Sunday, 31st January 2010

Howzit

There can be no doubt in our minds that Mugabe is here to stay and will fight, tooth and nail, to remain at the top of the pile - no matter how many laws are broken, no matter how many bones are broken, no matter how many people die and no matter how much money it costs.

And, in achieving his goal, he doesn't care who is affected by his determination.

"Three war veterans including former Masvingo provincial war veterans association chairman Isaiah Muzenda yesterday took Masvingo governor Titus Maluleke hostage for hours demanding money from him to bury bodies of former freedom fighters who did not get decent burial in the province.

Muzenda, Ishmael Chatikobo who was former Masvingo remand prison officer in charge and a war veteran only identified as Western were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct likely to disturb public peace.

Muzenda and Western paid admissions of guilt fines and were released from police cells yesterday while Chatikobo remained in custody since he had a warrant of arrest.

According to the police Muzenda and his colleagues went to the governor’s offices and camped there for almost five hours."

An admission of guilt fine was all it took? How on earth do the police arrive at such a decision? Surely the taking of a governor hostage doesn't mean 'disorderly conduct likely to disturb public peace'?

Was the taking of the governor deemed to be a lesser crime because he is an MDC representative? We read all manner of reports in which the ZANU PF accuse the MDC of very similar crimes, but now that the tables are turned, the crime is somewhat diminished.

"The three denied the governor his liberty for the six hours as they locked his office from outside claiming that they would not leave the premise unless they were given money by the governor to carry out decent burials for former freedom fighters who did not get decent burial in Masvingo.

Maluleke was forced to remain in his office for the entire six hours, fearing for his life.

The governor later phoned the police and the three were arrested.

"We went and arrested the three and charged them with disorderly conduct likely to disturb public peace," said a police spokesman who refused to be named.

"They told us that they wanted to get money from the governor in order for them to rebury their colleagues who did not get decent burial since independence," said the spokesman."

If they wanted to rebury their colleagues, why wait 30 years to make a stand? Go and ask Mugabe for the money! If their colleagues needed reburial since before independence, go to the real cause - Mugabe...

"This is not the first time that war veterans in Masvingo have clashed with the governor who is also the resident minister of the province.

Last year war veterans led by Muzenda attacked the governor accusing him of milking the Cold Storage Company dry by grabbing the little herd that the company has been left with .

They also accused him of being a sell-out and of lacking the requisite credentials to be resident minister of the province."

-o00o-

The Zimbabwe Republic Police is headed up by a man who is public in his alliance with Robert Mugabe. The alliance is against the expectation within the Police Act insofar as police officers are supposed to be apolitical.

But Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri has decided that he and his members will not only support ZANU PF and Mugabe, but will go out of their way to assist with that rule - even if that assistance means not doing their jobs.

"Police in the Midlands province have been instructed to monitor and arrest members of the Movement for Democratic Change, Civic Organizations, and Non Governmental Organizations holding public meetings.

According to a Radio signal sent to all police stations in the Midlands province last week, police commanders were being directed to closely monitor all meetings to be held by the ‘opposition’, NGOs and the civic society.

"If the commander of such an area under which a meeting by the opposition, civic society or NGO is being held hesitates to give authority, or handle the situation, he or she should consult Police General Headquarters(PGHQ). In case of any meeting being held by the above stated, the commander must monitor, record the whole proceedings and submit the details to PGHQ.

"If any member of the opposition, NGOs and Civic society is arrested, the commander should immediately advise PGHQ the circumstances and details, and if such information has not been forwarded to PGHQ in time, an improvement is being called for," reads the directive."

I find it quite insulting that the signal should refer to the MDC as the 'opposition'. Regardless of the current number of seats held in parliament, the MDC won the general election in March 2009 and are the party of choice.

ZANU PF is the real opposition party - but they refuse to back down.

And Mugabe is happy that Chihuri should use the police force as a ZANU PF extension - which also leaves the public wondering just who will 'protect and serve' them from the criminal element within their number.

"We are worried by the continued discriminatory application of the law in this country. Why is it that the directive is aimed at disrupting meetings held by the civic society and not ZANU PF members? Why are only the MDC members being affected by these repressive laws? We thought that the Inclusive Government was going to treat everyone equally, but this has not been happening one year since it was formed.

"This directive is meant to discourage us from carrying out constitutional meetings with the people in the communities," said the official."

I was of the opinion that the agreements signed by Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara made provision for freedom in political meetings. This signal flies in the face of that agreement - but, then again, what else do we expect from Mugabe?

-o00o-

I do note that Tsvangirai says 'easing' not 'lifting'...

"Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has urged the easing of targeted sanctions, saying there ought to be a reward for Zimbabwe's progress.

His party joined a unity government with President Robert Mugabe's nearly a year ago with the intention of easing the country's economic crisis.

He told the BBC at the World Economic Forum that he had come to Davos to clarify misconceptions about Zimbabwe.

He said the country was now on an "irreversible path to change".

"It's not as if I'm here as a salesman of Zimbabwe, I'm here to clarify certain misconceptions because I think there's been so much negative perception about Zimbabwe," he told the BBC's Today programme."

What I do not understand is that Mugabe daily cries about targeted sanctions - deliberately labelling them incorrectly as 'full economic' sanctions - whilst all the time maligning the West. If he hates the West as much as that, why should he want or need to go there?

Tsvangirai... "admitted there were still "incidents" and it was frustrating that agreements reached in principle with President Mugabe on the unity government were still not being carried out.

But he said he believed the level of political risk was far reduced from what it had been a year ago.

He admitted certain benchmarks still had to be reached and it was up to Western capitals to decide, but said there was a case for easing the West's targeted sanctions against his former opponents - to make them see that supporting Zimbabwe's unity government was worthwhile.

"It is a very positive signal, very positive signal to those who doubt that they have anything to benefit from this inclusive government," he said."

I do like the way in which Tsvangirai suggests that the countries concerned 'make a decision' - supplementing the point that those who implement the sanctions are ultimately those who decide. The MDC have no influence as to when and if sanctions may be lifted.

-o00o-

Mugabe's money box is also experiencing problems. Last week the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe had property attached for failing to pay for some tractors, and today we read that it has failed to pay a mining bond.

"The embattled Zimbabwe Reserve Bank has defaulted on a Bong repayment to Caledonia Mining Corporation, the owners of Banket mine amid reports that the Central Bank is broke and struggling to pay its workers.

Caledonia Mining Corporation reports that its wholly owned subsidiary, Blanket Mine will not receive payment in respect of bonds to the value of $3.18m, including interest, issued by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe ("RBZ") which are due for repayment on 1 February 2010.

The Bonds were issued to Blanket in 2008 by the Reserve Bank as consideration for gold delivered by Blanket. The Reserve Bank's inability to pay in cash for gold deliveries eventually forced Blanket to suspend production in October 2008 due to the shortage of foreign currency to purchase consumables."

It is confusing that Mugabe should excuse Gono for taking money without authority from accounts held by the bank - and proclaim that Gono is 'no thief' - but the bank cannot stand up on its own and pay its debts.

Mugabe has become increasingly dependent upon the RBZ to bail him and his party out of tight corners, and that has become harder to do with the finance minister now being an MDC man.

But that hasn't stopped the pressure that Mugabe applies to Gono, who now faces an uphill struggle as the RBZ begins to fail to repay loans and bonds.

"In a statement issued today, the Reserve Bank has advised that all Bonds will be rolled over for a further 6 months pending the outcome of "constructive engagements" between the Bank and the Zimbabwean Ministry of Finance in respect of the Zimbabwean Government's Reserve Bank-held debt.

The Reserve Bank also states that "various other initiatives are being pursued to meet all outstanding obligations"."

In other words Gono is run ragged trying to find the necessary money. (Perhaps Mugabe might like to lend some of his own to the bank to bail them out. I doubt...)

-o00o-

The problem that the MDC faces when it comes to SADC intervention is that the mediator is a self-confessed fan of Mugabe - rather like his predecessor...

And SADC is held in disdain by Mugabe who refuses to recognise their authority - except when they rule in his favour...

"The MDC-T on Friday accused ZANU PF of 'logjamming the Global Political Agreement talks', and called for renewed SADC mediation between the two political parties.

"ZANU PF is the main cause of the deadlock in talks. They want negotiations devoid of principles, that is to say endless talks," MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said in an interview with SW Radio Africa.

He said a message has been sent to SADC informing them that talks between the two parties were ‘as good as dead’ after ZANU PF indicated they would not concede to any further demands from the MDC."

Mugabe recently instructed his negotiation team not to give any further concessions in the talks until international travel sanctions are lifted. This, within itself, is against the agreements signed by the three principles, as the targeted sanctions are collectively decided by the participating countries - not by the MDC.

The problem that the MDC has is that if SADC make a ruling against Mugabe he will just ignore it, and if it makes a decision in favour of Mugabe, he will grab it with both hands and hang on to it for all that it is worth.

A potential lose-lose situation.

"All we are waiting for now is for the negotiators to formally agree there is a deadlock. As a party we will not move on the issues of Gono and Tomana. We want these issues resolved or there is nothing. ZANU PF is responsible for tearing apart the GPA and throwing it out of the window,"Chamisa added.

Chamisa concurred with his party leader Morgan Tsvangirai who told journalists in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday that he expected a referendum on a new constitution before the end of this year, leading to fresh elections in 2011.

Tsvangirai’s spokesman James Maridadi confirmed that the Prime Minister saw this as the only route to solving the country’s political crisis. The slow paced GPA talks have dashed hopes and aspirations for democracy in a country that is slowly recovering from a decade of economic down turn.

On Wednesday ZANU PF backtracked on issues that had been agreed upon by all parties, including the appointment of provincial governors, saying that further concessions will only be made once targeted sanctions imposed on Robert Mugabe and his inner circle are removed."

Mugabe's party lost the general election and still consider themselves the 'ruling party'. Mugabe is not used of defeat - the last time he experienced it was when a referendum on a new constitution was rejected by the Zimbabwean people and Mugabe's response was to launch the destructive, deadly and counter-productive land grab.

"Chamisa said ZANU PF were forgetting that they lost the elections in March 2008, and must be reminded that they were 'loaned the legitimacy by the MDC in the interest of going forward and saving people from disaster'."

-o00o-

Whilst there are those that side with Mugabe's mob, there are a growing number that side with Tsvangirai - and not particularly for the MDC, but side without hesitation with the ideals of what is right and a true democracy.

"The European Union should maintain its travel restrictions and asset freezes on Robert Mugabe and his inner circle until Zimbabwe carries out the concrete human rights reforms set out in the 2008 Global Political Agreement, Human Rights Watch said today.

The EU is currently reviewing its sanctions policy toward Zimbabwe.

The Agreement, which established a power-sharing government, was implemented in February 2009 by Mugabe's party, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU PF), and the then-opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai.

It contained specific measures to promote freedom of speech and the rule of law, end politically motivated violence, and apply laws of the country fully and impartially in bringing to justice all perpetrators of politically motivated violence. But the repression has continued, and the perpetrators are not being held to account for their actions.

"ZANU PF has continued committing grave human rights abuses and acting as if the agreement had never been signed," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The European Union runs the risk of reinforcing ongoing repression and impunity in Zimbabwe if it eases the sanctions now."

The problem that anyone has in standing up to Mugabe is that he feels nothing in ensuring that they are cut down. Without hesitation and without due respect to the law.

If those that oppose Mugabe are in the West then there are allegations that the MDC is a 'puppet' of the West, that the West is attempting to foment regime change - and if the dessenters are inside Zimbabwe, then they are silenced without much fuss.

To wit, what happened to the blogger "The Zimbabwean Pundit" who just vanished from the internet following some rather in depth exposures of Mugabe's 'rule'?

Many people, all over the world, have written on the internet about Zimbabwe, and, although they have not been forced to stop, the longevity of Mugabe's presence has worn them away.

"In September, the European Union sent a delegation to Zimbabwe to assess the implementation of the Agreement. The delegation found that the inclusive government had failed to meet the benchmarks the EU had established for resuming development cooperation with Zimbabwe and lifting targeted travel and financial restrictions on senior ZANU PF members.

The Swedish minister for international development, Gunilla Carlsson, who was part of the EU delegation, said then that targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe would not be lifted until human rights abuses ended."

There it is. Mugabe can stand defiant, but even if he remains the head of the country's government - even though that was achieved undemocratically - Mugabe will find his tenure in office under more strain as SADC members finally acknowledge that Mugabe has lied and cheated his way to the top.

He lost the election. Time to leave... or so we thought.

"Human Rights Watch's ongoing research and analysis in Zimbabwe show that the human rights situation there remains virtually the same as during the EU delegation's visit. As Human Rights Watch said in an August report on Zimbabwe's new power-sharing government, state agents affiliated with ZANU PF continue to abduct and kill MDC activists without punishment and to arrest its legislators on spurious charges.

Zimbabwe's oppressive media laws remain unchanged. Illegal invasions of commercial farms, frequently led by military personnel allied with ZANU PF, are continuing; and there has been no meaningful progress in instituting promised human rights reforms or in demonstrating respect for the rule of law.

Some government-owned companies subject to EU sanctions, like Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), are also actively involved in mining diamonds in eastern Zimbabwe, where Human Rights Watch has uncovered rampant abuses by the armed forces, including forced labour, child labor, killings, beatings, smuggling, and corruption."

It no longer means anything to Mugabe when we talk about the legacy that he would leave. He has effectively ruined the next generation as they will be spending half their lives trying to survive, and the other half trying to rebuild. Mugabe is enough of an egoist not to recognise an own goal.

The MDC should turn Mugabe's demand around. Until ZANU PF starts to buckle down to the concessions given (even though they lost the election), consideration for sanctions to be lifted will not be given.

Who is going to last longer in that deadlock?

-o00o-

I see that Mugabe's youngest son has failed his exams - rather like his father failed the Zimbabwean people. It must run in the genes.

I bet that Mugabe has some of his goons visit the headmaster and the exams markers to explain the lie of the land. Emphatically.

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Friday, 29th January 2010

Howzit

Foreign currency mid-rates updated...

-o00o-

Well - the weather held off just long enough for B and I to spend a few hours in town and buy the few things that she wanted/needed.

And we enjoyed a few hours out of the house - and then yesterday evening we went for dinner with another family member.

I think that she enjoyed her day.

-o00o-

I am seriously thinking about travelling to Burton with B tomorrow morning - more for a change of scenery that anything else - and, in the event that I do go, there will be no posting tomorrow...

-o00o-

Mugabe always seems to have an alternative plan when facing trouble on the political front. He will play the land question out very publicly, and insists on selling the land acquisition idea to the people that the land was 'stolen' by the white pioneer and he is seeking to have the land returned to the 'landless blacks'.

The vast majority of the land that has been seized - and much of it through the use of violence and the killing of commercial farmers and their workers - and handed over to Mugabe's senior apologists.

And some of the land was purchased since 1980 from the Mugabe government after his administration had declared 'no interest' in the land.

And Mugabe states that the British government is responsible for the payment of any compensation in line with the Lancaster House Agreement. But Mugabe has not stood up to his side of the bargain, insofar as the land acquisition should be on a 'willing buyer - willing seller' basis.

Mugabe hasn't changed in thirty years. What agreements he signs and what he does thereafter are two totally different things.

"Four Zimbabwean white farmers who were ordered to leave their properties within 24 hours last Tuesday have been issued with warrants of arrest by a magistrate in the southeastern farming town of Chipinge, the Commercial Framers Union (CFU) said on Thursday.

Magistrate Samuel Zuze convicted Algernon Taffs of Chirega Farm, Dawie Joubert of Stilfontein, Mike Odendaal of Hillcrest and Mike Jahme of Silverton Farm for refusing to vacate their properties and sentenced them to a US$800 fine each. He ordered that they immediately move out of their homes and vacate their farms by Wednesday evening.

But the farmers filed an urgent appeal in the High Court in Harare Wednesday evening, a move that under court procedures means the ruling of the lower court is automatically put on hold, allowing the farmers to remain on their properties until conclusion of their appeal against both conviction and sentencing.

CFU director Hendrik Olivier said: "It has just been reported that Magistrate Samuel Zuze has refused to recognise the High Court (appeal) and has issued a warrant of arrest for all the farmers who were in court on Tuesday and to whom he issued eviction orders. The first farmer to be arrested has been Mr Dawie Joubert."

Consider just what you would do in the event that you were given just 24 hours to vacate your place of residence. Consider that for these farmers, their place of residence is also their workplace and they have responsibilities to their workers and livestock.

The new 'owners' do not move in and carry on where the farmer left off - but they seize the farm equipment - which was never part of the deal - evict the workforce and do nothing with the land. That is the true essence of Mugabe's land grab.

"In terms of the eviction orders the farmers should have vacated their properties by 5pm on Wednesday.

"However, the 24-hour period given to them to vacate their homes and properties of up to 50 years proved to be an almost impossible task to complete in such a short time," Olivier said.

The mainly white CFU last has criticised the power-sharing government between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai for failing to end chaos in the farming sector.

The government has watched helplessly as members of the security forces and hardliner activists of Mugabe’s ZANU PF party intensified in recent weeks a drive to seize all land still in white hands, causing deep frustration among the farmers.

The beleaguered white farmers, in a strongly worded statement last week labelled the ongoing farm seizures a "crime against humanity" and called on the coalition government to act to end lawlessness on farms in keeping with the 2008 power-sharing agreement that gave birth to the administration."

Mugabe is a signatory to the power-sharing agreement and it promised to "restore the rule of law in the farming sector, including carrying out a land audit to weed out multiple farm owners - nearly all of them senior ZANU PF officials who have hoarded most of the best farms seized from whites.

The coalition government is yet to act to fulfil the promise to restore law and order in the key agricultural sector, while more farms - including some owned by foreigners and protected under bilateral investment protection agreements between Zimbabwe and other nations – have been seized over the past few months.

And to make matters worse, according to the CFU, police and judicial officers who are supposed to enforce the rule of law were also among the beneficiaries of the free-for-all land grab."

Mugabe has gone so far as to describe the white commercial farmers of being 'enemies of the State'. And all the while that this is happening, the agricultural sector, which used to feed the population without fail and had enough left over for export, has collapsed and the population are now reliant upon food aid.

-o00o-

Court orders in Zimbabwe are routinely ignored by ZANU PF and the judiciary are helpless to act, because ZANU PF place themselves in a position that is insurmountable.

And when you consider that ZANU PF lost the general election in March 2008, they really have no standing to be able to continue with their acts of destabilising the agricultural infrastructure in Zimbabwe. But, because Mugabe has managed, by highly dubious means, to remain in the office of President, he assumes that ZANU PF is still in control and will remain there.

"A Zimbabwean High Court judge has ruled that three white commercial farmers who were given 24 hours to leave their property by a magistrate in Chipinge, Manicaland province, should stay put until their cases are adjudicated.

Justice Samuel Kudya issued the order late Wednesday following the issuance of eviction orders on Tuesday by Magistrate Samuel Zuze.

Lawyer David Drury, representing the three farmers, said Kudya’s ruling gives a temporary reprieve to the farmers, although their land has been occupied by unruly crowds of hundreds believed to be ZANU PF militia members.

Drury told VOA Studio 7 reporter Gibbs Dube that although the Office of the Attorney General has 10 days to appeal the High Court order staying the lower court order, the farmers now have a legal right to stay on their land."

Ten days is a very long time in Zimbabwean politics. And I see the militants invaders being ordered to ignore the order and the invasions will continue and will probably take on a more violent nature.

"Algernon Taffs of Chirega Farm, Dawie Joubert of Stilfontein and Mike Odendaal of Hillcrest Farm were supposed to have moved out of their farms on Wednesday. Mike Jahme of Silverton Farm was ordered by the Chipinge court to vacate his farm within 30 days.

In a related development, former Commercial Farmers Union President Trevor Gifford said he and one of the farmers facing eviction now face jail because they tried to serve Zuze with the High Court order. Gifford said Zuze refused to sign the papers and accused the two of failing to obey his eviction orders.

Zuze, who could not be reached for comment, allegedly reported the matter to police in Chipinge, who charged the farmers with contempt of court."

Contempt of court? In the event that the second order allowing the farmers to remain on the land is ignored as is the ZANU PF norm, then it is the invaders that are in contempt. But that isn't about to stop Mugabe's people who are hell bent in the removal of the farmers.

"The magistrate was very upset when we served the papers and as a result farmer Joubert was immediately arrested and I was ordered by the police to report to the nearest police station," Gifford said."

Mugabe knows no law but his own - made up as he goes along - and when faced with a legal battle he just has the constitution amended retrospectively so that it would appear that he has conformed.

And whilst he will have the violent and very militant people invade farms, he continues to beg for money for the West to allow him to rebuild. I don't think so. Any money he receives goes into ZANU PF coffers and is used to perpetuate his violent pursuit of ridding Zimbabwe of the 'bloody' whites.

-o00o-

And on the other side of the coin, there are movements afoot to have ZANU PF activists, officials and ministers answer charges of political violence.

"The High Court has set down dates for a pre-trial conference in cases in which 17 political and human rights activists are suing four government ministers in damages for their roles in their abduction, torture and prosecution in 2008.

In separate notices of set down send to the abductees' lawyers and the ministers' lawyers this week the High Court said Justice Tedious Karwi will preside over the pretrial conference of Audrey Zimbudzana next Thursday.

A week later other High Court Judges will also preside over the pre-trial conferences of Collin Mutemagawu and Violet Mupfuranhewe, the parents of two year old Nigel Mutemagawu who was abducted from Banket together with his parents in 2008 for allegedly plotting to topple President Robert Mugabe’s previous government, a charge they deny. Regis Mujeyi and Mapfumo Garutsa pre-trial conferences will be held a day later on Friday."

I really don't see much coming of this as Mugabe will take steps to protect ZANU PF agitators.

He doesn't care about the truth - he doesn't care whether a law has been broken or who is wrong and who is right.

ZANU PF will not stand in the dock. Ever.

"The seventeen political and human rights activists are demanding over US$20 million in damages from four government ministers and top security commanders whom they hold responsible for their torture ordeal and abduction.

The activists filed their lawsuit with the High Court last July and are demanding US$1.2 million each for abduction and torture.

The case could encourage hundreds of other Zimbabweans who suffered state sponsored abduction and torture during the past decade of institutionalized anarchy and repression, to seek civil redress in attempts to reduce impunity and contribute towards national healing."

No matter how many cases are brought against Mugabe's party members and no matter how many court rulings or orders are made, he will protect all and sundry who subscribe to the ZANU PF cockerel.

-o00o-

It is not just the commercial farmers that are paying with their land. The workers on the land have lost their jobs - and the population no longer are able to feed themselves, even if there was any food available.

The estimated number of victims of Mugabe's badly orchestrated land grab is about one million people.

"The seizure of large commercial farms - almost all white-owned - has continued despite the formation of a unity government in Zimbabwe. The country's farm workers say they are the biggest losers.

The workers say that Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders must intervene immediately to stop the violence against them.

About 1 million farm workers have been evicted from farms across Zimbabwe since the year 2000, according to the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

This is a huge percentage of the total Zimbabwean farm worker population, which was estimated by the Justice for Agriculture Trust based in Harare at somewhere between 1.3 and 1.9 million before the land seizures began. Zimbabwean refugee rights group People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP) says around 100,000 are now working on farms in South Africa."

Then you have to factor in the people that have had no option but to leave the coutnry - legally or otherwise - and then also inculcate those that were displaced during Mugabe's Operation Murambatsvina - and you find a countryfull of displaced people, to one degree or another.

The farmers, the workers, the people - just absolute pandemonium - which largely continues today.

"IPS spoke about the situation for farm workers with three Zimbabweans considering joining their peers on South African farms. Fearing government persecution by Zimbabwe's Central Intelligence Organisation, all the farm workers insisted on anonymity.

They told IPS that when Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe's land reform programme first started in 2000, things seemed promising.

"They were promising to give us labourers good wages after removing these white farmers," Rufaro* said.

But things quickly soured. "Some ZANU PF youth went around hitting and raping farm workers and beating them to death. Farm labourers were thrown out of the farms with their employers and some farmers ran away without paying anything to farm workers," said Letty*.

The workers said at least three major farms had been invaded since the unity government was formed - Usasa Seedlings, Mount Carmel (a mango farm) and Stockdale citrus farm.

Stockdale, in the Chegutu district in Mashonaland West, was invaded in April 2009 by the speaker of the Zimbabwean parliament, Edna Madzongwe, despite a ruling by a SADC tribunal which said 78 white farmers who faced losing their farms could keep their land.

The SADC tribunal ruled in favour of the farmers in November 2008, finding the land redistribution programme discriminatory on the basis of race. With the Zimbabwean government failing to act on the ruling, the tribunal in June 2009 referred the case to the SADC summit of heads of state."

Mugabe will sign whatever agreements give him time to perpetrate his fould deeds. His signature buys him time - although a simple trawl through history will show us that Mugabe is a tried and tested liar. This starts with the Lancaster House Agreement, through which Mugabe was able to use the hand of the West to propel him into power.

Today he treats that same hand with disdain...

"The farm workers said Mugabe has simply ignored rulings from the SADC tribunal, which was set up in Namibia in 2007 to rule on disputes in the Southern Africa region.

For now, an estimated 60,000 farm workers find themselves living in makeshift camps, often on the roadside near where they were evicted from, waiting for the government to resettle them.

"Some few farm workers who were lucky were resettled. But if they labelled you MDC you were not going to receive anything. We need land now to resettle the poor who have no place to stay," Tapiwa* said.

Many farm workers are living on donor handouts now, while others have fled to South Africa. Letty said that of the few farm workers who still have jobs, women are in the majority. Because they are paid less, they are still found in small numbers at work on Zimbabwe's potato and horticultural farms."

The knock-on effect of all of this will be seen for many years - and will be most apparent in the next generation who have lost out on many years education. And to think that there was a time when Zimbabweans were the most educated and literate people of the region...

And because Mugabe gets a bag on about the West and decides to take it out on the white commercial farmers.

"After the land invasions started," Rufaro said, "and we were evicted from the farms, most of our kids did not go to school for two years. We women end up having kids at home without food, because we had no money and all the shops were empty because the farms had closed down.

"The stress for women with four kids at home day and night for two years... it was a pity for us," Rufaro said.

"Most women who used to work on farms are moving up and down to Malawi, Zambia and South Africa, to buy anything that they can sell to put their children back in school. We are moving up and down just to take care of having food at home," she added.

In the long term, all three say, land reform will only work in Zimbabwe if the land grabbed by members of ZANU PF over the past ten years, is handed over to the state."

The words "a frosty day in hell" spring to mind.

*not their real name...

-o00o-

Whenever I hear that SADC is going to get involved or that one party or another is appealing for SADC intervention, I cringe.

Only because Mugabe is given tacit support by the mediator and many regional leaders...

"The Southern African Development Community (SADC) must intervene urgently in Zimbabwe to save the fragile transitional government from collapse ot the country must brace for fresh election, the Movement for Demovratic Change (MCD) has announced."

Speaking to Radio VOP in Harare Thursday, MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said if SADC fails then they will have no option except for the government to organize free and fair elections as ZANU PF had proved to be an unreliable partner in government.

MDC’s announcement follows a decision by ZANU PF’s powerful politburo to order that President Robert Mugabe negotiators should not make any concessions in the ongoing talks between the coalition partners in government on the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

ZANU PF even went on to announce that even those items in the GPA which had apparently been agreed upon like the appointment of provincial governors should be disregarded and that concessions will only be made once targeted sanctions imposed on Mugabe and his inner circle are removed."

I will ask again - and regular readers will probably be annoyed by my continual repetition of the point... Why is it acceptable that the loser of a general election is permitted to negotiate from a position of power with the winner of the general election for the scraps of power that the loser is not really prepared to concede?

If your party loses an election, that's it! You are out!

Mugabe fails to understand the basics of a popular mandate...

"One way forward to resolve this is for out guarantors to come ascertain the status of this marriage certificate which is now in tatters. We appeal to our guarantors to intervene and help us agree to disagree and find and locate exit points to this political logjam.

"We must have a framework for basic infrastructure to facilitate free and fair elections in Zimbabwe. Let’s just have acceptable electoral management regime because ZANU PF is wasting our time in the inclusive government.

ZANU PF has torn apart the GPA, they have thrown the GPA out of the window. ZANU PF is biting the hand that is feeding them – they lost elections in March 2008 but we accepted to share power because of our desire to end suffering among our people but now they want to grab all of it.

"They were denied legitimacy by the people and we loaned them legitimacy in the interest of going forward and saving our people from disaster. Why do people have to waste a year of talking when they know that they are not interested?" said Chamisa."

Mugabe doesn't care about democracy, freedom or fairness. He only cares that he is in charge and will do anything to remain there. Perhaps the shadows of a prison cell are more real than we perceive.

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Thursday, 28th January 2010

Howzit

Today is B's birthday and I will be taking her to lunch in town. I really hope that the weather holds out as yesterday it was cold and rainy - not very nice at all...

-o00o-

I have to question the wisdom of this decision. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe does not 'safeguard' anything. We know that the bank governor helped himself to monies held in accounts by the bank and that Mugabe insists that he is 'no thief'. Much of that money has not been returned.

If Gono and Mugabe have the attitude that money held within the bank accounts is free game, then just how will they behave with millions of dollars worth of diamonds?

"Zimbabwe's Supreme Court has ordered the central bank to safeguard millions of dollars' worth of diamonds from a mine where the military is accused of killings and forced labour, a lawyer said Wednesday.

The latest ruling stems from an ownership battle over the mines in eastern Zimbabwe, with a British firm and a government mineral corporation locked in a tug-of-war over the valuable deposits.

"The chief justice said the diamonds should be kept by a neutral party pending the resolution of an ownership dispute which is before the court," said Jonathan Samkange, lawyer for British firm African Consolidated Resources (ACR)."

How can the courts see the RBZ as a 'neutral' party given that historically the bank has pandered to Mugabe's wants and needs?

"The Supreme Court court ordered that the all the diamonds extracted from African Consolidated Resources by the the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation be returned," Samkange told AFP.

The company is embroiled in a legal fight with the government-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation over the ownership of Chiadzwa diamond fields in the country's eastern Marange districts."

And, when the whole ownership wrangle is finally sorted it and it comes to returning the 129000 carats to the legal owner, the cupboard will be bare. Mark my words.

"Samkange said the court order affects 129,000 carats of diamonds, including gems mined by ACR and seized by police as well as all the precious stones mined since.

The minefields attracted the attention of rights groups after reports of beatings and deaths of illegal gold panners by security forces.

Rights groups have been lobbying for a ban on Marange diamonds, after a team from the Kimberley Process against "conflict diamonds" rebuked security forces deployed at the minefields for gross human rights violations."

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Mugabe never intended to honestly go back to the negotiation table. He has given so little by way of concessions - and his party didn't even win the general election!

Now his party has resolved that they will not give anything more until the targeted travel sanctions are lifted. What Mugabe and his bunch of brigands fail to appreciate is that the control of the sanctions lie with the governments implementing them...

"President Robert Mugabe and his party's supreme decision-making body, the Politburo yesterday resolved never to give in to any more MDC-T demands until all sanctions they campaigned for are lifted by Britain, the US and their allies in the West.

The Politburo's resolution comes in the wake of revelations by Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband that the MDC-T party controls some of the sanctions and that Britain will take the cue from the MDC-T on when to lift sanctions against Zimbabwe.

"ZANU PF will not make any more concessions in ongoing talks with the two MDC formations on issues outstanding in the full implementation of the Global Political Agreement until the illegal economic sanctions have been lifted," said a communique released to the Zimbabwe Guardian on Wednesday."

The SADC mediator, South African President Jacob Zuma, who sadly is pro-Mugabe, surely needs to start to apply pressure on ZANU PF as, with the World Cup Football approaching, concern must be with the crisis spilling over into the tournament.

"Any movement from ZANU PF would have to be predicated on an end to the illegal and ruinous embargo."

Who says that the limited measures against Mugabe and his motley crew are 'illegal'? Rhodesia faced full economic sanctions during the bush war and we didn't hear calls for the lifting of the sanctions - and Rhodesia prospered in the face of the limitations. Mugabe is hellbent on making life as uncomfortable as possible for the MDC and the Zimbabwean population.

"ZANU PF deputy secretary for information and publicity Ephraim Masawi said the removal of sanctions had become imperative.

He said recent revelations by British foreign and Commonwealth secretary David Miliband that London would remove sanctions at MDC’s request exposed MDC-T’s "treacherous role" in the initiation and drafting of the illegal sanctions against Zimbabweans saying the party was "a tool" of Western imperialism.

"The hypocrisy of the MDC-T’s denial of its role in the evil saga of the imposition of illegal sanctions now stands exposed for all to see.

"The people of Zimbabwe, as the victims of the MDC-T and Western murderous collusion, now demand that Mr Tsvangirai and his Western allies remove their evil sanctions so that children can go to school, the sick can be attended to in hospitals, people can find jobs and farmers produce.

"These are the effects of the sanctions and not the ‘restrictive measures’ as Mr Tsvangirai euphemistically calls them.

"The Politburo therefore instructs its negotiators on the GPA to desist from making concessions in the negotiations until the sanctions are removed and the pirate radio stations cease to pollute airwaves," he said."

The negotiations are, at present, on ice and, with ZANU PF indicating that they will make no further concessions, seem rather pointless.

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My concern about the assumption of power persists. If ZANU PF lost the general election in 2008, then why is it that President (!) Mugabe is able to negotiate from a position of power? Why is it that the lion's share of the power remains with him and his party and, that as loser of the election, he is permitted to negotiate with the election winner for the small amounts of power that he will give to the MDC?

Almost two years after the election, how is it that the losers of the election are permitted to remain in power?

Is the international community not really that interested in Zimbabwe?

-o00o-

And why is it that Mugabe's henchmen are permitted to leave enough threat in the air when it comes to protecting their destructive rule?

"Zimbabwe Defense Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa says the national army will be used to ensure the controversial land-reform program is never reversed. About eight million hectares were taken from white farmers without compensation during the past 10 years.

The global political agreement that led to formation of an inclusive government nearly a year ago says Zimbabwe's 'land reform' program is irreversible.

The agreement also committed the inclusive government to a land audit to ensure agricultural land is distributed fairly and is used productively. The land audit has not begun."

The land audit itself has been tarnished with the threat of war - even if ZANU PF commits itself to this undertaking.

But whilst I think that most Zimbabweans understand the land grab, and I don't think that the basic principle is questioned, but the execution has been carried out on the wrong side of the law.

Murder, abductions, theft, arson, beatings - these are the things that the Zimbabwean people - black, white, coloured or indifferent - will object to.

Now that Mnangagwa has indicated that the army will 'protect' the acquisition of the land means that ZANU PF can continue unabated, without care for the law and without any worry of any consequence.

One of Mnangagwa's companies was raided by police a week or so ago, and a huge cache of weapons was discovered. Why has he not been dragged in front of a law court to answer allegations against him? Or, because he is the defence minister, is his skin protected by none other than Robert Mugabe?

"Many top ZANU PF Party leaders, including President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace have taken several formerly white-owned farms.

When the land seizures began, Mr. Mugabe said the government's policy was 'one man, one farm'.

Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, who says he hopes to succeed Mr Mugabe one day, is a beneficiary of a white-owned farm. He also bought at least one other farm since Zimbabwe's independence from Britain in 1980.

Mnangagwa, a ZANU PF Party member, raised the political temperature this week saying, he would deploy the army as "a priority" to ensure the land reform program is never reversed."

Even if there was a plan to reverse the land grab, the destruction on the seized land is so bad that it has set the country back probably a generation. Who would want to reverse the acquisition since the country no longer has the financial ability to rebuild?

-o00o-

Staying with the land grab, four farmers have been given 24 hours to vacate their land...

"A Zimbabwean magistrate court on Tuesday gave four white farmers 24 hours to vacate their properties, the Commercial Framers Union (CFU) said on Tuesday.

The mainly white CFU, which last week criticised the power-sharing government between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai for failing to end chaos in the farming sector, said the magistrate ruled that the four farmers were guilty of refusing to vacate their properties.

The union said the farmers were slapped with a US$800 fine each and ordered to immediately move out of their homes and vacate their farms by Wednesday (today) evening – in a ruling that highlights worsening fortunes for Zimbabwe’s white farmers who have also come under increased attacks from Mugabe’s supporters since formation of the coalition government."

So even the law courts are on Mugabe's side when it comes to the land grab. Mugabe says that any compensation payable is the responsibility of the British government as agreed in the 1979 Lancaster House paper. But that document does state that land acquisition must be on a 'willing buyer - willing seller' basis. I see nothing 'willing' about the murder of commercial farmers and their workers. I see nothing 'willing' about the forced evictions and the destruction of private property.

And Mugabe hails the land grab as a return of the land to the 'landless blacks' but has handed the seized lands to his party faithful...

"The evicted farmers are Algernon Taffs of Chirega Farm, Dawie Joubert of Stilfontein, Mike Odendaal of Hillcrest Farm, Mike Jahme of Silverton Farm – all from the south eastern district of Chipinge.

According to the CFU, the magistrate said if the four failed to vacate their properties as ordered by the court they would spend the next two years in jail and the union indicated that the farmers were preparing to appeal against the eviction orders.

"Under the Constitution of Zimbabwe everyone has the right to appeal but the magistrate denied them this right saying there was no doubt in his judgment. Urgent applications are currently taking place in Harare on behalf of the evicted farmers," the CFU said, adding; "The farmers are desperately moving their life’s belongings into the local Dutch Reformed Church for safety."

Mugabe will move heaven and earth to get his own way and if that means forcibly removing the rights of white commercial farmers, then that is what he will do.

"The beleaguered white farmers, in a strongly worded statement last week labelled the ongoing farm seizures a "crime against humanity" and called on the coalition government to act to end lawlessness on farms in keeping with the 2008 power-sharing agreement that gave birth to the administration."

And what does the watching world do in response? Nothing.

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Biti's job in Zimbabwe is perhaps one of the loneliest on the planet. Trying to control the country's purse strings whilst people like the RBZ governor works hand over fist to provide Mugabe with the money he needs to perpetuate his destructive rule.

As an example, why would the RBZ buy wepons and ammunition from impeached State witness, Michael Hitschmann? If the weapons weren't for Mugabe and his henchmen, who were they for? How come this has never been questioned in court?

"Finance Minister Tendai Biti warned that the national unity government in Harare could collapse if so-called outstanding issues that have been troublig it are not address and if its founding principles are not fulfilled, urging regional leader to intervene to break the impasse.

Biti, also secretary general of the Movement for Democratic Change formation led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, told journalists at the National Press Club in Washington that negotiations between his MDC party and President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF had deadlocked in recent weeks and that South African President Jacob Zuma, a mediator in Zimbabwe, should step in.

He warned that if the so-called inclusive government does not achieve its key objectives, including the drafting of a new "people-driven” constitution, the power-sharing arrangement in Harare could fall apart."

I think that a collapse would be exactly what Mugabe would want to see. He could then declare himself the leader of a ZANU PF government and the 'necessary presence' of the MDC within the hallowed halls of power would be obliterated.

Mugabe does not want to share power with anyone at all. He wants it all and if he isn't given it, he will forcibly take it.

Even the failed rulers we have seen elsewhere haven't reduced their country to a begging bowl - well, perhaps a few - but how come Mugabe fails to learn from history? Is his ultimate aim blinkering his rule?

"But Biti said he was generally optimistic about Zimbabwe's future despite political wrangling and resistance from ZANU PF hardliners.

"This equation can only work if those fundamental foundational cornerstones which brought the Zimbabwean parties involuntarily together are addressed," Biti said.

"If there is a fear that there is arrested development on the things that gave rise to [the government] such as democratization, writing of a new constitution and economic reforms, it will collapse. This is the time for President Zuma to show leadership and intervene."

With Mugabe making it plain that his party will give no more concessions without the lifting of the travel sanctions, we wonder whether Biti's message about the possible collapse will get through.

Even if travel sanctions werelifted today, would Mugabe really allow his party to negotiate withe the MDC? How is it that his continues hold on power has not been questioned elsewhere in the world?

Yes, we do read about politicians elsewhere in the world having their say, but without impetus, Mugabe's rule will continue unfettered.

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu