Monday, 16th June 2008

Howzit

Foreign currency mid-rates updated.

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That's right - it's that time of the week again...

ZNU 125 is released this morning. (Believe it or not, Odeo rejected the file as 'invalid' - go figure - and 4shared has just disappeared off the internet - so that leaves just Switchpod,which last week and the week before, gave me hell...)

One out of three is better than nothing, I s'pose...

In this show, I take a brief look at the email I received attacking my internet activities, the penchant of Mugabe's to remove anything he can from the people - in this case, satellite dishes - whilst I also look at Mugabe's threat to take his forces back to a war footing if he loses the election, in the light of another group of people stating that THEY will utilise whatever means it can to establish democracy.

I also look at the impounding of Tsvangirai's buses and the arrest of MDC Secretary-General, Tendai Biti, for treason... And a look at the terror gripping the country at the hands of ZANU PF activists, and a brief look at the call to arms by Elliot Manyika - himself a ZANU PF MP, but the call is heeded by the militia - but not reacted to by the ZRP.

Thanks for your continued support.

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When are we going to start calling this exactly what it is?

Terrorism.

Mugabe's people and all those that ally themselves with him, go for the old, the infirm, children and women first. Any men he takes on are vastly outnumbered and generally unarmed.

"President Mugabe’s lawless militias crossed a psychological boundary last week as they extended their violence and "reeducation" campaign from the poor townships into the well-off suburbs.

On Friday night a mob of about 20 youths burst through the gate of the Blue Kerry home for the elderly, in Harare’s upmarket Chisipite area, brandishing sticks and chanting slogans for the ruling ZANU PF party. "They were looking for a lawyer who stays here," an 80-year-old resident said. "When they found he wasn’t here, one of them grabbed me through the wrought-iron gate I was watching them through but I pulled free. They tried to smash the gate but they failed.

"So they went on and found the administrator in his flat. They sjamboked [whipped] him and beat him across the head. He was badly hurt. He’s gone into hiding now."

When is the watching world going to put a stop to this disastrous rule and the acts of violence that happen more than just daily? When is the free world going to put a stop to a potential civil war before it can begin?

How many bodies have to lie in mortuaries before they finally agree that intervention is the way to go?

"The mobs have been leaping over the high walls meant to keep long-term white residents and the black business executives and professionals who became affluent more recently safe. They have been dragging domestic employees out of their quarters to pungwes, meetings where they are made to chant slogans in front of a huge bonfire and sing in praise of Mr Mugabe all night.

Having terrorised great swaths of the country’s rural areas with murder, assault, arson and starvation for having "voted wrongly" in the March 29 elections, the Joint Operations Command - the 200-odd top security officers directing Mr Mugabe’s political survival strategy - have moved into cities and towns, where support for Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has hitherto been left alone.

"It’s a nasty situation," said the 80-year-old care home resident. "We called the police. They came but said they were not allowed to arrest them."

Personally, I expect this sort of thing to happen more often. Not a nice prospect - but a realistic one...

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The Zimbabwe bearer cheque of
the immediate future

I saw this on SW Radio Africa's site this morning, and I could not resist the temptation...

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"The agonies being inflicted on Zimbabwe by its corrupt and brutal president are worsening. Earlier this month, the government of Robert Mugabe ordered international aid agencies to put a halt to the operations that have been keeping hundreds of thousands of Zimbabwe's people alive. With most of the country's population out of work and in dire poverty, the food and other humanitarian assistance provided by groups like CARE and Save the Children are more desperately needed than ever. By shutting them down, Mugabe and his henchmen were knowingly condemning countless vulnerable Zimbabweans to death.

Mugabe claimed, preposterously, that the humanitarian agencies were trying "to cripple Zimbabwe's economy" and bring about "illegal regime change."

Actually, it his own demented and dictatorial misrule that has destroyed the country, turning what was once a prosperous land into the world's most rapidly collapsing economy. And it is his determination to cling to power by any means - including starving and terrorizing voters who support a change in government - that has filled Zimbabwe not just with hunger and sickness but with savagery and bloodshed as well."

Now I couldn't have put it better myself, even if I had tried.

Mugabe's penchant for blaming Zimbabwe's problems on the West - and anyone else that wanders across his sights - are legendary. But with them being repeated on a daily basis, the free world is alert to the fact that it is just a Mugabe-esque ploy to detract from his true intentions, and deflect the blame.

But how much longer do we have to tolerate his lies before he is stopped.

"Would You Share Power With A Proven Liar" was an editorial I wrote yesterday - and I stand by every word.

"Less than two weeks remain until the presidential election runoff between Mugabe, Zimbabwe's autocratic president for the last 28 years, and the popular opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who leads the Movement for Democratic Change. Tsvangirai and the MDC won the first round of elections in March, and supporters of Mugabe and his ZANU PF ruling party have been waging a vicious campaign of intimidation and violence against them ever since.

Opposition rallies have been obstructed by police, and Tsvangirai has repeatedly been detained for hours at a time. On Thursday, the MDC's secretary general, Tendai Biti, was arrested and charged with treason. Thousands of opposition supporters have been attacked, arrested, or forced to flee for their lives. Homes have been torched; scores of people have been killed."

I see that the writer is asking the self same questions that I ask...

"But why do the rest of us do nothing? Why is the free world so indifferent to the enormities committed by Mugabe and his bullies? Where are the worldwide demonstrations outside Zimbabwe's embassies? Where are the international boycotts, the UN resolutions, the presidential and papal condemnations? Where is the International Criminal Court indictment of Mugabe for his long career of murder, torture, and other crimes against humanity?

Let us be honest: If the people of Zimbabwe were being terrorized by a white despot - if it were a white ruling party whose goons were beating them and burning their homes - the whole world would be aroused on their behalf. Surely they deserve no less just because their oppressor is black."

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As Zimbabweans, we have to be aware of a wolf in sheep's clothing.

In the first round of the Presidential election, we saw how Simba Makoni was thrust into the limelight. I refuse to accept that he went voluntarily. He was the ZANU PF 'fall guy' - designed to split the MDC vote, which, to a certain extent, worked...

"Former Home Affairs Minister, Dumiso Dabengwa has thrown his weight behind the MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai ahead of the 27 June presidential election run-off.

In the 29 March poll, he backed Simba Makoni, who came third. Dabengwa declared his position last Friday as three provinces of Makoni's Kusile/Mavambo project - Matabeleland North and South and Bulawayo - met to strategise ahead of the run-off, which pits Tsvangirai against President Robert Mugabe. The former ZIPRA commander’s stance, which differs sharply with Makoni’s proposal of a negotiated settlement, is likely to be adopted by the provinces at the workshop that ends today. This is likely to boost Tsvangirai’s campaign as the bulk of Makoni’s eight percent of the vote came from Matabeleland after Dabengwa ended up as the only ZANU PF heavyweight to openly support the former finance minister."

On 22 May, we saw a report in which Dabengwa is described as a 'senior member' of Mugabe's party. That is less than two months after he allegedly jumped ship to back Makoni.

And now, less than a month after that report, he is 'throwing' his weight behind Tsvangirai.

As I say, as Zimbabweans, we need to be alert to a wolf in sheep's clothing...

"We have tried to push for the cancellation of the run-off because Zimbabweans spoke loudly that no candidate could go it alone and there was a need for a government of national unity," Dabengwa said. "The MDC was agreeable to the talks and the ZANU PF people that we spoke to agreed but none of them had the guts to approach Mugabe with the proposals." The former ZANU PF politburo member said talks on a government of national unity were doomed. "This is why, personally, I am saying it is better to prepare for the run-off by going back to our pledge to the people not to support Mugabe, no matter what."

It does make the head spin...

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Let's remember that this is the man who said in March that he would respect the choice of the people, but also the same man who said, "We taught the British democracy - through the barrel of a gun!"

"A defiant President Robert Mugabe on Saturday vowed he would "go to war" if he lost the presidential run-off due to take place in less than two weeks.

Describing the opposition as "traitors", he claimed Zimbabwe would never "be lost" again. Speaking at the burial of a veteran of the independence war, Mugabe said he would never accept the Movement for Democratic Change taking over. "It shall never happen... as long as I am alive and those who fought for the country are alive," he said. "We are prepared to fight for our country and to go to war for it."

This weekend, Mugabe is also reported as saying that he is prepared to hand over power - to another ZANU PF bigwig only.

So why bother to have an election if the result is going to be forced on the country.

Why pretend to have 'free and fair' elections when the result is already known?

"The threat was seen as an angry response to the pressure mounting on the government from other African leaders over the regime's harassment of the MDC leadership and supporters in the run up to the 27 June election.

On Saturday, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested again and held for three hours as he tried to campaign in the countryside. There was also a stand-off between lawyers and police in Harare's high court before Tsvangirai's deputy, Tendai Biti, finally appeared before a judge."

The pretence of a second round of the Presidential election is a charade played out only for Mugabe's sake - so that he can attempt to claim some sort of legitimacy when the re-engineered and lopsided votes are 'counted' - by the ZEC who have had their responsibility usurped by ZANU PF.

Oh - and one other thing. Be prepared for yet another long wait once the polls close - as ZANU PF set to work to 'realign' the vote to an acceptable line allowing Mugabe to claim a win.

Only in Zimbabwe would there be such a thing as a forced free and fair election in which the result is already known because of violence, threats and murder...

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And, as I finish this posting, I do note that there was a story in the internet yesterday, stating that the leader of the War Veterans, Jabulani Sibanda, has one thing missing on his CV.

Combat experience.

And ZANU PF say that Morgan Tsvangirai has not got the right to lead the country because he never participated in the chimurenga...

Go figure...

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Eleven days and counting.

Take care.

'debvhu