Monday, 31st January 2010

Howzit

Foreign currency mid-rates updated.

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Dame Margaret Price - "Oh Patria Mia" from Aida
(13 April 1941 – 28 January 2011)

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Zimbabwe is in crisis and South African President, Jacob Zuma, has failed in his remit to mediate the cross-party negotiations between Mugabe's ZANU PF and the two formations of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) - and this is hardly surprising, since Zuma, and his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, are good friends with Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe.

Why then, has SADC failed to take any remedial action to spur the negotiations on?

And now the African Union has added to the Zimbabwean crisis, by naming Mugabe as a mediator in the Ivory Coast crisis...

"Tyrant Robert Mugabe is among African leaders chosen to mediate in the Ivory Coast crisis, it has emerged.

The African Union decided to appoint Mugabe and a panel of leaders to join Prime Minister Raila Odinga in the Ivory Coast crisis.

The panel includes Presidents Jacob Zuma (South Africa), Jonathan Goodluck (Nigeria), Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe) and the President of Mauritania among others and Ping said the mediation already undertaken by Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga was part of the building stones towards achieving a realizable goal of peace in Ivory Coast.

African Union Commission chairperson Jean Ping told a news conference Friday night that the over six hours of deliberations by various African heads of state meeting in the peace and security council of the AU decided that the Ivory Coast crisis could not be mediated by one person but by a battery of leaders who will give various perspectives towards ending the Ivorian Crisis."

What is wrong with the African Union?

How can they send a bully to stop the confrontation in the Ivory Coast? Are they not aware that Mugabe is in the middle of the Zimbabwean crisis, largely caused by his totalitarian rule?

All he is going to do is add to the problems there!

"The AU chairman said it was not in anybody's interest that Ivorians should continue to be dragged into an unending crisis that is on the brink of a full blown civil strife in Africa's key cocoa producer.

Earlier Friday, Raila Odinga had asked the African Union to explore other ways of dealing with the Ivorian crisis other than the mediation talks that seem not to be working.

Raila who spoke on the sidelines of a meeting of heads of state at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa Ethiopia said in a statement read to the press that the mission of the African Union was not about imposing democracy or free and fair elections but "they are about avoiding a much greater disaster."

Many heads were shaken and eyebrows were raised when Thabo Mbeki was appointed by SADC to mediate in the Zimbabwean crisis - and I would think that even more heads are being shaken and more eyebrows are raised with the appointment of Mugabe to the mediation panel.

mediation - 1. a negotiation to resolve differences that is conducted by some impartial party 2. the act of intervening for the purpose of bringing about a settlement (WordWeb)

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You may have noticed the subtle change in this page's header as I found an interesting image of a newspaper with a wished for headline. But as the demonstration in Tunisia, and now Egypt, have taken over the front pages of newspapers throughout the world, the idea that Zimbabweans may take the hint is growing.

"The growing number of incidents of ZANU PF perpetrated violence in both rural and urban areas have been given credence to suspicions that Robert Mugabe wants to call for a snap election this year.

Analysts say Mugabe is worried about the developments in Tunisia where protesting youths brought down a regime which had been in power for over 23 years. Similar angry protests have since spread to Egypt and Yemen, where impoverished citizens want their leaders to step down. Just like Mugabe, both Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen have been in power for more than 30 years.

Mugabe’s regime has traditionally relied on violence, mainly using party militia, state security agents, soldiers and police to harass, intimidate, beat up, torture and kill opposition activists. After losing the March 2008 harmonized parliamentary and presidential election, ZANU PF deployed the army in Operation Mavhotera Papi (Where Did You Vote?), killing over 500 people in the process and torturing tens of thousands.

Signs of a similar campaign have already emerged. MDC activists in their urban strongholds of Harare and Chitungwiza are being attacked by hordes of ZANU PF youths, bused in from rural areas. The impoverished youths are usually offered free alcohol and money to beat up opposition supporters. Whenever the MDC activists fight back the police and army come in to assist the ZANU PF youths."

I have read many articles that suggest that any MDC member or supporter that reports any violence by the ZANU PF thugs to police are immediately arrested and thrown in jail.

Obviously, this is not the way that a democracy works - and, even though Mugabe insists that Zimbabwe is a democracy, just reading any daily newspaper about Zimbabwe will easily disprove his description.

The Zimbabwean people have been a target of ZANU PF since the beginning of the chimurenga in about 1967, and, even though the country attained independence in 1980, the people of Zimbabwe remain a ZANU PF target.

So, Mugabe's real target hasn't changed in over 40 years - and he is already looking at venting his anger on the people once again.

"On Saturday two MDC activists were hospitalized in the intensive care unit of a private clinic following a savage attack by a mob of ZANU PF youths and soldiers in the Budiriro suburb of Harare. One of them, William Makuwari, was shot in the left leg by the assailants. He identified Godfrey Gomwe, a ZANU PF chairperson in the area, as one of the shooters. But, as usual, the police refused to make any arrests."

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I have indicated, on more than occasion, my intense dislike of the rocket scientist, Arthur Mutambara. And with him being ousted as President of the smaller faction of the Movement for Democratic Change by Welshman Ncube, he looks to be a spent force - although it has to be said, that Mutambara did very little in that position, or even as Deputy Prime Minister.

And now his services are being lured by Mugabe's ZANU PF.

No surprise there then...

"ZANU PF desperate to annihilate its rivals at the next elections, has dangled a carrot in front of beleaguered Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara whose political star took a rapid tailspin following his dramatic ouster as president of the smaller faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-M) early this month. Impeccable sources revealed this week that the 45-year-old former MDC-M president is featuring prominently on ZANU PF’s shopping list of charismatic politicians with technocratic backgrounds whom it wants to win over to reboot its political fortunes ahead of the make-or-break elections scheduled for this year.

The shopping list, according to the insiders includes Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn (MKD) leader, Simba Makoni, who, at 30, became the youngest bureaucrat in President Robert Mugabe’s cabinet when he was appointed minister of industry and energy in 1981 after joining the country’s first black administration a year earlier as deputy minister of agriculture.

While Makoni might be a hard target for ZANU PF despite the fact that he is struggling to turn MKD into a political force to reckon with, Mutambara is seen in the position of a drowning man who can clutch at a straw in a desperate bid to enhance his fortunes."

I still believe that Makoni was strategically placed by ZANU PF to split the vote in the 2008 Presidential first round election, thereby limiting the victory margin for Tsvangirai and allowing Mugabe to proceed with the second round - along with his doctoring of the ballots having removed them from public for five weeks.

We have the African Union appointing him as a mediator for the Ivory Coast, and yet neither the AU or SADC have bothered to question why it was necessary to remove the ballot boxes from public... What sort of example is this to other African leaders?

"Until Sunday, Mutambara had looked safe in his lofty position of Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) despite having been reduced to an ordinary card-carrying member of the MDC-M in a bloodless coup at the party’s acrimonious congress held early this month. His fortunes now hang by the thread after the MDC leadership - in its wisdom or lack of it - resolved at the weekend to re-assign him to a lesser glamorous post of Minister of Regional Integration and International Co-operation.

Indications are that the embattled DPM, who is currently weighing his options, is unlikely to accept the ministerial appointment, which will make him jobless.

But he can still cling to his post at the benevolence of President Mugabe should the shrewd politician, for strategic reasons, ignore a recommendation from the MDC to demote the robotics professor and elevate Welshman Ncube, the new MDC leader, to the position of DPM."

Since when has Mugabe ever done what is expected of him? He has lied, cheated, stolen, and threatened his way back into power for 30+ years - why should he conform now? It is an equation which works for him, and despite the collateral damage caused by his despotic rule, he has no conscience...

Consorting with the enemy he may be doing, but they do say 'keep your friends close, and your enemies closer', and Mugabe is happy to oblige.

However, I am not convinced that Mutambara has the political pedigree that will make him worth very much to Mugabe - and he will probably be sidelined once Mugabe has been 're-elected'.

"Mutambara is said to be taking his re-assignment as an insult since the Ministry of Regional Integration and International Co-operation appears to exist only in name.

According to a recent report by the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, the ministry is at number 36 out of the 37 ministries in terms of budgetary allocations for this year.

The report adds that the ministry has only two vehicles, and has resorted to slashing its vacancies from 32 to 20 due to inadequate funding and limited office space.

Some of the ministry’s employees are recent graduates with no experience and require training, but there are no funds for that.

Sources said President Mugabe’s strategists have sounded out Mutambara on the possibility of defecting to ZANU PF and joining its think-tanks who are plotting the downfall of the MDC-T led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai."

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Mugabe often tells the world that Zimbabwe is the subject of 'illegal economic' sanctions - but the truth is that he and his loyalist supporters are subject to 'targeted travel' sanctions.

Mugabe says that the sanctions in place are responsible for the demise of the Zimbabwean economy - but, once again, the collapse of the economy is purely a matter of mismanagement by the ZANU PF central government and the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the unilaterally re-appointment Gideon Gono.

Public funds were eaten up by the ZANU PF machine and less and less maintenance was done on many, if not most, of the highway in Zimbabwe, buildings in the country, national installations like Hwange Power Station, and many other places too numerous to mention.

Mugabe and his co-horts syphon money whenever and wherever they can, huge piles of money are wasted in feted celebrations of Mugabe's birthday, the ZANU PF congresses and other equally useless gatherings.

Now ZANU PF is attempting to force the people to side with his opinion that the West is solely responsible for Zimbabwe's present situation.

"ZANU PF Member of Parliament for Gokwe Central Dorothy Mhangami with the help of war veterans and party youths on Tuesday allegedly force marched villagers to attend a rally at Gokwe Centre where she told scores of people in attendance to come in their numbers and sign a petition calling for the removal of sanctions.

This is part of a ZANU PF campaign to have more than a million signatures throughout the country against the targeted sanctions imposed by the West on President Robert Mugabe and his allies endorsed on a petition.

Mhangami told the villagers that they were not expecting less than 3000 signatures from her Gokwe Central constituency. The Member of Parliament issued verbal threats to the scores of people who attended the meeting urging them to bring their national identity cards on January 31, 2011 the day set aside for the signing of the petition.

She told them that all those who fail to sign will have to explain why they want the sanctions to remain. Meanwhile reports from Masvingo Province say war veterans leader Jabulani Sibanda has been moving from one constituency to the other forcing people to append their signatures on the petition."

Forcing signatures out of people may be one way of securing the one million people needed. but why do ZANU PF bother? They have manufactured so many ghost voters - why not just get those spectres to sign the useless and ineffectual piece of paper?

In response, Zimbabweans in the diaspora should set up a like petition for the maintaining of sanctions against Mugabe. It shouldn't take long to secure one million signatures on an online basis...

"On Wednesday January 26, 2011, Sibanda was reported to be in Gutu West constituency where he held several meetings at Matizha Township, Kanongovere Primary School, and Serima Township.

Village heads already have all the names of their subjects and members of the sanctions committee are moving door-to-door forcing people to append their signatures against their names.

Early this month ZANU PF set up an anti-sanctions committee to be headed by Sibanda, a former ZIPRA cadre to carry out a national campaign where people will be coerced into signing the petition against sanctions.

The campaign is however yet to be launched at a national level according to ZANU PF national spokesperson Rugare Gumbo.

The major task of the committee would be to go around the country’s 10 provinces, holding meetings with members of the public to urge them to denounce sanctions. It is also understood that during the meetings, a petition where the members of the public would be required to 'voluntarily' append their signatures would be availed."

'Urging' someone is entirely different to 'forcing' someone. Even an unruly party like ZANU PF should realise that.

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And finally today - a simple calculation will show that the ghost workers, 'taking home' US$150 each per month means that US$10500000 is being fleeced from the public coffers each month.

That then would translate to US$126 million per annum. Then multiply that by the number of years that these 'workers' have been 'employed'...

And this is just one tiny part of the huge scams being perpetrated by ZANU PF.

Surely a forensic order will uncover who has been the recipient of these bogus salaries?

"The civil service audit has revealed that there could be as many as 70000 'ghost' workers on the government payroll impacting heavily the state’s already dry coffers, union leaders said on Thursday.

Furious civil servants, who this week rejected a government offer to increase their allowances by between $20 and $25, said they were informed of the scandal by officials at the Ministry of Public Service and other civil servants involved in the audit.

There are about 250000 civil servants on the government pay-roll. It also emerged that the issue was one of the most contentious ones discussed during salary negotiations between the government and workers' unions on Wednesday, as the unions felt ghost workers were eating heavily into the government wage bill.

"The audit has revealed that there are about 70000 ghost workers. It is a fact. Civil servants were actually involved in compiling that report and they reported those issues to us.

"Officials at the ministry also confirmed this," said Takavafira Zhou, the president of the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ).

"So we are saying the money to pay civil servants is there even before we go to the diamonds and platinum. Get rid of ghost workers and improve the conditions of the civil servants."

These 'ghost' workers are also voters - as evidenced with the voters' roll - and they will probably be used to sign the anti-sanctions petition.

The non-existent people of Zimbabwe really are a busy lot...

"The chairperson of the Apex Council, Tendai Chikowore, confirmed the issue of ghost workers was discussed although it was not on the agenda in the last meeting.

The Apex Council comprises of the Public Service Association, Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (ZIMTA), PTUZ, Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe and College Lecturers’ Association of Zimbabwe. Chikowore refused to discuss figures saying she could only do so after seeing the actual audit report.

"I have heard different figures, so it’s difficult for me to comment or for us to plan using the ghost workers until we see the report in black and white," she said.

PTUZ secretary-general Raymond Majongwe said although he had not seen the report, senior government officials revealed there were up to 70000 ghost workers.

"We were told that there are between 45000 and 70000 people who could not be traced and that is a big problem because they are eating into the civil servants’ money. We also had discussions as workers’ representatives with (Public Service) minister (Eliphas) Mukonoweshuro and (finance) Minister (Tendai) Biti and those figures were confirmed,” he said.

"So the money is there, but it’s going into the wrong mouths," he said."

Just like the proposed Land Audit, ZANU PF will resist and hinder any audit into ghost workers as they know that somewhere along the line, they will be brought to book.

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Take care.

'debvhu

Friday, 28th January 2011

Howzit

Apart from it being my good lady's birthday, I have loads of other things to get done today, so will forego a posting this morning. I will endeavour to catch up on Monday.

Thanks for your understanding.

"Graceland" performed by Paul Simon in Harare (1986)

Take care.

'debvhu

Thursday, 27th January 2011

Howzit

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You may very well remember a shooting incident in Plumtree when three soldiers arrived a a football ground looking for a fight after a man allegedly assaulted one of their number.

As people left the ground, the senior officer ordered his men to open fire. A constable was hit in the arm in the resultant gunfire.

The three soldiers were taken to court - and have been jailed for their actions.

"Three soldiers who opened fire at a football ground, wounding a police officer, have each been jailed for seven years.

Lieutenant Victor Mugo, 28, Tapiwa Chigiji, 25, and Trust Matenda, 25, stormed a football ground in Plumtree, Matabeleland South, looking for a man who allegedly assaulted their colleague.

Unbeknown to the soldiers, the ground was teeming with police officers whose team was playing a friendly with a local football club, the Border Kings. The soldiers’ target, Ashley Muzari, played for the Kings.

Western Division Regional Magistrate Owen Tagu, on circuit in Gwanda, heard that on a date in October 2009, Muzari found his wife in bed with a soldier named as Dzingai Kuchivirika.

Muzari allegedly launched into a violent attack on Kuchivirika, leading to his arrest for assault.

Days later, on October 11, the three soldiers - all based at 1:3 Battalion in Plumtree - stormed the Dingimuzi Stadium armed with AK47 rifles.

Prosecuting, Johannes Tlou said the soldiers found the game just finishing and dozens of spectators filing out of the stadium.

The soldiers, the court heard, demanded to see Muzari, and on the orders of Lieutenant Mugo, cocked their rifles.

Sensing danger, Muzari sought refuge among the dozens of police officers at the ground who blocked the soldiers’ path.

The court heard Mugo fired a volley of shots into the air, and ordered Chigiji and Matenda to also open fire. A Constable Matongo was shot on the arm in the stand-off.

The soldiers all pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted murder and were sentenced to seven years in jail, three of which were conditionally suspended."

As I wrote a few days ago, there seems to be a lot of activity in my old stomping grounds. I was stationed at Plumtree many years ago, and know the Dingumuzi football stadium well. Indeed, it was at that stadium that I heard the late provincial governor Mark Dube incite the ZANU PF youth to violence which resulted in a night of chaos. I wrote about this incident not that long ago.

The case was heard in Gwanda, where, in the last days of my time in the police, I prosecuted.

"They were each sentenced to three months in jail for discharging a firearm in a public place, which the magistrate said should run concurrently with the sentence in the first count."

In Zimbabwe, whilst the courts exercise their authority, I do have a sneaking suspicion that those who are imprisoned for violence are released a lot earlier than others, should they wish to join forces with ZANU PF in their zeal to rule Zimbabwe alone once again.

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The idea of forgiving and forgetting the actions of convicted criminals released from prison earlier than they would normally is borne out in this story.

"Seven days after being pardoned by Mugabe, convicted serial rapist, Madzibaba Godfrey Nzira, has been deployed to the Muzarabani District, in what is expected to mark the start of a national campaign to coerce members of the Apostolic Sect to support Mugabe and ZANU PF ahead of possible elections.

In 2003 Nzira, a self-proclaimed prophet, was jailed for 32 years, later reduced to 20 years, on seven counts of rape and one count of indecent assault. The day Nzira was convicted 2,000 members of his sect went ballistic outside the court, beating up court officials and policemen on duty. Even the magistrate is said to have narrowly escaped death when they pounced on her.

A year before he had claimed Mugabe was a "divinely appointed king of Zimbabwe and no man should dare challenge his office". Last week Wednesday his bootlicking paid off as he walked out of prison a free man, courtesy of a presidential pardon."

But his freedom appears to be based upon his paying the piper - in this respect, Mugabe, as his unruly party begins to deploy their thugs around the country in anticipation of a general election being called later this year.

ZANU PF idea of voter 'education' is to beat the living daylights out of perceived MDC

And many of the assault that transpire are vicious, leaving lasting injury on the individuals concerned - and these are often carried out in public to cast a feeling of despondency within the population at large.

And when this education fails to have any effect, the Mugabe party resort to killing...

" supporters to show them the 'error of their ways'.The Justice Ministry attempted to justify the early release saying it was made on compassionate grounds owing to Nzira’s ill health. This meant he only served 7 of the 20 years slapped on him. A furious member of the Johane Masowe WeChishanu Apostolic Church told SW Radio Africa they are surprised Nzira is fit enough to go on tour drumming up support for Mugabe ahead of elections.

"They are calling it a tour for prayer but really it’s a campaign for ZANU PF and we already know from the sermons, they are telling all Mapostori to support ZANU PF. He (Nzira) is trying to turn our church into a campaign point for ZANU PF, especially in the rural areas where we have the majority of our members," the church member told us. He said Mugabe’s party had bribed some of these leaders to support them, but then the same leaders were relying on coercing their followers."

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The people of Matabeleland have always been a thorn in the flesh of Mugabe and his party faithful. There is no love lost between the two, the Shona and the Ndebele.

Mugabe dealt the Matabele people a cruel blow with his Gukurahundi in the 1980s, and now seems intent on having yet another go at the Ndebele...

"Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri has allegedly ordered police to crack down on political activists in Matabeleland who have launched a campaign to breakaway from the rest of the country.

Chihuri has ordered his commanders in the province to arrest the pro-independence activists most of whom are operating from South Africa but are also gaining popularity in some parts of Matabeleland.

Chihuri’s order follows the launch of the militant and radical Mthwakazi Liberation Front (MLF) a movement which advocates for the independence of the region claiming that its people - the Ngunis, Kalanga, Venda, Sothos, Tonga and others have been marginalised for too long and face discrimination everyday at work places and tertiary institutions.

The organisation says it is the legitimate voice of the people of Matabeleland and advocates for the secession of the region from the rest of Zimbabwe. They are claiming the government of President Robert Mugabe has marginalised the people of the region for too long."

Years ago, there was a serious thinking that Zimbabwe should be split into two smaller countries, Mashonaland and Mthwakazi. This was not the best news Mugabe had ever heard, as he would prefer to keep the land and rid himself of the people, thereby halving the population of Zimbabwe.

The Matabele people were led by the late Joshua Nkomo, who also led a liberation force during the Rhodesian war, and would have been the preferred choice to lead a new independent Zimbabwe.

Years later, in 1987, the two signed a Peace Accord which saw the end of the Gukurahundi, but Nkomo was sidelined for any position of prominence and the Matabele people were not happy about this.

"...in a radio signal sent on Monday from the Police General Headquarters (PGHQ) in Harare to Matabeleland police stations, police commanders were 'ordered to be on high alert, monitor and arrest political activists from the region who are calling for a breakaway state of Mthwakazi'.

The Ndebele state under Mzilikazi was known as Mthwakazi-derived from the name 'Umuthwakazi' a San Queen. The Matabeleland pro-independence movement is gaining momentum in South Africa where MLF holds well attended meetings every weekend in Soweto and in greater Johannesburg.

"The actions of this group will cause alarm and despondency, Zimbabwe is one and they will never be two states," the message said. The Matabeleland secessionists appear to have been encouraged by events in South Sudan where its people voted overwhelmingly to breakaway from mainland Sudan."

Perhaps without intentionally doing so, Mugabe has effectively split the country into two camps. There are those that advocate his rule, and those that just want to live in peace...

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We left Zimbabwe in very late 1998 - we actually arrived int he UK two days before Christmas - and Jaggers had not been around that long. I think the wife and I went there two or three times only... and it was a very nice building.

I cannot remember very much about their product base, but I do remember huge racks full of merchandise.

"Ruby Auctions will Thursday officially wind up Jaggers Wholesalers’ business with a stock clearance auction after it successfully held the first one last week where furniture and other household goods were sold.

Jaggers Wholesalers assets are being put under the hammer to pay off $443795 that the company owes to Delta Beverages.

Today’s sale will clear groceries, kitchen accessories and clothes that remained after the first auction last week.

These include biscuits, salad cream, long life milk, facial tissues, men and ladies wear, vinegar, cake side plates, muffin moulds, bicycles, boilers, computer papers boxes, energade drinks, chairs and desks.

Delta successfully sued Jaggers Wholesalers (first respondent) and Jaggers Trador (second respondent) and obtained an order to attach the company’s assets at the Jaggers Msasa branch in a case heard by Justice Lavender Makoni in October last year."

How sad that a venture this big should be wound up within the first 15 years of trading... I would hazard a guess that senior ZANU PF officials or their representatives will be flashing the cash at the sale.

"The wholesaler has closed all its branches countrywide.

Justice Makoni ordered: “First and Second defendants pay to plaintiff the amount of $443795 plus interest at the rate of 16% per annum from September 1 2010 to a date of payment in full.

"First and second defendants to pay plaintiff cost of suit on a legal practitioner and client scale."

Ruby Auctions yesterday advertised the auction after obtaining an order from the deputy sheriff in Harare to dispose of the remaining assets."

Very sad.

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This ruling aside, what is being done to enforce the Supreme Court order that compels Zuma'sadministration to hand over a report on the 2002 Zimbabwean election to a South African newspaper?

Now bring this latest ruling into play and it is more than apparent that the ANC is a quit supporter of Mugabe...

"In stunning relevations that directly implicates former South African President Thabo Mbeki on the Zimbabwean crisis, a South Gauteng High Court judgement has revealed 'unlawfully manipulating' of news items on Zimbabwe's 2005 elections and blacklisting certain commentators pereived to be anti-Robert Mugabe.

Yesterday, a High court judge in Johannesburg ruled that the SABC was guilty of manipulating the news in 2005 and 2006, in a ruling that will boost criticism of the way the South African public broadcaster covers politics and cranked up the propaganda for Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe.

Judge Neels Claassen ruled in the South Gauteng High Court that there had been widespread manipulation of news under the SABC’s former head of news, Snuki Zikalala, and that he had 'dishonestly tried to cover up this manipulation'."

For a few years, I have questioned the alacrity of SADC in appointing first Thabo Mbeki and now Jacob Zuma to oversee the negotiations between ZANU PF and the two MDC formations that together make-up the shaky coalition that currently 'rules' Zimbabwe.

"With political interference and the hand of President Jacob Zuma clear in the appointment of Phil Molefe as Mr Zikalala’s replacement, Judge Claassen’s remarks are yet another reminder of how easily the SABC can be used as a political weapon by the government of the day.

Court affidavits by former SABC head of radio news Pippa Green and John Perlman, a former presenter on SAfm, documented interference by Mr Zikalala in day-to-day operations at the SABC.

Mr Zikalala went to Zimbabwe for the 2005 elections to negotiate the terms of SABC’s coverage with Robert Mugbe's henchmen, contrary to normal procedure.

When he came back, he warned reporters at a meeting the day after the elections he would 'take action' against Ms Green and any reporter who expressed an 'opinion' on Zimbabwe.

The judgment relates to Mr Zikalala’s 2006 blacklisting of analysts critical of former president Thabo Mbeki, and the SABC’s coverage of elections in Zimbabwe in 2005.

The ruling comes on the back of a recent finding by a London based African think-tank Africa Confidential which implicated Thabo Mbeki in the Zimbabwe vote rigging that kept Robert Mugabe in power after losing first round presidential polls in 2008."

So we have South African influence in Zimbabwe in 2002, 2005 and and 2008. And no one does a thing about it - mainly because all these ruling do is confirm what we suspected all along.

Will the publication of the rulings change the lie of the land? I don't think so...

"According to London-based think-tank Africa Confidential, former opposition MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai 'clearly beat Mugabe' in the first round of voting in March 2008 but was denied power after a plan to steal some of his votes allegedly hatched by ZANU PF military junta in connivance with South African officials.

"Taken by surprise, ZANU PF delayed announcing the results for six weeks while it concocted a strategy for clinging to power (possibly with South African connivance)," the think-tank said last week. The official results published by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) in May 2008 showed that Mugabe had lost the first round of elections to Tsvangirai but by a narrow margin.

ZANU PF bullyboys were then unleashed for the second-round run-off held in June of the same year and Mugabe claimed a dubious victory after Tsvangirai was forced to quit the race. A brutal campaign of violence led by Zimbabwe’s military out to reverse Mugabe’s shock first round defeat left at least 200 MDC-T supporters dead.

Mbeki, who was the official Southern African Development Community (SADC) mediator in Zimbabwe’s political crisis between 2007 and 2009, never questioned ZEC’s delay in announcing the first round poll results and the subsequent violence that accompanied the run-off. In May 2008, South Africa ganged up with Russia and China to block an American and British-backed proposal to impose sanctions against Zimbabwe over deadly electoral violence.

Pretoria – which as regional power broker has significant influence on international opinion on Zimbabwe – insisted the electoral violence in Zimbabwe was an internal matter that had no impact on regional peace even as it struggled to handle the thousands of refugees that were flocking from its northern neighbour.

Mugabe, who was forced to form a power sharing government with Tsvangirai after the international community including some of his African allies refused to accept his bloody re-election victory in 2008, has already indicated that fresh elections should be held this year.

A referendum on the proposed new constitution that should pave way for enactment of the new governance charter is only expected around June or four months after expiry of the life of the unity government. The former opposition and SADC say this year is too early for elections in a country where the voters’ roll remains chaotic and inaccurate while an exercise to write a new Constitution that should ensure a free and fair vote has been delayed by several months and even then continues to progress at a snail’s pace.

Mbeki’s successor President Jacob Zuma said SADC should help Zimbabwe to craft a roadmap and favourable conditions to make sure outcome of the next election would not be contested. The election roadmap includes adopting a new Constitution, drawing up a fresh voters’ roll, an end to political violence and passing of new electoral rules by Parliament.

The army is already deploying and harassment of MDC-T activists is warming up.

Africa Confidential however contends that keeping the enthusiasts on a leash for at least a year will be hard, not least on ZANU PF’s strained financial resources. "Targeting humanitarian aid and agricultural inputs directly to the beneficiaries has eliminated the local party chiefs’ patronage and their ability to skim and profiteer.

By getting the economy going and education and health back on their feet, the MDC has made the peasantry less beholden to ZANU PF," said the think-tank.

Donors have since the formation of the coalition bypassed official government channels to provide aid directly to the beneficiaries."

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Take care.

'debvhu

Wednesday, 26th January 2011

Howzit

Foreign currency mid-rates updated...

-o00o-

This was an interview given to the BBC by Robert Gabriel Mugabe in 1976. I am sure that many people will realise that Mugabe's statement that they were fighting for a 'State based on democracy' was then, as it is now, nothing more than a bare-faced lie...

Mugabe claimed then that he will fulfill a role as dictated by the people - but by his party 'first and foremost'. We are today, witnessing that - a country ruled by the domination of ZANU PF and Mugabe.

So even 35 years ago, Mugabe was a barefaced liar... Nothing much has changed.

-o00o-

This is the second report his week about Mugabe being called an idiot. The first took place in Gwanda...

"A Bulawayo man ended up in remand prison for calling President Robert Mugabe 'an idiot' after he failed to get a passport at the Registrar’s Office.

Daniel Zulu (35) of Old Pumula was not formally charged with uttering a statement likely to cause hatred, contempt or ridicule to the President, when he appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Ndumo Masuku.

He was remanded in custody to February 4.

Prosecutor Malvern Nzombe told the court that on January 19, at around 4pm, Zulu was at the passport offices along 10th Avenue and Herbert Chitepo Street where he was among a group of people who were in a queue waiting to be served.

After waiting for some time, staff from the Registrar’s Office came out and advised those in the queue, including Zulu, that they would not manage to serve all of them that day and advised them to return the following day."

I'd like to know just how branding Mugabe an idiot is 'likely to cause hatred, contempt or ridicule to the President'... Mugabe doesn't care what people call him. He's used to it. Should true freedom of speech really exist in Zimbabwe, then the officials at the passport office would probably agree with Zulu.

"Mugabe is an idiot," Zulu allegedly said. "How can I wait for my passport for five years? His dogs, the Border Gezi, are the ones now employed here at the passport offices. They killed people in Mutare and they came here to make our lives miserable."

Zulu was arrested by a policeman who was in the queue and taken to Bulawayo Central Police Station where he was charged."

-o00o-

Since when does Mugabe do anything that is governed by an agreement he has signed. The Lancaster House Agreement, the very document that brought him to power has been ignored since day one. BIPPA understandings have been ignored. The GPA is ignored with frightening regularity.

The point is that we know that going against written agreements is inherently wrong - but Mugabe knows that there is not much anyone can do to enforce his side of any agreement, and he knows that ZANU PF have a certain way of 'dealing' with those who protest.

"President Robert Mugabe’s legitimacy as Zimbabwean leader and his powers to dissolve Parliament solely depend on the Global Political Agreement (GPA), analysts said in Harare on Tuesday.

They said it was not true that the President could unilaterally claim to have the absolute powers to dissolve Parliament without consulting the other parties in the GPA since he assumed the Presidency through that shaky agreement.

MDC leader, lawyer and Industry and International Trade minister Welshman Ncube said the Constitution of Zimbabwe had to be adhered to and since Constitutional Amendment No.19 had been incorporated into it, what it meant was that every proclamation made by the President, including dissolution of Parliament, should be made in tandem with Constitutional Amendment No 19."

The same provisos existed for the appointment of governors - but Mugabe went ahead on his own, without any consultation. What stopping him from doing it again, this time with regard to parliament?

"On Sunday, President Mugabe returned home from Singapore and declared he had the 'constitutional right' to dissolve Parliament and call for elections even if it meant using the old constitution.

President Mugabe said the inclusive government was not meant to be a permanent establishment and that if no consensus could be reached on the GPA to come up with a new constitution, he would cause the holding of an election this year."

The problem with the coalition is that Mugabe and his loyalists have dug in, have failed to implement anything which has been agreed upon, and are now resisting any further concessions until sanctions against Mugabe and his people are lifted. Negotiations have stuttered, stalled and now just plain don't happen...

"Constitutional expert Greg Linington concurred with Gutu saying since part of the GPA was incorporated in the Constitution, President Mugabe had the discretion to dissolve Parliament, but those provisions would require him to do so in consultation with the other principals on that issue."

Commenting on President Mugabe’s pronouncement, Constitutional law expert and chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly, Lovemore Madhuku, said as long as the GPA was still in force, President Mugabe cannot dissolve Parliament and call for elections without the consent of the other players in the GPA."

-o00o-

With the recent reports that some 27% of people on the voters' roll were either deceased or too young to vote, there certainly is a serious need for a new and accurate voters' roll. But the creation of such a creature would be time consuming and cost a lot of money.

Mugabe may be content to be the President, but he wants ZANU PF to return as the 'ruling party' and so doesn't want to waste time and money on such a project.

So we have yet another political standoff - another impasse. The perfect example of an immovable object and an unstoppable force...

"Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has demanded a new voters’ roll as a prerequisite for the forthcoming elections.

The latest MDC demands xome in the wake of revelations by independent election watchdog, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) that the voters' roll is full of dead people and includes names of children some as young as four years.

This has boosted President Mugabe's critics and human rights groups who have always accused the former ruling party, ZANU PF of rigging elections since 1980 when the country attained independence from Britain.

In the wake of the report, the MDC has come out with guns blazing attacking the registrar general Tobaiwa Mudede and accusing him of manipulating the voters' roll."

Mugabe couldn't give a continental about how his critics perceive his totalitarian rule. He doesn't care who know how he has remained in office. The fact is that he is there and that's all he cares about.

The fact that ZANU PF have rigged elections for over 30 years doesn't seem important.

And South African President, Jacob Zuma, continues to ignore his own Supreme Court order to hand over a report on the 2002 Zimbabwean election. His administration maintains that the report will undermine the government and will divulge to the public diplomatic secrets which could prove prejudicial to the two governments.

And what would be the next move by the law courts in South Africa to force that handover?

"The MDC’s position on the need for a new, clean, biometric digital voters’ roll has been vindicated following shocking findings from the latest national survey conducted by (ZESN) exposing the weakness of the current voters’ roll.

"The findings confirm why elections in Zimbabwe have always been contested as illegitimate, and thus failing to record a true reflection of the democratic will of the people.

"The MDC is dismayed that for 29 years Tobaiwa Mudede has abused the dead, who are supposed to be resting in peace, to rig and manipulate election results. In the case of the 2008 election, there were more babies and the aged than legitimate voters on the voters’ roll.

"It is therefore self-evident that the shambolic state of the voters’ roll has been used by the unpopular ZANU PF to engineer election results. ZANU PF has literally disallowed the people of Zimbabwe an opportunity to express their democratic right," said the MDC in a statement yesterday."

-o00o-

Mugabe normally rewards his people for the hideous acts of violence that they carry out in the name of ZANU PF. Last evening I saw a cartoon which showed a thugs speaking to a Zimbabwe Republic policeman. The thugs was telling the policeman, "Some years ago, I would have been imprisoned for rape. Now I get a pat on the back."

But every now and then, Mugabe's thugs slip up and find themselves on the receiving end of the judicial system.

"Two members of the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) were sentenced to five and half years each on charges of impersonating, kidnapping and assault when they appeared before Gweru magistrate Phathekile Msipa.

Tawanda Zambuko (24) of Kuwadzana extension, Harare and Lovemore Mavedzenge (31) of Zengeza 4 Chitungwiza, both members of the CIO employed at Chaminuka building, 4th Street in Harare were facing charges of impersonating public officials as defined in Section 17 (a) (1) of the criminal codification and reform Act Chapter 9:23, kidnapping and unlawful detention as defined in Section 93 (1) (a) of the Criminal law Codification Act and Reform Act Chapter 9:23 and Assault as defined in Section 89 (1) (a) (b) of the Criminal law Codification and Reform Act.

Zambuko was sentenced for the three counts but Mavedzenge was slapped for the assault charge only. For impersonating Zambuko got one and half years, of which three months were suspended for five years, kidnapping three years for which six months were suspended and assault 12 months for which three months were suspended."

When you read the State case, it is apparent that the two accused were looking for personal advantage by kidnapping the complainant, and even ZANU PF is not happy with that idea. So the case was heard and the accused persons were put away.

Sadly, behind the scenes, once the dust has settled, the two will probably be let out early and quietly rewarded by Mugabe's party and kept out of the public eye.

"On 26 June last year, Zambuko teamed up with his workmate, Maendenge and drove in Ndaba’s vehicle, a Toyota Mark II, registration number ABF 745 from Harare to Gweru. They approached the complainant, Chigiji at Nice Time Supermarket where one or both of them unlawfully impersonated members of the Anti-Corruption Commission to Chigiji for the purpose of gaining advantage.

They said they wanted the complainant to meet another stock theft suspect, one Bhebhe in Harare since they felt that he was delaying the release of the DNA results and part of the stocktheft syndicate.

On the same day, 26 June 2010 and between Harare and Gweru Zambuko and Mavedzenge or one or both of them unlawfully deprived Chigiji, an adult of his freedom of bodily movement."

-o00o-

ZANU PF's ability to hack a computer/server for the information on board and somehow change the information to suit the party's ethos is questionable. This is hi-tech crime.

During the trial of Roy Bennett last year, the Attorney General tried to pass off a ditch digger as a computer specialist - someone who didn't even understand what a 'hacker' was.

I do note that the courts decided not to take any punitive action against the Attorney General for his attempted duplicity.

"Suspected operatives of the spy agency, the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) have been accused of infiltrating the Constitution Parliamentary Committee (COPAC) data uploading process with the aim of altering the views gathered from ordinary people during outreach programmes.

Highly placed sources within the technicians uploading COPAC data said the CIO operatives were altering information to suite the views which ZANU PF wanted included in the new constitution.

"What ZANU PF thought was going to be the outcome of the information gathering from all the country’s regions is not what is coming out and this has not gone down well with them.

The issues of a 99-year leases on land, Presidential powers and death penalty to those found guilty of inviting sanctions are not seeing the light of day in the current data uploading hence the attempts to alter the information by these guys whom we are working with," said the sources."

Cyber crimes are prevalent in the world today, but it is not something which has raised its head in Zimbabwe. So I do become concerned that the attempt could be more damaging than people realise.

A badly trained computer operator could easy delete the entire document - and then where would the people-driven constitution be? I sincerely hope that whatever information is being uploaded is also being backed up on stand alone hard drives...

"The recent statement by President Robert Mugabe is a clear indication of that ZANU PF no longer wants the constitution process to be completed. Their operatives in the process have altered them of this development which is going to weaken them," added the sources."

-o00o-

Whilst ZANU PF have called the latest invasion 'illegal', what makes this any different from the land invasions in the agricultural sector?

"Zimbabwean police drove out scores of so-called war veterans and supporters of President Robert Mugabe after they declared themselves new owners of several tourist resorts, a minister and media reports said Monday.

The seizures on Saturday near Lake Chivero, west of the capital Harare, were ostensibly part of Mugabe's land reforms, launched in 2000 in what he described as a bid to correct ownership imbalances in the former British colony.

But Minister of State Jameson Timba said the latest confiscations were illegal and he had called in police to put a stop to them after he received pleas from the businesses' owners.

"They were moved out yesterday by riot police," Timba, a member of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) which is in a power-sharing government with Mugabe's ZANU PF party, told AFP."

I did note, however, that ZANU PF bigwigs, Ignatius Chombo, tried to distance ZANU PF from the invasion of the bird sanctuary.

"ZANU PF on Monday denied involvement in Saturday's seizures.

"These actions could not have been perpetrated by our members," Ignatius Chombo, ZANU PF's secretary for land reform, told the state-run Herald newspaper.

"ZANU-PF will not support such behaviour," said Chombo, who is also minister for local government in the power-sharing coalition."

That is a laugh. The landgrab has been epitomised by violence, theft and murder. Perhaps Chombo means that because the invasion was not unruly, violent or destructive then it couldn't be Mugabe's party members.

I am of the belief that the property will be forcibly taken in the not too distant future.

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Tuesday, 25th January 2011

Howzit

I was deeply saddened this morning to read of the passing of a friend. The last time I saw Butch, he was collecting a motor vehicle from the showroom when I was Sales Manager for an independent Toyota dealership in Harare about thirteen years ago.

"The funeral for the late Butch van der Nest will be requiem mass to be held at 4:30pm on Wednesday 26 January at St Georges Chapel, St Georges College, Harare."

My deepest sympathies to his family.

-o00o-

Bles Bridges sadly died quite a few years ago, but a new singer was soon discovered, with a voice very similar to the late Bles - Gerrie Pretorius...

-o00o-

I was a little surprised at this story. I would have thought that the rocket scientist would have taken advantage of the situation and returned to NASA to do something that he is good at...

"Zimbabwe Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara is said to be considering quitting the government after he was effectively demoted by his party amid reports he plans to form own party, sources said.

MDC president Welshman Ncube announced at the weekend that he would be taking over from Mutambara as Deputy Premier after was he was elected the party’s leader at its congress early this month.

Ncube said Mutambara would be re-assigned to the portfolio of Regional Integration and International Co-operation Minister, and Ncube's sidekick party secretary general Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga taking over as Industry and Commerce Minister.

Mutambara - who left the country on Sunday to attend the World Economic Forum in Switzerland - has not commented on his reassignment."

Therein I see a serious problem. It isn't that Mutambara has been replaced or that he is being demoted, but that he remains silent.

Surely, now that Ncube has take over as party president, Mutambara has the perfect opportunity to explain to the Zimbabwean people exactly what went wrong. But he chooses to remain mute.

"Still, the state-run Herald newspaper claimed that he had discussed his future plans with a senior government official before leaving Harare and would 'soon' make public his intentions.

Education Minister David Coltart, who is also a senior member of the MDC, refused to comment on the speculation.

"I was not there at the meeting (on Sunday) when the decision was made [to reassign Mutambara] and I don’t know if he has been formally informed," Coltart said."

"I don’t think he will reject the reassignment because he is someone who can do well in that portfolio as he is respected in the region."

Constitutional law expert Lovemore Madhuku claimed Ncube’s reshuffle would require the endorsement of President Robert Mugabe.

"There are only two options available in this case; that DPM Mutambara has to resign or else President Mugabe has to dismiss him. If Mutambara refuses to go and President Mugabe does not dismiss him, there is nothing Ncube can do," Madhuku claimed.

"What if President Mugabe says I cannot dismiss Mutambara because he is competent in government and has only lost a mere party election? It’s (Mugabe’s) constitutional right and there is nothing Ncube can do about that."

I read that ZANU PF's Jonathan Moyo described Mutambara as a 'credible politician'.

-o00o-

Two years imprisonment for £44... Okay, taken with malice aforethought - but I have read of people who have fleeced the government of thousands of pounds in unlawful benefit claims, and have escaped jail...

It make you think, doesn't it?

"A Zimbabwe teenage girl was jailed for two years on Monday after admitting robbing a taxi driver of £44 in Watford, England.

Sibongile Dube, 19, and her friend, Kiran Mahmood, 18, disguised their faces with scarves and pretended they had a gun when they robbed the taxi driver, the St Albans Crown Court heard.

Taxi driver Mohammed Fayyaz picked the girls up from outside the Moon Under Water pub, in Watford High Street, at around 10PM on August 22 last year.

Prosecutor David Chrimes said: "Both had scarves on their heads and scarves on the lower part of their faces. The only part of their faces that was visible were the eyes and nose."

Dube got into the front of the taxi and Mahmood was in the back seat. They told Fayyaz they wanted to go to an address in West Watford but on the way, Dube told him to drive to Shepherds Road, a dark dead end next to Cassiobury Park.

Fayyaz said the fare was £4.80. He thought Dube was about to pay when she said: "Give me all your money!"

She told Mahmood, who had put either her fingers or a toothbrush against his shoulder, to shoot him, said Chrimes.

He handed over a total of £44 from various locations in his cab. They left with Mahmood taking the victim's car keys.

Chrimes said the taxi driver was left "traumatised" by his ordeal.

Forty minutes after the robbery, the two girls were spotted by the police as they walked along Rickmansworth Road. Dube told the officers they had found the taxi's keys on the road.

But when questioned, both made full and frank admissions to the police, said the prosecutor.

Dube, of Grampian House, Edmonton, and Mahmood, of Harebreaks, Watford, pleaded guilty to robbery. Neither girl had any previous convictions or cautions.

Dube said her mother was returning with her to Zimbabwe and she wanted to get money together to return to the UK.

Mahmood, who was said to come from a hard-working Muslim family, said she felt so bad about the robbery as her own grandfather worked in Watford as a taxi driver.

Recorder Gordon Reed said the offence was so serious that only a custodial sentence could be passed."

In a world where crime seems to be the norm, it is a sad day when two teenage girls are sentenced to a term of imprisonment for committing a robbery. That the robbery itself fetched such a small amount of money negates the idea that Dube was attempting to 'get money together to return to the UK'.

-o00o-

"Dozens of MDC supporters were injured, some of them seriously, in a wave of weekend violence that saw gangs of ZANU PF youths rampaging through the capital.

William Mukuwari, the MDC Budiriro district youth treasurer, is recovering in hospital after he was shot in the leg and assaulted by the youth militia.

The surge in politically motivated violence comes barely a week after the MDC secretary-general, Tendai Biti, warned that Zimbabwe could face a ‘bloodbath’ at elections this year if the international community does not help to prevent the crisis.

"The tell-tale signs are already there that you could have another bloodbath," said Biti in Johannesburg, South Africa last week. The latest crackdown on the MDC began late last week when ZANU PF mobilised and bussed in youths from as far away as Gutu, Tsholotsho, Shamva and Bindura, into Harare, to demonstrate against the so-called maize slashing by the Harare City council."

This is Mugabe flexing his muscles, showing who is boss, and testing the water...

No matter what ZANU PF and their associated wings do, if it has the unspoken agreement and acceptance of Mugabe, then nothing will happen by way of corrective measures, arrests and prosecutions.

Zimbabwe is a country under pressure from ZANU PF and that pressure takes the forms of violence, mayhem and intimidation.

"Since the beginning of the year MDC activists have once again been targeted by ZANU PF mobs carrying logs, stones and at times guns, as Robert Mugabe’s party 'go for broke' to try to reclaim lost ground from the 2008 electoral defeat.

Incidents of politically related chaos and violence have continued to rock the country since the autocratic Mugabe announced his determination to hold elections this year.

With his ZANU PF party in shambles and opinion polls suggesting a drubbing, there are fears Mugabe will resort to the extreme violence he did two years ago, as he seeks to extend his 30-year rule over a nation wracked by mounting tension as an election draws near. In 2008 Mugabe retained power after using violence to force MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai to back out of the vote."

Mugabe and his senior apologists are worried about losing yet another election. Ahead of any declaration of a poll date, Mugabe has shown the green light to his unruly mob and they don't need to be told twice.

The threat of losing another election is very real to ZANU PF who have lived in luxury whilst the people of Zimbabwe - the very people that allegedly put them in power - are beaten, abducted, arrested, prosecuted or murdered, just so that Mugabe can continue with his totalitarian and destructive rule.

"MDC-T Senator and deputy Minister of Justice, Obert Gutu, told SW Radio Africa on Monday ZANU PF is rolling out a deliberately planned strategy of mass violence.

"They know the people will reject them in a free and fair election and that’s why they have decided to embark on a scorched earth policy," Gutu said.

Party spokesman Nelson Chamisa said the attacks were well scripted and choreographed and bore all the hallmarks of ZANU PF’s 'way of doing business'.

"ZANU PF has not learnt anything from using violence and they have certainly not forgotten anything using it as a weapon to hang on to power. Without violence they are nothing because they believe in blood while some of us believe in peace," Chamisa added.

Harare has largely escaped the worst of the violence over the years but its luck may be running out. A series of attacks during the constitution making process last year and a number of high profile assaults of MDC activists in the first weeks of this year have come as a major source of worry for the party.

"Since last week I’ve been prevented from visiting my ward and this morning a group of ZANU PF militia tried to torch my car near the Hatcliffe new stands," Harare deputy Mayor Emmanuel Chiroto told us when asked about the troubles, which intensified over the weekend.

A statement from the MDC said weekend violence left many of its party supporters injured in this fresh violence sweeping Harare. ZANU PF youths attacked MDC activists in Budiriro, Mbare, Hatcliffe and Chitungwiza.

"The ZANU PF youth causing havoc in Budiriro are said to be housed by one Mai Hokoyo at her crèche, whilst the soldiers and some of the militia are being hosted at the Rambai Makashinga cooperative, a housing cooperative for soldiers, in Budiriro. The environment there is pretty tense as people are living in fear," the MDC said."

-o00o-

It appears, at first glance, that this is an old report - but it isn't...

"About 200 members of the Movement for Democratic Change of Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai sought refuge Monday at the party's Harare headquarters alleging that ZANU PF youth were hurting them in the capital's Mbare suburb.

The development followed violence this weekend in Mbare and Budiriro where members of the MDC said ZANU PF youth backed by police and soldiers assaulted them.

Tsvangirai MDC Harare Province Secretary Tsaurai Marima told Patience Rusere that the situation in the Harare suburb is tense and violence is likely to erupt again."

ZANU Pf have no concerns about the possibility of being arrested for the violence - mainly because this is sanctioned in the highest circles of ZANU PF.

This is just a curtain raiser to the violence expected once the date for the next poll in Zimbabwe is announced.

"Human rights activists surveying the violence said this and other incidents are of concern because such clashes, usually rural-based, are moving into urban areas.

Ronald Mureverwi, spokesman for the non-governmental organisation Restoration of Human Rights Zimbabwe, said increased violence in cities signals a change in the culture of violence. He said human rights organisations have long been urging the coalition government to restructure security agencies in Zimbabwe.

Elsewhere on Monday, 19 members of the Tsvangirai MDC arrested during Sunday’s skirmishes in Mbare for allegedly committing public violence were denied bail and remanded to custody in Harare magistrates court.

Another 14 other MDC supporters from Budiriro, facing the same charges, were fined US$20 apiece and released."

I note that there were no reported ZANU PF arrests.

-o00o-

There is a policeman out on a US$100 bail for murder. So, one would be forgiven for thinking that duping Chiyangwa is more serious than murder.

"Businessman Phillip Chiyangwa reportedly lost 14 stand worth over US$250000 after his property manager allegedly forged his signature and sold the stands to a company and members of the public.

Brine Tavengwa (39) was not formally charged when he appeared before regional magistrate Mr Never Katiyo who remanded him out of custody to February 22 on US$300 bail. He was ordered not to travel 20km out of Harare and report everyday at CID Commercial Crime Unit.

Tavengwa was working for Gabroc Enterprises owned by Mr Chiyangwa. During the course of his duties he would be given written instructions to sell stands at Shortson Derbyshire in Waterfalls.

Mr Chiyangwa would first sign a power of attorney and subsequently have the stands transferred to the new owner after full payment.

Prosecutor Mr Editor Mavuto alleges that the crime was committed between March 2008 and December 31 last year.

Tavengwa allegedly fraudulently caused the generation of false company documents and sold residential stands without the approval of Mr Chiyangwa as required."

I do note that the summary of the case fails to explain just what personal advantage - financial or otherwise - Tavengwa received for the crime...

-o00o-

An empty apology is probably worse than no apolgy at all.

"Member's of Zimbabwe's ZANU PF party on Monday apologized for militants who forcefully entered a series of lakeside private boat clubs and tourist lodges over the weekend, according to tour operator groups.

The incidents, along Lake Chivero, 20 kilometres from Harare, had created fears that ZANU PF militias might be orchestrating a grab of the tourism facilities. Mugabe's supporters in the past have regularly seized white-owned farm properties, often with the state turning a blind eye to the practice.

However, the most recent incidents - conducted as Zimbabwean Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi was at a conference in Spain trying to drum up the tourism business in Zimbabwe - elicited an apology, said Gary Stafford, owner of Shiri Kuimba, one of the clubs targeted over the weekend."

The landgrab, used to mask some very serious crimes, including theft and murder, is seen as a natural stepping stone into the firm grab and the 'indigenisation' of foreign and white-owned companies in Zimbabwe.

That the Mugabe administration sees fit to ignore the crime of murder, of both commercial farmers and their workers, is indicative of the level to which the ZANU PF party is prepared to push the boundaries.

However, should any crime, no matter how trivial, be committed by a perceived MDC supporter, then the pro-Mugabe police will swing into action and ensure that the accused person is given the hardest time within the judiciary and ends up in prison. Prisons in Zimbabwe are so disgusting that any length of incarceration can easy result in the death of the inmate.

Apologising for the invasion is one thing - but does the police take any action against the perpetrators? You can bet your life that no action will be taken.

The land invasions in Zimbabwe, which continue to happen, is just legalised theft.

"A mob of about 200, carrying posters with ZANU PF flags and portrait of party leader, President Robert Mugabe, on Friday forced their way into Shiri Kuimba, demanding to see the company's list of assets. Simultaneously, groups of veterans loyal to Mugabe entered and locked down about 20 further sites.

There was no overt violence, said Stafford. But he noted that police did not come until after party leaders arrived to get the trespassers to leave.

Then, on Monday, Stafford said he had been told by a senior official of the state tourism company that vice-president Joice Mujuru, at a meeting with the tourism company to discuss the trouble, had asked for her apologies to be extended to the victims.

ZANU PF senior minister Ignatius Chombo denied any party involvement with the weekend's activities."

Of course there was party involvement! No amount of denials will change that...

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu