Thursday, 5th March 2009

Howzit

One thing that I note on the internet today is the articles that state the issuing of a warrant against the Sudanese President for crimes against humanity should put the fear of God into Mugabe.

May I say that even if the ICC (International Criminal Court) were to issue a warrant on Robert Mugabe, it would probably remain on file as no one will want to execute the order - and dragging Mugabe in front of the ICC is another thing entirely.

Quite honestly, Mugabe has got the support of the region, and although his rule has ruined Zimbabwe, African leaders are very reluctant to say or do anything that might upset the apple cart.

As he has done for the past 29 years, Mugabe will get away with murder - and any other crime that you wish to add to the list.

(Later: I watched on television the huge crowds gathering in Sudan - and I realised that I had seen this before - when the people had had enough of Slobidan Milosevic... but I am not holding my breath.)

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And I am not the only one that feels this way...

"Mugabe is like the urine-soaked, geriatric uncle at a wedding – embarrassing everybody, yet with no-one brave enough to stand up to him in case he throws a tantrum.

The discordant note that is coming out of the transitional government sends the wrong message to Zimbabweans and to the already skeptical international community. The world has been saying that the situation in Zimbabwe has not changed. Mugabe is not sharing power and he confirmed it himself in Chinhoyi at his weekend birthday bash.

This is bad news. The MDC politicians who entered into the new arrangement have been saying that the situation has changed. That is true – but only to a very small degree. We still have a very long way to go. Mugabe has demonstrated beyond all reasonable doubt that he is only interested in personal survival and not in saving the country or the people of Zimbabwe."

Mugabe refuses to back down to anyone - the people of Zimbabwe, the MDC, the regional bodies of SADC and the AU, the regional leaders, the UN - just about everyone... And anyone that says anything against Mugabe will find themselves the subject of Mugabe's anger...

"SADC has demonstrated beyond all reasonable doubt that it is a toothless bulldog with neither the will nor the stomach to do anything to bring about equitable sharing of power in Zimbabwe. They are simply not prepared to force Mugabe to do anything he does not want to do. It is therefore gratifying to see Arthur Mutambara now standing up to Mugabe’s bully-boy tactics. He and Morgan Tsvangirai, earlier this week, confronted Mugabe about his unilateral appointments of ZANU PF permanent secretaries and governors, and the continued detention of MDC supporters and human rights activists. We are delighted that they have made some headway. Tsvangirai has now been put in charge of identifying new permanent secretaries, and there has been agreement on the proportional representation of governors. This is what the GPA stipulated in the first place. The fact that so much time and effort has had to be expended in forcing Mugabe to stick to the terms of the document to which he appended his signature is deplorable."

It does make you wonder just what is Mugabe's ultimate objective - apart from retaining power and seeing off the MDC, that is...

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Gideon Gono seems to cast a lonely figure in Zimbabwean politics. He isn't a politician - and he isn't a banker either. He is a loyal Mugabe-ite and jumps at Mugabe's every order. Print money useless money - take foreign currency from wherever you can get it - he does just what he wants because he has Mugabe watching his back.

Mugabe cries about sanctions and wants the 'illegal' sanctions lifted, but the British government refuses to release any aid to Zimbabwe whilst Gono runs the central bank.

"Britain's Minister for Africa, Lord Malloch-Brown, has vowed that Zimbabwe will not receive an aid package long as the country's Central Bank Governor Gideon Gono remains at the helm. Robert Mugabe has vowed to stand by his discredited rogue Reserve Bank Governor. Malloch-Brown spoke on BBC Radio 4’s World at One Tuesday about the future of Zimbabwe and clearly outlined that it will be reckless for Britain to pour money into Zimbabwe when there is a clear and present danger that the money would be stolen by Gono. Opposition MDC factions have been calling for Gono’s ouster since they entered into a power sharing agreement in September last year. President Mugabe has however, vowed that Gono is not going anywhere. Mugabe actually claims Gono has done a "fantastic job" busting sanctions allegedly campaigned for by the MDC."

I suppose the "fantastic job" is as a result of Gono being able to keep foreign currency flowing into the Mugabe household and the ZANU PF coffers.

I mean, where did he get the money for Grace to holiday to Hong Kong?

"Malloch-Brown said: "Yes we are holding back from general budget support to the (Zimbabwe) Government because we just don’t have the confidence that the people who write the cheques and control the central bank are honest people who we could safely trust with British tax payers’ money." Malloch-Brown denied that Britain was deliberately holding back on spending, not just on budget aid but also on humanitarian aid. However, the International Federation of the Red Cross has warned that it may even have to stop its operations in Zimbabwe and pull out for lack of funding.

Britain, however, insists that it is committed to offering humanitarian aid to Zimbabweans. He said the global financial crunch had also hit hard on aid budgetary support. "You know we’ll take a look at it and despite, frankly, the incredibly difficult budget situation that our aid programme is facing globally at the moment with a lot of demands on it because of the economic crisis that is hitting a lot of poor countries," Malloch-Brown said."

With the whole world reeling under the credit crunch - or whatever they call it - it is amazing that there is any money for Zimbabwe, once it is in the right hands.

And Mugabe will point fingers and make all manner of allegations. But the aid is for the British government to give - not for Mugabe to rant about...

"He agreed that the inclusive government had just two months to make power sharing work or it’s dead. He said "this situation is not one which is sustainable for very long. You know my feeling is it probably won’t (work) but my hope is it will and I certainly don’t want to, in a sense, write its obituary already but all I’m saying is our support to power sharing will rest on power sharing being just that, that Morgan Tsvangirai really can be an effective Prime Minister," Malloch-Brown said. "If he can’t all bets are off."

It is a bit much when Mugabe rants and raves about how anto-West he is, and yet he expects the UK and US to fill his begging bowl at his request.

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I do not see this as a call for the lifting of targeted sanctions. Tsvangirai says that international bodies and countries should 'match our progress'... This then neatly puts the ball back into Mugabe's court. When - and if - Mugabe starts to treat people with respect, then we might see him and his party be treated with equal respect...

"Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday made his first call for an end to international sanctions against the country.

Tsvangirai, who joined President Robert Mugabe in a unity government last month, said in his maiden speech to parliament that Zimbabwean efforts to solve the country's political crisis through power-sharing needed to be recognised. "I therefore urge the international community to recognise our efforts and note the progress that we make in this regard and to match our progress by moving towards the removal of restrictive measures," Tsvangirai said."

Mugabe continually whinges about 'full economic sanctions' when the only sanctions in place are targeted - against him and his part members. Mugabe has insisted that these have had an adverse effect on the people - but this is only because Mugabe has had to institute all manner of measures to ensure his own survival - and sod the consequences...

Now he expects that the presence of the MDC in government will result in the lifting of sanctions.

"Tsvangirai said Zimbabwe, in the grips of a cholera epidemic which has killed nearly 4,000 people and infected almost 87,000, needed to re-establish relations with international donors. "What we need is to fully re-establish relations with the international donor community, which will be respectful of our sovereignty, not a relationship essentially based on humanitarian assistance." He warned Zimbabwean government officials that any future human rights abuses could lead to arrest and prosecution and said the days of police violently breaking up demonstrations and needlessly arresting people had to come to an end. "In future such activities could bring the threat of prosecution not only on those arresting or interfering with such activities but also on those that ordered such interference and arrests," Tsvangirai said."

Mugabe - you have been warned.

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It is worth repeating that Tsvangirai has played a trump card here and that any official that interferes with legal, peaceful demonstrations will find themselves the subject of prosecution.

I will be very interested to see how Mugabe and ZANU PF react to this statement.

Will Mugabe allow his people to continue their oppression, or will he take steps to prevent their interference - or will he rubbish Tsvangirai's statement by protecting the police, army, militia and war veterans?

"Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Wednesday officials, including police, army, and some rogue government officials who violate human rights in future could face arrest and prosecution.

Tsvangirai said in his maiden speech to parliament as prime minister in a unity government with President Robert Mugabe that the days of police violently breaking up demonstrations and needlessly arresting people had to come to an end.

"In future such activities could bring the threat of prosecution not only on those arresting or interfering with such activities but also on those that ordered such interference and arrests," Tsvangirai said."

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Last evening I waited in vain for the news that Roy Bennett had been released on bail.

It didn't happen...

"A Zimbabwe Supreme Court judge will decide Thursday whether the state should be allowed to further appeal a decision that would let a top opposition politician out on bail.

Judge Paddington Garwe will decide on the state bid to overturn a lower court's ruling concerning Roy Bennett, the opposition's choice to be deputy agriculture minister in the new power-sharing government.

"The judge will make his ruling tomorrow, but has asked us to make more submissions," said state counsel Chris Mutangadura.

Bennett, 52, was arrested February 13. He faces charges of possessing weapons for sabotage, banditry and terrorism. He also was initially charged with treason."

A complete and utter abuse of power by Mugabe-ites. Roy is seen as a high profile detainee and they will make hay while the sun shines. It was suggested by more than one source, that the services chiefs were attempting to use his imprisonment as a ticket to immunity from prosecution.

Bennet told the prosecution to 'stick' their charges...

"Last week, Judge Tedious Karwi of Zimbabwe's High Court ordered Bennett released on bail, saying granting the $2,000 bail was "in the interest of justice."

Karwi upheld his decision on Tuesday, after the state appealed.

Trust Mahanda, one of Bennett's lawyers, said he paid his client's bail and complied with the other bail conditions.

"He ought to be free by now," said Beatrice Mtetwa, another lawyer for Bennett."

Unreal...

Another article states that a senior police officer has disappeared with Bennett's passport - which will be required as part of any bail conditions...

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Take care.

'debvhu