Tuesday, 20th May 2008

Howzit

"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen."

Winston Churchill
British prime minister
(1874-1965)

-o00o-

I somehow doubt that anything said by Matonga is the truth and this is Mugabe's illegal government making the correct noises whilst in the background they are supporters of the violence.

Otherwise we would have read about Mugabe - or some of his senior flunkies - rushing down to South Africa to speak to his shamwari Thabo Mbeki to put a stop to the violence.

"Zimbabwe’s government said on Monday it was "saddened" by xenophobic violence in South Africa that police said late on Monday had killed 22 foreign immigrants to date and many of them Zimbabweans.

Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga said Harare little expected such attacks against Zimbabweans from "people who are neighbours" but he appeared careful not to openly criticise the South African government’s handling of the xenophobic attacks that have seen foreign immigrants burnt to death in scenes mirroring apartheid-ear violence.

South Africa remains President Robert Mugabe’s most important strategic ally after shielding the veteran leader on many occasions from censure by the international community over his controversial policies, blamed for plunging Zimbabwe into an acute economic recession."

But let us have a quick look as to why there are so many Zimbabweans, legally or illegally, in South Africa. Let me think for a while on this....

They fled Zimbabwe! They fled the Mugabe rule and all the violence and discrimination that comes along with that rule. Discrimination because unless you are a card-carrying member of Mugabe's ZANU PF, then you are the enemy and are therefore a legitimate target.

And with Mugabe being so close to Mbeki, this was neatly orchestrated.

This was to give Zimbabweans something else to worry about whilst he rattles the cages of those caught in Zimbabwe...

"Matonga said the government was: "deeply disturbed by xenophobic occurrences in South Africa and this shouldn’t happen to people who are neighbours."

He said the Harare government was putting in place logistical support to help Zimbabweans left without shelter or food after gangs of South African men looted and destroyed their homes.

"Definitely something is being done about those who want to come back home as we have always said that Zimbabwe is a far much safer country," said Matonga."

Two points here. How can the Mugabe regime put in place 'logistical support' in South Africa, when they are unable to do so in Zimbabwe.

And Matonga would have been correct to just use the first two words of the quote above. It probably would have been nearer the truth...

-o00o-

There was a time in Zimbabwe when the 'green bombers' were a joke - a mix-match of youngsters who were unable to find a proper job elsewhere and had joined the youth brigades as something to do and something to keep them occupied.

Sadly, as they grew in stature and number, Mugabe came to use them as a militant force, setting them on various bodies in the country.

"Howard’s mother is just happy her problem child has a job. But she has asked him to spare her the details of what he actually does for a living.

He is a "Green Bomber", a member of Zimbabwe’s National Youth Service (NYC). ZANU PF says he and others like him are learning patriotism, morality and service to the nation, as well as skills that will stem the "unpatriotic" brain drain. But the opposition charges they are President Robert Mugabe’s brutal political enforcers.

Welshman Ncube, founding secretary general of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), once said that NYC training camps are there to "force ZANU PF garbage down children’s throats."

I question this learning curve that Mugabe would have these youngsters experience.

What is 'patriotic' about beating members of the MDC? What is 'patriotic' about killing members of the MDC?

I have more patriotism in my little finger than some of these people!

"It sounded better to me than rolling around in the mud looking for gold, getting into fights and going in and out of jail," says Howard. "Ask my mother."

I find it very sad that youngsters have little choice in their futures once they become a 'green bomber'. Their minds are brainwashed and they will do anything for their beloved leader. And they do this against a backdrop of a failed State.

Bribed with the promise of money, food and land, these young people will do anything to attain their goals. And if those goals include the killing and beating of MDC supporters, then sobeit.

"Is he willing to maim and kill to instil his brand of patriotism? "Do you think the [liberation] war would have been won if the comrades were soft with people who refused to support the struggle?"

But he insists: "We never kill. I’ve attacked only those who attacked me."

One sentence of his statement caught my attention. And I find it altogether sickening.

"He says: “Maybe after the elections I will speak to some people and become a senior police officer after I leave the Taliban [another name by which the militia is known]."

-o00o-

When you read this article, think along these lines. If Mugabe is able to start troubles in another country - and I am a strong believer in the fact that the violence and killings in South Africa are being fuelled by Mugabe - what makes the MDC (wrongly identified as the 'opposition') think that even if African leaders were to support their call, that Mugabe would even contemplate the request?

"Zimbabwe’s opposition said on Sunday it was lobbying African leaders to put pressure on President Robert Mugabe to withdraw the army from rural areas where soldiers have committed violence and human rights abuses.

Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party acting leader Thokozani Khupe told a rally in the second largest city of Bulawayo - that party leader Morgan Tsvangirai skipped because of assassination fears - that the opposition was confident of winning a run-off presidential election but wanted certain conditions met to ensure a free and fair contest.

Zimbabwe holds a presidential run-off poll on June 27 after electoral authorities said Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in a March 29 election but failed to garner more than 50 percent of the vote required to takeover the presidency.

Khupe told more than 10000 supporters at Bulawayo’s White City stadium that the MDC was lobbying the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC), African Union (AU) and the international community at large to put pressure on Mugabe to end political violence and to allow international observers ahead of the run-off poll."

Mugabe's hold over the region has obviously been underestimated. He is able to have things happen in neighbouring countries at the click of his fingers.

And that can only be bad news...

"We are busy putting demands to the SADC, AU and the international community that... there should be the removal of the army from rural areas," Khupe said.

The MDC says senior army officers have directed violence by war veterans and ruling ZANU PF party militia against opposition supporters in rural areas in a bid to cow them to vote for Mugabe in the June election.

MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told the Sunday rally that at least 41 members of the opposition party had died in the violence that had also left thousands others injured and homeless."

It may not be the ZNA in particular, but it is pro-Mugabe bodies that are perpetrating the violence.

-o00o-

"Zimbabwe’s Electoral Court will on Monday begin hearing the first batch of election petitions filed by candidates of both the ruling ZANU PF and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) parties challenging results in a total 105 constituencies.

The court that had additional judges allocated to it to help quicken handling of petitions will hear the applications until Friday with a possibility that that the hearings could stretch into the weekend as Zimbabwe’s election crisis shows little sign it will end anytime soon.

Harare lawyer Alec Muchadehama, among a team of lawyers representing MDC candidates, said his law firm would be handling about 10 opposition petitions this week.

"The first batch of the cases will be heard on Monday," said Muchadehama. He added, "Our law firm is handling 10 cases which will be heard on Monday, but there are several other cases which will be heard this week."

We all know how stacked the judiciary in Zimbabwe is in favour of Mugabe's ZANU PF - and we would do well to keep a close eye on the legal decisions coming out of these petitions. I believe it all to be a profound waste of time, money and manpower - but let's face it - this is what Mugabe wants. People with their eyes off the ball...

"Fifty-three ZANU PF candidates and 52 MDC candidates are challenging the outcome of elections in their respective constituencies and want the court to set aside the results.

The court can order the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to hold fresh polls in some or all of the disputed constituencies, a development that could see ZANU PF regain control of Parliament if it wins most of the constituencies where new elections are held."

We have some very interesting times ahead of us.

-o00o-

This shipment of arms could not have arrived in Harare without the express and full knowledge of foreign regional heads. And it is indicative to me, at the very least, of the overwhelming support that Mugabe has amongst his neighbouring countries - and a few further afield.

Word has it that the arms deal delivery was facilitated through the DRC, a country which Mugabe had his army deployed within during a civil war there.

Pay off, perhaps?

"A 77-ton arms shipment has now reached Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, with speculation rife that South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki assisted directly and confusion as to whether the arms were offloaded at Lobito (Angola) or Ponta Negra (Democratic Republic of Congo).

Mugabe, the man Mbeki recently held hands with, instructed the SAS Drakensberg to refuel the An Yue Jiang, according to the online newspaper Canal de Mocambique. The Chinese ship was being tracked by Lloyds of London; however, the Drakensberg had radar and satellite jamming equipment on board.

In any event, Mugabe now has weapons for a war, weapons to crush dissent, and he has wasted no time deploying his war machine. Forty Movement for Democratic Change activists are reported already dead, and we are about to see armed military controls increasing all over Zimbabwe.

Given the lack of outside involvement in Zimbabwe, we are likely to see escalating levels of bloodshed and disorder, in anticipation of the June 27 election."

So Mugabe - unable to rig the vote with enough vigour to swing the first round of the Presidential election in his favour - has resorted to type. He is obviously intent on taking on the Zimbabwean population. With weapons of some sophistication.

The MDC cannot fight against guns and explosives - not with sticks and shields. And the MDC are known to be a party of peace.

"Because of outside intransigence, particularly from South Africa's leaders, Mugabe now holds all the keys and cards to furthering his highly egregious dictatorship.

How can Mugabe get away with this? Because his backer in South Africa is powerful. Mbeki must be getting a lot of money from Mugabe to play ball. Mbeki said in his own defense of his erratic and questionable diplomacy that "someone is telling lies."

The question is not whether Mbeki is being honest or not; the question is why is he doing what we know he is doing? The answer is simple. He has been offered incentives to make sure Mugabe can continue giving him even more incentives, and that can only happen if Mugabe remains in power."

I find it quite absurd that Mugabe should be continually laying claims to plots and ploys and now Mbeki's reply is that someone is telling lies.

How is it that they believe that Zimbabwe is such a big player on the world stage? The crisis in Zimbabwe may be of huge concern to us, Zimbabweans scattered throughout the world, but in the grand scheme of things, Zimbabwe is just a dust bowl.

And hold little by way of temptation for any word power...

-o00o-

And finally, the sad news of two more deaths.

"Two more decomposing bodies of murdered MDC activists were discovered in Goromonzi, bringing to 43 the number of opposition activists murdered by ZANU PF and state security agents in an orgy of retribution following the people's victory on 29 March 2008.

The bodies of Ken Nyevhe and Godfrey Kauzani, who were abducted together with Beta Chokururama last Tuesday at Juru Growth Point, were discovered in Goromonzi on Saturday. This was three days after Chokururama's body was found in the same area.

Chokururama was found dead the following day in the Chikwaka area on Wednesday with gunshot and knife wounds. He was buried at the Warren Park cemetery on Saturday.

As Chokururama's body was being laid to rest, another shocking discovery was made in Goromonzi district where the bodies of Nyevhe and Kauzani were found also murdered in cold blood in the same area by a ruthless regime."

Now. Think about it. Why would the MDC break all the habits and working of their party's principles - and kill their own with a view to blaming the violence and deaths of ZANU PF? Mugabe's party has a history of violence, murder and deception.

Should we not assume then that this violence is perpetrated by ZANU PF?

If the killing were committed by the MDC, then why has no member of ZANU PF been put to the sword?

"Kauzani's wife, Felistus, was on Sunday picked up by the police from Goromonzi police station who are interrogating her on how the families of the deceased discovered the bodies.

ZANU PF and state security agents have been on an orgy of violence since the opposition party and its president Robert Mugabe lost in the 29 March 2008 elections to the MDC."

Since when does a police force 'interrogate' the wife of a slain activist?

Has the whole world gone crazy?

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Monday, 19th May 2008

Howzit

"No man can think clearly when his fists are clenched."

George Jean Nathan
US drama and social critic
(1882-1958)

-o00o-

Foreign currency mid-rates updated.

-o00o-

ZNU 121 released. In this programme I look at the 'extension' to 90 days of the 21 day rule for the second round of the Presidential election - the forced postal ballots of policemen, their spouses and dependents, the release by the RBZ of the 250 and 500 million dollar bearer cheques (including the advent of the agro-cheque), and the diplomatic hoo-haa caused by the ZRP when they stopped a party of diplomats who were returning from a detention camp and a hospital where they had visited injured MDC members who had been beaten...

The programme can be heard in the player below, or using the multiplayers in the right hand sidebar, here or even played and/or downloaded here.

powered by ODEO

All historical programmes can be played as required from my Odeo page.

I do appreciate your continued support in my audio adventures...

-o00o-

Mugabe doesn't care about your credentials, what you may have done for him in the past. He is only concerned with the present, and if you decide to oppose him, then you will be signing your own death warrant.

"When Gibson Nyandoro raised his arm and slowly unclenched his fist to make the open-palmed salute of Zimbabwe's opposition at a rally eight weeks ago, it was a moment so loaded with symbolism that it stilled the crowd.

Only days before the presidential election, the gesture by this 53-year-old war veteran and former government supporter reflected a nation's rising defiance of President Robert Mugabe and the growing hope that a change of regime was really coming, and with it a path back to prosperity and freedom.

This weekend Nyandoro's body lies rotting somewhere near the army barracks where he was taken and tortured to death. His friends and family, and his fellow political campaigners, are all too scared to collect it for fear of a trap that might cost them their lives.

Nyandoro's story is the story of his country - he fought for its freedom in the independence struggle, he backed Mugabe's ruling party, ZANU PF, acting as his henchman, one of the feared 'war vets' who seized white-owned farms, beating and sometimes killing anyone who got in their way. He told The Observer of how he regretted his violent past. 'People were very, very afraid,' he said. And how he had come to see that Mugabe had betrayed Zimbabwe and brought people not land but starvation. Now, he said, he wanted change."

Think about it. It is quite natural elsewhere in the world where politicians defect to the opposing party, and people the world over switch their allegiance to another political party at will.

Obviously, in Zimbabwe, if you switch parties, and do it publicly, then you become a considered target by the mechanisms of the party you left...

More proof that Mugabe cares not for the feelings of the people, or indeed, the history which he is weaving. If you are now with him, you are against him.

End of story.

"A political 'cleansing' campaign in Zimbabwe is escalating fast. For the five weeks it took the electoral commission of Zimbabwe to announce the disputed results of the 29 March presidential vote there was an uneasy, but mostly peaceful, calm as everyone waited out the unexplained delay. When it finally came, it was claimed Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, had beaten Mugabe - but only marginally, not by enough to prevent a second round. With that run-off election now set for 27 June, there is mounting evidence that the political violence against anyone who supported the MDC is increasing by the day as Mugabe and his ZANU PF party supporters work hard to ensure that far fewer voters dare to defy them at the polling stations this time.

The body of Emmanuel Nelson, 30, has also not yet been returned to his family - he leaves a mother, a wife and a three-year-old daughter. He was taken from his home at Hopley Farm, a poor scrabble of half-built breeze block homes outside Harare, after dark by four men and bundled into a car. He was found last Monday, unconscious, bleeding and dumped in the road. He was taken to hospital, where he later died. He had been slashed in the face and stabbed in the side with a screwdriver.

Nelson's wife, Joice, sits outside their home with her mother-in-law receiving the mourners, their faces glazed with the shock of fresh grief. "He was MDC and they say that is why he was killed. But I don't understand. My daughter keeps on asking and asking where he is. I have had to send her to a relative's house because I cannot answer her," she said."

And Mugabe's ZANU PF tells the world that the violence is caused by the MDC in an attempt to 'tarnish Mugabe's name'. He did that all by himself...

"Shaking hands at the end of the interview in March, Nyandoro spoke excitedly of his belief that change would come to the blighted country for which he had fought so many wars; he was going to persuade more war vets to join the opposition. With great warmth he thanked The Observer 'for your bravery in coming here to meet us'.

The irony is Nyandoro had no idea that it was his courage, the bravery of all Zimbabweans defying Mugabe's regime, that would cost him his life."

-o00o-

Morgan Tsvangirai made a difficult decision this weekend. Following information received that put his life in danger, he has delayed his return to Zimbabwe.

But that didn't stop the MDC rally at White City Stadium in Bulawayo going ahead.

"The opposition Movement for Democratic Change drew a large crowd Sunday at a rally to kickstart its presidential run-off campaign in the western city of Bulawayo, even without the presence of its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.

"There were between 12,000 and 16, 000 people there, and the atmosphere was lively and triumphant," said Mandlankosi Moyo, a local observer."

I read an email last night that would indicate that there were a few policemen on duty at a roadblock into the stadium, but that the entire event was carried out with great decorum and there were no incidents to report.

I was also impressed that the people were all given a plate of food (what's the bet that ZANU PF turn that fact on the MDC, accusing them of 'buying votes'...?)

"Sunday's rally took place after Bulawayo High Court overturned a police ban on the gathering during the week.

Police had claimed the political atmosphere was 'tense' and that it was 'too risky' to hold political meetings in the city."

The court overturned the ban, the rally went ahead and, by all accounts, was a success...

-o00o-

Whilst I appreciate the emphasis and accent that the MDC would want to put on their endeavours to unseat Mugabe in Zimbabwe, I find the use of the word 'bury' will lead to all manner of accusations by ZANU PF, as they will infer that the word would suggest an assassination.

"Zimbabwe's main opposition vowed on Sunday to 'bury' President Robert Mugabe at next month's second-round election, and called for the process of checking the poll results to be open to the media.

The Movement for Democratic Change launched its campaign ahead of the June 27 election in the absence of its leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who delayed his return from abroad after the party said it had discovered a plot to kill him.

MDC vice president Thokozani Khupe told about 10,000 supporters in Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo that the opposition would win by an even bigger margin after official results from the March 29 first round vote showed Tsvangirai did not secure sufficient votes to avoid a run-off."

The other thing, as I have already stated today, is that I think that the rally yesterday was a welcome boost to the MDC. The party needed something positive to happen, to breath new life into the second round campaign.

"We decided to participate in the run-off to give the people of Zimbabwe a second chance to kick out the dictatorship. We have now declared a zero vote for Robert Mugabe," Khupe told supporters on Sunday.

"We need to give Mugabe a final blow. On June 27 we will be having a ZANU PF funeral. We are going to make sure we bury them so that they will not resurrect again."

The MDC has alleged electoral fraud in the March election, and Khupe said verification of results in next month's vote should be open to the media and observers and recorded on camera "so that ZANU PF will not cheat."

In the email that I received last evening, the funeral theme was explained even fuller - stating that the second round was the funeral of ZANU PF, and that all Zimbabweans were invited.

"Next month's second-round election will be held against the backdrop of a political and economic meltdown in which Zimbabweans have grappled with 165,000 percent inflation, 80 percent unemployment, chronic food and fuel shortages which have seen millions flee to neighbouring countries.

The March vote was followed by violence, which the MDC says killed at least 40 of its supporters and which it blames on Mugabe's ZANU PF party. ZANU PF in turn accuses the opposition.

Zimbabwe remains in a political stalemate over the presidential poll, although the opposition won enough votes in March to end ZANU PF's parliamentary majority for the first time since independence from Britain in 1980."

-o00o-

In Zimbabwe, very few events pass the notice of ZANU PF and its many bodies and organisations. Now the pressure is being brought to bear on people who SMS political jokes and messages amongst themselves.

And the relevant authoritative body is now bent on seeking on the SMS users and prosecuting them...

"Zimbabwe’s telecommunications regular says it will monitor mobile phone messages to fight what it sees as abuse of the short-message-service (SMS), state radio reported here Sunday.

The acting chief executive of Postal and Telecommunications Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), Charles Sibanda told the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation that his organization would prosecute subscribers found abusing the SMS service.

Zimbabweans have relied on the SMS service to communicate political messages, particularly after the disputed March 29 general election which was won by the opposition.

Individuals and civic organizations have used text messages to communicate news headlines, election updates or political jokes about President Robert Mugabe."

Surely passing on headlines cannot be construed as a crime? If that is the case, then the State mouthpiece, The Herald, is just a guilty - probably even moreso as the stories they pedal are proven lies...

"Sibanda warned that POTRAZ could trace the source of any abusive message and bring offenders to book."

This is the 'eavesdropping' regulations that the government claims are in place - regulations that allow them to listen in on phone calls, read emails and monitor telecommunications traffic.

Personally, I believe this to be PORTRAZ lighting a fire where there is no fuel.

-o00o-

This will never happen. Trust me - the UN are too stayed in their ways to want to get involved in an African problem. Especially one that involves Mugabe.

"Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called for an international peacekeeping force to be deployed in Zimbabwe to prevent any violence during a presidential run-off ballot next month.

Zimbabwe is due to hold the delayed second-round ballot on June 27, when the opposition hopes to oust veteran leader Robert Mugabe after nearly three decades in power. A first round of elections in March was followed by widespread violence.

Tutu, the South African Nobel Peace Prize laureate, told Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper the deployment of international peacekeepers was the only way to prevent Mugabe's supporters from intimidating and threatening the opposition.

"It would be in everybody's interest to send an international peacekeeping force to Zimbabwe," he said. "That is the only way to make sure no violence will be exerted."

No doubt this statement will be dismissed by Mugabe, who calls Tutu a 'poisonous' bishop.

As I have written before, just what would a peacekeeping force do in Zimbabwe? To what end?

Mugabe has the memory of an elephant, and in the event that he loses and is moved along, as soon as any peacekeeping force were to leave, he and his party would get stuck in to the people. Big time.

"Peacekeeping force" - that is a contradiction in terms, isn't it?

"Tutu said Mugabe must be told he could either lead an illegitimate government and live with the consequences, "for example an indictment before the International Criminal Court due to the grave human rights violations" in his name, or accept a "soft landing" by resigning and perhaps living in exile."

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Sunday, 18th May 2008

Howzit

"If you are trying to transform a brutalized society into one where people can live in dignity and hope, you begin with the empowering of the most powerless."

Adrienne Rich
US poet
(1929- )

-o00o-

Yesterday morning, after I had finished the day's posting, I saw that Morgan Tsvangirai had delayed his return to Zimbabwe in light of a credible threat of assassination...

Last evening, in keeping with the many graphics on the subject, I threw together my own effort.

"There is a realistic threat on Tsvangirai's life and many in Zimbabwe believe the MDC leader faces Benazir Bhutto’s fate if he returns pre-maturely.

The only option left for ZANU PF according to senior members in the secret service is to eliminate Tsvangirai. ZANU PF sees the person Tsvangirai as their only threat and is convinced once Tsvangirai has been eliminated they can either postpone the June 27 vote or go ahead with a lesser threat in the opposition they can easily beat.

Security fears have now delayed the long-awaited homecoming of Zimbabwe's opposition leader on Saturday ahead of an election showdown with veteran President Robert Mugabe scheduled for June 27."

I am of the opinion that should Mugabe have Morgan 'taken out' that his feet wouldn't touch the ground on his way to the gallows. I believe that the people would see red and that removing Tsvangirai from the playing field would force the people's hand. And it would be a tragic mistake in Mugabe's life if he were to let this sort of thing continue. He has a history of removing competitor's, but taking out the leader of an opposing political party would be scraping the bottom of the barrel. Of course it will come as no surprise that the ZRP sided with Mugabe stating that this was the MDC making hay while the sun shines.

"A police spokesman, Oliver Mandipaka, said the fears raised by the opposition about Tsvangirai's safety were "calculated to raise unnecessary alarm."

"Everyone in Zimbabwe is free to move anywhere they like," he said. The election process has been marred by delays, violence and allegations of electoral fraud and the country's economic woes deepen by the day, with official inflation at 165,000 percent and unemployment of 80 percent."

Mandipaka is talking rubbish. People in Zimbabwe are not free - they cannot move about freely, their activities are watched the whole time. I suppose his statement is made in reaction to the fact that the assassination plot has reached the ears of the target.

Perhaps his thoughts would be better placed in attempting to find the snitch, the leak, within ZANU PF...

(And another thought - what has happened to the normal ZRP spokesman, Wayne Bvudzijena? Is he on leave - or has someone really worked out just what a useless individual he is, and shifted him sideways where he can do less damage?)

-o00o-

This article was under the headline, "Who Wants To Kill Tsvangirai?"

Without really thinking too hard, I could probably name a few parties that would be interested in seeing the demise of the MDC leader...

"Fears of an assassination plot against Zimbabwe's opposition leader delayed his long-awaited homecoming on Saturday ahead of an election showdown with veteran President Robert Mugabe on June 27.

After more than a month out of the country, Morgan Tsvangirai had been expected back on Saturday, but he switched plans at the last minute after a tip-off about a planned attempt on his life, his party said.

"We received information from a credible source this morning concerning a planned assassination attempt on president Tsvangirai," said Tsvangirai's spokesperson George Sibotshiwe from Johannesburg.

He was unable to say whether the plot was state-backed and declined to give further details, but he added that Tsvangirai, a former trade union leader, remained "determined to go home at the nearest opportunity"."

I was reading in a few forums last night how people were reacting to the news that Morgan's return had been delayed. And it was most interesting to see those that complained the loudest were posting from outside Zimbabwe...

Perhaps one needs to be relatively close on the ground to appreciate the threat. I, for one, am appalled at the idea that someone would want Tsvangirai dead. But from 6000 miles away, there is not a lot I can do... even if I wanted to.

But I do respect Tsvangirai and understand his decision. The MDC without a leader of his calibre would be the end of that party as we know it. Yes - there will be people prepared to stand in and replace Tsvangirai, but Morgan is one person who has borne the scars and the heat of working at the coalface.

Hence, I respect his decision. A dead leader would be of no use to the Zimbabwean people.

"A source in Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), who asked not be named, also said that the opposition had received information that the police "were unable or unwilling to guarantee Mr Tsvangirai's safety"."

But I do take the statement by the ZRP spokesman as an attempt at making the watching world believe lies, lies and more lies...

"We are not aware of that (a plot)," police spokesperson Oliver Mandipaka said.

"As police we are quite clear that the country is peaceful. Everyone is going about their lawful business as they want, with no need for any individuals to require special security."

-o00o-

"Authorities in Zimbabwe have rejected opposition and international calls for additional election observers for the second round of presidential elections due on June 27, state media said on Saturday.

"The invitations we sent at the beginning are still valid. There would be no further invitations," Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, was quoted as saying by The Herald newspaper.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai made international election monitors one of the conditions of his participation in the run-off, as well as the deployment of regional peacekeepers."

Mugabe is happy to play the election game - as long as he has control over who is watching and what they are watching, he believes that he can rig the election again.

A thought. He must have been shocked rigid when the rigging mechanisms that he normally uses failed to work in the March 29 ballot. He could not have foretold how close he came to losing it outright - and, even with much rigging and rearranging, they were unable to sweep him back into power.

So - in an effort to rig the July 27 second round to the hilt, no holds are barred. No boundaries are acknowledged. And no suspected MDC supporter will be left alone or unturned...

"No Western monitors were allowed to oversee the first ballot and teams from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU) were widely criticised for giving it a largely clean bill of health.

For the first round of polling Zimbabwe invited 47 teams of monitors from regional organisations, as well as from countries including China, Russia and Iran with whom Mugabe enjoys relatively good relations.

Western monitors from the European Union and the Commonwealth have been sidelined. They denounced as flawed the last presidential election in 2002, which saw Mugabe win a new term in office.

An independent local monitoring agency, one of a handful of local groups who were authorised to observe the elections, said Friday that some of its observers were now too scared to monitor the upcoming poll due to fears for their security."

Speaks volumes, doesn't it?

-o00o-

If my education has not deserted me completely, it is my understanding that should a soldier at war don the apparel of the enemy - and is caught - that offence is punishable by death.

I suppose then that ZANU PF must be lucky that the country is not officially in a state of war...

"Masquerading as MDC activists coming to feed victims of ZANU PF atrocities, small gangs of militia and police thugs have moved into Bulawayo to sniff out victims of Robert Mugabe’s presidential run-off terror campaign who have fled from the rural areas to seek sanctuary and medical attention in the city.

This is a markedly different strategy to that employed in the rural areas, where gangs number several hundreds and carry out large-scale beatings and burning of property."

Obviously this is a reprehensible practise as many of the people that they 'sniff out' are just hungry Zimbabweans.

"They are scared to do that in the cities," say political analysts, "as any such attempt would be strongly resisted by the urban populations, who unwaveringly support the MDC in massive numbers." Mugabe’s thugs were deployed in the country's rural areas about two months ago, to unleash a reign of terror on supporters of the MDC in an operation code-named "Mavhotera papi". The campaign is aimed at displacing 500000 voters in order to ensure that Mugabe wins the run-off. But last week the thugs made sporadic visits to the cities, where they have been asking residents about the whereabouts of MDC supporters.

The gangs, most of who are members of the country's security forces drive around in Mazda B2500 vehicles, which are boldly marked CAM in red at the rear. They claim to have been sent from Harare to feed victims of the violence.

Residents who spoke to The Zimbabwean on Sunday in Zimbabwe’s second city on Thursday said that they were now living in fear, after some of them had been "interviewed" by the terror gangs.

"They came here on Monday morning and asked me if I knew of any MDC supporters in the area. When I told them that I did not, they asked if I had seen anyone who had fled from the rural areas and where such people could have gone. They then took me in their vehicle to Nkulumane complex, where they offered to pay me large sums of money if I told them about the people they were looking for, saying that they were MDC people sent from Harare to look for victims of violence and MDC supporters in the city, so that they could assist them,” said a frightened Tapera Chuma, of Gwabalanda suburb.

"They ended up getting harsh and accused me of hiding their colleagues from them and promised to come back for me if they found out that I lied to them," he added.Security sources confirmed this week that the gangs, who travel in groups of about six people per vehicle, are, in fact, state agents sent to identify the opposition's supporters and pick them up for torture at secret locations around the country.

"They are senior police officers who have been sent to arrest MDC supporters for torture at different locations outside the city," said a source."

Some things in Zimbabwe never change. Mugabe attained power through a terrorist war - and he is intent on remaining at the top by utilising the same tactics.

How sad.

But then again, we must remember that this is the man who told the world: "We taught the British democracy - through the barrel of a gun..."

"How can we have so many victims of violence characterised by serious bodily harm with no arrests to match the magnitude of the crime?" ask the leaders of the Zimbabwe Liberation Veterans Forum, Happyson Nenji (Webster Gwauya) and Wilfred Mhanda (Dzinashe Machingura), who both have impeccable liberation war credentials.

"This yawning gap can at best only be accounted for by the serious dereliction of duty and monumental incompetence on the part of the police and at worst their wilful and unpardonable complicity in crime," they said in a statement this week.The statement continues: "The spokesperson of the Zimbabwe National Army has denied the ZNA’s involvement in the ongoing retributive campaign of violence against defenceless civilians prevalent in the communal areas. The former first lady Grace Mugabe spoke against violence in some remote area followed by Jocelyn Chiwenga, wife of the Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces General Constantine Chiwenga.

We however wish to draw to the attention of the two ladies that the victims of violence are at their doorsteps under their very noses here in Harare not only in the remote areas that they visited. Should they be serious about showing empathy to victims of violence we kindly draw their attention to the wards at the Avenues Clinic, Parirenyatwa Hospital, the church groups, and the MDC headquarters, Harvest House all in Harare where they would come face to face with multitudes of victims with broken limbs, broken ribs, lacerations and soft tissue injuries all over their bodies.

With so many victims of violence spread across the country’s hospitals, we ask how many perpetrators have been brought to book for their misdeeds?"

-o00o-

This article asks the question which many people want answers to. Just what are the ZRP - that body of men that is meant to uphold law and order - doing about the campaign of violence against the MDC and the people of Zimbabwe? Have investigations begun into the death of the 30-plus people that have been murdered? If not, why not?

Have any arrested been affected for those that kill and injure?

"With state-sponsored violence spiralling out of control, what are the police - who are supposed to maintain law and order - doing about it?

"Their commissioner, Augustine Chihuri, has, in the past, promised "zero tolerance for election violence". But in reality he is busy forcing policemen to use postal ballots which are "supervised" by his trusted lieutenants to ensure Mugabe wins the run-off presidential election. His officers are not only turning a blind eye to the dastardly events taking place in the rural areas, they are aiding and abetting the perpetrators of the violence and setting up roadblocks to prevent help reaching the victims."

There was a time when I was proud of my service in the ZRP - but, with what is happening on the ground, I have decided that the ZRP that I was in was an infinitely better police force than the one the masquerades as police in Zimbabwe today.

I now tend to think that the police, army and air force - together with the war veterans, militia and youth brigades have lost the plot entirely.

"We applaud the courage of the many policemen who have vowed, publicly and privately, not to give in to the intimidatory pressure from Chihuri and others to vote for Mugabe.

Despite what they are being told, they know that their jobs are secure as long as they do not commit atrocities against the people. An MDC government will have nothing against them - as long as their hands are not bloodied."

-o00o-

This page moves along at a like speed of events in Zimbabwe. Sometimes I lose focus on some stories, but the story of the Nesbitts in Chiredzi has never been far from my mind. But obviously, if I don't receive updates, I can't pass that information on.

"A top police officer faces possible arrest on contempt of court charges after he led ZANU PF militias to beat up a messenger of court who was going to deliver to him, a court ruling ordering him to move out of a sugar state he invaded in January.

Zimbabwe Republic Police assistant Commissioner, Edmore Veterai is resisting to move out of N & B Sugar Estates in Chiredzi despite Friday’s court ruling. Masvingo Magistrate, Phineas Mapiye on Friday issued a court ruling, ordering the assistant police commissioner to move out of the Chiredzi sugar estate.

The farm is owned by Digby and Jessie Nesbitt who have sought the court’s intervention to force Veterai off their land. They are represented by Rodney Makausi of Chihambakwe and Makonese Ncube legal practitioners."

The uniform obviously doesn't suit the man. He cannot hide behind the badges of rank or the authority of his office. If he has broken the law, then he must be answerable for that transgression in a court of law.

"The messenger of court - whose name the paper could not independently verify - was also reportedly beaten by the ZANU PF militias, according to authoritative sources in Chiredzi.

"The messenger of court did arrive and was meant to give Veterai the court papers but he was forced to flee after being beaten by the militias who [were] angered by the court order," said a source."

The one thing that I do note is the silence of the police commissioner on this matter. His office obviously has no opinion on the matter - and should the court issue an order that his office disagrees with, then we can rest assured that any order will be ignored.

With impunity.

As usual.

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Saturday, 17th May 2008

Howzit

"Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor."

James Baldwin
US writer
1924-1987

-o00o-

You will, no doubt, recall the story a couple of days ago about Memory, the woman beaten at her home for allegedly supporting the MDC - and the fact that there were no photographs to back up the article bar a photograph of her face as she bravely handles the pain.

Okay - and I understand the sensitivities here - but yesterday I found photographs of the wounds on her buttocks, and I see a few other have as well.

Brace yourself - this is not a pretty sight.

I did warn you...

What I struggle to come to terms with is the fact that Mugabe insists that the violence is perpetrated and sustained by the MDC. I cannot and will not believe that.

If that were the case, by now some one would have said something...

-o00o-

I also see that the BBC has released another video of the result of the violence in Zimbabwe.

Once again, be aware that some of the pictures are gory - but I do commend the broadcaster for allowing the truth of the situation to be available online...

That video is here: Zimbabwe - Effects of Torture.

-o00o-
-o00o-

As I write this, it is a few minutes to 10 in the morning in Zimbabwe.

The reason why I highlight the time, is that I see this order to be the precursor to a repeat performance of the beatings that the MDC received last March when the police and war veterans, militia and youth brigades gatecrashed a prayer meeting at Highfield stadium.

I believe that today will be the same.

"Zimbabwe’s High Court on Friday quashed a police ban on a rally by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai planned for Sunday in the second largest city of Bulawayo.

In a default judgment after the police failed to oppose an opposition application against the ban, Justice Maphios Cheda ordered the law enforcement agency not to interfere with or stop the meeting that Tsvangirai is going to use to kickoff his campaign for a run-off presidential election against President Robert Mugabe on June 27.

Bulawayo lawyer Job Sibanda, who represented Tsvangirai’s MDC party in court, said: "Justice Cheda passed a default judgment after the police failed to oppose the MDC application."

Since when does Mugabe or any of the various arms of his party, government or standpoint obey court orders? I fear that this time round the violence will be much worse.

"There was no immediate comment from the police who under the government’s Public Order and Security Act can ban public meetings although political parties can challenge such bans in court.

The police - who have also banned public political activities in Harare - had banned the rally citing what they said was a tense political environment in Bulawayo that made it too risky to hold public political meetings in the city.

The rally, the first to be addressed by Tsvangirai since he defeated Mugabe in a March 29 presidential poll, will be held at White City Stadium."

Isn't it strange that ZANU PF are free to hold as many rallies as they like, but the MDC are hemmed in by the ZRP as they just routinely refuse the permission, generally citing reasons which either don't make sense or are just ludicrous?

"Zimbabweans must return to the polls to choose a new president after the country’s electoral commission said Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in March but failed to garner more than 50 percent of the vote required to takeover the presidency.

However, analysts say widespread political violence that has claimed the lives of 32 opposition supporters and displaced thousands others preclude a free and fair run-off poll.

Meanwhile former government information minister and now independent parliamentarian, Jonathan Moyo, has filed an application at the Supreme Court seeking an order compelling Mugabe and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to court call the run-off poll on June 15."

-o00o-

I have been giving the idea of international intervention some serious thought. In the event that the United Nations actually decides that the situation in Zimbabwe justifies intervention (perish the thought!), just what exactly would any intervention force do?

The violence would continue, no matter how many international peacekeepers are flown in - and with Mugabe's background there is a good chance that they, the peacekeepers, would find themselves a target of his anger.

Now, in that event, someone is going to get ticked off and retaliate - and viola! we have a Zimbabwean civil war - which I believe is just what Mugabe wants. That way he can declare military rule, martial law - and things like runoffs and bye-elections all fall by the wayside. He is then in control which was his intention in the first place.

"Zimbabwe's opposition party on Thursday called for an urgent new round of regional diplomacy to resolve that nation's six-week-old electoral stalemate, saying that only foreign intervention can prevent a recent surge of political violence from developing into full-scale civil strife.

Tendai Biti, secretary general of the Movement for Democratic Change, said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) must "play the midwifery role" in easing President Robert Mugabe from power in the aftermath of the March 29 election. Mugabe placed second to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in that vote but has vowed to win a runoff.

If diplomacy fails, "the next thing is a war," Biti told reporters after a news conference here. "It's not an option to us, but one day some (person) is going to say, 'This is the only solution.' SADC must act now before rivers of dead people start to flow, as they did in Rwanda."

Which is precisely what I said in an editorial I wrote last week, "Gukurahundi - The Coming Storm" in which I wrote: "You will recall from your knowledge of history that the first World War was precipitated by one shot - the shot that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Mugabe will push the envelope until, heaven forbid, that one of the resistance, in pure frustration, kills someone of some standing. This will be the catalyst that Mugabe wants - the excuse to send his troops in. Obviously with their heads filled of anti-MDC propaganda...

In the event that the events don't go the way he wants, and instead a senior MDC person is killed, the troops will be still sent in - en masse - as Mugabe will use the perceived threat of retaliation as a springboard to start a real war.

By the time that the reluctant world reacts, the death toll will be high, adding to those who have died through starvation and an inability to secure required medication and medical services.

Zimbabwe is no longer circling the drain - it is sliding inexorably toward civil war - a war the Zimbabwean people, in particular, and the watching world, in general, could well do without."

Make no mistake, civil war is what Mugabe wants. That way he believes he can relive the heady days when he was seen as 'liberator; and 'conqueror'...

"With a second election looming, Mugabe's supporters have been marauding through Zimbabwe's countryside, beating, torturing and killing opposition activists, especially in rural areas that abandoned Mugabe in the first vote. Human rights workers say 25 people have been killed and more than 1,000 seriously injured. Tens of thousands have fled their homes.

The dead include a growing number of key opposition party activists, Biti said. He added that both he and Tsvangirai plan to return to Zimbabwe in the next several days despite fears that they might face arrest or beatings upon their return."

-o00o-

The average Zimbabwe wants little more than a place to lay his head down at night, a job, a few bucks in his pocket, an education for his children, a medical service that will provide treatment in the event of illness - and a little peace and harmony.

It doesn't sound like very much at all really, does it? But in Zimbabwe, it is like asking for the moon.

And Zimbabweans are a realistic people - very hands on and inventive - but the current political climate in that country have occluded what you and I might call 'normal' life. The people are watched by the armed forces with suspicion. Mugabe has put the fear of violence and death into the very core of Zimbabwean life.

"Hope springs eternal. For Zimbabweans, it is the only way to remain sane and civil in a country so thoroughly ruined by the ineptitude, corruption, and racial hatred stirred up by Robert Mugabe and his cronies. Now hope is the only way to survive Zimbabwe’s theatre-of-the-absurd election drama, which is now into its second month.

International do-gooders found a convenient kernel of hope in the March 29 vote, which according to local tallies was handily won by Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). This was reinforced by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) sidling up to the MDC and offering mediation between Tsvangirai and Mugabe, who took his sweet time figuring out the best way to massage the numbers.

But Mugabe demanded his recount long before releasing the "official" tally, and now he is campaigning to overturn the MDC victory with a "runoff". The fact is Mugabe holds power, and that may be all he needs."

Which is the crux of the whole matter. Mugabe remains in control - regardless of the fact that he lost the first round of the Presidential election, and his party lost the majority in parliament for the first time in 28 years.

Mugabe is a control freak. No doubt. No discussion.

"As it turns out, it’s hard to mediate between good and evil. Zimbabwe’s high court left Mugabe in control of the votes (expected), but freed MDC activists from detention (minimally laudable). Despite scornful rhetoric from the west and Zimbabwean civil society, Mugabe will survive yet again, absent bold action.

Last month, we were treated to the saga of the Chinese Flying Dutchman, bearing arms for Mugabe but barred entry by South African dock workers, and even the Angolan government. It turns out the arms got through Angola anyway, while the media focused on supposed African unanimity in keeping Zimbabwe arms-free.

A fine idea - an arms embargo against Zimbabwe. A nice symbolic move, with little practical effect. Yet symbolism that conceals that foolish hopes, uninformed by common sense, can be worse than no hope at all."

Mugabe swore that ZANU PF would never be removed from power - and he also swore he would never hand power to the MDC - a party he claims are 'puppets' of the West.

My question then, is relatively simple. What does his hanging on to power make him?

The MDC may have the moral high ground, but ZANU PF and Mugabe have the political high ground - and in this scenario, who has real control?

-o00o-

And while we talk of moral high ground, democracy and doing the right thing, the situation on the ground in Zimbabwe continues to deteriorate. It continues to plumb new depths and the people are the target of Mugabe's hatred.

"The attack on villagers at Mapondera in Chiweshe communal lands in Mashonaland Central early last week left the community traumatised. Six people were reportedly killed while scores were injured in the village bloodbath, a microcosm of escalating post-election violence gripping the country.

"They grabbed me, threw me to the ground and stripped me naked," said Fungisai Dofo (28) as he narrated his ordeal to the Zimbabwe Independent from his hospital bed, an hour before he died on Saturday. "As if possessed by evil spirits, they started beating me up and in the process one of them crushed my testicles with his boot."

The import of of the above is just five words.

"an hour before he died"

If we think of that in the most realistic terms, the situation takes on a new menace. A man is beaten to a point that the fatally wounded medical services in Zimbabwe are unable to save him. And he dies. He dies as a direct result of Mugabe's orders.

Orders to break the MDC resistance. Look back through history - right back to 1963 when ZANU was formed. Mugabe has always been present and his history over the 35 year period today is relentless and monotonous. He knows little else than repression of any of his protractors. Even if that repression results in death.

If Mugabe was half the man that he claims, and the claims that the violence is instigated by the MDC are true, then he would make a nation wide address to the people of Zimbabwe. appealing for a sessation of the violence. He would call for peace.

But he hasn't.

"Harare-based lawyer Shepherd Mushonga, a newly-elected MDC MP in the neighbouring Mazowe South constituency, in an interview this week said he helped to bury six party activists murdered last week.

"I helped to bury all of them. It was an excruciating experience. Villagers were shocked and they are currently living as prisoners of fear. The killings were systematic and brutal," Mushonga said.

"The villagers were rounded up, they had their hands and legs tied up with wires and their private parts tied with cables."

Dofo was one of the six people killed in the village. He died at Howard Hospital which is teeming with injured victims of the raid on the village. At least 50 people were injured in the sweeping attack by a group of alleged state agents on May 5.

Those who died include Wilson Emmanuel (34), Tapiwa Meda, Joseph Madzuramhende (29), Jeffy Jemedze and Alex Chiriseri (53).

There was no confirmation of Madzuramende and Meda's deaths."

Any international leader worth his oats would be calling for a 'cease fire' - especially if their party was not responsible for the violence.

Mugabe admits his complicity by saying nothing and doing nothing to stop the violence and deaths.

Read this article. It is the sad story of the last few minutes of a man's life - a life snuffed out because of one man - Robert Gabriel Mugabe. A man who's entire life is dedicated to the violence against and murders of those who would stand up to him. A man who would have us call him President...

"People left in the ward said they heard Dofo sp