Wednesday, 31st August 2011

Howzit

There doesn't seem to be very much by way of new headlines in Zimbabwe...

A police investigation into Rtd General Solomon Mujuru’s death in a house fire on August 16 is complete, police said.

Mujuru’s charred remains were removed from the sprawling farmhouse in Beatrice amid conspiracy theories suggesting foul play.

Now Vice President Joice Mujuru, the liberation war hero’s anxious widow, could be close to learning how her husband died.

Police spokesman Senior Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena said on Tuesday that the teams of investigators from the police, forensics, fire department and the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority had packed up from the crime scene to “consolidate” their findings.

“We are consolidating what we have gathered including specialist reports,” he told the NewsDay newspaper. “The results of the investigations will be made public at the appropriate time by the appropriate authorities.”

Bvudzijena said the ZRP had complete faith "in the competence of our officers and professionals who attended to the scene".

That didn't take very long, did it? I wonder if the probe's findings will be made public....

In typical pro-Mugabe mode, these youths refuse to move out of a building that they have illegally occupied.

ZANU PF youths are refusing to leave a building they seized in Bulawayo, despite calls for their business-grab ploy to end, SW Radio Africa correspondent Lionel Saungweme reports.

Over the past year the youths reportedly took over some buildings owned by Zimbabweans of Indian origin, claiming it was part of their indigenisation drive to pass businesses onto black people. Such buildings include Elons Court, Zambesia and the Capri. It’s understood that these buildings are used for retail purposes and the owners are no longer getting rentals.

On Tuesday the owner of Elons Court, Khalil Gaibe, tried to have the youths evicted. But riot police who showed up at the premises were unable to move them.

And the police seem unable to move them - do they really care? - and court orders have just been ignored.

Having taken the farms, the mines, the foreign-owned companies, I don't think that it will be very long before we read of residential properties being taken by force, despite the fact that they have been paid for...

It is commonplace in Zimbabwe for the unexplained and strange to be allowed to happen with frightening regularity, and when it has anything to do with the Mugabe family, nothing is left to chance...

Zimbabwean authorities issued warrants of arrest yesterday for four South African truck drivers who failed to show up at the Harare Magistrate’s Court, six months after they were arrested for an alleged scam by first lady Grace Mugabe.

Cassimjee Bilal, Henry Radebe, Samuel Risimati Baloyi and Sydney Masilo were being held in Harare so they could stand trial with another South African, Ping Sung Hsieh, a former business partner of Grace Mugabe.

But the Zimbabwean government failed in its attempt earlier this month to extradite Ping from South Africa to Harare. Ping helped Grace Mugabe buy a $5 million (R35m) mansion in Hong Kong several years ago, but their partnership later went sour.

After the extradition attempt was turned down in the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court, Harare lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, who represents the drivers, said she hoped this decision would prompt the release of the drivers.

Another fire in Zimbabwe that rings alarm bells... for some people at least.

Sources in Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF say the atmosphere is tense in the former ruling party following a fire Sunday at a poultry farm in Borrowdale, Harare, owned by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono, which gutted a warehouse.

The ZANU PF sources said the fire has kindled concern because it came less than two weeks after former Defense Forces commander Solomon Mujuru’s charred remains were found in the ruins of his Beatrice farmhouse, which burned down mysteriously late on August 16.

Police national spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said the investigation into Mujuru’s death is close to completion. The death sparked widespread speculation that Mujuru was murdered - his widow, Vice President Joice Mujuru recently said she suspects foul play.

Is fire now the new weapon in Zimbabwe?

Blood diamonds are set to remain a thorn in the flesh for Mugabe and his minions. They want to sell them, but are restrained by regulations - so many stones are sold on the black market.

A human rights group is calling on banks around the world to ratchet any ties with financial institutions in Zimbabwe, claiming their involvement may be further fueling the mine and trade of so-called “blood diamonds.”

The call follows a leaked memo from the Mineral Marketing Corp., a government parastatal of Zimbabwe, which shows the company offered to sell more than $200 million in illegal Marange diamonds to an unknown buyer through three local banks.

And whilst we have conflict in Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq, the focus of the world is away from Southern Africa, which allows Mugabe to continue peddling his illicit wares...

Take care.

'debvhu

Tuesday, 30th August 2011

Howzit

Yesterday I received a rather crudely worded comment on a posting done about 5 years ago. Laced with racial epithets and insults, the writer - who chose to comment anonymously, basically told me that I am the lowest of the low and not worth spit.

Out of deference to his wonderful vocabulary and the evidential pro-Mugabe stance, I decided to publish his comment, although I will not repeat his four-letter tirade here, but I did respond:

"Why display your ignorance of affairs Zimbabwean by voicing your obviously tainted views?

You know nothing about me, so your attack on myself is just another display of the pro-ZANU PF mode of thinking.

Isn't it enough for you that I had to leave Zimbabwe in 1998?

And why comment behind an anonymous tag? Come on out and let's see who you really are."

Over the years, I have been the subject of many racial slurs on this page - and it doesn't worry me as the writers are obviously blinded by the truth and seem to get their kicks out of swearing at me...

Should, however, any one of Mugabe's paragons of virtue wish to have a decent and intellectual conversation with me, I will happily oblige.

With events happening in Libya, there are a fair number of reports that Gaddafi has been spotted in Harare, having been flown there courtesy of Mugabe...

I remain unconvinced - for two reasons in particular.

The reports say that Gaddafi was flown there by Mugabe's private jet... Has Mugabe got a private jet? I don't think so!

And Gaddafi is not the sort to turn tail and run. He will stick it out and fight when and where he can. There are reports this morning that his wife and children have left Libya for Algeria, but any family man will know that it is a good practise to remove family from a threat...

Libya’s ousted strong man, Col Muammar Gaddafi is reported to have fled to Zimbabwe where is being given refuge by President Robert Mugabe.

A report by the Daily Mail of the UK said Sunday it was claimed that Gaddafi has fled Libya to Zimbabwe on a jet provided by Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, as rebels began the march on his home town.

According to the report President Mugabe’s political opponents claim their spies saw Gaddafi arrive in the country on a Zimbabwe Air Force jet in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Should Gaddafi have made it to Zimbabwe, it would mean that Mugabe is then accommodating two dictators (apart from himself) the other being Ethiopia's former President, Haile Mengistu Miriam...

A United Kingdom newspaper, the Daily Mail, yesterday claimed that Gaddafi arrived in Zimbabwe last week aboard Mugabe’s private jet.

But President Robert Mugabe’s spokesman George Charamba has dismissed reports that Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi could be in Zimbabwe, implying that the brother leader may not be welcome.

“If you see him, greet him for me,” quipped Charamba, implying that Gaddafi might not be heading to Zimbabwe after all.

Charamba declined to answer subsequent questions on what Zimbabwe’s response would be in case Gaddafi asked for asylum.

Late last week there were reports that VP Nkomo had snuffed it. Well, The Herald has published a story to rubbish that rumour...

Vice President John Nkomo is expected back home today or tomorrow from South Africa where he was receiving treatment in Cape Town.

Cde Nkomo, who has been unwell of late, flew out of Cape Town yesterday but made a stopover in Johannesburg to check on Lands, Land Reform and Rural Resettlement Minister Herbert Murerwa who is hospitalised there.

Eighty three refugees who were detained by the Zimbabwean government in February have vanished, amid fears that they have been deported to their countries of origin in violation of United Nations rules.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative for Zimbabwe, Marcellin Hepie, told The Zimbabwean thathe did not know what had happened to the asylum seekers.

"As far as the people you are talking about are concerned, I really don't have any information. But they are not at Tongogara refugee camp," Hepie said.

UNHCR documents in our possession show that 83 foreign refugees, including some who had made the arduous journey from Somalia and Ethiopia, were detained by the Harare authorities for illegal entry into the country.

When it comes to Mugabe, he has no care about other people - of any description... Just as long as he is okay, that's his only concern...

Former X Factor hopeful Gamu Nhengu wrote songs to cope with the stress of her ongoing deportation ordeal - but her fans will never hear them.

The teenager has waited almost a year for a decision to made over whether she and her family should be returned to her native Zimbabwe.

In May this year, it was revealed that Gamu and her family had won their appeal against deportation, as an immigration court ruled that an order for them to be returned to their Zimbabwean homeland should be overturned.

But the 19 year-old, her mother Nokuthula Ngazana and two brothers were dealt a fresh blow as the Home Office confirmed it would appeal against the court's decision.

Gamu told the Sunday Mail newspaper writing songs was the only way she was able to deal with the trauma of her situation.

But she said the songs won't be making it on to her new album, which she said was "Gamu-ised" mixture of Motown and soul.

She said: "It came as such a shock and everything exploded. But I just started writing and wrote it all out.

"Those are songs I will keep in a little box whenever I need to be reminded just how far I have come."

Take care.

'debvhu

Friday, 25th August 2011

Howzit

The state of the roads in Zimbabwe are known to be deteriorating. It was, allegedly, the state of the road surface, that caused the truck that killed Susan Tsvangirai to cross into the path of oncoming traffic - and that was a number of years ago.

The only road in the country that is worth anything is that which leads to Mugabe's home area...

State media in Zimbabwe say at least 19 people were killed Thursday in accidents along the highway that links Harare and Bulawayo, the country's two biggest cities.

The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation says in the main incident, a bus lost its right front tire and sideswiped a truck going in the opposite direction, killing 18 people.

ZBC says another bus overturned on the highway while trying to avoid the initial crash, killing one person.

A police spokesman says 20 people were taken to a hospital in Harare.

Zimbabwe has experienced a series of fatal bus crashes in recent weeks. At least 18 people died July 31 in an accident north of Harare, while 13 were killed two days later in an accident in eastern Zimbabwe.

The country's roads and buses are in generally poor condition after a decade of economic struggles and political turmoil.

It is not just the roads that are in a bad state of repair, but also the vehicles, coupled together with a very low standard of driving. Think about it... how close was the second bus to the first meaning that the driver had to take evasive action to avoid the first accident, resulting in his own accident which killed one person?

It never rains, but it pours for the MDC. If they are not having to fight off the attentions of Mugabe's police and CIO, then they are talking up a storm within their own party structures, or fighting all manner of health problems.

Theresa Makone, the co-minister of Home Affair was admitted into hospital for a minor stroke which she suffered a day after attending a meeting with senior party officials in Harare.

According to party officials Makone, who is the national chairperson of the MDC women’s league, had an altercation at a rally in Mutare on Sunday after some members accused her of trying to impose her 'loyalists' on them.

MDC spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora told the Daily News that the minister was admitted at a private hospital. "She suffered a minor stroke on Monday evening and is admitted at a private hospital."

It's alright for some to be able to afford a private hospital - the vast majority of Zimbabweans cannot afford the transport just to get to any hospital!

First of all, Gono should not be allowed anywhere near anything that governs money in Zimbabwe. The manner in which he 'managed' the economic demise in Zimbabwe leaves a lot to be desired.

Secondly, ZANU PF is not really that interested in indigenous ownership, but of building their own personal fortunes.

The only people that could possibly afford the 51% ownership of foreign companies are politicians, and their riches are predominantly with the Mugabe party.

A political row is reported to have developed at the weekend between the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Chairman, Gideon Gono, and the Indigenization Minister Saviour Kasukuwere, over the Mugabe regime’s disastrous and controversial empowerment policies.

According to reports, the row started when Gono criticized Kasukuwere’s ongoing threats to the banking sector, saying the ZANU PF empowerment czar was not qualified to decide who gets banking licenses.

Foreign owned firms are now required to give up 51% of their shares to black Zimbabweans, as part of ZANU PF’s so-called indigenization programme. Detailed plans of how the firms will comply are being reviewed by Kasukuwere and his ministry.

I fail to see how the argument can be described as 'political' seeing that Gono is supposedly not linked to any political party - although it is believed that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is treated like a personal ATM by one Robert Gabriel Mugabe.

Kusukuwere has threatened to make the enforced takeover of companies in Zimbabwe 'overshadow' the chaotic and deadly landgrab...

A Zimbabwean minister has warned that the seizure of foreign owned companies that fail to comply with the country’s empowerment laws will be more vicious than its land reforms that reportedly cost the economy US$12 billion in a decade.

Indiginisation and Economic Empowerment Minister Savious Kasukuwere said companies that fail to transfer 51 percent of their shareholding to locals will be dealt with harshly.

"The fight will overshadow the land reform programme as this one is much more sophisticated and is about serious wealth” he said.

Well, anything is 'more sophisticated' than the landgrab - but we should all be aware that it will be the ZANU PF loyalists that will benefit from this exercise - not Zimbabwe.

Just trawl through the pages of this blog, and so many other Zimbabwean websites and note how long it takes any criminal case in which the accused is a ZANU PF member to come to court - and then compare it to those cases that involve MDC accused...

The High Court murder trial of Farai Machaya, the son of Jason Machaya, the ZANU PF Midlands chairperson and Midlands governor has been set for a hearing at Gokwe Centre on 12 September during the Gweru High Court circuit.

Farai Machaya is facing charges of murdering Moses Chokuda, an MDC-T activist, in Gokwe on 22 March 2009.

The body of Chokuda is still at Gokwe District Hospital's mortuary after his family said they would only bury him after the Machaya family had admitted that Farai was responsible for his death and it had been resolved in court. Machaya, 30, is being implicated in the murder of Chokuda with five other ZANU PF activists, Abel Maposa, 45, brothers, Edmore Gana, 27 and Bothwell Gana, 25, Obert Gavi, 23, and Tirivashoma Mawadze, 25.

The Gana brothers are the sons of ZANU PF's Gokwe District Coordinating Committee chairperson.

Withe the judicial system in Zimbabwe being governed by pro-Mugabe loyalists, am I to really believe that justice might be served in this case?

Put it this way - I'm not holding my breath!

Take care.

'debvhu

Thursday, 25th August 2011

Howzit

On Monday evening, I became a grandfather to little Riley-James Parker Ellis born to Scott and Amie Ellis in Salisbury, Wiltshire. I am incredibly proud of my son and daughter-in-law and wish them and Riley-James all the happiness that God bestows upon them...

A grandfather at 48! Eish!

Zimbabwe's Vice-President Joice Mujuru has called for an investigation into the death of her husband Solomon last week in a fire on their farm.

An ex-military chief, Gen Mujuru was a highly influential figure in President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF party.

A BBC reporter says his death has fuelled speculation that he may have been killed, causing a party rift and turmoil over Mr Mugabe's succession.

I am willing to bet that any investigation is cursory and will rule out the suggestion of foul play - if only to keep the President's office happy.

Mugabe's ability to give long speeches is legendary. Indeed, I remember, as a police officer, him opening a microwave link in Plumtree, and once he got the microphone we were obliged to hear his thoughts for almost an hour!

And much of what he has to say either doesn't make sense, or is way off subject..

Just before noon President Mugabe launched into some two hours of a rambling, long-winded graveside speech - standing all the time. He touched on several issues including a vicious attack on gays and lesbians, repeating his infamous phrase branding them ‘worse than pigs and dogs.

The most significant part of his speech was perhaps his public call for peaceful, harmonious co-existence of Zimbabweans from different political parties and persuasions. He said political parties were like church denominations that could be many but all under one God.

He said no to political violence, repeating it three times for emphasis. He said Zimbabweans should be free to belong to any political party, whether ZANU PF or MDC and that even within one family, brothers can belong to different political parties and still eat from the same plate.

Obviously, Mugabe believes that if he says one thing and does another, then his public persona will be more acceptable. But we all know that the huge majority of events in Zimbabwe is done with the nodding acceptance or direct order from Mugabe...

To the best of my knowledge, threatening somebody - even with unspecific action - is illegal in Zimbabwe, and many other countries as well.

A retired senior army officer has threatened unspecified action against Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and others calling for a reform of Zimbabwe’s partisan security sector.

Threatening to "inflict doom" on anyone pushing for the realignment of the security sector, retired Brigadier General Benjamin Mabenge said at the weekend that the "retired officers' corps" would meet this month to decide the course of action against those demanding security sector reform.

"The retired officers’ corps will be meeting within the next 14 days to consider the options," Mabenge told the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation during the live broadcast of the hero’s burial of former army commander Solomon Mujuru.

Tsvangirai and other leaders of the two MDC formations are pushing for reforms of the security sector to ensure that members of the army do not meddle in political issues.

I am not so sure that the retired officer is doing himself any favours, and should any action be conducted against Tsvangirai, one would think that the ZRP wouldn't have to look very far - but being a pro-Mugabe institution, I wouldn't think that their investigation would be anything remotely approaching professional.

I was always of the opinion that Mugabe and Gaddafi were shamwari's...

Libya's ambassador to Zimbabwe led his compatriots on Wednesday in burning portraits of embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi and replacing the official flag with that of the anti-Gaddafi rebellion.

"From today, August 24, we follow the Libyan majority, the Libyan people, through our National Transitional Authority," Ambassador Taher Elmagrahi told journalists outside the embassy in down town Harare, referring to the anti-Gaddafi rebel council.

"We are here representing the Libyan people and not Gaddafi. I am not Gaddafi's ambassador. I represent the Libyan people."

And here we go - the Mugabe administration is starting with the grab of mining companies in Zimbabwe...

This surely must be the beginning of the end.

Zimbabwean Indigenization Minister Saviour Kasukuwere was quoted Tuesday as saying he has canceled the operating license of gold producer Blanket Mine and ordered the company to halt operations. But the Ministry of Mines, which licensed the mining firm, says it has no knowledge of any such move against the Gwanda, Matabeleland South, company.

Indigenization Ministry Legal Adviser Psychology Mazivisa said Blanket did not comply with orders from the government to submit a plan providing for the transfer of a 51 percent controlling stake to indigenous Zimbabwean investors.

Mazivisa said Blanket Mine should cease operations while the government is engaging its owners, Caledonia Mining Corp. of Canada.

Take care.

'debvhu

Wednesday, 24th August 2011

Howzit

When Mugabe first came to power in 1980, he was the 'darling of the West' but as time and events on the ground progressed, he soon showed his true colours, and more and more Western countries decided that they didn't want anything to do with him. So he made a load of noise about his 'Look East' policy, and they have subsequently discovered that Mugabe will say and do whatever it takes to obtain whatever is on offer, only to renege on payment of trade.

Mugabe recently has discovered that the SADC mediator is not necessarily on his side.

So - he looked West, looked East, and looked South - and has found himself continually hindered in his totalitarian rule. Now all he has to do is look to North Africa to see what happens when you abuse the people long enough...

Embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has vowed to fight on even as rebels seize control of Libyan.

As rebels make stronger gains, there is speculation as to which countries might take Gaddafi if he should choose to leave Libya.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has repeatedly condemned the western NATO alliance's offensive in Libya, prompting speculation that the southern African country could be a potential asylum destination for Gaddafi.

Mugabe has already set a precident with the former Etheopian leade Haile Mengistu Miriam who lives in comparative peace, I believe, in Kariba...

Mugabe stated that the death of Mujuru was a tragic accident, and his VP, estranged wife of the deceased, Joyce Mujuru, has called for the idea that he was killed in a crime be quieted.

So why then have we got the ZRP arresting and questioning people on the death?

Zimbabwean police say they have questioned 23 people including three policemen in connection with the death of former Zimbabwe army commander General Solomon Mujuru last week.

Gen Mujuru who was married to Zimbabwe’s Vice President Joice Mujuru died after fire gutted his farm house near Harare on Tuesday.

He was buried at the country’s national shrine in Harare at the weekend amid intensifying rumours that he was murdered by opponents in President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party.

State media on Tuesday, quoting unnamed sources said the three policemen quizzed in the probe were guarding Gen Mujuru’s property on the night of the fire.

Others were people who were at places where the former commander of one of Zimbabwe’s liberation movements led by President Mugabe passed through on his way home.

Think about it... who has the most to gain in the death of Mujuru?

A respected political commentator, who refused to be named, has told SW Radio Africa that ZANU PF leader Robert Mugabe stands to gain the most from the death of retired army General Solomon Mujuru. General Mujuru died in a suspicious farmhouse fire in Beatrice, 60 km outside Harare last week Tuesday.

“Mujuru was the last remaining person within ZANU PF who was able to speak out against Mugabe during politburo meetings. His death, whether an accident or an assassination ordered from the very top, benefits Mugabe more than any other individual. It has removed the last remaining strong voice to challenge Mugabe.”

The analyst told SW Radio Africa that most people were focused on accusing a rival faction led by Emmerson Mnangagwa, ignoring the fact that Mugabe is still in charge, despite his declining health. Mugabe has also shown no desire to exit the political stage. In fact he was reported to have confessed to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai that he cannot retire because his divided party will implode.

He reportedly spent some time drinking at a motel before leaving for his farm in the evening.

MDC-T youth assembly deputy president Costa Machingauta was yesterday arrested and was being held at Glen View Police Station, as police intensify their clampdown on party activists in Harare.

His lawyer, Gift Mtisi, confirmed the arrest last night.

"I can confirm he was arrested for assaulting a person in a bar last night (Sunday). I am with him right now at the police station," he said.

The arrest comes at a time MDC-T youth assembly president Solomon Madzore is also wanted by the police in connection with the alleged murder of Police Inspector Petros Mutedza in Glen View in May.

Madzore recently failed to attend the burial of his mother in Buhera amid reports the police were looking for him in connection with the incident.

Yesterday, the MDC-T youth assembly claimed while Machingauta was held at Glen View Police Station, some unidentified youths stormed the station baying for his blood.

How is it acceptable, in any country, that political youth are permitted to 'storm the station' without punishment?

If the youth, reportedly allied to Mugabe, are such bastions of virtue, why then is it necessary for them to 'bay for his blood' if the legal system is a working model?

Take care.

'debvhu

Tuesday, 23rd August 2011

Howzit

An interesting interview with Guy Watson-Smith who was the owner of the farm that Solomon Mujuru took over forcibly in 2001 - the farmhouse burned down last week, killing Mujuru...

Guy Watson-Smith was a successful tobacco farmer in Beatrice when one day in 2001 gun-toting goons he claims were sent by the late Rtd General Solomon Mujuru arrived and gave him two hours to leave.

Last week, Watson-Smith, now living in France, watched in shock as Mujuru’s badly-burnt remains were removed from the 14-roomed farmhouse at Almein Farm which he once called home.

While he is still bitter about the way he was forced off the farm, Watson-Smith says he found his conversations with the liberation war hero “enjoyable”.

More controversially, the farmer tells the Voice of America Studio 7’s Violet Gonda that it is “improbable” that Mujuru’s death could have been an accident:

GUY WATSON-SMITH: It’s a big sprawling 14 room farmhouse. It’s all on one level and every room is peppered with doors and windows. No windows had burglar bars – they were all big double windows. The main bedroom where I understand he may have finally been found has three exit doors just from that one bedroom alone, plus four double windows. So it seemed to me improbable that anybody could be trapped in such an open home.

Asbestos as everybody knows is fireproof and the roof was made of asbestos sheeting. The walls of the whole house were made of fired brick and cement so they were completely fire proof. The ceiling and roofing timbers would have been able to be burnt but the fire couldn’t spread quickly through those ceilings and roofing timbers without the walls and the roof burning and the walls and roof could not burn. So it was a pretty safe house from the point of fire.

VIOLET GONDA: It’s reported his body was burnt to ashes and questions are being asked about how this could have happened, especially to that extent, without people coming to his aid. Can you tell us about the surrounding area? Was the house within view?

SMITH: Assuming that the lay-out was similar to when we were there and no major changes had been made, then the front gate to the property is 40 metres from the house. There were a lot of buildings around. There were three other houses, presumably those houses remained occupied and just a couple of 100 yards back, there was an entire village where the farm personnel lived – a whole village of some 80 to 100 houses. I find it implausible that there could have been a major fire in the main house and nobody saw it. That seems very implausible. There were many people around.

GONDA: Can you tell us a bit about the eviction in 2001. I understand you were given two hours to vacate the property?

SMITH: Yes. We were visited by three people, one of whom I already knew. His name was Cde Zhou and he worked for General Mujuru. After the war of liberation he became a Colonel in the 5TH Brigade - implicated I believe in some atrocities in Matabeleland. Then he worked for Mujuru in Mashonaland East during the 1990s and early 2000.

They arrived in mid-morning, they were clearly armed and they told my wife and myself to leave the farm. I said let’s sit down and have a cup of tea to talk about this and Cde Zhou said to me: ‘Look, you are not listening to me. We said you go and you go now we don’t want to happen here as happened to Mr (Alan) Dunn.” Dunn was our great friend and neighbour who had recently been murdered.

So we took the threats pretty seriously – we took some clothes and some photographs and we left. We never went back into that house again.

The next three months we spent in Harare trying to negotiate our way back to the farm. During that period, Mujuru pretended to me that he was not behind the eviction and that it was somebody else and that he might be able to help me. So I established a relationship with him for the next three months based on trickery on his part.

He persuaded me to continue farming, to continue fertilizing crops, to irrigate the tobacco and get the necessary inputs on to the farm. I continued farming through my managers without being allowed to the farm myself but encouraged to do so by Mujuru, never suspecting that he was behind it. When it became clear that he was behind it, and I was issued very serious threats to my life and to my family, we left the country quickly on legal advice.

GONDA: How big was your farm and were you, later on, able to reclaim some of your property?

SMITH: No. The farm was 1,300 hectares and we were not able to take anything off the farm. We got a court order to enable us to move our movable assets – tractors, vehicles, irrigation equipment, cattle, game, stocks of valuable fertilizers, chemicals, fuel and so forth.

In light of the court case in our favour, instructing us to move our movable assets from the farm, we sent agents to the farm with trucks accompanied by the Sheriff of the High Court. They were driven off the farm by Cde Zhou in a very violent way.

The Sheriff’s car was actually manhandled. It was picked up, turned around and faced in the direction from which it had come. The drivers of the trucks and the Sheriff were all told that if they came back they would be killed. So they never came back.

We never got any of our assets back. Nothing. None of the cattle – 460 head of pedigree breeding stock. Six hundred head of game – everything from giraffe to eland, sables, all commercial game herds. None of that came off that farm. Neither any of our vehicles or equipment and not to mention the crop in the ground. We had 85 hectares of irrigated tobacco, which was at reaping stage. The investment in that 85 hectare crop was 95% done. We didn’t get anything off Violet.

GONDA: How much did you lose?

SMITH: When I first went to court about it and did the sums, I estimated the movable assets – not the farm, not the buildings, dams and so forth which are fixed improvements – the movable assets which we could have taken off in trucks I estimated that to be US$2,5million at the time. But for the court we had professional valuation by the premier agricultural valuation company in the country - then known as Redfern Mallet. They valued those movable assets at US$1,7million. So that was the figure that was accepted legally.

GONDA: So what are you going to do now as general Mujuru is no longer there?

SMITH: We are not actively trying to get the farm back at this stage. It has gone beyond that point with 4,000 farms having been acquired. We have been trying to get compensation from General Mujuru personally for the movable assets, which he stole from us – which we were forced to leave behind. That US$1,7million we have been suing him in the civil court for that. Now that he has died I need to take legal advice. Do we continue with the court action against his estate? I am not sure what the legal position is going to be now.

As far as the land goes, that’s a different issue which is being dealt with by the Commercial Farmers’ Union in negotiations with the government and donor agencies, and foreign governments. The land is a political issue but the movable assets issue was between me and General Mujuru.

GONDA: Many are mourning the death of General Mujuru who was a decorated liberation hero and many say he was a people person. In your dealings with him, what sort of a person was he like?

SMITH: I actually enjoyed talking to him. He was a very quiet man. A big guy but quiet, clearly intelligent. He had a huge amount of experience and he was happy to talk – he was quite a story teller in a quiet way. I met him many times, spoke with him and listened to him with a lot of interest. So he was an impressive guy. Yes he was also a leader of the ZANLA forces in the war of liberation and responsible for bringing Mugabe to power. He was seriously an important liberation hero and I don’t take that away from him.

Trouble is after independence he became a very serious businessman and he had the reputation – I can’t vouch for it – but he had the reputation of being the biggest businessman and the richest person in the country. Diamonds, farming and goodness knows what else. I think there was an enormous amount of wealth there. So there were two sides to his personality. He was a liberation hero and a very, very, very shrewd rich businessman.

GONDA: What do you think could have happened to him? What’s your reaction to his death?

SMITH: I just cannot imagine the circumstances for a natural death by being trapped in a fire it’s hard to believe because I know the house so well. Anyone can walk out of any of those doors. They don’t appear to have been barred, there were no burglar bars on those windows. So I suspect that something happened to him and the house and he were burnt to destroy evidence. Probably that evidence will never come out but it seems to me that there is some funny business going on there.

My immediate reaction was one of surprise. He was one of the two main contenders – sort of main presidential challengers – him and Emmerson Mnangagwa. So it really came as a surprise and a shock. And my first reaction is if it generates publicity, I hope it is good publicity in the sense that I hope it increases awareness of people around the world and in the corridors that matter that there are huge injustices to be addressed in Zimbabwe particularly with regard to law and order and property rights. With those two elements in place, I feel that Zimbabwe can flourish again and we can all go home. So that is my immediate reaction. I hope it leads to some good.

More than enough food for thought for the day.

Take care.

'debvhu

Monday, 22nd August 2011

Howzit

So the falsities of Mugabe's leadership continue. Here we have him calling for calm amid the chaos in Zimbabwe - and actually calling for a halt to the anti-Tsvangirai/MDC chanting and jeers at the National Heroes Acre in Harare during the funeral of former military supremo Solomon Mujuru who died in a fire last week...

President Robert Mugabe on Saturday departed from the norm and for the first time reprimanded his party followers in public, for booing Morgan Tsvangirai during the burial of the late Solomon Mujuru at the heroes’ acre.

Whenever the Prime Minister's name was mentioned, Mugabe’s supporters would jeer and burst into anti-Tsvangirai songs.

"We are here to bury a national hero and all the three political parties are represented, we are united therefore we do not want anyone of you to jeer at anyone of us since we are giving respect to a national hero," Mugabe angrily declared.

Obviously, once the funeral was over, the anti-Tsvangirai/MDC campaign was set to continue...

And whilst we have heard that Joyce Mujuru castigating those who have read a sinister hand in the death of Solomon Mujuru, Mugabe can't quite resist stating that Mujuru's death leaves many questions unanswered...

President Robert Mugabe said the death of Retired General Solomon Mujuru in a mysterious inferno at his Beatrice farm will leave many questions unanswered, speaking at the burial of the late General Mujuru popularly known as Rex Nhongo, his war name. Mugabe hailed Mujuru for his contribution in the liberation of the country and lamented that the way Mujuru died was undeserving to a person of his calibre.

"Such a gallant fighter did not deserve to die the way he died. A hero in real life, Rex (Nhongo) has been sadly taken away from us by a cruel fire. Solomon Mujuru has left us in heart rending way, why we continue to ask," Mugabe said while addressing mourners at the national heroes’ acre.

"But this is how God has willed it and we cannot and we cannot do anything about it, except to grieve, to ask so many questions and finally to accept his demise even though it will always hurt."

I have to ask just why Mugabe felt it necessary to say this. I do believe that if he doesn't come out a blame it on the 'Rhodesians', then he will seek to have some people arrested for their complicity in the death...

As the years have rolled by, for Mugabe, he has seen fit to rewrite the history books, maintaining that much of the action in the bush war was at his orders and that he knew he had the Rhodesians beaten on the ground.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Now we have memoirs of one of his commanders, telling how the battle in the bush was filled with confrontation and dispute within the Mugabe forces...

Wilfred Mhanda, a former guerrilla commander, has released his war-time memoirs exposing how President Robert Mugabe ruthlessly suppressed him and other commanders in the late 70s on his way to becoming the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe.

Mhanda, mostly known by his liberation struggle nom de guerre Dzinashe Machingura or simply Dzino, is portrayed in the dominant state version of the liberation struggle as an enemy of the revolution that swept Ian Smith out of power.

But in Dzino, Memories of a Freedom Fighter, Mhanda answers his critics with a riveting account that offers an alternative interpretation of events of the late 70s when ZANLA commanders were arrested for questioning Mugabe’s suitability as leader of the then liberation movement.

Their harrowing prison ordeal included staying in a crowded tiny cell that was flushed once in 10 days, eating rice laced with sand grains, bathing once in three months and staying in a disused toilet where the urinary served as their pillow.

Despite these trials and tribulations, Mhanda asserts the prominent role he played in the liberation struggle, describing in detail his involvement in key events and processes that shaped the campaign to oust the colonial regime.

It must be stated that Ian Smith was not 'swept' from power, but came to an agreement, brokered by the English - an agreement which Mugabe, to this day, fails to stand by...

When I first read this article yesterday, I sent an email to a friend in which I stated that Mujuru, even if he opposed the Gukurahundi, through his silence during and subsequent to the genocide, is just as much to blame as those that gave the orders and wielded the weapons...

The late national hero General Solomon Mujuru did not play any part in the Gukurahundi atrocities that claimed an estimated 20000 lives in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces, MDC leader Welshman Ncube said on Friday.

Government deployed the North Korean trained 5 Brigade soon after independence ostensibly to deal with an insurgence.

But human rights groups say the soldiers targeted supporters of the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo and his ZAPU party.

Mujuru was the commander of the army at the time but his close associates say he was sidelined when 5 Brigade was set up and deployed.

"He (Mujuru) refused to let the army be used for Gukurahundi because he had worked with ZIPRA leaders, the likes of Joshua Nkomo and Dumiso Dabengwa who to him remained comrades in arms," Ncube said.

"He urged that no military action should be taken against Nkomo."

The fact that the Fifth Brigade still proceeded with their actions, albeit on Mugabe's order, and that Mujuru choose to keep tight-lipped on the events makes him as responsible as he could possibly be.

Disagreeing with something is hugely different from actually taking steps to ensure a non-event. And that event happened, cost between twenty and thirty thousand people their lives...

Take care.

'debvhu

Friday, 19th August 2011

Howzit

I continue with my IT studies. And I have come to the opinion that I absolutely hate Java. I have just finished one module on the subject, and discover that I have another three modules in it to do! Oh well, there is no rest for the wicked.

A glum looking Robert Mugabe, left Luanda on Thursday, back to his country after having attended the 31st Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), amid reports of escalating tensions in his party following the death of powerful retired army General in suspicious circumstances.

Mystery surrounding the death of Retired army General Solomon Mujuru on Monday night has pushed the future of Mugabe’s party ZANU PF into serious doubt as party members loyal to different factions gets sucked into brutal internal political machinations raising the stakes for the party's successor to Zimbabwean strongman.

Yesterday's article about Mugabe leaving the rein of the country with his Vice President, Joyce Mujuru, was brought forward as her estranged husband died in a fire with his girlfriend... Obviously, Mugabe could not remain away as the VP was involved directly with events.

No wonder he looked 'glum'!

But the SADC summit had very little to offer the Zimbabwean people, displaying once again, their total disregard for their regional duty of upholding law and order, peace and tranquility.

So, Mugabe may have gone home an unhappy bunny with the death of Solomon Mujuru, but he must have been buoyed by SADC's total ineptitude in furthering a political solution in Zimbabwe.

Southern African leaders ended two-day talks on Thursday with no major progress announced in resolving leadership battles in Zimbabwe and Madagascar that have topped the regional agenda in recent years.

The closing statement of the 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Angola's capital echoed a June meeting with calls for further mediation efforts to resolve the crises in the two countries.

The bloc "reaffirmed its decision of the [June] extraordinary summit", urging faster reforms in Zimbabwe but presented no plan to end a deadlock between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on new elections.

Just about the only positive that came out of the summit - if you can call it that - is that Mugabe finally conceded that Jacob Zuma is the mediator for SADC in the crisis facing Zimbabwe.

On the face of it, it isn't much as Zuma is decidedly pro-Mugabe...

The just ended SADC summit in Luanda, Angola has directed that SADC facilitator to the Global Political Agreement, President Jacob Zuma should engage the principals directly in his consultations on the agreement.

In an interview with State media after the summit, President Robert Mugabe said there is only one facilitator who was appointed by SADC and he is President Jacob Zuma who should conduct the mediation.

"The facilitator is not South Africa, but President Jacob Zuma the person. Facilitation means helping Zimbabwe decide the way forward until elections are held…" said President Mugabe.

However, this is a climb down from aggression mounted party loyalist and politburo member, Professor Jonathan Moyo in the State media interview ahead of the SADC Summit.

Why is it when a Mugabe-ite dies - even in questionable circumstances - suddenly they are 'heroes' and 'sons of the soil'?

Speculation about the possible political developments in Zimbabwe in the aftermath death of Solomon Mujuru (herein referred to as "Rex"), his legendary nom de guere this week, is understandable given his historical role in both the struggle for liberation and the life of the nation in the period since independence in 1980.

The spontaneous and nationwide reaction as news of his death spread last Tuesday was an acknowledgement that here, indeed, was not only a national hero in the true sense of the term, but also a national leader whose influence pervaded Zimbabweans in all walks of life and across the political divide.

If you ask me, Mugabe was happy to declare Mujuru a hero as it meant that he was dead...

And the evicted farmer of the homestead that was reportedly burned when Mujuru died, says that it was not possible for the deceased to become trapped...

Guy Watson-Smith the farmer who was evicted from his farm by the late Solomon Mujuru, in 2001, has expressed wonder at how Mujuru was reportedly 'trapped' in a fire proof bedroom with 3 doors and 4 double windows, escalating the theory that there could be a dirty hand in the retired General’s death.

"I was shocked to hear of Solomon Mujuru’s death and to see the photos all over the internet and which I have been sent (and picked up out here in the bush). Our house is destroyed, not that we expected to live in it again as we were violently evicted from our farm by the General in 2001," said Watson-Smith.

Hinting on the impossibility of the spreading of the fire, Watson said: "Our house was a sprawling single storey building, roofed entirely with asbestos sheeting (which was common in the 50′s when it was built)."

"Of course that makes it absolutely fire-proof, and the walls were brick and cement. All that could have burned was roofing timbers and ceilings, and to imagine the fire spreading quickly without help is hard to do.

So, the questions that are being asked now have some substantiation - but in typical Mugabe style, the case will be quietly closed by those close to Mugabe...

End of story.

Take care.

'debvhu

Thursday, 18th August 2011

Howzit

In conversation with a like-minded colleague yesterday, I suggested to him that Mujuru's death could conceivably be a huge cover-up. The fact that Mujuru was reportedly burned beyond recognition could be a ruse to allow him to skip the country (and justice) leaving an innocent unknown to play the part of the corpse...

And when it comes to ZANU PF, we cannot rule out any possibility.

One of the most powerful men in Zimbabwe has been killed in a fire, triggering rumours of a conspiracy in the battle to succeed the President, Robert Mugabe.

The former military chief Solomon Mujuru, 62, was ''burnt beyond recognition'' in the blaze at his farm about 50 kilometres south-west of Harare on Tuesday morning, police said.

Under his nom de guerre, Rex Nhongo, General Mujuru was a leader of the guerrilla war that swept Mr Mugabe to power and became Zimbabwe's first black military commander after independence. The general was married to Joice Mujuru, the vice-president of Zimbabwe and leader of a moderate faction in Mr Mugabe's ZANU PF party.

Analysts said his death will shake Zimbabwe's political kaleidoscope and rock ZANU PF, where Joice Mujuru and other rivals are jostling for position as 87-year-old Mr Mugabe's heir apparent.

Whenever something happens in Zimbabwe that is not clear and/or concise, especially if it has direct reference to the Mugabe party, eyebrows are raised and conspiracy theorists come out in force - but who can blame them with such a wealth of double-standards prevalent in the party?

And while one hopeful successor has fallen, younger members of the former ruling party believe that a new leader should be younger and more capable of leading...

Pressure from ZANU PF top officials for President Robert Mugabe to quit and allow a younger generation to take over is mounting with the party’s spokesman Rugare Gumbo confirming that the issue of leadership renewal has become “pertinent”.

ZANU PF leaders have for long quietly grumbled about the 87-year-old guerrilla leader’s insistence on hanging on despite old age, failing health and declining public support.

But they have upped the momentum in recent days, amid indications that betting on the man would be fatal as Mugabe is unlikely to last the distance.

Insiders said there was realisation that Mugabe might lack the ability to come back from his March 2008 electoral loss to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as he has become increasingly unpopular throughout the country.

Gumbo told the Daily News at the weekend that former information minister and now the party’s chief propagandist, Jonathan Moyo’s recent statements agitating for leadership renewal in ZANU PF were "pertinent".

Moyo is a known provocateur and his latest statements could find him being consigned to the rubbish dump - again. (Bearing in mind that rubbish is not collected in Zimbabwe...)

President Robert Mugabe left for Luanda, Angola, on Tuesday, in a quandary as he was forced to appoint grieving Vice-President Joice Mujuru as Acting President.

She lost her husband, Retired General Solomon "Rex Nhongo" Mujuru, in a mysterious fire that gutted his farmhouse in Beatrice the same day.

His predicament arose from the fact that the other Vice-President, John Nkomo, was reportedly seriously ill and most probably out of the country receiving treatment.

According to the Constitution of Zimbabwe, President Mugabe has an option to appoint a senior minister as acting President during his absence.

Section 31 (1)(c ) says a minister may be appointed: "During the absence or incapacity of the vice-President or both Vice-Presidents, as the case may be, by such Minister as maybe designated for such an eventuality - (i) by the President or (ii) by the Cabinet, where no minister has been designated by the President in terms of sub-paragraph (i).”

However, experience has shown that President Mugabe doesn’t trust his ministers with bigger responsibilities than they already have.

So Mugabe is in Angola to discuss the power-sharing negotiations, but the country is being run by a bereaved Vice President. He really does have some thinking to do...

The death of one of ZANU PF's heavies has not stopped the political violence being meted out on the MDC...

If anything, the death of Mujuru may cause an increase in the violence.

An MDC-T councillor in Bulawayo has been arrested and beaten by police over the alleged murder of an unidentified person.

Ward 29 Councillor Monica Lubimbi was arrested early Tuesday morning by homicide officers and taken to Donnington police station. SW Radio Africa’s correspondent Lionel Saungweme said that Lubimbi has been seriously beaten and needs medical attention.

Lubimbi was taken to Bulawayo Central police station on Wednesday and charged with collaborating with the murder of the unknown individual. Saungweme reported that at least five other people have also been arrested in connection with the death, and they are also being detained.

"Sources told me that Lubimbi was seriously assaulted with the butt of a rifle and with a drink bottle. She had swelling on her knees and elbows and was seen today with blood on her clothing," Saungweme said.

Take care.

'debvhu

Wednesday, 17th August 2011

Howzit

Obviously there will be questions asked about the fire that killed Solomon Mujuru. We have, over the years, seen various political personalities die in questionable circumstances, and then there are those that may not have been political, but were thorns in Mugabe's side... their lives snuffed out just like that...

Maurice Nyagumbo - found drowned in a swimming pool...
Chris Ushowekunze - traffic accident involving an army vehicle...
Peter Pamire - traffic accident put down to speeding...

And the fire will be seen as a tragic accident and filed away 'CLOSED'...

President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai expressed shock and sorrow at the death of retired army General, General Solomon Mujuru who died in an inferno at his Beatrice farm early Tuesday morning.

"I learnt with a deep sense of shock and sorrow of the death of General Solomon Mujuru Tapfumaneyi in a fire mishap at his Beatrice Farm early this morning," Mugabe said Tuesday before he left for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Luanda, Angola to be held on Wednesday.

"This horrific tragedy, the full details of which are still coming, has robbed the nation of a veteran commander of our war of national liberation. As we grieve his tragic departure, we recall and celebrate the exceptional leadership he showed in the run-up to our independence, most markedly in 1979 as we drifted into the uncertainties of ceasefire and subsequent tense general elections of 1980.

"Above all, we recall with the admiration how he successfully steer the delicate integration exercise which brought together the three warring armies of the Patriotic Front on the one hand, and the remnant Rhodesian Army on the other, moulding both into one solid and disciplined National Defence Force which he commanded until his retirement in 1992. Today Zimbabwe boasts a professional Defence Force traceable to his pioneering command," he said.

One of the most powerful men in Zimbabwe has been killed in a fire at his home, triggering rumours of a conspiracy in the battle to succeed the president, Robert Mugabe.

Former military chief Solomon Mujuru, 62, was "burnt beyond recognition" in the blaze at his farm about 35 miles south-west of Harare in the early hours of Tuesday morning, police said.

Under his nom de guerre, Rex Nhongo, Mujuru was a leader of the guerrilla war that swept Mugabe to power and became Zimbabwe's first black military commander after independence. The general was married to Joice Mujuru, vice-president of Zimbabwe and leader of a moderate faction in Mugabe's ZANU PF party.

Analysts said his death will shake Zimbabwe's political kaleidoscope and rock ZANU PF, where Joice Mujuru and other rivals are jostling for position as 87-year-old Mugabe's heir apparent. This in turn could destabilise the party's power-sharing agreement with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

One of those that will fall under the scope of suspicion will be long-time adversary for Mugabe's chair, Emmerson Mnangagwa...

The cross-party negotiations have dragged on for over 2 years and this has allowed Mugabe to rebuild much of the shattered party that lost the 2002 general election. And by stalling on security reforms, Mugabe has the country held over a barrel.

The MDC formation of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says a democratic transition cannot be achieved through free and fair elections if the military, the police and other security services continue to meddle in the process.

In recent months the issue of security sector reform has moved to the center of talks within Zimbabwe's chronically troubled power sharing government. The Movement for Democratic Change formation of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says a democratic transition cannot be achieved through free and fair elections if the military, the police and other security services continue to meddle in the process.

The phrase security sector reform has become highly politically charged, however, with ZANU PF officials bristling over the perceived slight to the liberation heritage and, where regional mediation is concerned, the perceived violation of national sovereignty.

Take care.

'debvhu

Tuesday, 16th August 2011

Howzit

(STOP PRESS: SOLOMON MUJURU CONFIRMED DEAD...

Retired General Solomon Mujuru died on Monday evening at his Beatrice farm in an electrical fire.

Mujuru, (62), was a former army chief, often seen as Zimbabwe's "king-maker" in the battle to succeed President Mugabe. He is said to be have died in an electrical fire that broke out at his farm in Beatrice. He died together with his girlfriend whose name was not immediately given. His estranged wife Joice was said to be at the Chisipite home when the fire broke out.

Air Marshall Henry Muchena confirmed that General Mujuru has died.

"It's true, Cde Rex Nhongo is no more," he said.

ZANU PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo said he was not yet aware of the death: "I haven't heard that. I don't know anything. If we get in information we will let you know."

But a ZANU PF Politburo source confirmed that the General had indeed died. Another Central Committee member confirmed that Mujuru had died.

Under his nom de guerre, Rex Nhongo, Mujuru spearheaded the guerrilla forces during the 1970s war of independence, which ended white minority rule.

He is also said to have played a key role in Mugabe's rise to the top of the ZANU party.

Following independence, he served as army chief, rising to become one of the most celebrated army generals.

He served as Member of Parliament for the north-eastern Chikomba constituency, before leaving public life in 1995 to concentrate on his sprawling business empire.

But he has always kept his senior role in the ruling ZANU PF party, where true power resides in Zimbabwe. This could give him some say in how and when Mugabe leaves office. But towards the end, he was said to have fallen out of favour with the President, who preferred the leader of a rival faction battling to succeed him led by Emerson Mnangagwa.

He was expected to be laid to rest at the National Heroes Acre with full military and State honours. ENDS)

As usual, events in, around and concerning Zimbabwe go from bad to worse as ZANU PF do their own thing in attempting to halt the inescapable move from dictatorship to democracy... and we are left to smell the smoke and watch the carnage...

Police officers from the Law and Order section on 11 August 2011 visited the Alpha Media Holdings (AMH) offices in search of editor Constantine Chimakure and senior political reporter Wongai Zhangazha, of the "Zimbabwe Independent" newspaper, over a story the paper published in its 8 July edition.

The visit was the second in less than a week.

Detectives Murira and Makore reportedly spoke to Chief Executive Officer Raphael Khumalo over a story entitled "Ministers rejected Kasukuwere plan". The detectives told Khumalo that they wanted Chimakure and Zhangazha to assist in investigations into who "leaked" the details of the story as it was based on Cabinet deliberations, which is an offence under the Official Secrets Act.

How is it acceptable that the pro-Mugabe newspaper, The Herald, can print whatever they like, whilst independent newspapers are held to account for every word that they print.

So much for the freedom of the press.

The 31st Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government opens tomorrow in Luanda, Angola, with leaders discussing a broad range of issues affecting the region.

Contrary to aspirations of the West, local and international non-governmental-organisations, sources close to the matter said yesterday there was no specific session on the agenda to discuss Zimbabwe.

The sources said the chairperson of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation and Zambian President Rupiah Banda will present to the summit a report reviewing progress on all problematic areas in the region. The areas are Madagascar, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe.

SADC's supposed concern over the Zimbabwean crisis is thrown into the spotlight when they haven't even invited Morgan Tsvangirai to their summit...

Where is there an objection from the mediator, Jacob Zuma? Where is there an objection raised by any of the regional leaders?

SADC are not only toothless, they just don't have the intestinal fortitude to face the crisis - and Mugabe - face on!

Maxwell Ncube, the party’s director of elections for Midlands North, was last seen alive on August 5 at Malamlela Business Centre in Zhombe.

Police have faced growing pressure to solve the murder mystery since Ncube’s body turned up in a sack, dumped on a riverbed some 300m from the business centre. His family said he had a wound on his head which appeared to have been inflicted with an axe.

The body of an MDC activist found murdered on August 9 is yet to undergo a post mortem, the party said on Monday.

More ZANU PF malingering, more Mugabe-sponsored deviance and more politically motivated obstruction of justice.

When will this end?

No matter how much pressure is applied to Mugabe, nothing is going to shift him - not unless his core support is either removed or made to see the error of their ways.

Pressure from ZANU PF top officials for President Robert Mugabe to quit and allow a younger generation to take over is mounting with the party’s spokesman Rugare Gumbo confirming that the issue of leadership renewal has become “pertinent”.

ZANU PF leaders have for long quietly grumbled about the 87-year-old guerrilla leader’s insistence on hanging on despite old age, failing health and declining public support.

But they have upped the momentum in recent days, amid indications that betting on the man would be fatal as Mugabe is unlikely to last the distance.

Have the police not got more important cases to investigate? Since when do bits of paper take precedence over murder cases?

Police on Monday interrogated Paul Siwela, the leader of the Mthwakazi Liberation Front (MLF) for about three hours in connection with fliers that were distributed on Thursday night calling for an uprising against President Robert Mugabe. Siwela was summoned by the officers from the Law and Order Section at the Bulawayo Central Police Station on Monday morning and only released after 12pm.

The MLF leader said Law and Order officers told him that they were interrogating him because the fliers had an MLF logo and indicated that they will summon him again during the week for further investigations.

Take care.

'debvhu

Monday, 15th August 2011

Howzit

It is very typical of ZANU PF to pull out all the stops when it comes to a case being investigated against the MDC. I do note that still not one farm invader, war veteran or youth brigade member has been arrested for any of the numerous deaths that have occurred since 2000 when the landgrabs began.

The fraud scandal in which Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his close relative Hebson Makuvise are accused of misappropriating US$1,5 million in public funds meant to buy a house for the premier in the up-market Highlands suburb in Harare has deepened as new information obtained this week further shed light on the high profile case.

Latest details clearly show that there were two different sums of money released from Treasury and the central bank to buy the same state-owned property, located at No 49 Kew Drive in Highlands.

I have decided that unless and until the case is ever heard in a criminal court, my best option is not to pre-empt any legal decision or interpretation. I am not qualified to make such decisions anyway.

Three years without a trace? I think you and I both know what happened to the seven...

The MDC-T is still trying to find out more information about seven of its activists, who have been missing since their abductions in 2008.

The seven were among more than 30 party activists abducted by ZANU PF during the turbulent 2008 election period, which saw Robert Mugabe’s party unleash serious violence against the then opposition. Hundreds of MDC supporters were murdered, thousands were tortured and tens of thousands more were displaced from their homes.

The majority of the abductees, including activist Jestina Mukoko, were eventually brought to court, weeks after they were abducted. But seven of the group have never been accounted for.

In the past three years there have been three different High Court rulings ordering their urgent release from custody, or their immediate appearance in court. But the Attorney General’s office has denied that they are being held.

ZANU PF will deny anything and everything - but that doesn't excuse them of any culpability...

Working conditions for foot soldiers in the Defence Forces are a cause for concern and government will do its best to raise their salaries to above the poverty datum line, says President Robert Mugabe.

A Defence Forces Day address read by his representatives around the country on Tuesday says: "Government would do its best to improve welfare of Defence Forces through among other methods, raise their salaries to levels above the poverty datum line. The issue regarding pensions for defence forces members who retired from active service before the country adopted the multi-currency regime would also be looked into."

Money is the root of all evil... and, in reality, Mugabe doesn't give a continental about the working conditions of the soldiers - just as long as they are there.

The Axe and the Tree: Zimbabwe’s Legacy of Political Violence focuses on the experiences of four individuals living in settlements around Harare during the electoral violence of 2008. Those featured in the documentary participated of their own free will and are aware of the repercussions that they could face due to their involvement. The International Center for Transitional Justice believe that this documentary will force the world to sit up and pay attention to the forgotten stories of the Zimbabwean people.

Take care.

'debvhu

Friday, 12th August 2011

Howzit

I am still working away at the IT course. At present I am working on Java 2 5.0 and finding it very difficult... Hmmm - I had no idea of the complexities of programming...

President Robert Mugabe arrived in Windhoek, Namibia to attend a meeting of liberation movements in the Southern African region hosted by Namibia.

The Head of State and Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces was received by ruling SWAPO Vice President and Namibia's Minister of Trade and Industry Hage Geingob and Zimbabwe's Ambassador to Namibia Cde Chipo Zindoga.

For me the problem is that Mugabe and ZANU PF could have been a liberation force in the very early 1980s, but all that he and his loud-mouthed supporters have done is the ruin what was once a beautiful country.

Mugabe will claim that the decline and demise of the standards in the country are as a direct result of targeted sanctions (which he maintains are full economic measures), but, in reality, it is their inability to keep their thieving hands out of the till...

Hundreds of farmers evicted by land invaders will sue the state for more than $20 billion in compensation for the loss of stolen assets and earnings.

Charles Taffs, president of the Commercial Farmers Union said the action sought to cover losses experienced by farmers and their workers.

Since the ZANU PF sponsored land invasions began about a decade ago, many of Zimbabwe's 4,500 white commercial farmers have been prevented from farming, contributing to the current food crisis.

Eviction orders are still being served on the few remaining farmers – estimated to number around 200. But many have refused to obey the orders, although they have been forced to seek sanctuary in the urban areas.

Some 170 expelled farmers have been arrested for defying the evictions and are awaiting trial, while 30 others have been charged with defying eviction orders.

Mugabe will claim that any compensation is to be paid by the English government as per the Lancaster House Agreement of 1979. But Mugabe has not lived up to his side of the agreement. The land was meant to change hands under a 'willing buyer - willing seller' basis - I see nothing 'willing' in forced evictions, beatings, arrests, incarcerations, thefts and killings.

For there to be an agreement, both interested parties have to abide by their respective sides of the signed document. Without adherence to the agreement, there can be no completion...

And even if the farmers were to win a court decision, not only will ZANU PF tie them up in legislation to prolong the case, the country doesn't have the amount sued for...

Southern Africa was facing an "erosion of democracy" caused in part by a failure of regional leaders to live up to their own agreements on the rule of law, civil society groups warned on Wednesday.

The 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) was faced with a growing number of regional "problem cases" and must enforce its own commitments on human rights and democracy at a summit next week in Angola, said a coalition of religious groups, unions and non-profit organisations.

"We note with deep concern the deteriorating political situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Malawi, Swaziland and Zimbabwe," Malcolm Damon, head of the Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa, told journalists in Johannesburg.

Mugabe does his own thing. It suits him on some days to have a go at SADC and other days he demands their support, then he ignores their calls for peace and a halt to violence - and the next day his gangs are back in the streets committing crimes aplenty.

SADC is toothless...

Reportedly, Zimbabwe is considering adopting the Chinese Yuan or the South African rand in the wake of the United State’s debt problems.

The southern African country adopted the use of multiple currencies in 2009 after its dollar was rendered unusable by hyperinflation.

However, the US dollar has been the biggest circulating currency in the country followed by the rand.

Following the downgrading of the debt of the US last week by the Standard & Poor (S&P) rating agency, Zimbabwean officials have been calling for a rethink on the use of the dollar.

I don't know why this even made the headlines. Not only does Mugabe promote the 'look East' policy, but it is totally indicative of the country's failings that they have to look elsewhere for a currency, Mugabe and Gono having ruined the Zimbabwean dollar.

I have a few Zim bearer cheques, and have laminated some to use as bookmarks. By placing them within a plastic covering, I have probably increased the face value by a factor of ten, at least - but ten times nothing is still nothing...

Take care.

'debvhu

Wednesday, 11th August 2011

Howzit

I am not going to apologise for this article, or the photographs...

Welcome to the REAL Zimbabwe!

Maxwell Ncube who disappeared last week on Friday was yesterday found by a group of villagers searching for him in the bushes - battered, bruised, naked and dead.

His body was half buried, in a galley situated 800 meters from his homestead, with the upper part covered with a plastic sack - which his killers put around his head, probably to avert the spilling of blood all over the gory scene of the crime.

Ncube had bruises and a deep cut wound on his head which shows that he was assaulted and axed to death.

ZANU PF's handiwork... for the whole world to see!

The MDC-T has lodged a police report over an incident on Tuesday involving Joshua Sacco, a white ZANU PF official who defaced the party’s logos and slogans at its offices at the village in Chimanimani in Manicaland.

Sacco, once described by Robert Mugabe as being the last white man standing in ZANU PF, led a group that sprayed the office block with white paint.

The MDC-T spokesman for the province Pishai Muchauraya, said the incident was witnessed by dozens of locals but by Wednesday afternoon police had still not arrested anyone.

"The group led by Sacco was so drunk they left beer bottles all over the place. We don’t know the motive behind the defacement but what is clear is that Sacco is fighting a bitter turf war with the local ZANU PF MP, Samuel Undenge.

Mugabe really doesn't care who does the damage and the violence - just as long as they do it, and in ZANU PF's name.

He will, of course, deny any connection with the drunken crowd...

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has said that the evidence gained during a BBC investigation into human rights abuses at the Chiadzwa diamond fields, could be used to prosecute Robert Mugabe.

The BBC’s Panorama investigative series this week revealed the extent of the human rights abuses at the diamond fields, including the ongoing use of torture camps controlled by the military. The Panorama team was also able to gather hard evidence and shocking testimonies of the military-led killing of hundreds of diamond panners in the area in 2008.

A soldier who took the risk of speaking to Panorama detailed how the killings unfolded, and also said that such an operation "would not have been possible" without orders from the top.

An international body has already managed to get the Gukurahundi to be tagged as genocide, but still no action has been taken against any one person - so what hope of the massacres in Chiadza?

I have much to do today, so I am going to leave this short posting here...

Take care.

'debvhu