Sunday, 28th June 2009

Howzit

It is now well gone 9am and I am only just beginning the day's posting - primarily because it was almost 4am before I finally fell asleep. I am unable to tell you exactly why I didn't do my normal and fall asleep immediately - but I will say this, the local radio station plays some really good music!

-o00o-

"The Member of Parliament for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Mutare East constituency, Shuah Mudiwa who was convicted for kidnapping a 12 year old girl last week has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

Mutare acting chief magistrate, Hlekani Mwayera sentenced Mudiwa to seven years in prison while two and a half years were suspended provided that the accused does not commit a similar offence.

Shuah Mudiwa was elected as a member of parliament in March last year after beating former cabinet minister, Christopher Mushowe.

"The removal of such offenders from the society is called for. I therefore sentence you to seven years in prison," magistrate Hlekani said in her ruling."

There is another report on the internat that suggests the conviction and the imprisonment are politically motivated.

Of course it is! But in this case, Mudiwa was about to blow the gaffe on the Chiadzwa diamond fields - so Mugabe's party had to move quickly and get rid the threat. The result? Seven years in jail.

"A Zimbabwean MP who was about to reveal to an international delegation the site of a mass grave of diamond diggers, allegedly killed by government troops last November, has been arrested and jailed.

Shuwa Mudiwa, whose Mutare West constituency covers the Marange diamond fields where the killings occurred, was expected to disclose details of the massacre to a delegation from the Kimberley Process, a certification scheme aimed at preventing the sale of "blood diamonds". It is due to visit Zimbabwe this week."

I have stated previously that if it proves difficult to prove the killings, then surely it should be relatively easy to prove the number of diamonds disappearing at source.

RBZ governor, Gideon Gono, quantified the weekly loss of carats - and yet if the Mugabe administration had control of the fields, then how would they be able to quantify the losses? And then, where has all the money gone?

If the Mugabe administration had plugged the hole, then surely the legitimate trade of diamonds would increase. Even if his party kept the money for the party, then how come it is still broke?

Very simple really. Mugabe is feathering his nest and those around him follow suit... And thier use of the army to carry out party and personal 'business' must then by classed as illegal...

-o00o-

This article, written by Professor Jonathan Moyo - the only independent MP in the Zimbabwean 'unity' government - is as long winded as it is negative about Tsvangirai. Why Moyo just doesn't drop the pretence and come out pro-Mugabe, I will never know...

"While Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s three-week tour of some European countries and the United States has come and gone, it has left behind a lot of dust over its purpose and achievement, which are now the subject of political mystification and media hullabaloo.

Against this background there are six irresistible observations that stand out as having critically defined the Prime Minister’s mission and which, therefore, warrant critical scrutiny to help clear up the growing confusion and controversy over the tour.

The six compelling observations are these:

- What was supposed to be a Government trip led by the Prime Minister ended up as his ego-trip.
- The tour was hijacked by the United States and its European allies, who suddenly became new-born champions of the very same September 15 2008 Global Political Agreement (GPA) that they, in fact, oppose.
- While the trip was expected to raise critically needed financial support for the inclusive Government’s US$8,3 billion Short-Term Economic Recovery Programme (Sterp), it ended up as a fund-raising campaign for American and European-created NGOs in Zimbabwe that are linked to the MDC-T.
- The Prime Minister transformed the tour from being about seeking the re-engagement of Zimbabwe’s inclusive Government with Western governments to facilitating his own personal re-engagement with the governments of the United States and its European allies.
- To appease his European and American hosts at the expense of the suffering ordinary people in Zimbabwe who are now living like hunter-gatherers, Prime Minister Tsvangirai abandoned the core purpose of the trip which was to seek the removal of the devastating illegal economic sanctions imposed by the countries he visited; and
- The tour was poorly planned, premature and too long."

This was not a 'government' trip as Mugabe refused to have government pay for it.

But I am unable to work out just how Moyo should label the tour as totally unfulfilling, insofar as at least SOME of the Western countries were forthcoming with aid - at least, in a manner that prevents the likes of Mugabe getting his hands on the money.

The donor countries are all calling for further reform, and near the top of their list is AIPPA and POSA - two bits of legislation that Moyo himself was the primary author of!

"While some MDC-T propagandists have celebrated the Prime Minister’s extended tour, they have hopelessly failed to appreciate that Mr Tsvangirai’s prolonged stay outside the country in a tour during which he has brought back home precious little and when nothing at home collapsed in his absence has served to dramatically demonstrate his irrelevance as a key player capable of making things happen for Zimbabweans in or outside the country. Any leader who can spend some three weeks away from his country globe-trotting without being missed is not at all important in the everyday scheme of things.

The second observation is that, given the worsening state of the economy that has robbed ordinary people of their national currency, there was no need for the Prime Minister to undertake his extended tour if its core objective did not, by definition, include that he would specifically seek the removal of the illegal economic sanctions that have broadened and deepened the country’s political and economic meltdown."

For those who are unsure, "propagandists" are people "who disseminate messages calculated to assist some cause or some government" - so what does Moyo call himself?

The manner in which Moyo has written this, one would be forgiven for thinking that either Tsvangirai or 'illegal sanctions' are responsible for the economic breakdown in Zimbabwe...

Sanctions, whether economic or targeted, are the domain of the country putting them in palce. Very similar to the law of tresspass when it comes to private property. The imposition of sanction, whether economic or targeted, are not under the control of the Prime Minister.

Get over it - and move on...

If Moyo is so correct, then why did it take from end of March last year until mid-February this year to establish an 'inclusive' government which is nothing like that?

-o00o-

The longer that this carries on, and the more words that are written, the more chance there is that the Chiadzwa/Marange diamond fields will be Mugabe's downfall.

The fact that he and his stalwarts are using the army to 'protect' the fields, whilst they help themselves to a national resource - the fact that even with the assumed increased security that the country remains penniless, to me at least, are proof of some serious wrongdoings here.

"Human Rights Watch said Friday that Zimbabwe's armed forces have taken over diamond fields in the east and killed more than 200 people, forcing children to search for the gems and beating villagers who get in the way.

Zimbabwe's deputy mining minister, Murisi Zwizwai, denied the allegations and said the military is there to secure the area.

More than 100 witnesses, miners, police officers, soldiers and children were interviewed for the Human Rights Watch report titled "Diamonds in the Rough." It details allegations of human rights abuses by Zimbabwean armed forces in their attempt to control access to the precious gems.

The New York-based group said researchers had gathered evidence of mass graves and accounts of an incident last year when military helicopters fired at miners, while armed soldiers on the ground chased villagers from the area.

"There are hundreds of victims of human rights abuses that are unwilling to come forward for fear of the military," Zimbabwe researcher Dewa Mavhinga said."

If the RBZ governor is to be believed, and at the time we had no reason to disbelieve him, then where has all the money gone?

I get the feeling that this is a question which will be asked many, many times...

"The report also alleges that some of the income from the diamond fields is going to officials of President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF party, long accused of trampling on human rights and democracy in the southern African country.

The international human rights watchdog is calling on Zimbabwe's coalition government, formed in February, to stop the alleged abuses and to prosecute those responsible.

It also is urging the international body that governs the global diamond industry to press Zimbabwe, a participant, to end the illegal trade in Marange diamonds. The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, established in 2002, aims to stem the flow of "blood diamonds" being used to fund fighting across Africa. Participants are forced to certify the origins of the diamonds being traded. This assures consumers that by purchasing diamonds they are not financing war and human rights abuses."

Figures show that there are some serious discrepancies.

"The Marange diamond fields were discovered in 2006 - at the height of Zimbabwe's political, economic and humanitarian crisis. Villagers rushed to the area and began finding diamonds close to the surface. Mining is now managed by Zimbabwe's Mining Development Corporation under protection of the military.

It is estimated that the diamonds could be worth $200 million a month to the cash-strapped country, but the Mining Development Corporation claimed in 2007 that it was made $15 million from gem exports."

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu