Friday, 30th September 2011

Howzit

Last year I had the distinct pleasure of riding on the London Eye. I was truly in awe of the experience. In Derby there is a very much smaller version available for people to ride on and my brother-in-law kindly treated me yesterday afternoon.

I had no idea just how big Derby really is, and was impressed with the view...

Former South African President Nelson Mandela advised Robert Mugabe to step down in 2007 as a way of preserving his ‘liberation war legacy’, or run the risk of being disgraced like Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who later faced criminal trials. This is according to a US diplomatic cable revealed by the WikiLeaks website.

The cable was written by former US Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Christopher Dell. It quotes former Information Minister Jonathan Moyo who said Mandela conveyed his message to the ZANU PF leader via Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono. Mugabe’s response however was to insult Mandela as a ‘Western puppet’.

In the meeting with Dell, instigated by Moyo, the serial political turncoat told the ambassador that Mandela was acting on behalf of the African National Congress (ANC). According to the cable: “The ANC had defended Mugabe and wanted to continue to defend him but the situation in Zimbabwe was creating a threat to his legacy. It was time for him to go in order to preserve that legacy.”

Once again, because the story comes from Wikileaks, the integrity of the story will be attacked, but I can quite well believe it seeing that Mugabe's departure at that time would have saved a lot of time and money, not to mention human lives...

Why is it that Mugabe's police force have a penchant in arresting WOZA leaders? What crimes have they committed?

The MDC Women’s Assembly has called for the immediate release of the leaders of pressure group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), who have been jailed for more than a week.

Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu are still being held in custody at Mlondolozi prison after their arrest last Wednesday. The pair was arrested along with 10 other WOZA members during a peaceful march, which was violently disrupted by riot police.

The 10 other women were released last Thursday after ‘criminal nuisance’ charges against them were dropped.

But Williams and Mahlangu have been charged with ‘kidnapping’ and ‘theft’, which WOZA have called ‘malicious’ and ‘spurious’ allegations.

I can scarcely believe the charges - and how come they haven't been taken to court yet? If the police are to charge them, then at least they should appear in court and be given the option to apply for bail or be held on bail?

The workings of the legal system in Zimbabwe are very curious and do nothing to uphold the human rights of those in custody.

I do get tired of writing the same thing time after time. Here we have three 'suspected' MDC-T supporters being arrested for violence, but when similar acts are committed by ZANU PF thugs, strangely there are no arrests...

Three suspected MDC-T supporters who were part of a group that ran amok and stoned residents at Kuwadzana 5 shopping centre have been arrested.

The three - Gift Mwadzinga (28), Shadreck Chitambo (31) and Steven Machokoto (29) - were arrested on Tuesday and were yesterday still assisting police with investigations.

Harare provincial police spokesperson Inspector James Sabau, confirmed the arrest yesterday. Police said the three were part of a group that was travelling in a convoy of trucks and going to the MDC-T's 12th anniversary celebrations held at an open space in Kuwadzana 4 on Sunday.

"The group, which was travelling in a convoy of a Mazda B2200 (ABY 4472), Nissan Hardbody (ACB 8815), a Mazda Bongo without registration number plates and a Nissan Precia (ABZ 2897), stopped at Kuwadzana Shopping Centre," he said.

Insp Sabau said the group stoned several people who were at the shopping centre. Ngonidzashe Ruzivo (30) sustained injuries on his right knee while Brighton Chitsa (30) was injured on the elbow.

Vehicles travelling without number plates is a ZANU PF trait, not an MDC habit...

How can someone talk in the past tense about something that hasn't happened yet?

National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board chairman Mr David Chapfika says the indigenisation process has largely been a success, three years after the law setting it up came into effect.

But he told Herald Business in an interview the initiative was "a process" that would span generations.

The fact that the process of ensuring participation of local people in the mainstream economy had started was in itself "a resounding success", he said.

Mr Chapfika said the fact that Government moved to enact the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act of 2008 was a milestone.

Under the law all foreign-owned firms in Zimbabwe or wishing to invest here are required to sell at least 51 percent of their equity to indigenous people.

There has been general consensus among stakeholders in Government, the private sector, the investment community and the general populace that locals should take ownership of the means of production.

Apart from squabbling over the form and model the indigenisation process should take, Mr Chapfika said everyone conceded that the initiative was noble.

Nothing that Mugabe's administration does can be described as 'noble'...

Retired Major General-Kudzai Mbudzi‘s life is in danger after calling for Zimbabwe’s ageing President, Robert Mugabe’s exit. Mbudzi a Zanu-PF’s prodigal son and probably the most outspoken politician from Masvingo was part of the infamous Mavambo/Kusile project said Mugabe was no longer giving positive image of ZANU PF due to his old age.

However, ZANU PF youths in Masvingo have come out with guns blazing demanding for Mbudzi’s head on the cross saying it was an abomination and highly rebelliousness of Mbudzi to call for Mugabe’s exit.

ZANU PF national deputy youth commissar Talent Majoni said they will not rest until justice is done to Mbudzi.

In Zimbabwe, it is seen as a crime to even think ill of Mugabe. When his motorcade speeds by, pedestrians stand still and do not look at the vehicles for fear of being beaten by his security personnel.

So for someone to publicly come out and say Mugabe is too old, he has stepped into the ZANU PF minefield...

Take care.

'debvhu

Thursday, 29th September 2011

Howzit

Mugabe and his party have torn Zimbabwe to pieces and they have spent years picking the carcass clean. Now, as the end approaches, however it may end, there are questions being asked as to who owns what, and what belongs to whom...

Zimbabwe House in London was used as surety for ousted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi by his friend Robert Mugabe, back in 2002. But did Mugabe have the authority to hand State-owned property to a foreign power? And what for?

And, with the ousting of Gaddafi, does the need for surety not fall away?

The transaction was said to have been personally facilitated by Mugabe, after his ZANU PF government’s failure to pay for oil supplied by the Libyan state company Tamoil. Tamoil said in 2002 that Zimbabwe had failed to meet its US$90million quarterly payment as part of a US$360 million oil deal Gaddafi had agreed to.

ZANU PF at the time dismissed the reports that the deeds to Zimbabwe House had been handed over, calling it an attempt to “discredit” the government.

Also in 2002 the UK’s Foreign Office said that it had not been informed of any change in ownership of the property. A spokesman was quoted in 2002 as saying: “It’s their property so I suppose they can do what they like with it.”

How many other properties has Mugabe signed over as surety to other countries for services and goods rendered?

Staying with properties - ZAPU want the title deeds of their properties back...

Former Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) members have appealed to President Robert Mugabe for the release of title deeds of properties owned by the former Patriotic Front Zimbabwe African People’s Union (PF ZAPU) then led by the late nationalist Joshua Nkomo.

The former ZIPRA combatants met over the weekend and resolved to follow up on a letter they wrote to President Mugabe in 2009 following up on title deeds of properties that were returned to them in 2004.

In the late 1980s, government seized all properties belonging to the PF ZAPU and its military wing ZIPRA, at the height of the Gukurahundi massacres.

However, some of the properties are yet to be returned to the two organisations.

So Mugabe didn't just have ZIPRA personnel murdered, but he stole from them as well...

What the learned judge omits to say is that the ZRP are a pro-Mugabe/ZANU PF outfit, and will stop at nothing to protect their own...

High Court judge Justice Nicholas Mathonsi rapped the Gokwe police who investigated the murder of MDC-T activist Moses Chokuda, for attempting to conceal evidence in favour of the accused persons at the just-ended trial.

Delivering judgment, Justice Mathonsi said the court noted a worrying trend in which it appeared the police were attempting to conceal evidence in favour of the accused persons.

The convicted murderers are Farai Machaya, a member of the ZANU PF provincial youth executive and son of Midlands ZANU PF chairman, Governor and Resident Minister Jason Machaya , Edmore and Bothwell Gana, sons of ZANU PF Gokwe District Coordinating Committee chairman Ignatius Gana, and Abel Maphosa, a close friend of the Machaya’s and a ZANU PF activist.

“The manner in which the Gokwe police who investigated the murder handled the matter was far beyond expectation and we cannot exclude the fact that the police attempted to downplay what happened in favour of the defence. The police omitted vital evidence which was led by State witnesses and this is not acceptable,” Justice Mathonsi said.

The judge noted that State witnesses, who included Tinoziva Batisa, Tinashe Kwicho and Headman Isau Ndokwana, had all told the court that vital information they had given the police in their statements was missing.

Not only do the police allow this sort of thing to happen, but they recently banned a peaceful march by the MDC Youth... where is the equality in that?

And I am confused. The ZANU PF Youth go to the MDC Finance Minister about indigenisation... why not go to ZANU PF's Saviour Kasukuwere who is in charge of the so-called indigenisation?

About 50 pro-Mugabe youths gathered outside Zimbabwe's Finance Ministry on Wednesday, calling for government transparency amid controversial new plans to redistribute foreign-owned equity.

Protesters chanted outside the offices of Tendai Biti, an ally of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangerai and the country's finance minister.

“Youths have come to the realisation that we will remain poor and even poorer if we do not sign for what we are against,” said Hamilton Pazvakavamba, the leader of the group. “We will leave a petition for (Biti) to read.”

Pazvakavamba said the group is angry that government plans to redistribute foreign-owned equity will not benefit Zimbabwean youths.

“They have started the indiginisation of foreign firms, we do not see where we fit in,” he said.

The Mugabe youth must remember at all times that the land grab and the firm grab are policies dreamt up by ZANU PF, not the MDC...

This is just plain silly. We know the people of Zimbabwe don't want Mugabe to remain in power, but Mugabe, using his 87-years of experience, will do anything to deny the people anything which his security chiefs believe may be used against him, to wit, a Blackberry internet service...

President Robert Mugabe, fearing agitated citizens calling for regime change, is refusing to licence the BlackBerry service in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwean citizens are tech-savvy and emboldened, a fact that has raised fears okaying the Blackberry service could result Egypt and Tunisia-style uprisings. The Canadian mobile phones have flooded the country, but it looks as though the BlackBerry internet service will never see the light of day.

Government sources say the Joint Operations Command, a group of top security generals, has sternly warned against it, although Twitter and Facebook are allowed.

ICT minister Nelson Chamisa reportedly approved the service, but has been stonewalled by Mugabe.

"It’s securophobia mutating into technophobia," minister Chamisa told The Zimbabwean. He declined to comment further, saying the matter was still before Cabinet.

In Zimbabwe, it would appear, are unable to access the internet on their mobile techology as it might upset the ZANU PF gravy train...

Vice President John Nkomo has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour, officials and family sources said this week.

Unconfirmed reports say that Mugabe has prostate cancer, whilst this article tells us one of his deputies has got brain cancer... Mmmm - very interesting!

An enormous force in Zimbabwean politics for the past decade, 77-year-old Nkomo is one of President Robert Mugabe's top aides alongside Joyce Mujuru.

The veteran politician, who was a senior official in founding nationalist Joshua Nkomo's Zapu before its merger with Mugabe's ZANU PF in the 1980s, is seen by many as an efficient administrator, and a temperamental leader.

South African doctors have allegedly conducted a battery of tests, including a biopsy, and identified a cancerous mass on the top left portion of his brain as the cause of his recent seizure.

The news sent shockwaves across Zimbabwe, particularly Matalebeleland where he is held in high esteem. Many of his colleagues have been shaken by the news, although a family source expressed hope for a full recovery.

Take care.

'debvhu

Wednesday, 28th September 2011

Howzit

It is apparent that Mugabe will use the indigenisation law as a weapon against Nestle seeing as the company shut down the supply contract they had with Mugabe's dairy...

Swiss food giant Nestlé and other multinational companies are being forced to sell 51 percent of their Zimbabwean operations to local citizens.

A law enacted in March last year requires any foreign company with assets valued at over $500,000 to sell 51 percent to indigenous Zimbabweans.

Nestlé has until the end of September to comply with the law or risk facing the loss of its license to operate in the country.

Nestlé has been present in Zimbabwe for 50 years.

The company employs some 200 people in its factory in the capital Harare, which produces cereals and powdered milk for the local market.

In 2009, the factory closed temporarily following pressure from the authorities to purchase milk from suppliers who were not contracted by the company.

Nestle is just one of an estimated 700 companies that face a rocky future in Zimbabwe.

About 700 foreign companies in Zimbabwe missed a deadline to submit plans to sell 51 percent of their shares to local blacks under a new law, a government official said Tuesday.

Wilson Gwatiringa, head of the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board, said firms defying the so-called indigenisation law would face "serious consequences" including "cancellation or suspension of operating licences as well as payment of hefty fines."

"Many non-indigenous companies have not complied with the indigenisation law as they are reluctant to submit their indigenisation plans for approval," said Gwatiringa.

He estimated that "maybe around 700" companies had not complied, adding that the board "will be undertaking a wide-scale compliance audit across all sectors of the economy."

Mugabe and his party, with all the extensions of his power, use all manner of excuses to prevent any action by the MDC, even if the intended action is civil...

Police in Harare have banned the MDC Youth Assembly from holding a peace march in central Harare next month. On Monday, the MDC Youth Assembly Secretary, Promise Mkwananzi notified the police of the party’s intention to hold a peace march in central Harare on Saturday 16, October 2011.

The peace march is in support of calls by President Morgan Tsvangirai and Zanu PF’s Robert Mugabe for the creation of a peaceful environment in the country. The two leaders have further urged the youths to be peaceful and not to be used by politicians to perpetrate violence against innocent people.

However, the Youth Assembly was today informed by the police that the police had banned all public marches except those organised by government ministries or departments.

The Youth Assembly said it was unhappy with the police decision and would seek legal assistance in order to challenge the decision in court.

We have to remember that if this was an application by the ZANU PF youth to conduct the same event, it would be approved without any further thought.

I find this difficult to swallow, especially when another article states that Mugabe believes that the West has an ulterior motive in re-engaging with Zimbabwe...

President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party says it is ready to resume dialogue with European Union (EU) countries but said Brussels must first lift sanctions against its top leaders.

Party chairman Simon Khaya Moyo told Swedish ambassador Anders Liden that the former liberation movement, most of whose top leaders are banned from EU territory, was ready for re-engagement, telling the diplomat that there was need to move away from “things which separate us”.

"We agree that we must turn a new page. We can't continue to live in the past. We can't dwell on things which separate us after all we are one humanity," Moyo yesterday told Liden, who had paid a courtesy call on the ZANU-PF chairman.

Moyo acknowledged the role played by Stockholm in support of Zimbabwe’s 1970s liberation struggle, while repeating ZANU-PF’s favourite line that the rest of the EU had been misled by Britain into imposing sanctions against the party’s leadership over a bilateral dispute between London and Harare.

I am not so sure that Mugabe is in any position to dictate to the West...

Take care.

'debvhu

Tuesday, 27th September 2011

Howzit

When I was in the ZRP, many years ago, as a prosecutor and as an investigating officer, I would often find myself having to visit various prisons in and around Bulawayo - and even then, they were not in the best shape. And I can guarantee that Mugabe's administration spent next to nothing on the upkeep of the establishments, so they must be pretty disgusting now.

And then there is the treatment of the inmates...

A pressure group on Monday denounced what it described as the inhumane condition facing women imprisoned in police cells in Zimbabwe.

In a petition to the country's highest court, Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) said incarcerated women were being forced to take off their underwear and shoes, while their cells have no light or sanitation.

"The application seeks to highlight the plight of women in detention, by showing the added hardships they have to endure on account of their sex.

"The filth, coupled with lack of access to sanitation, constitutes a violation of the rights of women in detention," Belinda Chinowawa of the Zimbabwe of Lawyers for Human Rights told the German Press Agency dpa.

The petition follows the recent arrest of four WOZA activists, who were detained at Harare Central Police station for demonstrating against escalating energy costs.

No amount of petitions or court orders will make the situation any easier - Mugabe has decided that the future for Zimbabwe is embodied by his own life, not the lives of lowly criminal Zimbabweans...

Every now and then there is a spark of logic in Zimbabwe, and when it does happen, we should celebrate the common sense being displayed.

The son of Midlands governor Jason Machaya and three other ZANU PF activists were beginning 18-year jail terms on Monday after they were convicted of beating an MDC-T supporter to death.

Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Nicholas Mathonsi, on circuit in Gweru, said the sentence should send a “clear message on the sanctity of life” as he put away Farai Machaya, 32, Abel Maphosa, and brothers Edmore, 29, and Bothwell Gana, 27, for the killing of Moses Chokuda in March 2009.

Two soldiers, Obert Gavi, 25, and Tirivashoma Mawadza, 25, involved in the brutal assault on Chokuda, who had been accused of a break-in at the governor’s shop in Gokwe, were given suspended 12 month sentences.

In dramatic scenes outside the Gweru Magistrates’ Court building where the sentencing hearing took place, Chokuda’s father declared he would not be burying his son until the parents of the quartet “come to my own court”.

I wonder if ZANU PF will orchestrate a quiet release for the accused once the spotlight has moved on to other news...?

I interested in reading this...

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai will publish his memoirs on October 1 after signing a multi-million rand deal with Penguin Books.

Tsvangirai, 59, will also make extra cash after flogging serialisation rights to eleven South African newspapers.

‘Morgan Tsvangirai: In at the Deep End’, “traces Tsvangirai’s political development and activism, laying bare the challenges and frustrations of his political life, up to and including the power-sharing agreements with President Robert Mugabe,” Penguin Books said in a statement.

The autobiography, Tsvangirai’s first book, was ghost-written by the journalist William Tagwirei Bango. Bango, who worked for the MDC leader for a time as his spokesman, previously worked for The Daily News as a news editor.

Penguin Books said Tsvangirai was “globally regarded as a courageous and indefatigable symbol of resistance in the face of brutal repression” adding that the book would chronicle his travails “from teenage mine worker to trade union leader to Prime Minister of Zimbabwe in a coalition government”.

So Kasukuwere will chase Standard Chartered out of the country - and then attempt to run it using Zimbabwean ownership. The result will be one decidedly ex-bank...

Zimbabwe has rejected Standard Chartered’s ownership plan for its Zimbabwean unit because it falls below the required 51 percent local stake, state media reported on Monday.

Under a controversial “indigenisation” law, foreign firms operating in Zimbabwe are required to sell a majority of their local business to black Zimbabweans. Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere told the state-controlled Herald newspaper that Standard Chartered had offered 10 percent of its operation to locals.

“The law is clear. It’s 51 percent share holding to indigenous people, not the 10 percent they are talking about,” Kasukuwere told the Herald. “Their plan is unacceptable.” Kasukuwere and Standard Chartered officials were not immediately available for comment.

Standard Chartered’s executive for the Africa region, Diana Layfield, met Kasukuwere last week and told him the bank wanted to retain majority control of its Zimbabwe unit, the newspaper said.

Kasukuwere in August gave Standard Chartered, Barclays and other foreign-owned firms, a two-week ultimatum to submit new ownership plans or risk losing their operating licences, a move that was sharply criticised by Zimbabwe’s central bank.

Mugabe doesn't listen to underlings in government - certainly not those of the MDC-T - and only wants to liaise with his own people. Chamisa's challenge will fall on deaf ears - and a very hard heart...

MDC-T organising secretary Nelson Chamisa yesterday dared President Robert Mugabe to stop his party’s notorious shadowy group Chipangano from terrorising Harare residents to prove he is sincere in his calls for peace.

The Mbare-based Chipangano is a violent political gang which features at most scenes of political violence defending ZANU PF positions by beating up perceived opposition members.

Chamisa yesterday said the 87-year-old ZANU PF leader, who has of late taken every opportunity to lambaste violence, must put his sincerity to the test by reining in the Chipangano rabble rousers.

The youthful and popular MDC-T leader was addressing a rally in his constituency of Kuwadzana when he challenged President Mugabe’s sincerity.

Chipangano has caused havoc in Harare where it has literally crippled the operations of elected public officials including the mayor and his council who have all but given up on the group’s disruptive and violent activities.

It is not a dare, nor a challenge - but it does bring Chamisa under the Mugabe microscope...

Take care.

'debvhu

Monday, 26th September 2011

Howzit

So Mugabe is 'stranded' in New York after the commandeered Air Zimbabwe aircraft burst its tyres on landing... Real or imagined?

Let's face it - a few days of shopping for the Amazing (Dis)Grace never hurt her...

Zimbabwe’s ageing leader, President Robert Mugabe and several government officials are stuck in New York after an Air Zimbabwe plane that was supposed to ferry them back home burst its tyres on Friday.

Informed sources said the long haul aircraft burst four of its rear tyres as a result of hard landing when it landed at an airport in New York to pick up the ageing leader and his delegation which include ministers and senior government officials who had been in the US attending the UN summit.

The sources said the aircraft which was parked at an airforce base close to New York burst its tyres as it landed at an airport in New York due to bad weather.

Engineers traveling with Mugabe secured two tyres to replace the burst ones in the US and were on Saturday awaiting delivery of the fourth tyre from Air Zimbabwe’s spares store in London.

I am willing to bet that the pilot will be brought up on the mat for some sort of disciplining seeing as he was in control of the aircraft when the tyres burst, causing Mugabe and his entourage to be delayed...

We have witnessed the deadly farm grab - now expect to see similar activities as Mugabe and his apologists get stuck into the firm grab...

Foreign companies operating in Zimbabwe have until Sunday to hand in plans to sell majority stakes to local blacks, under a law that has alarmed investors, who are uncertain how the rules will work.

The government's order for the transfer of 51% ownership has been called the final phase of "economic emancipation", after controversial land reforms targeting white-owned farms a decade ago. But analysts are sceptical.

"There is no way the locals and the government have the money to buy shares in the companies. Everybody knows that," Anthony Hawkins, a University of Zimbabwe economics professor, told AFP.

The indigenisation drive could hurt the economy in the same way as the land reforms, which sparked an economic nose-dive after supporters of President Robert Mugabe violently seized white-owned farms, he warned.

Whenever I read of someone in ZANU PF denying something, then I realise that they are conducting whatever they are denying, Sometimes keeping quiet is more powerful than a heated denial...

The MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is accusing a senior ZANU PF official in Manicaland of instilling fear amongst villagers opposed to President Robert Mugabe’s party in the Musikavanhu area of Chipinge.

Former Chipinge South legislator Enock Porusingazi is accused of ordering village headmen in the area to list all names of known ZANU PF supporters, sparking fears amongst opposition supporters who fear victimisation.

Porusingazi, however, denied the allegations saying they are carrying out a restructuring exercise.

“Those who do not belong to our party do not know why we are doing this. We are in the process of restructuring our party in the Musikavanhu area.

“Why should we write down names of members who do not belong to our political party?” said Porusingazi.

Matthew Gonera, organising secretary for MDC-T’s Chipinge South district coordinating committee, said Porusingazi and his colleague Tobias Matanga were distributing books to village headmen in the area and ordering them to list all members of ZANU PF.

In Mugabe-speak, 'restructuring' means the stamping out of all known supporters and members of the MDC-T...

Whenever I read the names Mutasa or Shiri, my skin crawls. These are two men whose histories are written in the blood of those who they have killed. Mutasa is known for his power and the ability he has to make lives in the country just cease to exist, whilst Shiri, former commander of the Fifth Brigade, is someone who sees no wrong in his actions.

So this Wikileaks story came as no surprise at all.

ZANU PF heavyweights are said to have been behind the bloody 2008 presidential election runoff which the MDC claimed resulted in the death of more than 200 of its supporters.

According to US embassy cables released by WikiLeaks, former Gender and Women’s Affairs minister Oppah Muchinguri, air force commander Perrence Shiri, and State Security minister Didymus Mutasa as well as former cabinet minister Kumbirai Kangai incited some of the worst violence.

The cable dated April 10 2008 says that ZANU PF central committee member Manatsa Mutasa, who was described as “disillusioned”, told ambassador James McGee that ZANU PF had been disturbed by MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s victory in the March 2008 election and had hatched a plan to intimidate MDC leaders and supporters.

Mutasa told the US embassy that bases and command centres were set up in the bush and manned by “off duty soldiers”.

“Disillusioned central committee member Manatsa Mutasa told us that the politburo recognised MDC (Morgan) Tsvangirai had won 48% of the presidential vote against Mugabe’s 43%,” read the cable.

“Consequently, the ruling party had begun a campaign of violence, spearheaded by minister Oppah Muchinguri, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Kumbirai Kangai, Air Marshall Perrence Shiri and minister Didymus Mutasa to intimidate the population and MDC leaders.”

And, despite the bloodshed in Zimbabwe, the free world contents itself with weak statements on Zimbabwe every now and then, preferring to concentrate on conflicts that will dictate who controls world oil.

Take care.

'debvhu

Sunday, 25th September 2011

Howzit

Y’know, there are days when the problems in Zimbabwe weigh me down like a physical yoke around my neck. And I know that I shouldn’t let it get me down – especially 6000 miles away from the action, but having lived in that Southern African country from 1964 until 1998, it is the place where I learned who I was, and learned in equal part about the African psyche.

Zimbabwe is part of my mental make-up, part of my character, part of my emotional being…

Therefore, whilst I write about five times a week about the problems that continue to confound the best minds in the land, I find myself caught up in an internal argument as to why should I really be concerned with a conflict half a world away?

Perhaps the answer is the reluctance the free world has to influence the obvious illegalities of Mugabe's rule. Perhaps it is the manner in which the free world prefers to involve itself in altercations that seem to be about who controls world oil... but, in reality, it is because of the people suffering under Mugabe's 'legalised' ruination of Zimbabwe.

The weather, the ecology, the people, the economy, the sense of belonging - all of these attributes have been consigned to the rubbish dump, and the people of Zimbabwe know little more today than a struggle to survive, a struggle to actually still be alive to face the next dawn.

Here in the UK, despite my birth here, because of my strong African accent, I am treated as a foreigner, and I find myself being consigned to the lesser opportunites. So perhaps my concerns and interests in a landlocked country in Southern Africa are well-placed.

Only time will tell.

Take care.

'debvhu

Friday, 23rd September 2011

Howzit

Many, many years ago, I had the distinct displeasure of being on crowd control duty as a young Patrol Officer in Plumtree in the ZRP and Mugabe was giving his address. Anyone who has had the pleasure of living in Plumtree will know how hot it gets, so with the added agony of Mugabe sounding forth, it wasn't a happy experience at all.

In a speech ranging from what he said were “illegal” sanctions imposed on Harare by Western nations to Palestine’s desire for statehood, Mr Mugabe said it was sad that the international Criminal Court and the UN Security Council were being used by powerful countries to target leaders from the developing world, in particular African leaders.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe addressed the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York Thursday attacking NATO countries for their “blatant, illegal, brutal, callous and murderous bombings” in Libya, helping the National Transitional Council topple Colonel Muammor Gadhaffi.

In a speech ranging from what he said were “illegal” sanctions imposed on Harare by Western nations to Palestine’s desire for statehood, Mr Mugabe said it was sad that the international Criminal Court and the UN Security Council were being used by powerful countries to target leaders from the developing world, in particular African leaders.

Mr Mugabe expressed doubts that NATO’s intervention in Libya would enhance democracy in the North African country.

Mugabe's opinions about democracy are hugely misplaced seeing that he himself is a brutal and bloody dictator.

The escalating incidents of violence against the MDC-T took centre stage at the funeral of the late party founder, Diamond Karanda on Wednesday, as party officials called on their youth members to defend themselves, the way he did until his death.

Gangs of ZANU PF thugs have caused chaos in Harare over the last few weeks, assaulting legislators in parliament, market vendors, minibus operators and even police officers, with impunity.

The Chipangano gang from Mbare have achieved notoriety for their violent activities and have taken over many council-owned properties around the capital, controlling parking lots, bus ranks and market stalls.

This is entirely new. The MDC does not practise violence and their leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has made that very obvious. However, with the increase in violence around the country (despite Mugabe publicly calling for the violence to stop), the party has little choice but to call on the MDC youth to protect and defend themselves when attacks occur.

At the funeral where thousands of MDC-T members were gathered, the party’s vice national Chairman, Morgen Komichi, called on the youths to “help Harare” and to defend themselves against ZANU PF attacks.

“Harare is under siege and now ZANU PF thinks this is Uzumba. Let’s rise up and get ready to defend ourselves if (Police Commissioner-General Augustine) Chihuri does nothing,” Komichi told the mourners.

Adding to this, the party’s organizing secretary Nelson Chamisa said their youths are dying from injuries sustained in the attacks. “The ZANU PF youths last year declared they were taking over what ‘rightly belonged’ to them,” Chamisa reminded the mourning crowd.

This is very interesting. ZANU PF bigwigs are threatening to expose Mugabe... I somehow don't think that he'll be having any of that, so his reaction will be most interesting.

Senior ZANU PF officials have threatened to expose President Robert Mugabe's secret dealings with Western businessmen if he brings up the issue of their own clandestine meetings exposed in leaked US diplomatic documents.

ZANU PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa told the media ahead of Wednesday's politburo meeting that the issue of "sellouts" exposed by the US organisation Wikileaks to have pursued a regime change agenda would be top priority at the meeting.

But the issue was inexplicably dropped from the agenda. The party elders then spent a long time deliberating the hero status of financier and politburo member, Kanthibai Patel, who died last week.

Mugabe is accused of dealing with British business people by proxy. The revelations that have thrown ZANU PF into turmoil implicated top officials, including vice Presidents Joice Mujuru and John Nkomo and Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Anything that throws ZANU PF into chaos os okay by me...

Relations between South Africa and Zimbabwe have been slowly deteriorating as the South African leadership has finally realised that events to their immediate North seem to have an adverse effect up their own economy and welfare.

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress has blamed Zimbabwean leader, President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party for exporting violence through its inflammatory speeches that have been blindly adopted by its (ANC) youth league.

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, who is on a visit to Harare, accused ZANU PF of influencing the thinking and actions of its controversial national youth league president, Julius Malema.

The firebrand Malema has long declared economic war on whites and his calls for the nationalisation of mines have unnerved investors in Africa's biggest economy.

Mantashe said the youth wing’s inflammatory rhetoric is similar to that of Mugabe’s party.

The ANC secretary was addressing senior ZANU PF members, Acting President, John Landa Nkomo, Vice President, Joice Mujuru, secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa and national chairman, Simon Khaya Moyo at a meeting on Wednesday.

After the meeting Mutasa attempted to absolve his party.

Of course the Zimbabwean leader's party will attempt to absolve themselves - it is what ZANU PF does. If they say it, then that is the end to the story. They are of the opinion that they - and they alone - speak the truth...

Take care.

'debvhu

Thursday, 22nd September 2011

Howzit

A very early start this morning as B has an appointment at City Hospital on the other side of Derby just after 9 this morning...

Not only has he managed a comeback, but now he is somehow excelling in his attempts to prove himself indispensable. You would have thought that Mugabe party, a party where deception and ulterior motives are known and practised, would have known better.

ZANU PF’s information spin doctor Jonathan Moyo has been promoted by his ZANU PF party to the powerful JOMIC (Joint Operations Monitoring, Implementation Committee) despite his dirty controversies exposed by whistle-blower website Wikileaks.

Moyo, ZANU PF’s ”straying parrot”, will now sit on the board, ZANU PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo announced on Monday.

Jonathan Moyo who has become the first to admit his damning shame and part in discussions with a US ambassador was unanimously chosen for the post and has now been informed of this, said Gumbo.

It will be very interesting to see what happens when it all goes horribly wrong...

I wonder if anyone will be able to quantify the loss to Zimbabwe...

Immigration officials at Beitbridge Border Post on Tuesday dismissed as untrue, claims that there was overcrowding at the border post as a result of the closure of the South African side of the border between 9pm on Monday and 2am on Tuesday.

Officials said business at the border post, regarded as the busiest in Africa, was normal.

“It’s normal. It seems people heeded the message that the border post would be closed between 9pm and 2am and they did not overcrowd. Even yesterday, we didn’t have any pressure. It was very manageable,” an official said.

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority regional manager at the border post refused to comment.

“I am not allowed to discuss such issues with the Press. Try the corporate communications office in Harare,” he said.

There were claims early yesterday that the temporary closure of the South African side of the border had caused chaos as scores of people who had apparently not heard about the move thronged the border post, congesting both sides of the border.

The South African government on Monday temporarily closed its side of the border post in Musina until early Tuesday morning to allow for an upgrade of its immigration department’s information technology system.

Where are the police? Why haven't they done anything?

Or, as is apparent, is the gang politically motivated and therefore the police are instructed to turn a blind eye?

The Chipangano organization, based in the heavily populated suburb of Mbare, has been stepping up criminal activities in recent days with extortion at bus terminals and seizing control of market stalls.

Zimbabwean Co-Minister of Home Affairs Teresa Makone said Wednesday that Harare is overrun by by the gang known as Chipangano which is alleged to have ties to President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF, beating residents and even attacking police officers.

The Chipangano organization, based in the heavily populated suburb of Mbare, has been stepping up criminal activities in recent days with extortion at bus terminals and seizing control of market stalls to such an extent it seems to have the run of the capital.

Witnesses said Chipangano gang members are brazenly committing robberies and assaults while the authorities fail to take action.

Makone told VOA that Chipangano youths assaulted commuter omnibus operators on Tuesday at the bus terminus opposite Harare Central Police Station, and beat up police officers who came to investigate the disturbance.

ZANU PF have never been people to sit doing nothing and the landgrab continues whilst companies are also being targeted...

Youths aligned with President Mugabe's ZANU PF party have begun a new wave of land seizures, attacking white and foreign-owned companies and damaging one of the few functioning parts of the economy.

A country still reeling under the economic meltdown of the controversial land reform, Zimbabwe is on the brink of yet another potentially damaging economic exercise: seizing white-controlled companies in urban centers and mines through out the country.

Under the banner of the 21^st February Movement, an organization formed in line with President Robert Mugabe’s birthday, ZANU PF youths are indiscriminately invading white- and foreign-owned companies under the controversial Indigenization and Economic Empowerment Act, which requires that foreigners possess 41 percent of shares while the rest goes to indigenous people.

While compliance should be executed in boardrooms, young members of the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front, led by President Mugabe, have adopted the violent land reform style of grabbing the companies, at times forcing the closure of strategic economic units and at the same time causing mayhem, especially in the capital, Harare. It's a method that was used in the past decade against white-owned farms, and which has been blamed for a severe drop in food production. Once a food-exporter, Zimbabwe now is a recipient of food aid.

Mugabe will not allow his perceived enemies a chance to breathe. For him it is attack, attack, attack - even if the policies so adopted are detrimental to the economy and well-being of the country.

Mugabe is not concerned with the country - his concerns are more politically and racially based.

What happened to the Hippocratic Oath? Does the obviously political nature of the attack cancel out the need for medical attention? The Hippocratic Oath is an oath historically taken by doctors and other health care professionals swearing to practice medicine ethically.

An MDC supporter was rushed to Zimunya clinic after rowdy Zanu (PF) youths attacked a vehicle he was driving last Saturday.

The youths, who were visibly drunk, pelted Hebert Chiripanyanga’s Isuzu KB double cab with stones near Matondo business centre injuring him as he drove to an MDC youth meeting at the centre.

The injured Chiripanyanga was taken to Zimunya clinic, but was denied assistance because the nurses were afraid of a backlash from the youths.

The attack was allegedly engineered by a youth only identified as Tauzen.

The matter was reported at Matondo Police base, but nothing happened as it was manned by a member of the police constabulary who said he would wait for his boss to solve the matter.

“My hands are too small to deal with that matter. You should wait for my boss who is attending a scene somewhere,” he said, without naming the boss.

We have read of this before where injured motorists, shot by Mugabe's guards, have been refused medical attention - because it is 'political'....

Take care.

'debvhu

Wednesday, 21st September 2011

Howzit

Why is it that the United Nations insist on inviting Mugabe to all and any of their New York shindigs? And then they compound the error by giving him the floor?

Mugabe's speech this time was about helping Africa... All well and good, but hasn't the United Nations worked out that Mugabe is one cause of the problems in Southern Africa? No doubt he was applauded for his address, even though the landlocked country of Zimbabwe faces trials worse than many people can imagine because of this man's questionable leadership skills...

Activities of the 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly entered the second day at the UN headquarters in New York this Tuesday afternoon with leaders attending several high level meetings on various issues affecting world development.

Robert Mugabe, was among the leaders who attended the meeting on desertification, land degradation, sustainable development and poverty eradication.

In his address, Mugabe said drought and land degradation compromise the social, economic and environmental pillars of sustainable development.

He said it is therefore important that developing countries proclaim zero tolerance to land degradation and adopt effective land reclamation programmes and green their land for food production and adaptation to climate change.

Bear in mind that this is the man who lauds the landgrab, effectively stopping agricultural production in the country, leaving the once prosperous land to lie fallow.

Mugabe has publicly vilified gays and lesbians, stating that they are lower than dogs and pigs. And, in keeping with that opinion, this pro-Mugabe 'bishop' has seized an orphanage claiming that the nuns and priests who run it support same-sex relationships.

It must be really neat to be able to hide behind Mugabe's statements when seizing property that would otherwise not be within grasp...

Bishop Chad Gandiya, Zimbabwe’s top Anglican bishop, has stated that an excommunicated church leader with ties to President Robert Mugabe has taken over an orphanage housing 80 children accusing the nuns and priests there of supporting homosexuality. Bishop Nolbert Kungonga was excommunicated four years ago for allegedly inciting violence in sermons supporting the ruling party led by Mugabe.

According to Gandiya, Kungonga also seized mission schools and priests’ homes on the church premises near Murewa. Worshipers there now congregate in the shade of trees near a dirt road.

Kungonga has already taken over the Harare cathedral as well as church bank accounts. He enjoys a lot of protection for his ties to Mugabe.

For his part, Kunonga insists that he left the Anglican church because of same-sex marriage. The reverend who was forced to leave the mission church near Murewa has stated that he was not marrying same-sex couples. Kunonga likely used the excuse of same-sex marriage as a means to begin consolidating power behind his authority and not the Anglican Communion.

Mugabe is a friend of Gaddafi, so I am not at all sure if this is just a ploy to endear the country to those other countries from which Mugabe needs help... I really cannot see Mugabe closing the door on Gaddafi.

Zimbabwe is set to end its boycott of the Libyan rebels after the African Union moved to recognise the National Transitional Council (NTC) which replaced Muammar Gaddafi’s regime following an armed insurgency.

The African Union (AU) recognised the de facto government on Tuesday after receiving guarantees, among them assurances on the safety of black migrant workers as well as a pledge to “give priority to national unity and to bring together all Libyan stakeholders, without any exception,” to rebuild the country.

In its statement issued following a meeting of its five-nation Ad Hoc Committee on Libya, the AU said the interim Libyan government had also reaffirmed its commitment to the African continent.

Zimbabwe had taken the stance that it would be guided by the SADC and AU positions. Support for the NTC could now be automatic following the AU move.

It isn't very often that a ZANU PF member or official finds themselves on the receiving end of a custodial sentence for a crime... but it does happen.

Both formations of Zimbabwe's former opposition Movement for Democratic Change and civic organizations have hailed the sentencing of a ZANU PF activist to 20 years in jail following his conviction for raping an MDC supporter during 2008 election violence.

Passing judgment against war veteran Gilbert Mavhenyengwa on Monday, Masvingo Magistrate Esther Muremba called him a “disrespectful thug” who took advantage of the volatile situation to rape a vulnerable woman, independent daily Newsday reported.

The magistrate also chastised Mavhenyegwa, who commanded a ZANU PF militia base in Masvingo at the time, for not using a condom during the forced encounter, saying he had exposed the unnamed victim to the danger of contracting the AIDS virus.

Such judgments against perpetrators of the 2008 election violence are not common. A magistrate in Chitungwiza, a Harare satellite town, sentenced five ZANU PF supporters to three years in jail in January for torturing MDC supporters during the elections.

But the 20 year sentence imposed on Mavhenyengwa caught public attention.

The sad truth is that the powers that be will quietly conspire to have this individual released early - one 'compassionate' grounds - and ensure that he is fit and healthy, ready for a repeat performance when required...

Take care.

'debvhu

Tuesday, 20th September 2011

Howzit

This is not a WikiLeaks thing - it is ZANU PF imploding upon itself.

Jonathan Moyo is determined to make himself irreplaceable within ZANU PF, the party from which he was ejected a few years ago. Then, having got himself re-elected on an independent ticket, he rushed back to re-join the Mugabe party.

Now he is attempting to prove his value...

Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) Director-General Happyton Bonyongwe has been accused of “doctoring” reports compiled by the agency’s operatives meant for President Robert Mugabe’s attention, mainly prior to the March 2008 elections.

This sensational charge was made by ZANU PF politburo member and former Information minister Jonathan Moyo to ex-US ambassador to Zimbabwe Christopher Dell at a meeting on March 30 2007, according to leaked American embassy cables.

One of the cables dated March 30 2007 says Moyo told Dell Bonyongwe supported former ZANU PF politburo member and ex-Finance minister Simba Makoni who was challenging Mugabe during the 2008 polls.

Moyo, the cable says, claimed Bonyongwe had held discussions with the late former army commander General Solomon Mujuru over his support for Makoni. Other cables say Mujuru and former ZANU PF politburo member and ex-Home Affairs minister Dumiso Dabengwa initiated the Makoni candidacy.

“With regard to the CIO, Moyo said Mugabe had received information that CIO Director-(General) Happyton Bonyongwe had been conferring with Solomon Mujuru,” the cable reads.

“Furthermore, he (Moyo) had received information from CIO sub-directors that Bonyongwe was doctoring information. Believing Mujuru to be involved with both military and CIO dissension, Mugabe had summoned Mujuru. According to Mugabe, Mujuru had not yet responded. Meanwhile, a massive shakeup was underway in the security services, with many re-assignments within and between agencies being made in order to break up potential coup-plotting networks.”

In Zimbabwe, it matters not what Mugabe says, what his ministers calls for, if the members wish to do something, they just do it - and let the politicians clean up the mess afterwards.

The MDC-T has condemned the invasion of three buildings in Masvingo by ZANU PF youths, calling the illegal takeovers the actions of “misguided thugs.”

The gang of about 60 youths, led by a ZANU PF group called the Masvingo Youths Empowerment Association, stormed the buildings in Chiredzi last week, bringing local business to a standstill. The group was seen toy-toying and singing revolutionary songs while they invaded the premises and declared that the properties were now theirs.

The group invaded the Govan Investments’ building, reportedly owned by Southhood Govan, the Graig Hanning Building and another one belonging to Jan Van Javeert, from the South East Tanning Company. The three white owners are reported to have already left the country. The ZANU PF group meanwhile has threatened to take over other white owned properties in the area.

The Empowerment Association’s spokesman, Darling Zirebwa, is quoted by the Daily News newspaper as saying that the group was targeting all property owned by foreign whites in the whole of Masvingo province, starting with Chiredzi.

So much for a cool, calm and considered 'indigenisation' programme. Why am I not surprised?

And not a whiff of any police action. It is 'political', you see...

Mugabe and his bunch of ingrates have certainly done a lot to assist in the recovery of the Zimbabwean economy. So much so that the struggling national carrier, Air Zimbabwe, only had one passenger on a flight back to the capital from Victoria Falls.

It speaks volumes, doesn't it?

Air Zimbabwe flew back to Harare on Sunday afternoon with only one passenger from Victoria Falls as the national airline struggles to restore customer confidence.

The airline had earlier landed in the resort town with 16 passengers on its MA60 plane from Harare. The plane carries over 60 passengers. A source at Victoria Falls International Airport said:

“The national carrier landed with a mere 16 passengers from Harare and departed from Victoria Falls International Airport with only one passenger. The flights had to be taken besides the fact that there were a few clients all in an effort to restore customer confidence following the cancellation of flights because of the strike by its workers.”

Air Zimbabwe last Thursday said it would resume flights after getting US$2,8 million from the Government. The airline said it had incurred a US$6,8 million loss because of the strike. However, no passengers turned up for the flights.

In Zimbabwe, the laws are only adhered to when it suits ZANU PF, and new regulations are made up on the spur of the moment allowing their various security wings to swing into action.

Again, what police action do we see?

A group of ten youths from the MDC-N party were picked up by soldiers in Bulawayo on Saturday and severely beaten and tortured, for allegedly handing out fliers too close to Robert Mugabe’s State House.

Edwin Ndhlovu, MDC-N spokesman for Bulawayo, told SW Radio Africa that the soldiers detained the youth for about three hours, during which they were stripped naked, beaten, splashed with water and made to roll around on the ground.

They were then turned over to the police at Sauerstown, who held them without any charges over the weekend, before handing them over to the Law and Order section at Bulawayo Central Police Station on Monday.

According to Ndhlovu, the police plan to charge the youth with “trespassing or criminal nuisance” if they appear in court as expected on Tuesday. No charges have been brought against them since their illegal detention by soldiers on Saturday.

SW Radio Africa correspondent Lionel Saungweme, said two of the youth campaigners were encouraging people to vote in an area of Sauerstown, miles from the State House, when a truckload of soldiers approached and detained them.

Tresspassing? On Zimbabwean soil? So the MDC are now no longer allowed to do anything in public? Has Mugabe got a State house in Bulawayo?

This is just political nonsense - as with most things Zimbabwean...

Take care.

'debvhu

Monday, 19th September 2011

Howzit

I have to wonder where some of the 'inside' stories come from... I somehow doubt that members of ZANU PF would confess to waiting for Mugabe to kick the bucket. If they did, then it would become a distinct possibility that they will kick the bucket before their esteemed leader.

Many in ZANU PF are waiting for President Robert Mugabe to die and the United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Charles Ray, predicts chaos if and when the ageing leader is no more with many people scrambling to succeed him.

The latest cable released by whistleblower website WikiLeaks adds to other disturbing statement about President Mugabe’s health and the “Mugabe must go mantra” attributed to party stalwarts including Vice-Presidents Joice Mujuru and John Nkomo, Minister Saviour Kasukuwere and Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono, among others.

Mmmm. But Zimbabwe is already in chaos, so once again the statement is negated...

When will the United Nations learn that it proves nothing to give Mugabe the floor? All he does is shout and scream and perform about the 'evil West'...

President Mugabe left Harare last night for next week's 66th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he will deliver an address.

The First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Health and Child Welfare Minister Henry Madzorera and other senior Government officials were part of the delegation accompanying him.

President Mugabe was seen off at the Harare International Airport by senior Government officials.

Was he seen off at the airport to ensure that he left?

You have got to laugh. A comedy of error - and costly ones at that...

Four suspected thieves escaped from the clutches of Zimbabwean police this week by simply speeding off in the patrol car, the official Herald newspaper reported Saturday.

The police officers guarding the men in the capital Harare not only forgot to handcuff their captives but also abandoned the vehicle carrying the suspects to chase another member of the gang.

The engine was left running, according to the Herald.

The officers gave chase in a second car, but ran out of fuel, and the suspects got away.

And in another article we have Mugabe urging the ZRP to be tough...

Take care.

'debvhu

Friday, 16th September 2011

Howzit

Mugabe must be getting a bit sick of the deaths around him...

Veteran politician and ZANU PF Politburo member, Kantibhai Gordanbhai Patel has died. He was 83.

A family spokesperson, Vijay Patel, son to the late said Patel died on Saturday morning at a Johannesburg hospital where he was being treated for hip and shoulder injuries sustained when he fell at his Ridgeview home last month.

He described the late Patel’s death as a loss not only to his family but to the entire nation.

Present at the funeral was ZANU PF central committee member, Noah Mangondo, who said the late Patel will be remembered for his immeasurable contribution to ZANU PF and Zimbabwe.

Is this an indication that there is, in actual fact, a modicum of logic within ZANU PF - or is this one of their much touted witch hunts?

The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) is investigating the two senior army commanders who strongly criticised their boss General Constantine Chiwenga, describing him as a “political general” with “little practical military experience or expertise”. The remarks were made at secret meetings with top United States diplomats whom President Robert Mugabe considers enemies of the state.

Revelations of military manoeuvres to probe Major-General Fidelis Satuku and Brigadier-General Herbert Chingono for clandestinely sniping at their chief and possibly court-martial them afterwards on treason charges could trigger an avalanche of punitive measures against senior ZANU PF officials who also met US envoys to discuss Mugabe’s succession and future.

This comes as latest information shows senior Joint Operations Command (JOC) members are angry and pressing Mugabe to act against top ZANU PF and government officials, as well as military commanders implicated in clandestine meetings with US diplomats to discuss sensitive political and security issues. JOC brings together the army, police and intelligence chiefs.

Army spokesperson Colonel Overson Mugwizi confirmed to the Zimbabwe Independent this week the two army commanders, still reporting for duty, were under investigation. After the investigations, if the two generals are found to have any case to answer, they could be court-martialled and could face imprisonment if convicted, or even a death sentence, although that is unlikely.

So, it would appear, that it is illegal to have an opinion in Zimbabwe, and another crime to express the same?

Mugabe has stated that he will announce the date of an election, and 'that will be that'. But there is already opposition to this idea...

Y'see the tenets of the power-sharing government have not been achieved, and, in some cases, not even started...

Industry and Trade minister Welshman Ncube (pictured above) has dismissed President Robert Mugabe’s call for elections in March next year as a ZANU PF ploy to divert attention away from implementing democratic reforms and to keep its storm troopers mobilised.

Ncube’s remarks come in the aftermath of Mugabe’s address to parliament which prioritisied bills that would pave way for the holding of polls.

Ncube, who is also president of the smaller MDC formation, told the Zimbabwe Independent on Wednesday that it was impossible to hold elections in March because the constitutional review process would not have been completed.

“We know there won’t be any elections because there would be no referendum before March next year,” said Ncube. “The election call is to keep the ZANU PF storm troopers like Jabulani Sibanda on the march.”

He said the actual drafting of the constitution had not started and would be halted between December and January since no government work takes place during that period. Mugabe and most of his cabinet ministers go on leave at that time of the year.

Another white Zimbabwean farmer has been murdered in the second such homicide this month in what the Commercial Farmers Union of Zimbabwe says reflects a tolerance of rural violence against whites following 12 years of often chaotic land reform.

Former Zimbabwean commercial farmer Keith Nicolson was shot and killed Tuesday in Banket, Mashonaland West province, when he attempted to help a neighbor who had been abducted by a group of armed men.

Nicolson grew crops in the province until his Rafingora Farm was seized at the height of the land invasions that began in 2000. He farmed the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia but returned to Zimbabwe recently to retire, friends said.

I have noted many times in the years since I began this page that there is a serious reluctance by the police to conduct anything by way of investigation into the numerous murders of farmers and their workers. But let anyone who is allied to ZANU be killed...

Look at the reaction to the death of a policeman in a bar in Glen View. Dozens of MDC officials and supporters - some not even anywhere close to the scene at the time - are being held in custody on remand... How is that a balanced judiciary?

Ridiculous!

It doesn't matter what goes on in Zimbabwe, it always seems to be a problem doing anything...

The Zimbabwe National Students’ Union (ZINASU) on Thursday said they had suspended ties with the MDC-T and stripped Information and Communication Technology minister Nelson Chamisa of the honour of being a member of the students’ body’s alumni family.

This follows an altercation between the MDC-T organising secretary and the students’ union at the party’s 12th anniversary last weekend.

Chamisa, however, laughed off the students’ supposed action and refused to comment.

Two ZINASU leaders, Tafadzwa Mugwadi and Obert Masaraure, intended to give a solidarity speech at the MDC-T 12th anniversary celebrations at Gwanzura Stadium last Saturday, but Chamisa denied them the opportunity.

The move resulted in a raucous spat which was taken to the party’s national youth president Solomon Madzore who tried to calm them down.

The student leaders were apparently dissatisfied with the development and decided to cut ties with the political movement.

Take care.

'debvhu

Thursday, 15th September 2011

Howzit

Yet another death in Zimbabwe - and its is not a case of highlighting only the deaths of white people in Zimbabwe - no, not at all! I am aware that the vast majority of deaths through political violence and criminality are those of blacks, but with the population in Zimbabwe now with a very, very small white percentage, every death hurts the country as a whole.

A Mazvikadei businessman was on Tuesday night shot dead following an exchange of gunfire with four robbers who had abducted his neighbour.

The armed men reportedly posed as Criminal Investigations Department operatives investigating a case of theft of a laptop before making off with valuables worth about US$3000.

They shot and killed Mr Allan Keith Nicholson (61) who had teamed up with two colleagues in the Mazvikadei area in a bid to rescue Mr Timothy Morgan who had been abducted.

According to police, the four who are still at large, pounced on House No 196 Gold Dust, Mazvikadei, in Banket at around 3pm and identified themselves as detectives.

They said they were investigating a case of theft of a laptop before being allowed into the house.

They later produced two pistols before holding hostage Mrs Beverley Morgan, her two gardeners and a maid while waiting for her husband to arrive later that evening.

Mashonaland West police spokesperson Inspector Clemence Mabgweazara confirmed the incident adding that investigations were still in progress.

"We are investigating a case in which a Banket man was shot during exchange of gunfire with four armed men.

"The men had besieged his neighbour's house, held hostage before kidnapping the man when he arrived in a bid to collect more money at his service station in Banket," he said.

While in the house, said Insp Mabgweazara, two of the robbers reportedly produced pistols and pointed them at Mrs Morgan and held her hostage together with the maid Shiella Garande (41) in one of the rooms.

It will be interesting to see what progress the police make in their investigations, but I don't hold out much hope for an arrest as the police are too political to bother with investigating normal crimes...

As the leader of an ostensibly 'free' country, Mugabe finds himself as someone who is loathed, hated and despised in equal measure. And although he has told the world that life in Zimbabwe is fine, we have watched him having treatment outside the country in recent months.

Now, it transpires that the eastern methods are either not working or that he is unhappy with the service, and he would prefer to receive treatment in the UK.

Not so fast Mr Mugabe!

President Robert Mugabe was visibly shocked on Monday when a top EU diplomat told him that targeted measures against him and his clan would only be lifted after free and fair elections were held.

Sources told The Zimbabwean that Mugabe had appeared horrified when Nicholas Westcott, the managing director for Africa for the European External Action Service in the EU had stated the position during a one-hour meeting at State House.

Mugabe is believed to be desperate to have the punitive measures removed so he can travel to Europe for treatment for a 'worsening' prostate cancer condition.

Diplomats also told this paper that Mugabe's officials have secretly approached British officials to find out if a travel ban on him can be lifted on 'humanitarian grounds' so he can get treatment in the UK.

Mugabe's family is said to be unhappy with the Chinese medicines and herbs he has been taking for several years, as there has been no improvement in his condition. He is believed to have paid millions to Chinese and Singaporean doctors drawn from state coffers.

Why should the measures be lifted against Mugabe - I don't see any 'humanitarian' measures being exercised in Zimbabwe. He has allowed the country to fall to pieces on his watch and he and his band of merry men and their relevant thugs have begun to pick the carcass clean.

Why should he have treatment in the UK when there are so many people in Zimbabwe that will have to go without any medical treatment because of his totalitarian rule?

British officials are said to have responded that there would be an outcry if Mugabe was allowed to tap into the National Health Service, which is failing to cope with British citizens.

A desperate Mugabe has tried various strategies to have the measures lifted, including petitions, threats of international litigation and seizure of Western firms.

The Zimbabwean chameleon, Jonathan Moyo, recognised as a political turncoat, has decided that he wishes to faces his accusers in court...

Former information minister and ZANU PF politburo member Jonathan Moyo has launched a $100000 lawsuit against the Daily News over stories exposing his support for Western sanctions on President Robert Mugabe and his inner circle.

A representative of the Daily News said the paper stood by its stories and would defend them in court.

Moyo’s lawsuit, the second against the Daily News, comes as reports indicate that ZANU PF officials want to use lawsuits to silence the country’s top and fearless newspaper.

A decade ago, Moyo threatened to silence the Daily News and hours later, its printing press was bombed.

Take care.

'debvhu

Wednesday, 14th September 2011

Howzit

In light of the events in the last 48 hours with regard to my studies, I have to say that it will be a very long time before I trust anybody again.

I tried to phone them this morning to actually get a definitive response, but was neatly cut off by one of their so-called 'managers'. I only have one email address for them, and that is allegedly for 'system support' - something which they evidently don't live by.

Nevertheless, I did send two emails indicating my unhappiness at their service. I was very careful not to swear at or curse them. I was, however, very unforgiving in stressing the point that they have cheated me. I have no want to have anything more to do with the people or the company. I will, in the next few days, be composing a report for Trading Standards, who probably won't be able to do very much anyway.

For the record, the company is based in Croydon and go by the name of CareeerJobsUK. I probably should have known better... it was all going too well.

I do note that I can still log in on their system, but no additional study aids have been made available.

The boss man hasn't even got the guts to telephone me or email me. Why am I not that surprised?

Chalk yet another one up to experience.

How is it that targeted sanctions are illegal when applied to Mugabe and his cronies, but full economic sanctions applied to Rhodesia in the 1970s is not? Mugabe is more than happy to twist the facts to suit himself...

The beleaguered Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s Attorney General, Johannes Tomana has written to the President of the Council of the European Union, Mr Herman Van Rompuy notifying the council that Zimbabwe will contest the West’s decision to renew illegal sanctions they imposed on the country as they go against the European Community Law.

In an exclusive interview with State media, Tomana a ZANU PF loyalist said his party has taken a decision to contest the European Union Council’s decision to continue renewing illegal sanctions on the country without justification.

He said the decision to contest the EU council’s restrictive measures comes on the backdrop what he called British, American and their western allies violation of the European Community Law are also the international rule of law and he said the imposition of the illegal embargo on Zimbabwe was done unlawfully.

What is this man doing in England? Why do the authorities believe that he has the right to live here? What rights did he give his victims?

Or, as I suspect, have the authorities softened in their approach to him because his is HIV+?

A man who used to work as a henchman for Robert Mugabe will appear at Bristol Magistrates Court today.

Phillip Machemedze who lives in St George, has been charged with working illegally in Britain.

It's claimed he was working at The Priory Clinic in Bristol while his asylum claim was being looked at, he denies the charges.

The 44 year old - who came to Britain in 2000 - was originally denied asylum seeker status in 2008 because of his involvement in violent crime during the Mugabe regime.

The hearing was told that whilst working as an enforcer for the dictator he shocked victims with electric cables and broke someone's jaw with a pair of pliers.

But following an appeal he was allowed to stay here to protect his human rights because of the risk to his safety if he was deported.

Call me heartless, but I believe that he should be returned to Zimbabwe. His health problems are not ours to resolve...

Methinks that in the last 31 years, Mugabe has not made too many friends - even within his own party and the security forces. So, when I read that Constantine Chiwenga feels betrayed, I say 'Tough!". If you lie down with dogs, you are going to get up with fleas...

Army chief general Constantine Chiwenga and other security chiefs were not happy with President Robert Mugabe whom they felt had betrayed them by agreeing to a power sharing agreement with the MDC formations, latest United States diplomatic cables on WikiLeaks have sensationally revealed.

The MDC and ZANU PF signed the Global Political Agreement (GPA) in 2008 which brought about the inclusive government and at the time there were reports that hardliners from ZANU PF were opposed to the idea.

In a US diplomatic cable dated September 17, 2008 released on WikiLeaks, Fred Mutanda, a former ZIPRA commander and businessman told the US ambassador James McGee that Chiwenga was not happy that Mugabe had made a decision without consulting him.

The service chiefs and ZANU PF felt that in signing a power sharing agreement with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Mugabe had taken care of himself only.

Obviously ZANU PF believe that only they have the power to appoint ministers...

MDC leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai has reportedly picked trade unionist Ms Lucia Matibenga to fill the post of Public Service Minister that fell vacant following the death of Minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro last month.

Reliable sources told ZimDaily yesterday that Mr Tsvangirai has since communicated his decision to President Mugabe. “The PM wrote to President Mugabe indicating that he had appointed Ms Matibenga to the position of Minister of Public Service,” a source said.

“The PM does not have powers to appoint a minister. Such powers are vested in the President and the PM can only recommend, not appoint. The letter was returned to the PM on those grounds,” added the source.

By late yesterday, the PM was yet to write to the President again, delaying the appointment of Ms Matibenga. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Mr Jameson Timba, would not comment on the matter yesterday. “It is a matter between the President and the PM,” he said.

MDC spokesperson, Mr Douglas Mwonzora, said the appointment of Minister Mukonoweshuro’s successor was not discussed at party level.

“The assessment and appointment of a minister is a Government issue. It is not a party issue. It is something you would not expect to be discussed at party level. It is the prerogative of the Prime Minister,” Mr Mwonzora said.

Minister Mukonoweshuro, who was an MDC national executive member and Gutu South legislator, succumbed to a heart complication at a hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa last month.

Ms Matibenga is the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions third vice president having been elected to that position at the labour body’s congress held in Bulawayo last month.

Her elevation will see her relinquishing her position in the ZCTU. She is also the House of Assembly representative for Kuwadzana.

Ms Matibenga, the MDC-T’s former women’s assembly chairperson, has clashed with Mr Tsvangirai in the past.

In 2007, Ms Matibenga led a demonstration against Mr Tsvangirai, denouncing “the Kitchen Cabinet” and the appointment to positions of authority in the party “through the back door”.

Mr Tsvangirai had earlier that year dissolved the national women’s assembly leaving Ms Matibenga in the cold.

A High Court judge on Monday ordered the state’s harassment of human rights activist Farai Maguwu to cease, after he was stopped from leaving Zimbabwe over the weekend.

Maguwu, who has gained high recognition for his part in exposing the extent of human rights abuse at the Chiadzwa diamond fields, was due to leave Zimbabwe for Dublin on Saturday. He is meant to be addressing a human rights conference which starts in the Irish city on Wednesday.

But state security agents at the airport in Harare on Saturday seized his boarding pass, as well as his passport, laptop and personal notebooks. It’s understood his luggage was also removed from the plane and “tampered with.”

Lawyers on Sunday sought the intervention of High Court Justice Samuel Kudya, filing an urgent application for the return of Maguwu’s property. The application also asked the court to bar the state security from further harassing Maguwu, who has faced past persecution, harassment and jail time because of his work.

Listed as respondents in the court application were the co-Ministers of Home Affairs, the Chief Immigration Officer, the Minister of Transport, the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe and the Minister of State Security in the President’s Office.

Take care.

'debvhu