Wednesday, 28th March 2007
Sunday, March 30th, 2008Howzit
{EDIT: Forgive me - but for the first time in WEEKS, B and I stole away to spend a couple of hours together in town. We returned, fully expecting that nothing much had happened in the few minutes we disappeared off radar.
Well - my television says that Morgan Tsvangirai has been arrested again. No real surprise here.
But a friend who works in central Harare sent me some information by email…
They are obviously interested in what is going, but for equally obvious reasons they cannot get too close to the action.
1) “Bit of clarification for you…
Apparently the police have cordoned off First Street (OK Bazaars have their doors firmly shut) and Nelson Mandela Avenue etc. and ‘they’ are not allowing anybody in there… now, if you remember, Harvest House is there - the MDC headquarters…
We shall see… I guess ‘they’ are feeling a bit got at?
It really is a pain as it disrupts our business… customers can’t or won’t risk trying to get to us… and we can’t and won’t send messengers out to client and clients can’t and won’t send to us… a lot gets done on email, but that can’t always be done…
But this does look a bit bigger than the last few disruptions which have all been by the people upset about prices etc… this has been initiated by ‘them’…???
Does the balloon go up now or later??”
2) “As we thought its a raid on MDC headquarters… ‘they’ have blocked off Mandela Avenue from Second Street through to Julius Nyerere Avenue… Union Avenue seems to be okay and from Speke Avenue going south, that seems okay. In the cordon ‘they’ are apparently ‘beating people who are running’… the interesting thing is we can’t hear anything. Usually we can hear people shouting etc. Not this time. Maybe its just going the wrong way for us to see see or hear…
Great for business I don’t think - but at least the pot is boiling. Strangely enough, nobody seems to be particularly alarmed by it all - just a steady grin on their faces. Interesting…”
And then I received a new poem from my friend and colleague, Duane Udd, which is so topical, it’s scary!
LICENCE WITH IMPUNITY
Bob’s brigades of bogus policemen
And ex-vets equipped with guns
Swell rank ranks of lawless lawmen
Lethal hell-bent hooligans
Suddenly they now have transport
Shiny new but minus tags
With no use for law or law court
But blindfolds and filthy gags
Targeting the opposition
Leadership and lower ranks
In a makeshift inquisition
They beat bodies, heads or shanks
Night raids seem to be their forte
Few foul deeds by day day are done
Though if needs be they will waylay
Savaged victims on the run
Even airports aren’t excluded
Be it parking lot or pad
Thugs or bureaucrats intruded
And most crucial trips forbade
Placard-waving crowds are sanctioned
If they toe the party line
Opposition bands are bludgeoned
By fierce friends of Frankenstein
Robert Gabriel Mugabe
Issues licences to kill
Intimidating Zimbabwe
Trying to enforce his will
But his judgement day is coming
In this world or in the next
Mounting evidence is damning
Nations finally are vexed
© duaneudd.com
28th March 2007
-o00o-
More updates:
“Joshua Mukoyi of Kuwadzana 3, who I wrote about on Tuesday who was taken to Darwendale and beaten up, has been abducted again. His whereabouts are unknown. He is the 55 year old father of two MDC activists.
Mai Mpanganyama from the high density suburbs has been abducted from her home by CIO.”
-o00o-
And to back the emails from my friend Harare “Harvest House has been sealed off by Riot Police and Morgan Tsvangirai and many others are at Harare Central Police Station. The action was taken to prevent a Press Conference taking place at Harvest House and to be addressed by the President at 12.00 hrs.”
-o00o-
“The Mugabe regime continues with its illegal and arbitrary detention and beatings of MDC leaders right across the country. The activity has reached new heights with at least 10 abductions last night and this morning the detention of a number of people from the Headquarters of the MDC in Harare, Harvest House. This group includes the President Morgan Tsvangirai who was preparing for a Press Conference.
The pattern has been similar in most cases - known MDC leaders are picked up at night or during the day and taken in unmarked vehicles to a distant destination (anything up to 250 kilometres) and there they are beaten, interrogated and then dumped in the bush. Many are then finding their way to the Police for assistance or simply making their way to a hospital.
The beatings are savage and indiscriminate. No arrests are made and there is no attempt to go through normal legal procedures. There are numerous incidents of arson being committed and these are being blamed on the MDC. It is not easy to understand why this activity is going on but the implications are that it is a wholesale attack on the principal opposition force - the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai and his Trade Union allies. Some of the activity appears directed at the forthcoming ZCTU national strike next Tuesday and Wednesday.
The State appears to be trying to build a case for a declaration of emergency, the imposition of Marshal law and government by decree. This is Mugabe’s only path if he wishes to remain in power. Under such a scenario political parties would be banned, elections postponed and a resolution of the present crisis deferred indefinitely.
MDC is urgently considering what to do next - many of its leadership are in hospital or in detention of one sort or another. The National Executive is due to meet this Saturday and this will be difficult if many are unavailable. If the SADC and the international community are serious about finding a solution they better move fast.”}
-o00o-
Original posting:
Foreign currency mid-rates updated…
I thought that initially I would just list the contents of emails that have arrived in the last few hours… But then I thought trotting out numerous emails is very impersonal. What I will do is to do the normal posting and then I will sift through the emails and update as I deem fit….
-o00o-
“Zimbabwe’s resurgent opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party on Tuesday said it would not participate in presidential and parliamentary elections expected next year unless the government first agreed to a new constitution that would guarantee free and fair polls.
President Robert Mugabe has announced election will be held as scheduled in March 2008 when his term ends after powerful figures in his divided ruling ZANU PF scuttled his plans to extend his rule by postponing the presidential poll so it could be held together with parliamentary election in 2010.”
Mutambara & Tsvangirai at the memorial yesterday
I maintain that this is dangerous ground. The MDC split over a very similar boycott over the senate formation and election. Boycotting elections next year may just be setting up Mugabe, or whoever ZANU PF nominate - Emmerson Mnangagwa or Joice Mujuru, or perhaps a rank outsider - as a ’shoe-in’…
I would be very cautious and double-check political moves all the time. A false move could have one of the MDC factions left behind in the political race.
“Speaking at a memorial service for MDC activist Gift Tandare - murdered by the police about three weeks ago - the leaders of the two faction of the MDC, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutanbara, pledged a united effort to push for a new and democratic constitution before elections could be held.”
I also watch with interest as to which candidate the politburo will chose as their presidential runner for next year’s election. All is not well in the ZANU PF camp. If they do not nominate Mugabe, I wonder if he has a vicious reaction awaiting the decision makers in the event that he is not their man.
Or will Mugabe go quietly?
“We are not going to make the fundamental error of going into elections without a new constitution. We say no to elections without a new constitution,” said Tsvangirai to applause from the crowd gathered for the memorial.
“We would rather wait a bit longer until we have the freedoms that we have been fighting for,” added Tsvangirai, who was himself brutally assaulted by the police for organising anti-government protests.”
-o00o-
“President Robert Mugabe’s government has set up a reserve force of war veterans, who fought in Zimbabwe’s 1970’s liberation war in what analysts described as a bid to bolster his hold on power and to clamp down growing opposition to his long rule.”
Now, given that I turned 18 less than a year after independence, one has to assume that the bulk of these veterans must be older than me, maybe a few a year or two younger. It’s not quite “Dad’s Army” but it is close. Of course there is the joke that the war veterans that Mugabe uses are called the “ZANU PF Navy” as during the war, they were just seamen…
“The war veterans gained notoriety for their often violent invasion of white-owned commercial farms and the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party has accused the veterans of unleashing an orgy of violence in the run up to the 2002 election, which left more than 100 of its member dead.
“There is hereby established a reserve force of the army to be known as the war veterans reserve,” according to the gazette.
“The war veterans reserve shall consist of members of the war veterans from a register of the war veterans compiled in terms of the War Veterans Regulation of 1997… who volunteer to serve in the war veterans reserve and are accepted into the reserve by the commander,” it added.”
The reserve has two classes, split at the age of 50 years old. These war veterans have a propensity to resort to violence in the first alternative rather than negotiation and have in the past 7 years been a thorn in the side of the law-abiding Zimbabwean population.
Think of them as Mugabe’s private army, answerable to no one but him, and even then not necessarily full time, who think nothing of killing or injuring those that stand in their way.
-o00o-
“Presidential Robert Mugabe is today expected to chair a crucial meeting of his ZANU PF party’s inner politburo cabinet that may endorse or reject him as the party’s candidate in next year’s presidential election.”
This is a good test of the politburo’s mettle - will they do the right thing and decide against Mugabe, thereby risking their own necks in their opposition, or will they just play the ruling party game and support Mugabe in an attempt by him to rule for another term?
I watch with great interest.
“The 83-year old President, who is facing pressure to quit from rebels within ZANU PF and from a resurgent opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, will immediately fly back to Harare for a meeting of his ruling party’s central committee on Friday that should have a final say on whether he will run on the party’s ticket in 2008.
In the unlikely event that the politburo and central committee - all dominated by Mugabe loyalists - recommend that a younger leader represents ZANU PF in next year’s poll, then this would effectively force the veteran leader into retirement.”
No such luck methinks. Mugabe will somehow hang on - it’s it his nature, in his genes and he does not accede to much without a fight.
-o00o-
This man was taken by gunpoint in broad daylight from the Borrowdale shops, very near to the church where the memorial service for slain activist Gift Tandare was held.
Imagine that…
“A Zimbabwean opposition activist abducted by suspected government agents on Tuesday was found last night dumped in Mutoroshanga mining district with serious injuries.”
I think it is important to state that this man is not only lucky to be found, but that he was actually released is in itself amazing. People have been ‘disappeared’ before by the ruling party.
“We just received a call from there saying someone had picked him up. He said he is seriously injured. We are now trying to ascertain the extent of his injuries.”
-o00o-
How can they take someone to court for allegedly ‘insulting’ Mugabe by likening him to Hitler? He has called himself “Hitler tenfold”!
“The state alleges that Matereke made the remarks during debate over Zimbabwe’s worsening economic crisis while travelling on a bis from Nyika rural service centre to Masvingo.
She is said to have told fellow passengers that the country was facing difficulties because it was being ruled by Hitler.”
Zimbabwe: just about the only country in the world where you are taken to court to be prosecuted for telling the truth!
-o00o-
I could have just copied this entire report here, and it would have largely taken care of much of the information about abductions and violence being emailed to me each day. But then I thought to myself - this is something that not only do people need to read, but by creating the link here, it does show just how far the truth is going… and I’m happy for it.
Tell the world. Let’s all the people know. So that Mugabe has nowhere to run…
“Since the violent onslaught on Zimbabwe’s civil and political opposition on 11th March, the Mugabe regime has continued to conduct a country-wide military operation to crush opposition structures. In particular, rural areas are getting special attention as Mugabe’s militia, police and feared CIO seek out MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) members for special treatment.”
And there follows a long list of events - beatings, abductions and other heinous crimes.
Read it. It’s an eye opener!
-o00o-
I think that Nyamzhiwa got it right when he sent through a comment last night in reply to a question posed, “How can I help?”
“How can you help? - Write to your local MP, write to your local church groups, go and talk to your local Rotary/Lions Club (tell them where to find this blog, so they can read the news for themselves). Make sure of your facts, do not allow emotion to get in the way. Nothing worse than allowing emotion to ruin your talk, it distorts facts and clouds the issues that are important. People can only do things if they are aware of what is happening. Once that happens it snow balls from there and a ground swell starts. If there is enough “noise” coming from the folk, the politicians will have to listen, eventually. Don’t give up. It takes a long time.”
Bang on!
-o00o-
Take care.
‘debvhu