfort in that while they are soaked with the blood of innocent Zimbabweans, we remain drenched in the legitimacy bestowed upon us in a free and fair election.

“We are the true repository of the people’s aspirations. But our present frustrations must not blind us to the nightmare of the past and the prospect of a better future.

“We are now on the home stretch – the last mile. As we go on this last mile, we remain undaunted by the prospect of an election, as this is the only route through which a legitimate government can begin to transact the business of the people and bring about real change.

“This month, we all celebrate the birth of Christ and look positively to the year ahead, well aware of the value we have brought into government and the role we have played in stopping the bleeding and making sure that Zimbabweans have every reason to hope again,” he said. “We are not there yet and I have no doubt about the huge task that lies ahead in returning the country to normalcy and in laying the foundation for a great future for our children.”

He said among the successes of MDC were the ability to add value to the government, pulling the nation from the brink of collapse to a new potential of hope and averted an inevitable plunge into the abyss to set the country back on the rails; on a new path of stability, development and growth.

“We are the people’s conscience in this government and every day, we are mitigating the excesses of entitlement and corruption and keeping in check a sulking minority unused to working in the interest of the people. We have shown what a determined people can do, even in the face of open ZANU PF provocation.”

“We have weathered and survived dark and sinister plots to undermine the collective government work programme and the real change agenda. 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.”

“As I take stock of the past year and look at the priorities of 2011, I am humbled by some notable achievements but at the same time aware of the great strides we would have made were it not for the needless tension in this government,” noted Tsvangirai.

He said Zimbabwe’s inflation has been tamed and the country is poised for a growth of 8,1 percent after having spent the past two years concentrating on stabilising the economy. There is food on the shelves, schools have opened and hospitals have begun functioning again.

He said a one-stop shop that will enable prospective investors to have their papers processed under one roof in less than 48 hours had been opened.

Tsvangirai said he was unhappy with the remuneration for civil servants considering their patriotism and their great service to the country.

He also said a false impression had been created that the MDC and its leadership were fighting the national security institutions.

“We have nothing against our soldiers, our police and our CIO officers as long as they stick to their Constitutional mandate of protecting the people of Zimbabwe. But we have a problem when the same institutions are used for partisan interest, to intimidate and mete out violence against innocent and defenceless citizens.

“So we need a roadmap to a free and fair election, with clear benchmarks and time-bound milestones that will ensure the people’s views will be respected.”

(Source)

The committee drafting Zimbabwe’s new constitution says it expects a referendum on the draft in September next year, casting doubts on the prospects of an early election.

Robert Mugabe has been calling for an election soon after the February 2011 second anniversary of the unity government, which he formed with his arch rival and now Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

The 86 year-old leader says he is not happy in the inclusive government and was last week endorsed by his ZANU PF party to run for another term next year.

But on Wednesday President Mugabe appeared to be climbing down from his hardline position when he told ZANU PF supporters that the polls will only be held after referendum.

Mugabe has said elections are expected some time next year – would only be held once the constitutional referendum has been concluded.

Drafting a new charter for the country was one of the major reforms agreed by the coalition partners but the exercise has been delayed by squabbles between the political parties and the lack of funding.

And, frustrated by the delays Mugabe, had previously stated that the country would hold elections whether or not the exercise was concluded.

However, addressing thousands of supporters in Gutu where he was visiting his uncle Kasirai Masanganise who is Chief Gutu and brother to his late mother Bona Mugabe, the President said the referendum would be come first.

“There is going to be a draft constitution which will be put to a referendum; after that we will then have general elections,” Mugabe said, speaking in Shona.

Mugabe insisted that his party’s views should make up most of the final draft claiming ZANU PF had dominated the outreach programme which was aimed at gathering public contributions.

“We must make sure that when the draft constitution is put together ZANU PF’s views are dominant because the party dominated the outreach programme,” he said.

The ZANU PF leader said new elections were needed to replace the coalition government which he said was only a temporary measure and again slated his rivals in the coalition government.

“Even in Government they have no policy as compared to us in ZANU-PF who came up with policies in education, health and even indigenisation of the economy which is now expanding to cover mines and factories,” Mugabe said.

(Source)

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights have called on President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to ensure freedom and fairness reigns during the forthcoming elections in 2011.

The call follows Mugabe’s quest for the elections after saying the union that exists between his ZANU-PF and Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would not work and must end. The group fears the bickering that exists between the government of national unity ruling parties would replicate ugly 2008 elections violence.

The two parties signed an agreement to work together after losing supporters and officials in bloody fights.

A report from the lawyers’ non-governmental organisation argued the country could slip back into instability if elections were not fair.

About 200 people, many from the MDC, were killed in 2008 elections, and the lawyers say conditions on the ground have not improved since.

African leaders forced the creation of the coalition government in February 2009 after rejecting the results of a presidential election runoff boycotted by Tsvangirai.

(Source)

ZANU PF MP for Marondera West, Retired Brigadier Ambrose Mutinhiri, last week sent a chill down the spines of MDC supporters who were forced to attend saying he was ready to kill people who continued to oppose the reign of President Robert Mugabe and his party.

Mutinhiri told villagers who had been forced to attend the meeting at Landasi Shopping Centre, where MDC-T supporters had been forced to surrender their membership cards, that he was good at killing and was ready to go to war.

His statement follows that of the feared Minister of Defence Emerson Mnagagwa who told people in Kwekwe his home town that he was taught to kill.

“We were forced to attend the meeting and at that meeting Mutinhiri told us that those who supported Tsvangirai were living in the past and that it is time now when ZANU PF takes over. He said that he fought in the liberation struggle and fighting was in his body,” said a former MDC -T senior member who has since resigned.

Scores of villagers who attended the meeting have already surrendered their MDC membership cards after the chilling statement from Mutinhiri a former cabinet minister. MDC-T parliamentary hopeful Patrick Kunaka this week surrendered to ZANU PF and pledged his vehicle to be used by ZANU PF during mobilisation of resources for the impending congress, scheduled for next week. (He is the source of the story and is now with ZANU PF.)

“Many people have started buying ZANU PF cards in order to protect themselves. They had to do that after the threats from Mutinhiri or leave the constituency,” said MDC-T Chairman for Marondera West, Eddington Magwenzi.

(Source)

Zimbabwe government said Wednesday it had started updating the controversial voters’ roll ahead of a general election expected in the first half of next year.

The exercise, campaigned for by opposition parties, is mainly meant to strike off the names of dead people from the register.

Opposition parties often accused President Robert Mugabe’s party of rigging polls by using the votes of dead people.

”The exercise involves deployment of teams to visit chiefs, headmen, village heads, farms, resettlements and other community leaders to collect information of those who died within their localities,” registrar-general Tobaiwa Mudede said.

”People are always complaining that the voters’ roll has names of deceased people; that’s why we introduced such an exercise to clean up the voters’ roll, but this exercise is not linked with the forthcoming elections which are expected to be held mid next year,”
he added.

President Mugabe has brushed off opposition misgivings and said the country should hold elections by June next year, when a two-year coalition deal expires.

The country is currently ruled by a coalition, including the opposition which is campaigning against the poll proposal, saying conditions
were not ripe for elections.

They are insisting on a new constitution, among other things, to be in place first before fresh elections can be held.

But an ongoing constitution-making exercise has been bogged down by infighting and under-funding, and is not expected to be ready before the poll.

(Source)

The MDC notes with concern the resurgence of violence and displacement of thousands of innocent people in Mbare, Harare — with the open endorsement of ZANU PF. The party wishes to caution the perpetrators that they are spoiling for conflagration and unnecessary mayhem which from which ZANU PF would certainly emerge as a crying loser. The MDC’s vision seeks to empower Zimbabwean youths to enable them to become an integral part of the social, political and economic development of Zimbabwe not through violence, disorder and intimidation. The party is totally opposed to the abuse of youths for selfish political gains.  It is common cause that ZANU PF is financing youths in Mbare and other areas to attack the people.

The ease with which ZANU PF resorts to violence, with the blessing of some state actors, to achieve wicked political ends has had its time. The MDC strongly believes that violence dehumanises and rouses feelings of hatred and polarisation; and damages people’s collective esteem and dignity that it must be avoided as a national priority. Against this background, the MDC calls on the police to act decisively on the purported evictions and the violence in Mbare, emanating from known ZANU PF supporters as a matter of urgency. That ZANU PF youth leaders can dislodge and harass innocent, peace-loving and law abiding citizens with impunity and in front of the police is totally unacceptable.

After losing the 29 March election to the MDC and President Tsvangirai, ZANU PF was forced to publicly commit itself to restrain its spoilt supporters; to promote the values and practices of tolerance; respect and dialogue as a means of resolving political differences. But the latest events, and numerous others countrywide show that ZANU PF has relapsed into previous den of vice and political confusion.

It is unsettling that ZANU PF has done nothing to renounce and to desist from the promotion and use of violence at the slightest opportunity. There is no way the MDC can accept utterances from ZANU PF activists that they wish to violently recapture lost ground. The police force must moved out of the ZANU PF shell and exercise their Constitutional mandate to maintain order. The law must be applied fully and impartially in bringing all perpetrators to book for the sake of peace, security and stability. Zimbabweans have suffered enough and are not going to endure another political semester of tears and blood. By turning to violence in 2010 and even beyond, ZANU PF must gear itself for yet another undignified exit from Zimbabwe’s political spectrum. Times have changed. And, the people, as well.

(Source)