Sunday, 31st October 2010

Howzit

Okay, so now the clocks in the UK have shifted back one hour and we are now two hours behind Zimbabwe. It is this time of the year that I hate with the early evening darkness, and, of course, the colder weather and the possibility of snow. With the cold weather, the metal in my arm gets quite uncomfortable...

Oh well, there's not a lot I can do about it.

-o00o-

It has been quite a while since I punted my book, so here goes...

"Without Honour" is the true story of events whilst I was serving as a policeman in the Zimbabwe Republic Police in the very early to mid-1980s.

During that time, I was stationed at Esigodini, Plumtree and Gwanda and, apart from normal policing duties, I was also the police Public Prosecutor at and around these stations and had the freedom to travel to Bulawayo to prosecute some of the more serious cases.

Sounds idyllic - until you factor in the advent of the Gukurahundi which had begun in the province. To explain very simply, Mugabe sent a brigade of specially trained soldiers into Matabeleland and over the next five years they slaughtered anything between twenty and thirty thousand innocent people.

As I began to realise the horror taking place around me, the powers that be decided it was time to ensure that I was forced out of the police.

Paperback, 218 pages and over seventy thousand words, the book is available on Lulu, CreateSpace and Amazon as a 'Print on Demand' purchase.

The cover has changed since this photograph was taken.
The box around the ZRP badge is now shaped like Zimbabwe.

I am currently working on my second book which is taking distinctly longer that my first effort.

-o00o-

Mugabe may be happy to have his war veterans working in support of his destructive rule, but there are those that oppose his leadership, and they have been cast out of the ZANU PF web, abandoned and left to live in abject poverty.

Such a story is true when it comes to Edgar Tekere.

"One of the luminaries of Zimbabwe’s war of liberation, Edgar Tekere says his recovery is "phenomenal" but he would be shocked if President Robert Mugabe paid him a visit.

The former ZANU PF secretary-general, who is hospitalised at a private hospital in Harare, said his health had vastly improved since the time he was transferred from Mutare a few weeks ago. He is battling with cancer.

"There have been tremendous changes and I’m still wondering if this is reality," said Tekere. "It is phenomenal considering that I came all the way from Mutare in an ambulance and unable to walk. To those within the religious circles you might call it a miraculous recovery."

Tekere, who has been visited by several politicians including Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara, said he would be shocked if President Robert Mugabe were to visit him in hospital.

"I absolutely don’t expect to be visited by President Mugabe," he said. "I would be surprised if that happens and would even fall back on my walking frame due to shock."

Mugabe will do nothing that might be considered supportive of any of his past loyalists. He prefers to work in a grey area that borders and, many times, oversteps the mark into illegality, rather than be a wholesome, upstanding and honest leader.

It is obvious that Mugabe revels is anarchy and disorder and has his war veterans, youth militia, police and army ready to do his bidding at a moment's notice.

"Senior ZANU PF officials who have visited Tekere, a fierce critic of Mugabe, include Minister of Media, Information and Publicity.

Webster Shamu, Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment Saviour Kasukuwere as well as former Finance minister Simba Makoni.

Tekere acknowledged their support during the difficult time.

The veteran nationalist said it would be difficult to remove Mugabe from power.

"To disengage Mugabe and his team from power will not be easy since I know him as a man who doesn’t want contest," he said. "This is exemplified by his slogan 'VaMugabe chete'."

-o00o-

The Zimbabwe Republic Police is a mere shadow of its former self and, by no means, represents the law of the land.

Last week, we read of an order being issued that basically instructed police officers not to entertain any reports of violence by MDC supporters.

Shakespeare wrote: "If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?" And he was right. How can the MDC hope to run an election campaign in the run-up to elections, if they cannot rely on the ZRP to do their job to 'serve and protect'?

In real terms, the police can be re-labelled the ZANU PF police force. Even those members within the force that want to do their jobs correctly will find themselves thrown out on their ear.

"The transport sector, a haven for most emerging and small black entrepreneurs in the country, has now become a cash cow for corrupt police officers.

This has impacted heavily on commuters who are forced to pay higher fares so as to cushion the transport operators.

Transport operators who spoke to The Standard last week said police corruption has virtually crippled the sector and in extreme cases forcing some operators to fold.

"We have to charge higher fares so that we distribute the costs of police corruption between ourselves and the commuting public," said one operator adding that during holidays such as the upcoming Christmas and New Year the fares would be raised considerably as they expected the police to demand more and more bribes.

They said however perfect a vehicle might be, the police would always find a fault and demand a bribe, failure of which they would issue several tickets for minor offences such as a cracked mirror or a dirty bus.

Moses Takavarasha, whose buses used to ply the Harare-Mutare route, said at least 25% of his daily earnings were going towards bribing police officers."

It sounds like the South African motorist who was fines just before the FIFA World Cup for having reverse lights that only came on when the vehicle was in reverse.

In all the years that I served in the police, I cannot remember one case where an officer had taken a bribe. Obviously it does happen, but I do not recall any one officer being caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

How the pride of the force has been eroded to a degree where the bribes are just part of everyday life.

"The police have become silent shareholders in our businesses," said Takavarasha. "I can say they own 25% of my business. They are partners who did not contribute a single cent to capital."

He said he often loses up to $100 to corrupt police officers on a single trip.

Operators who ply the major highways such as Harare-Bulawayo, Harare-Mutare or Masvingo-Bulawayo suffer the same fate.

Takavarasha has since changed his route permit to ply Harare-Murambinda.

The reason: "Police in the rural areas demand less money than the highway patrol officers."

A senior official of the Zimbabwe Rural Transport Operators (ZRTO), who requested anonymity for fear of victimisation, however estimated that the police took at least 60% of operators’ revenue."

And this is the force that once upon a time, I was proud enough to wear the uniform...

-o00o-

Regardless of how logical this idea is, it will never be made reality. Mugabe is dependent upon the presence and influence of the security chiefs - who, in reality, run Zimbabwe behind his throne.

"More than 50 Zimbabwean civil society organisations on Saturday called on the coalition government to urgently open negotiations with the country’s security chiefs to ensure they do not interfere with forthcoming referendum and elections set for 2011.

President Robert Mugabe has hinted on a possible “fast-tracking” of an ongoing process to draft a new constitution which would be followed by a referendum - possibly around March 2011 - on the new governance charter.

General elections would then follow around next July to choose a new government to replace the coalition regime formed by Mugabe and former opposition leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara in 2009."

If the unity government is to cease in February next year, and elections are thought to happen sometime around July, then there is a five month 'hole' in the plot. Who will be running the country in that time?

Mugabe? His party does not have the popular mandate to run the country, although he holds the office of President, only secured through violence and intimidation.

He will not allow the MDC to take their elected place in the country, which then suggests that the coalition might have to continue, regardless of what he feels.

I do believe that we are witnessing one of the slowest and quietest coups in living memory...

"The CSOs, however, said on Saturday that political conditions in Zimbabwe are not yet conducive to ensure the holding of free and fair polls and demanded an amicable exit plan for the country’s security chiefs who have vowed not to recognise any poll results in which Mugabe is defeated.

"Civic society organisations represented, therefore, demanded... (that) parties in the inclusive government look at the interests and fears of the security chiefs and open negotiations with them with a view of making sure that they do not interfere with the electoral process," they said in a statement.

Several top army generals and members of the police and intelligence services have been fingered in the atrocities that accompanied Zimbabwe’s chaotic decade-long land reform programme as well as political violence during previous polls.

Zimbabwe witnessed some of the worst political violence in 2008 after a parliamentary election that was won by Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) while the former opposition leader defeated Mugabe in a parallel presidential election but with fewer votes to avoid a second round poll."

I am a little staggered that the security chiefs say they will not recognise any election result in which Mugabe is defeated. When will the regional leaders, SADC and the AU actually do something to stop this rampant grabbing of power from a dictator and his devoted followers?

"The CSOs demanded a "total end and denunciation of politically-related violence" and urged the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to ensure a non-violent, free and fair election that respects the will of the people of Zimbabwe."

Dream on...

-o00o-

Mugabe never relents, never gives up - even for one second. This report is about the attempted cooking up of criminal charges against the MDC Finance Minister, Tendai Biti.

In my opinion, before they look at Biti, ZANU PF should have a long hard look at those of their number who have held the position through the last three decades and go after them first... not that I believe any charges against Biti hold any water.

"Zimbabwe's security chiefs are cooking up criminal charges - possibly of a financial nature - against Finance Minister Tendai as part of a campaign to distract Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC-T ahead of polls set for next year, a leading London-based political think-tank has warned.

Biti is the MDC-T's secretary general and widely seen as one of the former opposition party's chief strategists. The combative finance minister is also among MDC-T cadres seen as potential leader of the party should Tsvangirai one day step fown from his position as president."

Right - first of all, because the think-tank is London based, Mugabe will ridicule the idea of a conspiracy. He is very good at dreaming up conspiracies against himself, but refutes the idea that he and his party are intent on framing anyone in another party.

Secondly, why is it that writers insist of labelling the MDC-T as the 'former opposition party'. If they are not the opposition, then who are they. I will tell you - they are the party of choice, the political party that were given, by virtue of the March 2008 poll, the popular mandate to lead Zimbabwe.

Just as describing ZANU PF as the 'former ruling party' may be the correct terminology, but it fails to describe the situation as it truly stands. They may be the 'former' ruling party but they refuse to hand power to those who won the election and continuously come up with plans to subvert the wants and requirements of the Zimbabwean population.

"There are already rumours that the security forces' dirty tricks departments are beavering away to bring criminal charges -possibly of a financial nature - against him, the thin-tank said in its latest report. The plan is to bring charges of financial embezzlement or misappropriation against Biti and incarcerate the MDC-T virual second-in-command without trial for a long time and then release him towards the elections.

"As Tsvangirai's treason trial showed, the charges do not have to be believable, their mere existence distracts attention and detracts from the political effectiveness of the accused," observed Africa Confidential. Tsvangirai was cleared of an attempt to assassinate President Robert Mugabe by High Court judge Paddington Garwe in 2006 following a sensational three-year-long treason trial that attracted world attention."

Mugabe has played this game before... and somehow gets away with it.

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Saturday, 30th October 2010

Howzit

For the last few years, I have been busy collecting ZRP regalia so that I can put it all together in a frame, a shield or a plaque.

I needed the cap badge, collar dogs, shoulder flashes and the four bars to show my rank at retirement 'at own request' in 1985 - I was a 'two bar' Patrol Officer. I also searched high and low for the marksman crossed rifles which I wore on the left sleeve of my number ones. I was a marksman with both pistol and rifle for the duration of my service in the police.

With the huge help of others all over the world, yesterday I finally got the last piece needed and was able, with my wife's help, to finalise the box frame which now hangs on the wall above my PC.

Not the best photograph I have ever taken...

The small gold insert on the frame details my name, rank and force number, together with my dates of service.

I am very grateful to so many people who have assisted and helped - thank you!

-o00o-

I am very sure that this report was not written by Mugabe's wife. And I am a little surprised that The Sowetan published it.

Take, for example, the crass description of Mugabe that the letter opens with...

"Hello! My name is Grace Mugabe, first lady and loving wife of one of Africa's longest serving democratic presidents, Robert Gabriel Mugabe."

... and the threat that the 'letter' ends with...

"Lastly, I wish to clarify and correct reports that people who have had affairs with me or know about them end up disappearing or 'meeting God'. I don't dispute their disappearance or deaths but does anyone know for a fact that they did meet this God? It is never wise to make unsubstantiated allegations of this nature."

If you want to read even further, then there are hundreds of comments in response...

-o00o-

Mugabe has a knack of calling people around the world names that border on the offensive - and, invariably, what he has to say about those people is uncomplimentary and the name-calling is usually based upon his need to protect his empire and divert attention from his own problems in Zimbabwe.

He has told the West to 'go hang', has called the whites in Zimbabwe 'bloody whites' and has labelled the white commercial farmers in Zimbabwe as 'State enemies'... So calling Britain and America 'damn fools' in just par for the course.

"President Robert Mugabe on Thursday hit at Britain and America again, his punch bags, calling them damn fools who were saying Zimbabwe had not done much in the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

According to the state-owned Herald Newspaper, Mugabe who was addressing chiefs at their annual conference said: "Listen to the stupidity from Britain and America. They say we have not done much in the implementation of the Global Political Agreement. Who are you damn fools?"

"Munei neGPA yedu?(What have you got to do with our GPA) Sevarungu (As whites) they come to us and semafuza (as fools) tinomhanyira ikoko (we rush to them). The paper quoted him saying, "Westerners were free to come and invest in Zimbabwe, but should never come here as masters. Vanokupai ma-ideas okuti varambe vari mamasters." (They give you ideas that will make you remain inferior to them).

"We are masters of our destiny. If the British want to be in business, they are welcome not as masters anymore.

"The British sun never rises here. It is the Zimbabwean sun that rises and sets here... I ask you chiefs to help us because some of your learned children do not understand," the paper quoted him."

Of course, Mugabe fails to remind any potential investor in Zimbabwe that they will take your money, but you can only own 49% of a Zimbabwean firm, the other 51% must belong to black Zimbabweans. I see potential investors heading for the door, not to throw money at Zimbabwe, but to ensure that no one undertakes to place any money in the troubled Southern African country.

Mugabe, instead of portraying Zimbabwe as a sound investment, is more than happy to warn the world NOT to invest... not exactly good advertising, huh?

"Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Minister Ignatius Chombo was quoted by the paper saying government had bought 28 vehicles for traditional leaders.

All traditional leaders who got vehicles in 2004/2005 would from next year receive twin-cab replacements. The paper said the chiefs in turn declared their support for President Mugabe’s principles and values, and declared he was the best person to lead Zimbabwe now and in the future."

Nothing like ZANU PF using government to buy the support of the chiefs and traditional leaders...

-o00o-

Robert Mugabe is one of those people that calls the fire brigade to put out a single match. A total and complete over-reaction.

With the story breaking about the possible liaison between Mugabe's wife and his favorite banker, Mugabe has ordered steps be taken that remove the ability of the population to hear more on the story.

"With his private life under the microscope, ravaged by mounting rumours of infidelity by his wife and ill health, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has launched a blitz confiscating Short Wave radio sets from villagers as he battles to contain fast moving information about his tattered image in the end games.

Police in Mashonaland East have launched a blitz confiscating Short Wave radio sets parcelled out to villagers by non-governmental organisations campaigning for the freeing of the airwaves. Information obtained by Radio VOP on Thursday indicated that the police had been raiding homesteads starting with Murehwa centre in search of the "offending" SW radio sets, in what civil society organisations view as part of a ZANU PF strategy to stop rural folk from accessing alternative media sources other than the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC).

Due to ZBC’s partisan reporting in favour of President Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF, Non-governmental organisations have been doling out free SW radios to enable villagers to tune into foreign-based radio stations which beam into the country such as Radio VOP, SW Radio Africa and and the Washington-based Studio Seven run by the Voice of America."

We have had Mugabe, in the past, labelling SW Radio Africa as a 'pirate' radio station, but there is little he can do about the broadcasts as they are legally registered in the UK - and are not a 'pirate' set-up. Mugabe also works against his own agreement that the airwaves in Zimbabwe were to be freed, but, once again, Mugabe's will is stronger than his undertakings.

"Three men from Chitowa village fell victim to this police raid early this week and they have been able to identify the police details as Constables Sibanda and Basopo," said the source.

In a statement to Radio VOP confirming the police actions, ZimRights in Harare said police claimed the distribution of the radio sets were done "behind their backs and without their knowledge".

"Consequently, they (police) question the motive of the organisations in giving the radios behind their back," said ZimRights. "They argue that the radios are propaganda driving tools meant to discredit the government. The police claimed that with the radios, the people cannot access official Zimbabwe radio stations. They also cited ZIMRA (Zimbabwe Revenue Authority) complaints about evasion of tax during the importation of the radios," it added.

National police spokesman, Wayne Bvudzijena said he was not aware of the incidents but promised to investigate."

I can only hope that the police details that took the radios tune into SW Radio Africa and VOA to hear the truth of the country in which they live.

-o00o-

This last week, we read of the murder of yet another white farmer, and then there was another story of an Nyazura farmer being rendered destitute by being thrown off his farm.

Whilst I understand the need for land appropriation - but only if the land is given to the 'landless blacks' as opposed to the ZANU PF faithful, and that the farmers are adequately compensated.

I am still confused as to why the invaders are permitted, by the Mugabe administration, to steal the farm equipment and, in many cases, the personal property of the farmers being evicted.

"There has been a 'renewed onslaught' of farm seizures and attacks, including the slaying of two farmers, in Zimbabwe in recent weeks, a white farmers' organisation said on Thursday.

Deon Theron, head of the Commercial Farmers Union that represents Zimbabwe's dwindling number of white farmers - some 300 whites still hold farmland - said the attacks followed an announcement last month from President Robert Mugabe that scheduled a constitutional referendum and national elections early next year.

He said police and security authorities had refused to act against a new wave of "violence, evictions and occupations" in the build-up to polling.

That "signals the start of a renewed onslaught against rural communities" by Mugabe's loyalists, Theron said in a statement."

Mugabe will use the land grab as a weapon against his perceived enemies as long as he can, thereby denuding the farmers of any justice through the police and the courts.

I ask, why have there been no investigations or arrests in the murder of numerous commercial farmers and their workers? You cannot tell me that the perpetrators are unknown.

"In several districts "hired thugs" broke into homesteads and locked the owners out, leaving them with nothing but the clothes they were wearing, the statement said.

Mugabe last month vowed to call elections next year to end the nation's shaky coalition with his long time rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

The troubled power-sharing deal is due to expire at the two-year mark, in February.

Mugabe said it would not be extended by more than a few weeks, until elections could be held."

The shaky part of the coalition is due, in most part ,to the reluctance of Mugabe and his flunkies in participating properly and honestly in the 'unity' government. Mugabe has acted like a petulant schoolboy, miffed because he has had his ivory palace trespassed upon by the party that carries the popular mandate.

"Two farmers have died in robberies and at least three have been forced from their homes in the Banket district, 100km north west of Harare, in the past two weeks.

In the early hours of Monday, intruders killed prominent farmer Kobus Joubert, 67, by shooting him in the head at point-blank range at his home in that district.

The intruders attacked his wife, ransacked the house and stole money and cell phones.

The couple were illegally evicted from the farm by militants in 2008 but later won a court order allowing them to return.

Smallholder Tim Chance was killed in an ambush with his own firearms stolen by intruders in an earlier raid on his home in the Somabhula area, near the central city of Gweru.

Theron said military officers had also taken over a farm in the eastern Nyazura district.

He said the farm's owner, 73-year-old Tiennie van Rensburg, was on Thursday still trying to remove farm equipment and other goods.

Theron said a colonel visited the farm and told the owner to leave within 72 hours or be evicted by the army.

When Van Rensburg also obtained court papers protecting him, "a group of eight thugs was sent to the farm around midnight to remove the owners", Theron said.

"They beat up Van Rensburg's guard and then, armed with his gun, gave the couple ten minutes to vacate the property."

That, in a nutshell, is how Mugabe operates. He doesn't care about the authority of the courts, nor about the sanctity of personal possessions. Just as long as the white man is longer there.

And the land will not be worked or be in any way productive - which Mugabe will blame on the West...

-o00o-

You will recall, that Patrick Chinamasa embarked on a personal diatribe against Roy Bennett in the Houses of Parliament a few years ago, accusing him of being the offspring of stock thieves and murderers. Bennett's response was as quick as it was decisive.

He wrestled Chinamasa to the ground and probably would have given him a hiding of note had he not been pulled off by other legislators.

For his actions, Bennett was sentenced by Parliament to a year in jail.

Now, Chinamasa is the Minister of Justice - a certain misplacement of legal values to be sure - and he believes himself to be above the law. His closeness to his esteemed leader obviously also almost certainly guarantees his immunity to any legal case against him.

"A seething Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa allegedly charged at his shocked deputy Obert Gutu at their government offices in Harare on Friday in a heated verbal altercation over the Mutumwa Mawere saga.

Chinamasa summoned Gutu to his office and, according to sources who witnessed the incident, only fell short of slapping him in the face, in an incident that is said to have attracted a little crowd in the New Government Complex corridors on Friday morning.

Chinamasa allegedly gave Gutu what observers said was an unministerial tongue-lashing as he menacingly advanced towards the bemused lawyer, who reportedly managed to keep his cool.

The incident temporarily brought business at the offices to a halt.

Chinamasa was reportedly angry that Gutu had attacked him in the media over a press statement he released last weekend which poured cold water on Mawere’s bid to reclaim his vast business empire, SMM Holdings.

Gutu distanced himself from the statement and said it did not represent the ministry’s position.

He was also reportedly angry that Gutu had spoken to Afaras Gwaradzimba, the administrator of Mawere’s SMM Holdings.

Chinamasa, sources said, interpreted Gutu’s actions as tantamount to investigating him.

"Chinamasa was boiling with anger; he was seething, frothing at the mouth.

He was shouting at the top of his voice, like a man possessed, while advancing at Gutu, who appeared shell-shocked.

He kept asking Gutu what his motive was and what he was trying to achieve," said a source."

Although we are almost used to it, it is a sad day when the Justice minister makes a stand on his personal views when dealing with ministerial business. In politics, one should be impersonal. It is the business of the day.

The only time a politician needs to be personal, is when meeting with contituents, with whom a certain amount of empathy is required.

But Chinamasa is setting out his stall so that everyone knows he is not a man to be crossed, or even misinterpreted when he toes the ZANU PF line.

"Gutu refused to comment over the matter on Friday while more than a dozen attempts to call Chinamasa were fruitless as the minister’s mobile went unanswered.

Gutu said: "I cannot comment on the matter. I have no comment."

Gutu has nowhere to turn really, has he? He is now marked as someone who 'questions authority'.

"Chinamasa has received scathing criticism for his failure to follow the trail of misrepresentations which led to his reportedly ill-advised and unconstitutional decision to place SMM under reconstruction.

The reconstruction order was issued in terms of Section 4 of the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Reconstruction of the state-indebted and solvent companies regulation.

The two acts under which Mawere was being charged, the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Reconstruction Act were now under the jurisdiction of the Home Affairs ministry and Ministry of Finance respectively.

The clash followed revelations in NewsDay last week that the judgment used to grab Mawere’s empire could have been fraudulently obtained due to misrepresentation of facts as SMM Holdings’ liabilities at the time did not qualify as state loans to the company."

Chinamasa's temper tantrum is an attempt to cover-up his duplicity. Instead of being able to gloss over the matter, he has drawn attention to it, leaving him with very little option but to do what is right, correct and proper.

But don't count on it.

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Friday, 29th October 2010

Howzit

Foreign currency mid-rates upfated.

-o00o-

This morning's posting will probably be a little shorter than usual as I have to get to the Post Office in town, and the posting on Monday - well, I am not sure if there will be one, as I have a very early appointment at City Hospital on the other side of town for tests to be done on my left arm to do with the loss of sensation in my thumb and forefinger.

Add that to the fact that Mondays are always a busy day in this household, I may just opt to leave the posting until Tuesday.

Thanks for understanding.

-o00o-

When the story about Gideon Gono and Grace Mugabe having an affair hit the headlines last week, there was the fact that the close security agent that was there when Robert Mugabe's late sister, Sabina, told her brother about the affair, had died.

Now it is suggested that he died of AIDS.

Knowing how Mugabe is particular about his own safety, I am not so sure that he would have accepted someone with AIDS to work close security for him - unless, of course, he did not know of the official's condition.

Now the death certificate has been issued.

Click on the graphic above for a magnified
view...

"President Robert Mugabe's former bodyguard, Cain Chademana, was probably killed by AIDS, according to a death dertificate obtained by new Zimbabwe.com.

This website has received unprecedented cooperation from Zimbabwean authorities who released the document, on request, along with an accompanying letter from a hospital where he was treated, as they fight UK and South African newspaper claims that he was killed through poisoning to stop his revealing information about First lady Grace Mugabe's alleged affair with Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono.

Chademana, who died on August 26, suffered cardiorespiratory arrest, disseminated tuberculosis, pneumonia and 'retroviral infection' - a medical eupamism for HIV, according to a death certificate dated August 28, and signed by Milcah Mapfumo for the Registrar General.

Chademana, who was 38, was already a widower after his wife succumbed last year, it has also been claimed, to AIDS."

As with almost anything that happens near Mugabe, the whole thing is cast in controversy as various suggestions as to the true fate of Chademana are discussed far and wide.

"Chademana, the newspapers alleged, had overheard President Robert Mugabe’s dying sister, Sabina, tell his brother that his wife was cheating on him with the married Gono.

The Sunday Times claimed the incident happened "between 6pm and 7pm on July 26 in the intensive care ward at the Avenues Clinic in Harare".

"As he (Mugabe) sat on her bed with senior police commissioner Cain Chademana, his most trusted bodyguard, at his side, she told him the truth," reporter Jon Swain wrote. But senior aides to Mugabe and Gono have already dismissed the report as a "mendacious hatchet job".

On the day the President is said to have met Sabina, who died on July 29, he was in Uganda attending an African Union summit and Chademana had long since been withdrawn from his service owing to poor health.

Both Gono, 51, and Grace Mugabe, 45, strongly refute Sunday Times allegations that they had an affair going back five years during which they met in love nests in Malaysia, South Africa and her dairy farm."

Well, only time and more delving with prove or disprove the allegations - and, seeing as the alleged affair happened in Zimbabwe, the results will probably never be published or released, although I am confident that we will see Mugabe & Co attempt to sue the newspapers.

-o00o-

The old man of Zimbabwean politics is not having a good time of it. He has told his party to expect new election next year, and has told the world that the coalition will have fulfilled its lifetime in February next year. His head honchos have advised him that elections are perhaps not such a good idea.

Then he has the affair allegations against his wife and his pet banker, whilst he also has to contend with the daily problems caused by being in a 'unity' government with Tsvangirai's MDC fsction and Mutambara's MDC faction, although the smaller faction seems to say very lottle and much of it supports Mugabe...

"The bitter feuding in President Robert Mugabe’s clan has taken a dramatic twist and escalated as battle to control his wealth takes a public spat of skulduggery and media snipping amongst family members, The Zimbabwe Mail can reveal.

At the centre of the alleged family feud is the Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono who is alleged to be fighting in the corner of Grace Mugabe and the President. On the other side there is the rest of the Mugabe clan led by Leo Mugabe who is the son of President Mugabe’s late sister Sabina.

A source close to the family alleges that Leo is only carrying over from where his mother left. Two years ago Leo Mugabe made a public statement calling for the removal of Gideon Gono from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

This week a report in a South African newspaper accused Gono of having an affair with the President’s wife Grace Mugabe, but we can reveal that the report is part of the family smear campaign fuelled by the rival family clan amid reports that Leo Mugabe has escaped assassination plots on a number of occassions.

The report in the Sunday Times says, one of Mugabe's most trusted bodyguards who were present at the time, Sabina Mugabe, 75, warned her brother before she died that he was being betrayed by two of the most important people in his personal and political life: his wife and his personal banker, a pivotal member of his regime.

The report says Sabina told the president that Grace and Gideon Gono were secret lovers."

Yesterday I received an email - from a UK based email address (which bounced any return email) - that stated that I should stop reporting on the alleged affair as I might find myself on a list of people to be sued. A pathetic effort by an apparent pro-Mugabe-ite living here in the UK. One wonders just how they managed to get permission to llive here.

Of course, I do not write the numerous reports that come out of the allegations, all I do is comment upon the content.

"In the years gone by, Mr Gono has been at the centre of the President and his family’s complicated business network both at home and abroad and this has not gone down well with the rest of the Mugabe clan who feel more and more ostracised as his wife's relatives take more influence in his wealth.

At the same time when Mr Gono gained prominence and influence in the President’s wealth, Leo Mugabe who used to be the President’s favoured and trusted family member has hit hard times as all political avenues and business prospects have been closed for him by Grace Mugabe’s people who are surrounding the President leading to bitter family feuding and skulduggery and the latest media briefing in a South African newspaper.

Mugabe has staffed most key positions in the government with Grace Mugabe’s relatives particularly in the Justice and Foreign Affairs Ministries."

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ZANU PF perhaps don't like the pace at which Mugabe is intending to regain absolute power in Zimbabwe. But, in typical Mugabe fashion, he will go ahead as he feels, with little regard to the people of his party or the people of Zimbabwe.

I must say that it does annoy me that writers have this habit of calling ZANU PF the 'former ruling party' and the MDC the 'former opposition party' - so what are the parties now?

"Top ZANU PF officials recently warned party first secretary, Robert Mugabe, against holding elections next year as the former ruling party would lose big time to MDC-T, a politburo member told The Zimbabwean.

"After Mugabe announced that elections would be held next year, as senior politburo members we updated him about the true situation on the ground. We told him ZANU PF as a party and he as an individual no longer commanded support at grassroots level. It would be politically suicidal to go to the ballot anytime soon,” said the source.

He said ZANU PF politburo did not deliberate or approve going to the polls. It was Mugabe alone who remained adamant that the country should hold elections next year."

If Mugabe takes a decision, nothing would make him change his position, no matter how risky it is. Like sheep, we are being led to the sacrificial alter come next elections. No ZANU PF legislative or Senatorial candidate was willing to contest in the proposed elections as the outcome would not favor ZANU PF.

Since the party lost its grip among rural communities, MDC-T would easily romp to victory. Despite all these observations, Mugabe dangerously stuck to his guns that his party was ready for elections," the source added. The party election machinery has already gone into action in the rural areas, where intimidation is Mugabe’s trump card."

And the idea that Mugabe's party are not as confident of vistory as perhaps first thought, tare perhaps the first time we have read of a lack of confidence within ZANU PF.

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Mugabe would like nothing more than the MDC's withdrawal from the coalition. Mugabe would grab the opportunity with both hands and continue with his destructive rule, no longer shackled by the MDC presence.

"Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has launched a nationwide consultative exercise on the way forward for his formation of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) in the Government of National Unity (GNU) as hardliners in the party push for a total pull-out following the latest spat bwteeen the former trade unionist and President Robert Mugabe over alleged unilateralism.

The consultative process kicked-off in Mabvuku on Tuesday evening where the MDC-T leader briefed his supporters on the stalemate in the inclusive government spawned by the alleged flagrant violations of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) by one of the partners in the coalition, the stalled constitution-making process and the pending elections.

The premier, who is encouraging his party faithful to prepare for the make or break polls next year, was expected to take his consultations to the restive old township of Highfield yesterday although his party was still to secure a police clearance in line with the draconian Public Order and Security Act.

MDC-T insiders said the public gatherings to be extended countrywide were being used to gauge popular opinion on the way forward regarding the troubled GNU following the premier's latest clash with President Mugabe."

In the event that the MDC does pull out of the GNU, then the last eleven years will have been for nothing. Yes, the MDC has not fully succeeded in their endeavour to take power from Mugabe and ZANU PF, but to walk away now when the objective is so close would be political suicide.

As I have written above, the whole situation is not helped by newspaper writers describing the MDC as the 'former opposition' and ZANU PF the 'former ruling party'...

Surely the MDC is the people's party of choice. Yes, they probably do not want to be known as the 'ruling party', but referring to theie former status does not help anyone or anything.

"President Mugabe revealed last week that he would not extend the lifespan of the GNU due to sharp differences between them, hinting that he might call elections to deal with the problems posed by the power-sharing arrangement mid next year. This was after the premier had written to regional and international leaders over his alleged unilateralism in the coalition. Tsvangirai is also likely to use the consultations to test the waters ahead of the polls, which his party says must be held under a fully functional independent electoral commission.

Tension has been high in the fragile inclusive government since Tsvangirai complained bitterly over President Mugabe's unilateralism.

The GPA principals this week failed to meet for their weekly Monday meetings due to the latest fall-out. According to the GPA and Constitution Amendment Number 19 there should be consultations on the appointment of key bureaucrats between the three principals."

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We have read in the past of drivers being pulled out of their motor vehicles and beat to a pulp by the numerous soldiers and policemen travelling in Mugabe's motorcade because they have failed to yield in time to the speeding Presidential vehicles...

But I don't think we have ever read of ZANU PF themselves getting in the way of the huge motorcade and being arrested and charged with failing to yield.

"Police on Wednesday arrested three ZANU PF youth for blocking President Robert Mugabe’s motorcade in Bulawayo last Friday.

Mugabe was in Bulawayo last week to officiate at National University of Science and Technology (NUST)'s 16th graduation ceremony.

However after the graduation ceremony when Mugabe’s motorcade - notorious for its strict security procedures and high-speed travel – was on its way back to Bulawayo Airport, a Silver Volkswagen Golf 4 vehicle which was part of the motorcade and belonging to Butho Gatsi the ZANU PF Bulawayo Provincial youth chairman, made an attempt to overtake another vehicle but in the process blocked the highway which saw the Mugabe motorcade coming to a sudden halt.

Gatsi, his deputy Lungisani Ngwenya and Mufindisi Dhewa who was driving the vehicle were arrested on Wednesday, five days after the incident, for negligent driving. Their vehicle was impounded and is at Ross Camp police station.

Police spokesperson Oliver Mandipaka said police are investigating the case."

We know that Mugabe is paranoid - but we don't hear too often of his anger being turned on his own. Somehow I do not think that this incident will reflect well on his CV, although it will probably be quieted by his apologists.

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Take care.

'debvhu