Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog

Bennett Judge Changes His Mind

2009-11-10T15:19:00.006+02:00

Roy Bennett with his lawyers today, 10 November 2009 at the High Court in Harare, (his main lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, stands with her back to the camera) where they had been called by the Judge who indicated that he was ready with his ruling on the applications of both the defence lawyers and the Attorney-General, who is acting personally as the prosecutor ni this case.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 10 November 2009

I just spoke with Beatrice Mtetwa, the lawyer for Roy Bennett, about today's ruling on the applications by Roy Bennett's lawyers and the Attorney-General. The judge in the case first indicated yesterday that he would only be ready "provisionally" with his decision on Wednesday (tomorrow).

Later that same day (yesterday), the judge, Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, sent a message to Bennett's lawyers that he had already reached a decision on the application and would make his ruling today, Tuesday, 10 November 2009 at 11a.m. at the High Court in Harare.

But it appears someone has gotten to him.

When Roy Bennett and his lawyers showed up today at the courts, they were told that the judge had changed his mind and decided that he will only deliver his ruling on Wednesday after all.

Bennett, who stands accused of amassing arms of war to remove Robert "The Solution" Mugabe from power by force, had arrived at the court in good time, together with his lawyers. He now has to wait until tomorrow, in a development that shows there are hands trying to manipulate things from behind the scenes.

The ruling the judge is supposed to give, as I explained in a previous article, will have the effect of stopping Bennett's trial dead in its tracks if the judge grants the Defence's application. If he dismisses it, then things go on as before and only the final verdict will have an impact. Mugabe has already vowed that Bennett will never be acquitted.

Vendor Killed In Chaotic Mbare Clashes, Municipal, Riot Police Overpowered

2009-11-09T23:34:00.004+02:00

Harare Municipal Police, who instigated the riot in Mbare yesterday, are seen here no Friday raiding Fourth Street Bus Terminus in the City Centre. Yesterday, they were in Mbare, where one vendor at the open ground opposite Mupedzanhamo Market died while fleeing from them. This prompted one of the worst riots ever seen in Zimbabwe, with residents fighting running battles with riot police for hours despite having teargas thrown at them

Harare, Zimbabwe, 10 November 2009

The crackdown by the overzealous and under-qualified Harare Municipal Police has now claimed the life of a vendor in Mbare.

Godfrey Tonde, who was 25 years old, fell down while fleeing Municipal police, who fell upon him soon afterwards. It is not clear whether he was dead before they fell upon him or he died as a result of their physical action.

All the same, residents in Mbare, a teeming high-density area of the capital of Zimbabwe, took up arms immediately after word spread that Tonde had died. The residents blocked Remembrance Drive, which leads into the city centre and started stoning vehicles and the police. As happened last week at Roadport, along Fourth Street, riot police were called and they also got what-for from the residents, who fought running battles with them using stones, sticks and anything they could find.

The riot police managed to control the situation with some difficulty, but when Tonde's body was removed Council offices near the main Mbare Market, residents who saw it started another riot.

They went after the police, attacking the one truck that had been sent into the area to contain the situation. Riot police were overpowered in this latest surge and they had to call for reinforcements. This latest battle lasted pretty much all day.

Police reinforcements had to use tear gas to try and disperse the crowds, but residents took wet t-shirts and cloths and put them over their faces to neutralise the smoke. At the same time, the flyover leading into the centre now was now blocked with burning tyres and other materials.

Hundreds of residents had now come out and were threatening all-out war with the police.

When reinforcements arrived, just after two in the afternoon, it took them more than hour to calm the situation and by the time people were driving from work, the roads had been cleared.

But the residents are threatening that if they catch a Municipal Policeman by himself, they will make sure he meets the same fate as Tonde, whose body has now been taken to Harare Hospital mortuary.

The people's anger today was unprecedented and exposes the lie that Zimbabweans are generally servile people who are bossed around by the police and the armed forces. If this sort of anger had been channeled and directed at the dictatorship in Zimbabwe, we would have brought freedom from tyranny a long time ago.

The people simply lack leadership, is what I concluded yesterday.

Even after police had used teargas on them, the people of Mbare kept coming and it was clear that the police were struggling.

Bennett Decision Fast-Tracked

2009-11-09T21:40:00.004+02:00

Zimbabwe Riot Police Patrol the Entrance to the High Court before the arrival of Roy Bennett for his terrorism trial in Harare today. Justice Bhunu, the presiding Judge, has now indicated that he is ready with his ruling on the applications brought by the Attorney-General and by Bennett's lawyers. The ruling will be delivered at 11:00a.m. Zimbabwe time tomorrow. It is an crucial ruling with far-reaching implications for the justice delivery system in Zimbabwe.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 09 November 2009

Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, the judge in the terrorism trial of Roy Bennett this afternoon informed Roy Bennett's lawyers that he has reached a decision on the applications brought by them and by Attorney General Johannes Tomana.

Bhunu had earlier today indicated that he would only deliver his ruling on Wednesday.

I am not sure whether Bennett's lawyers should be celebrating or not because of this fast-tracking. Although Judges in Zimbabwe are beginning to assert their independence, the trial of Roy Bennett is one rife with political intrigue. Pressure is no doubt being brought to bear behind the scenes and it would not be a surprise at all if the application by Bennett's lawyers are thrown out.

This is a crucial ruling, make no mistake about it, and it will be delivered at 11:00 a.m. Zimbabwe time on Tuesday (tomorrow) at the High Court in Harare. If Justice Bhunu grants the Defence's application, it will mean that Roy Bennett will walk free, because that decision will have the effect of nullifying Bennett's indictment.

Considering that Mugabe has stated that Bennett will not be acquitted, this would be a huge slap in the face for the tottering dictator and would essentially embolden the whole of the judiciary.

I dare say that, should this unthinkable happen, Zimbabwean justice will never be the same again.

The MDC-Tsvangirai, if they are clever enough and if this application by the defence is upheld, will have an extremely strong leg to stand on in their quest to have Tomana removed from his post. They will be able to argue that he is not competent to hold that office, seeing as he has essentially put his own reputation on the line by personally taking over the prosecution of the MDC-T Treasurer-General.

The MDC would then be able to state boldly that not only is Tomana ignorant of the law, but that he is dangerous to the rule of law in general by displaying such ignorance. The matter will no longer be only about Roy Bennett but about the competence of the Attorney-General to hold his office.

If the application by the Defence is thrown out, however, then all bets are off and this thing will have to be taken right down to the wire.

You can rest assured that the courtroom in Harare will be packed again for the ruling from Justice Bhunu. You will get the latest details here as soon as they are available.

Bennett Trial Turns Messy As Attorney-General Fights Lawyers

2009-11-09T15:43:00.005+02:00

Roy Bennett arrives at court in Harare earlier today, flanked by one of his lawyers, Beatrice Mtetwa. His trial is now turning messy, with applications for dismal and counter-application from both the Defence and the Attorney General, who has taken personal charge of the prosecution of Bennett, who is Tsvangirai's Deputy Minister of Agriculture nominee. Mugabe refuses to swear him in until he is cleared of the charges he currently faces.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 09 November 2009

The trial of Roy Bennett is now turning into a messy affair after the Defence lawyers applied to have the testimony of a key witness barred from being heard in court.

Bennett's trial, which opened in Harare today was "provisionally" postponed by Justice Chinembiri Bhunu to Wednesday, when he expects that he would have made a ruling on the application by the State as well as the Attorney-General's own counter-applications.

It appears that a statement from Peter Hitschman has been recorded by the Attorney-General and that statement implicates Roy Bennett in the case of procuring arms of war.

But Hitschman himself has subsequently said he will not testify in court against Bennett and that the statement that the Attorney General now seeks to submit to the courts was procured under torture.

Because of this, the Defence want the statement which the AG wants to present as evidence against Bennett barred.

The Defence is also applying to quash the indictment of Bennett, which was a rushed affair, announced only after Bennett's lawyers approached the courts to have Bennett removed from remand because of the inordinate delay in trying him.

Tomana, the Attorney-General, is resisting this and has applied to the court to have the Defence outline, which effectively seeks to quash the indictment, struck off the court the records and teh Defence asked to draft a new one.

Tomana, Zimbabwe's Attorney-General, has taken the unusual step of appointing himself as the prosecutor in the case against Bennett, showing just how seriously Mugabe and ZANU PF hardliners are taking this case. Mugabe was reported by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara to have said that Bennett will not be acquitted, even though he, Mugabe, admitted that he does not have the full facts of the case and can therefore not say for certain how the trial would end if it were free and fair.

Bennett's lawyers fear a manipulation of the system if the trial goes ahead, with Hitschman's testimony being presented even though it was allegedly procured through torture and the witness himself unlikely to agree to come to court and be a State witness.

Further, the Defence also now says the Attorney-General should be referred to the Law Society of Zimbabwe in order for him to be investigated for accepting to use a statement said to have been got through torture.

All these applications and counter-applications mean that the trial itself is yet to start.

On Wednesday this week Justice Bhunu will deliver his judgement.

Perhaps.

It is important to note that he inserted the word "provisionally" in there. This being a political hot potato, it may well be that the case will again be postponed on Wednesday to another date as political negotiations go on over the fate of the MDC-T Deputy Minister of Agriculture nominee.

Magistrate Resigns In Protest At Interference From Attorney-General's Office

2009-11-08T23:55:00.004+02:00

It was during the trial of Alec Muchadehama (left, leaving Magistrates' Court in Harare), that Ms Mutongi's troubles began, after she cited a State Prosecutor from the Attorney-General's Office for contempt. She has known no rest since and has been humiliated in addition by seeing her decisions reversed after another Magistrate was appointed to take over from her in the State Prosecutor's case. She has now resigned, citing "interference from some quarters" - clearly the Attorney-General's Office itself.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 09 November 2009

One of Zimbabwe best-known Magistrates, Ms Chioniso Mutongi, has resigned from the Ministry of Justice, citing interference from "some quarters".

Mutongi's resignation arises directly from the way she handled a case involving a lawyer, Alec Muchadehama, who was facing trial for "defeating the course of justice." Muchadema, it will be recalled was arrested for doing his job, which was to take a court order to a Judge's chamber in order to get his clients (who are MDC-T activists) released from Prison.

During the Muchadehama's trial, the State prosecutor made an objection, which Ms Mutongi overruled. The State prosecutor responded with "Tsk", which led the Magistrate to cite him for contempt of court.

Although he was taken immediately into custody, the prosecutor was released on the same day on US$30 bail "pending review". When he was called back for that review by Mutongi, she found herself taken off the case. Another judge heard the matter and granted the prosecutor bail.

Her life has not been the same since. She claims that she has received threatening phone calls and find it impossible to work because the Chief Magistrate's Office is not giving her the protection due to a Magistrate in the matter.

In her letter of resignations, she says:

"I resign from the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs forthwith. My resignation has been occasioned by events that were glaringly unethical and unprofessional in the manner I ought to have discharged my duties as a magistrate without fear or favour.

"To put the event into proper perspective, your office (Chief Magistrate’s) recalls very well the unpleasant experiences I went through when I tried to impartially handle the matter of State versus Alec Muchadehama and another.

"I had a torrid time during which I was entirely abused and harassed at the hands of the State prosecution, but I did not get professional protection from this office as I reasonably anticipated.

"Further to this, I only learnt with dismay that another magistrate had granted Andrew Kumire bail pending appeal in unclear and dubious circumstances wherein I am the trial magistrate for that particular case.

"I only recused myself from handling the case of Alec Muchadehama and another and not the Kumire case. That was a misnomer.

"I do not believe that I would be able to discharge my duties as a duly trained magistrate given that level of interference."

"How can a person whose committal to prison has been confirmed by the High Court on review, be granted bail pending appeal by another magistrate when the trial magistrate has not recused herself from that particular matter?" she asks in her letter.

Clearly, the Magistrate, although not naming them, suspects that the Attorney-general's office is behind this harassment that she is going through. As a professional (she has handed down several very brave decisions during her time in office), she feels that it is better to resign than to be put in a position where prosecutors will no longer have any respect for her in court, knowing that they will be able to claim that she has something against Attorney-General's staff.

I wonder: how long will it be , do you think, before you hear that she has emigrated and is now based in Namibia or Botswana (the two countries who have in the past hired our bravest and most professional judges who find it impossible to work in Zimbabwe's courts)?

Presidential Guard "Viciously" Attacks Bulawayo Children, Accuses Them Of Being MDC-T Supporters

2009-11-08T23:06:00.005+02:00

The presidential Guard in Zimbabwe, with their distinctive yellow berets, are notorious for assaulting drivers who do not get out of Mugabe's way fast enough and getting away scot-free. They have now attacked a home for former Street Children in Bulawayo, some of whom sustained internal injuries. When police opened dockets against them, the soldiers started intimidating the policemen responsible! As usual, above you can see Mugabe whistling to himself as he inspects a guard of honour. He does this every time he inspects any sort of Guard presented to him. It is a sort of charm, apparently.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 09 November 2009

Soldiers of the Presidential Guard attacked 41 former school children at Thuthuka Centre in Bulawayo last week, accusing them of being MDC-T supporters, according to a report from The Standard's Bulawayo reporters.

The attack was described by authorities at the school as "vicious" and it came about as a result of a misunderstanding over a girl.

Two boys from a nearby suburb apparently followed a girl at the Centre whom they were interested in, but the girl raised the alarm, telling her friends at the Centre (a school for former street kids) of the boys' intentions.

Older boys at the Centre came out to engage the two boys and a fight broke out. What they did not know was that the two boys' brother was a soldier staying at the Presidential Guard camp nearby.

When the two boys were overpowered, they apparently took refuge in their brother's house. The brother, seeing twelve boys massed by his door, called for reinforcements from his fellow soldiers, telling them that his house was under attack from MDC-Tsvangirai supporters.

Twenty soldiers showed up minutes later at the Centre.

"They did not try to understand what happened, " said Mqhele Mlupi, the Thuthuka Centre Manager, "they beat up all the kids at the centre, including staff members."

"They used all sorts of things, rifle butts, booted feet, logs and anything they could lay their hands on. They took some of the children away and beat them up some more before releasing them. All the 41 were savagely beaten up but about 11 sustained serious injuries."

The soldiers are also said to have randomly attacked people on their way back to their back. Most of these attacks were in Saurstown, which is near the Bulawayo State House.

Unbelievably, the soldiers who had done this then ran off to the police and reported that the children from the Centre had attacked their camp. When the police heard and saw the children against whom these charges were being laid, they opened dockets on the soldiers instead. The Presidential Guard soldiers are now being accused of threatening death and destruction against the police officers who opened those dockets.

The police confirm that some of the beaten children sustained serious internal injuries.

The Presidential Guard in Zimbabwe is notorious for their impunity. If anyone so much as hesitates to move out of the way of Mugabe's motorcade, for instance, they are sure to get a beating. Old women drivers and mothers with their children in their cars are only some of the people that are known to have been beaten up for not showing proper respect to the Presidential motorcade.

So powerful is the Presidential Guard, in fact, that even Ministers are known to have been manhandled if they put a foot wrong in the presence of the president or his guards.

12 Soldiers Disappear From Barracks

2009-11-08T20:09:00.003+02:00

Twelve soldiers who have "disappeared" from Pomona Barracks in Harare are said to be held at the notorious Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison, where they have been tortured so badly that their relatives are barred from visiting them. The soldiers apparently were arrested in connection with the alleged disappearance of 20 AK 47 guns from the same barracks. An MDC-Tsvangirai employee is currently before the courts facing the same charge.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 08 November 2009

It is reported here today that twelve soldiers who disappeared from Pomona Barracks a few days ago are being kept at Chikurubi Maximum Prison, where they are being so badly tortured and in such bad shape that their relatives and friends are not allowed to visit them.

Some of the soldiers' relatives do not even know that their kinsmen have been arrested, since they were taken straight from Barracks to Chikurubi.

The soldiers were arrested in the wake of the theft of firearms from Pomona Barracks, a case that has also roped in Pascal Gwezere, an MDC-Tsvangirai employee. Gwezere was in court last week facing charges of stealing the firearms with the help of soldiers whose whereabouts the state claimed in court were not known.

The Zimbabwe Standard spoke to a source who insisted that the soldiers' whereabouts are very much known to the state. It is just that they have been so badly abused that they can not be produced in court. Gwezere himself is fighting against the continuance of his trial, alleging severe torture, including torture on his private parts.

The Zimbabwe police, through their spokesman Oliver Mandipaka, say they know nothing about the arrest of the soldiers. These, of course, are the same policemen who claimed they knew nothing about the abduction of Jestina Mukoko, only to see her surface from their cells in December last year after months of denial. So their credibility is zero.

The Zimbabwe National Army says 20 AK 47 rifles and a shotgun were stolen from Pomona and they are certain that Gwezere and the soldiers who are now in detention know about this matter.

Gwezere claims that apart from wanting information on the theft of the rifles and shotgun, his abductors also wanted to know what the Prime Minister's "Plan B" was if his disengagement from ZANU PF failed to give him what he wants.

Just a couple of weeks back, another soldier appeared in court on charges of stealing a firearm, which he admitted taking, saying he had sold it in order to buy food and pay school fees for his children.

The paltry salaries that Zimbabwe's rank and file soldiers get are a big contributing factor in the rise in the theft of army property by serving men. They, unlike their leaders, have to make do with around US$150 per month.

It is almost certain that, when the time comes, the soldiers who are said to have disappeared from Pomona will suddenly find themselves in court, facing the same charges that Gwezere faces.

It is puzzling, though, that the army has decided to take this route with the soldiers, since it is common knowledge that they prefer to deal with errant soldiers themselves in their own court-martial process. They so detest the Zimbabwe Republic Police that they do not allow any ZRP policeman to arrest a Zimbabwean soldier. That job is for the Military Police.

Why Mugabe And ZANU PF Are Happy About The SADC Summit Outcome

2009-11-07T13:19:00.005+02:00

When the SADC Troika Heads of State meeting in Mozambique broke for lunch, Mugabe walked off with the other presidents (seen here during the lunch break with Jacob Zuma opf South Africa and Armando Guebuza of Mozambique (and Troika Chairman). Tsvangirai, as is shown in the article below this one, had to go off by himself. Mugabe's hand is basically strengthened by the SADC Troika position as I explain below

Harare, Zimbabwe, 7 November 2009

So.

Patrick Chinamasa, one of Mugabe's biggest lapdogs and errand boys, was waxing lyrical yesterday upon his return from the SADC Troika Summit in Mozambique and says ZANU PF is happy indeed about the outcome of the Summit.

So is Mugabe, who is now in Sharm el Sheik for the China-Africa Summit.

They are very happy in ZANU PF because they now have Morgan Tsvangirai all to themselves. SADC leaders will not even mediate the talks that must now go on between the two main parties. They simply say the two must talk.

Apart from sanctions, Tsvangirai has no leverage over Mugabe. And these sanctions have failed before to move Mugabe. Maintaining them now is no guarantee that the dictator will give in to Tsvangirai's demands in order to get them lifted.

Already, Mugabe's office is sounding contemptuous:

"No set day deadlines were given by anyone in the Summit and no set deadlines would be entertained by anyone," said George Charamba, Mugabe's spokesman, yesterday.

Which means Mugabe intends to drag this out. Tsvangirai will have to make up his mind whether he will remain in government as the matter are dragged out or whether he does another "disengagement" stunt.

Repeating the "disengagement", however, is a non-starter, as even he knows after speaking to Jacob Zuma in Mozambique. Zuma told the Prime Minister that the outstanding issues can only be resolved by the Inclusive Government. If he walks out of it, then the MDC-T would be the ones seen as breaking the agreement and killing the Inclusive Government.

The leaders say he must stay in and continue talking with Mugabe. Mugabe says he he will not give in until his side is satisfied about their own complaints......it is tedious and as clear as day.

So, to get back to the essence of this analysis: Tsvangirai is back in the Lions' Den, unarmed. His back is against the wall still and as he has said repeatedly, there is no alternative to the GPA: that is because he knows that despite his bluster about wanting new elections, Mugabe will hold them only when he is good and ready, no matter what happens.

The holding of new elections is something that SADC will never ever order Mugabe to do.

Previous Article

SADC Communique Language Fails To Hide Pressure On Tsvangirai

2009-11-07T09:35:00.005+02:00

Morgan Tsvangirai walks out of the building where the SADC Troika was meeting on Thursday in Mozambique. The leaders had just broken for lunch when this photo was taken. The incredibly vague language of the SADC Communique, which has now been made public, favours Mugabe more than it does Tsvangirai, although it is couched in diplomatic language that appears to call for both to talk and come to an agreement within 30 days. Crucially, Mugabe's "outstanding issues" are endorsed as valid by this communique.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 07 November 2009

The SADC Troika Communique from the meeting in Maputo this past Thursday shows the regional body trying to do a balancing act between being seen to be doing something while at the same time maintaining its hand-off approach to Zimbabwe's problems.

Of particular interest is the SADC "resolution" that Mugabe and Tsvangirai must start talking within 15 days and that the talks must not continue beyond 30 days. At the same time, they call for both parties' grievances to be dealt with "concurrently."

"Summit decided as follows: the political parties signatory to the GPA should engage in dialogue with immediate effect within 15 days not beyond 30 days," reads the Communique.

It is incredibly vague language, which favours Mugabe more than it addresses Tsvangirai's concerns.

I say this because this resolution effectively tells the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe that he must do what Mugabe wants within 30 days and, more crucially, that he can not hold off on doing this on the basis that his own grievances have not been met.

The communique certainly is unfair to the MDC-T because it effectively recognises Mugabe's own grievances as genuine by making them part of the package of issues to be addressed simultaneously with Tsvangirai's own grievances.

One might ask how the Prime Minister is supposed to show that he has, as Mugabe is demanding, ended sanctions against Zimbabwe, "dismantled the parallel government set up in the prime minister's office" and stopped "pirate radio stations" beaming into Zimbabwe.

Any fair person would say that these are clearly issues that the Prime Minister has no power over, that, apart from the argument of the parallel government in his office, there is no way he would be able to fulfill the other demands because it is not his party that runs those radio stations. They may be run by people who support him, but they are not dependent on him. So how is he supposed to stop them or get the sanctions lifted?

By doing this, the SADC Troika has effectively hung the Prime Minister out to dry because Mugabe will simply say that the MDC-T refuses to implement any of the things that it agreed to in the GPA.

But sympathy for Morgan Tsvangirai's impossible position must be tempered by the truth that the Prime Minister made a fundamental blunder in agreeing to have these issues put into the GPA in the first place. He allowed the issue of the radio stations to be part of the GPA, he allowed the "sanctions" to be put in the GPA.

And then he signed it, basically admitting that he had the power to do something about these things. He can not now perform revisionism by disowning these issues. he signed and he must deliver. That is the black and white, legalistic manner in which SADC is dealing with this.

If the MDC-T had refused to have responsibility for sanctions and foreign-based radio station put in their lap, this crisis would not even have happened in the first place.

This is why it is important to realise that there is no realistic prospect of the Prime Minister getting any of the things he wants. Effectively, as I said yesterday, SADC has simply said that Mugabe and Tsvangirai must start talking. The 30 days into which the talks have been restricted applies both to the issues of parallel government, sanctions, radio stations (MDC-T responsibilities according to Mugabe) and Bennett, ambassadors, governors, attorney-general and reserve bank governor (ZANU PF responsibilities according to Morgan Tsvangirai).

If Tsvangirai fails to deliver on his issues, Mugabe will also say he has failed and there is nothing SADC will be able to do to either man unless they decide to openly come out on the side of one of the parties by dismissing the concerns of the other as frivolous or impractical.

It is this that they will not do.

Which is why it is true to say that they have solved nothing. Zimbabwe continues to run in one spot, not going anywhere, not making progress.

We are likely to be in this situation until the day the Inclusive Government collapses and new elections are called.

Did you also notice that the issue of the militarisation of the rural areas has been ignored completely. Intimidation in the same areas is not mentioned at all. The continues arrests of MDC-T MPs and activists is also ignored completely.

This is a much more serious issue that the issue of giving jobs to MDC officials like Bennett and ambassadors and governors etc. Yet these important matters are off the agenda completely because they are not part of the GPA. SADC is simply taking the legalistic route of addressing the thing they guaranteed: the GPA. The harassment and arrests came after and therefore are not their problem.

We are back to Square One, despite what the propaganda of both MDC-T and ZANU PF tries to tell us.

Zimbabwe's Marange Diamonds Banned

2009-11-06T11:28:00.005+02:00

The reddish-coloured diamonds of Marange in Zimbabwe have now been banned from trading by the Kimberley Certification Process Scheme, but diamonds from the rest of Zimbabwe will continue trading unabated. The Zimbabwe Government says it is earning only US$20 million a month from Marange diamonds, although Gideon Gono of the Zimbabwe Reserve Bank has said that sales of diamonds from the area are worth US$200 million a month.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 6 November 2009

The Kimberley Certification Process Scheme meeting in Namibia has resolved to ban Zimbabwean diamonds from the Marange area while allowing diamonds from other areas to continue trading as usual.

This was a cop-out by the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme.

By allowing Zimbabwe to continue exporting diamonds from other areas, such as the River Ranch Diamond mine, Murowa etc, they have effectively ensured Marange diamonds will continue to be traded.

The ban in trading only Marange diamonds, according to the unanimous decision of the KP people, will be in force until a monitoring team arrives in Zimbabwe. It is not clear when this happen. Some say weeks, others say months.

After the monitoring team arrives, Zimbabwe will be able to openly trade in Marange diamonds again because, according to KP, the process of mining them will be supervised by the KP monitors.

There is no mention of the army presence and it is to be assumed that the army will continue to be present. This makes it unlikely that the monitoring team will have any impact on the operations of the army in the area, unless they come in with their own army - which, of course, will not happen.

Meantime, what will happen is this:

The well-connected people operating at Chiadzwa will have the means to have the diamonds from Marange certified as originating from areas other than Marange until the monitors arrive.

There are other diamond mines at the moment that are owned by ZANU PF grandees and they will not refuse the party and the army if the request is made to make as if the diamonds are coming from those mines and not from Marange.

It means the ban is meaningless and will have no effect on the activities currently going on at the massive Diamond Field, which the company that originally owned says has now been proved to be one of the biggest in the world, if not the biggest.

The extent of the plunder at the Marange Diamond Fields can be judged from the fact that, although Gideon Gono, Governor of the Reserve Bank, has previously said it was envisaged that the diamond fields are worth US$200 per month to government, the Government of Zimbabwe says it is currently reaping only US$20 per month from the area - tenth of what is said to be taken out from there each month.

Where is the other US$180 million per month going? And how?

There are now shouts from NGOs, human rights campaigners and others that the KP people have discredited themselves but I doubt that they are listening to these shouts. The ways of international diplomacy are difficult for the ordinary man to understand, I suppose.

The best the ordinary person in Zimbabwe, especially those associated with the opposition, can do is now lump the Kimberley Certification Process group together with such bodies as SADC and African Union, dismiss them as "supporters of Mugabe" and so on. I suppose it will then mean that Mugabe has quite a few supporters internationally, and this time not just from Africa, because KP includes other countries that are not African.

AS I have said previously, the Zimbabwe disease is one of folding their hands while expecting the rest of the world to solve their problems. At some point, it will sink in that only Zimbabweans, led a leader with the wits and the mental capacity to outwit Mugabe, will eventually free the people of Zimbabwe from the clutches of a dictatorship. No one else will do it for them. Ever.

Police Vs Vendors and Forex Dealers, Touts Again This Morning

2009-11-06T09:45:00.006+02:00

Harare Municipal Police arrive this morning at the Fourth Street Bus Terminus to do battle yet again with forex dealers, vendors and touts. Once of them can be seen clearly carrying goods that have been confiscated from a vendor. The police are now maintaining a permanent presence at Roadport, with riot police parked two streets away.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 6 November 2009

Early this morning, the Harare Municipal Police who fought running battles with vendors and black market foreign currency dealers at Fourth Street Bus Terminus (also known as Roadport) were back.

They immediately started work, carrying off any wares they could lay their hands on as people ran away, some afraid of being caught in the crossfire and others abandoning their "duty stations". The police had driven straight into the rank itself where workers were coming off their minibuses and going to work.

I chatted later on with some of the Municipal Police, who are vowing revenge and saying they will not let go of their operation "until we clean up this place."

But, just a few metres away from Roadport itself, forex dealers were boldly going about their business, asking passers-by (me included) if they wanted "cross-rate".

The Municipal police seem to be concentrating only on the rank itself, where minibuses park and it is clear that they think yesterday's noise was largely due to touts (people who shepherd people towards various stations and into specific minibuses, calling out destinations and controlling queues of commuters during peak hours.

When I asked whether there was anything they were doing about the money-changers, they said next week they will turn their attention to them. They claimed that they were simply monitoring to see which ones where money-changers and which ones were touts, so that they would know who pounce on next week.

Meantime, riot police, who made me delete the photo of them I had taken, I parked out of sight, by Africa Unity Square, two roads away from Roadport. They are obviously on standby for any recurrence of yesterday;s disturbances.

I will keep you posted, seeing as our offices are just round the corner from the scene of action itself.

Morgan Tsvangirai Capitulates Again To Mugabe - Ends Boycott Of Government

2009-11-06T08:57:00.005+02:00

Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe (in the background) listen to proceedings during the opening of the SADC Troika Summit in Mozambique yesterday. Tsvangirai has now announced that he is ending his boycott of Cabinet and Council of Ministers, saying that he is giving Mugabe 30 days to implement the outstanding issues. The matter is dead now. Mugabe will not meet the deadline and Tsvangirai will quietly stay on in government, having achieved his objective of hoodwinking his supporters into thinking that he has stood up to Mugabe. He remains a powerless Prime Minister, referred to by Mugabe's most junior ministers as "just another minister".

Harare, Zimbabwe, 06 November 2009

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has now destroyed the last vestiges of any credibility he might have had after announcing in Maputo last night that he is ending his boycott of Cabinet and Council of Ministers.

It is important to note that he is doing this without any of the issues he raised being addressed. He is going back into government without any of his demands being met.

As I have explained since Day One of this "disengagement", Tsvangirai was always going to go back in without having any of his demands met. Despite all the propaganda, SADC was never going to order Mugabe to appoint certain people to the civil service of Zimbabwe. They simply do not have that mandate. The rules that govern the regional body say they should not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries unless there is a naked military coup in that country. That is the most important thing.

The second thing is that Tsvangirai has historically alienated all SADC heads of state to the extent that he has no sympathy from any one of them at all. Even Ian Khama has now deserted the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe and his party. That's fact.

SADC made no resolutions about the issue in Zimbabwe. They did not mention a single one of Tsvangirai's grievances and simply indicated that they were meeting as a matter of form, to fulfill the obligation they had to review the Inclusive Government in Zimbabwe.

The Chairman of the SADC Organ on Defence and Politics, Mozambican President Amando Guebuza, said that the government in Zimbabwe was working well on the whole and that there were a few minor matters that only needed to be talked through by the parties to the GPA.

"The political parties share more common views than disagreements," Guebuza said. "They do the most they can to overcome these disagreements and have shown great commitment in implementing policies and programmes that can answer the great desires of their people."

Effectively, then the regional leaders say that Mugabe has shown great commitment to the GPA and the Inclusive Government. They have made no undertaking to hold another summit should things not go well for the MDC-T.

Morgan Tsvangirai now says he is going back in and giving Mugabe thirty days to implement all outstanding issues. Mugabe, on the other hand, now knows that the Prime Minister and his party have no leg left to stand on, they can not go back to SADC because, after this review, the regional body is no longer interested in Zimbabwe.

Their position, as I have said before, remains that Morgan Tsvangirai should slug it out with Mugabe and may be best (or more brutal) man win!!

I wonder why it is that MDC-T supporters think that the SADC leaders should complement the failures and weaknesses of their leader, Morgan Tsvangirai by doing his job for him.

Nowhere else in the world has a people relied on foreigners to free themselves from tyranny. They have to do it themselves. If their leader does not have what it takes, they remove him and put in another one to take on the tyranny.

In Zimbabwe we are being told by MDC-T supporters that they agree that Morgan Tsvangirai can never remove Mugabe from power. He lacks the skills to do this. So, we are told, regional leaders must step in and do for Tsvangirai what he can not do himself.

Zimbabwe is not SADC's problem. It was not SADC leaders who elected Mugabe into office in 1980 and reelected him time and time again after that, deriding all form of opposition to Mugabe and laughing at other opposition parties started by very capable democrats like Enoch Dumbutshena and others.

SADC must never allow itself to be used to do the job that Zimbabweans must do themselves: remove Mugabe. This will teach Zimbabweans that they should not repeat the mistake they made with ZANU PF and Mugabe. Even now, they want to repeat the same mistake. MDC-T supporters desperately want to destroy other parties, like ZAPU, MDC Mutambara and Simba Makoni's Mavambo so that Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC-T become another ZANU PF, taking all the seats in parliament and ruling the country all by itself.

Zimbabweans have not learnt their lesson yet. SADC must teach them it.

ZBC Bars Makoni Interview

2009-11-06T08:29:00.004+02:00

An in-depth and very eloquent interview with Simba Makoni has been barred from airing on Zimbabwe Television. It was explicitly communicated to me that the "top people" at ZBC had said the programme was not be aired until they had seen it. They then made sure that they did not see it until the time it was due to be broadcast. I suppose this is what Prime Minister Tsvangirai means when he says the dictator Robert Mugabe is "The Solution". We do not need such a "Solution" in this country. We need real change, which neither MDC-T nor ZANU PF are capable of ever delivering. Ever.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 6 November 2009

Zimbabwe Television yesterday barred the airing of a 30-minute interview with Simba Makoni, conducted by Supa Mandiwanzira last week for his program Talking Business.

The interview was scheduled to air at 9:00p.m., which is basically prime time in Zimbabwe.

I got a call just after six in the morning telling me that ZBC personnel had just informed Supa's people that the "top people" at ZBC had given the instruction that the program was not to be aired before it was seen by them (the "top people").

I asked who the "top people" were and I was informed that this usually meant only the people within ZBC itself, specifically Executive Chairman Happyson Muchechetere. It was also explained that if the programme was not aired, it would then find a spot on Saturday at 7:30 in the morning, when everyone would still be very much asleep. But even this was also dependent on the "top people" watching the program and clearing it to air on Zimbabwe Television.

At the time of the call to me, Supa's staff (he runs his own studio and records his own programs independent of ZBC) were frantically trying to edit another programme in order to have a "stand-by" if the Makoni interview had not been cleared by the time 9:00p.m. came up.

At nine, ZTV started showing an American comedy instead of Supa's programme. The program then never aired last night.

You will recall that during the presidential elections in March last year, ZBC conducted a panel interview as required by our electoral laws and Makoni was part of the panel. John Nkomo, who was supposed to represent ZANU PF, ran away and refused to go head to head with Makoni. The interview went ahead with members of the other party present.

Muchechetere, who is now the head of ZBC, was just a journalist at that time and he conducted a very bad interview, never allowing Makoni to finish answering a single question, cutting him off every time he tried to make a point. He clearly was under instructions to make sure that Makoni's points never got communicated.

Now that he is head of the broadcasting company, he is using his position to frustrate the same man.

It remains to be seen whether the program will air on Saturday. But even if it were to air then, it will not be watched by anybody at all because it will be very early on Saturday morning, the day most people sleep in and rest after a week of work.

This is the main reason we require media reform in Zimbabwe, an agenda that the other party in the government, MDC-T has failed to push at all, even though they have a deputy minister in place at the Ministry of Information and Publicity (controlled, of course, by Mugabe).

We need even more television stations and newspapers on the streets and in the homes of Zimbabwe. But, we all know now that Tafataona Mahoso, the media "hangman" and Mugabe ultra-loyalist, has now been put in charge of the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe, which is charged with issuing licences to people seeking to establish radio and television stations.

There is no likelihood that any new television and radio stations will be licenced to operate any time soon. Mugabe and ZANU PF will not allow it and it appears not to be a priority for the MDCs in government.

Bottom-line, though: the establishment is very afraid of giving exposure and space to Simba Makoni. The articulate and intelligent former Finance Minister is widely popular in Zimbabwe and his party, in terms of the numbers of members (membership) is now the largest party in Zimbabwe, even with things like this going on.

He will shock them all at the next election. Of that you can be certain.

Pleas keep in mind that this interview focused on the "disengagement" by Tsvangirai. Makoni is very critical of the move, mostly on the basis that the MDC is not fighting for substantive issues (such media and economic reform and policies that can transform people's lives). The banning of this interview protects the MDC-t more than it protects ZANU PF.

I can only assume that the MDC-T and Morgan Tsvangirai are very happy today that ZBC has denied Makoni a right to speak to the nation on this very important issue.

Riot Police Called To Fourth Street Bus Terminus

2009-11-05T15:56:00.005+02:00

This vendor had already packed up her wares at 2:30p.m. this afternoon, saying it was now too dangerous to continue working at the Fourth Street Terminus. Riot police had just scattered forex dealers and youths who had turned violent.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 5 November 2009

A few moments ago there was chaos here in Harare at Fourth Street Bus Terminus, where soldiers rioted last year and clashed openly with tear-gas-wielding policemen.

We got an indication that something was wrong around 1:30p.m when a blue Nissan Hardbody twin-cab offloaded a horde of youths just outside our offices on George Silundika Ave (we are opposite Raylton Club and just round the corner from the Bus Terminus). The youths were rowdy and the truck was being driven by a middle-aged woman.

A few moments later, there was commotion at the Bus Terminus, with vendors and ordinary people running in all directions.

We saw Harare Municipal police running down some young men. A few of them turned round and started fighting back with stones and anything they could pick up. Soon, it was personal physical contact, with the Harare Municipal policemen being beaten up by youths and even women who sell forex at the notorious black market spot.

The Municipal Police were beaten so thoroughly that they called in the riot police, who showed up with three trucks and it was then that people just scattered and the whole terminus was deserted.

It is not clear what the Municipal police were after, but most likely they just wanted to clean up the congested area, where even buses coming from South Africa could not get into the rank. The problem is that this area is also the headquarters of black market dealers, who are now back in business.

These black market dealers are simply massacring the South African Rand. Whereas, in the banks, the US dollar is worth around 7 Rand, the black market dealers are paying 14 rand for each US dollar.

The riot police in Zimbabwe is the most feared unit of the police force. When they show up, no one remains standing. They use force out of proportion, as was shown during the beating that Morgan Tsvangirai got at their hands before he became Prime Minister.

Only last week, I was told that the police, after beating him, were actually convinced that they had killed him, even as they called the ambulance to take him away. Obviously, he survived.

The young men dropped by the truck near our offices clearly had advance warning that there was going to be a clean-up and I am certain the lady that was driving the car is a forex baron of some sort, who did not take kindly to her business being disrupted by the municipal police.

Now that they have got the riot police involved, they will have to move off for a period until things quieten down. But there is no stopping this vice at Fourth Street. After every "clean-up", they come back stronger than ever before.

"Zimbabwe Dollar Back By Year-end" - Mugabe

2009-11-05T12:05:00.005+02:00

Robert Mugabe and Gideon Gono inspecting farming equipment that was being distributed by the Reserve Bank to farmers all over Zimbabwe last year. Mugabe has now come out in support of the reintroduction of the Zimbabwe dollar and says it will be back by the end of the year. He was speaking after accepting 60 tonnes of maize presented to him in gratitude by the villagers of Zhombe yesterday.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 05 November 2009

Robert "The Solution" Mugabe yesterday told villagers in Zhombe that the Zimbabwe dollar will be back by year-end in order to mitigate the suffering of rural people.

Mugabe was speaking in the area at a ceremony where he was given 60 tonnes of maize by villagers who said they wanted to thank him because they had managed to get a very good harvest as a result of the inputs they got last year from Gideon Gono and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

Mugabe's said that it was unacceptable that people in the rural areas are now "forced" to hand over goats and chickens as bus fare as a result of the lack of small denominations and loose change in US or South African currency (the two are now the main official currencies of Zimbabwe).

"Is a goat worth one dollar," asked Mugabe, adding, "We are looking at how best we can return our own dollar by the end of the year" in order to ensure that people did not raid their livestock pens to pay for bus fare and other things.

Mugabe's statement is purely a populist one, though and there is no need for him to spread panic like this (especially in the urban centres).

The truth of the matter is that, right now, the Zimbabwe dollar is still in use, especially on public transport vehicles in the cities and towns of Zimbabwe. The exchange rate being used is US$1 to Z$6 trillion. Most routes to and from town in Harare cost 50 US cents. When one hands over a dollar, they are given 3 trillion Zimbabwe dollars in change and the conductors in these minibuses also accept 3 trillion Zimbabwe dollars as fare, without any quibbles r hesitation.

So, the Zimbabwe dollar is still operating at this level. It is only shops that are refusing the Zimdollar completely and all that needs to be done is for Mugabe and Tsvangirai's government to find a way to encourage the shops to follow the example of public transport operators.

As for the 60 tonnes of maize that Mugabe was given yesterday by the villagers of the area, you can rest assured that this will find its way into less blessed areas, used to buy votes and spread patronage in order to cement ZANU PF's position in the rural areas.

The fact that next year's harvest will be mediocre, as confirmed yesterday by FAO, means that the maize will become a very powerful tool indeed as the countryside slides in hunger.

It appears the villagers were not forced to make this gesture and this should show people just how effective Mugabe's patronage system is, especially with the peasants from the rural areas.

Just last week, I reported on this blog that ZANU PF was going around the country distributing free fertiliser to villagers and party members through their ministers and MPs. This comes as it emerges that there is an acute shortage of the commodity in the country.

Where ZANU PF is getting money to buy tonnes and tonnes of fertiliser for its members remains a mystery, although we can take a stab at guessing that the diamond fields of Marange are a huge factor in all this.

Clearly, the party is already campaigning, using the twin strategy of buying loyalty this way and also intimidating these very same people as has now been revealed: "Next time it will be a bullet in the head," they are said to be told.

The MDC-T, meantime, is distracted fighting for jobs to be given to its leaders and members.

Tendai Biti Barred From Presenting 2010 Budget

2009-11-05T08:45:00.005+02:00

Tendai Biti and Robert Mugabe at the presentation of the wishlist masquearding as a policy document - STERP - earlier in the year. With Biti not attending cabinet, Mugabe is now pushing SADC to "see reason" and saying he will have to do something to get the budget through cabinet if Biti will not attend to present it. There are two options being toyed with and both would put the MDC-T on the back foot, because they would be irreversible until the MDC-t starts attending cabinet again. It is one element of the subtle pressure Mugabe is putting on the MDC

Harare, Zimbabwe, 05 November 2009

Tendai Biti, the Finance Minister of Zimbabwe, has effectively been barred from presenting the 2010 National Budget after Mugabe insisted that there will be no deviation from the normal procedures of crafting it and steering it through cabinet.

The Budget is supposed to be presented to Cabinet first for approval, and then to parliament, which then votes on it. The "disengagement" by MDC-Tsvangirai means that Tendai Biti can not attend Cabinet meetings, hence can not present the National Budget to Cabinet.

Because it can not be presented to cabinet, the Budget will not be able to be presented to parliament. By Biti, at least.

Mugabe and ZANU PF are rubbing their hands in glee in anticipation: if Biti desperately wants to present the budget, he will have to break the "disengagement" and attend cabinet for approval. That will make a mockery of the current MDC-T position.

Mugabe, who is in Mozambique today with Tsvangirai and Mutambara, has made the issue of the Budget one his points in his presentation to the Troika, where ZANU PF sources say that he will tell the leaders that he can not paralyse the nation on account of the pull-out. He will say that he has no option but to appoint an acting minister of Finance (or ask Gideon Gono to do it, as has been the intention all along) in order to go through the process.

Mugabe has also mulled an especially crafty move:appointing a nominee of the MDC led by Arthur Mutambara as Acting Finance Minister for the purposes of crafting and steering the budget through cabinet and parliament. This would ensure that the budget passes both houses, especially the Lower House, where ZANU PF does not have the numbers by itself.

Mugabe is said to have already spoken to Arthur Mutambara about getting the support of the seven remaining MDC MPs in parliament to pass the budget in case the MDC shoots down one presented by a ZANU PF Acting Minister, in the event that he ends up appointing a ZANU PF member to do the job.

The presentation in Mozambique is likely to stampede the MDC-T into action and may result in their quick return to government. It is unlikely that Biti would let the chance to craft the budget for the whole of next year slip. If he does so and remains "disengaged", then the Acting Minister would pretty much be able to reverse all the directions in which was going, especially with regards to Gideon Gono and the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

Mugabe is hoping that, in Mozambique today, the SADC Troika leaders will see the sense in his plea that government business is being held to ransom by the MDC-T. It is really likely that there will be a repeat of the Gono, Tomana, issue, when the two were appointed while the MDC had signed the GPA but was refusing to consummate it until they were given the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Eventually, they relented without winning anything really. But by then, Mugabe had moved to appoint Gideon Gono and Johannes Tomana. The two are also now part of the "outstanding issues"!

SADC leaders will almost certainly not block Mugabe's proposals on the National Budget and instead seek to pressure the MDC-T to go back into cabinet, continue talking to Mugabe while the business of government, like the Budget, goes ahead.

If the MDC-T refuse this, SADC will then almost certainly just sit back and let Mugabe do what he wants on the budget.

The absence of a Deputy Minister of Finance (a deliberate ploy by Mugabe to ensure that the MDC-T was handed a poisoned chalice and could not blame it on a ZANU PF deputy) makes the way forward very dangerous indeed for Tendai Biti and the MDC-T. If there had been a deputy minister in that ministry, Biti could have by now struck up a working relationship with him and would be able to influence the final product.

As things stand, we are set to see ZANU PF get back control of the Finance portfolio and the budget process this year, which will influence next year's activities. The earliest Biti would be able to correct matters would be in June next year, when he presents his mid-term Fiscal Policy Review. Assuming, of course, that the MDC-T goes back into government (which they most likely will not long after today's summit, which will produce nothing the MDC-T wants.)

Wild Pigs Vs Air Zimbabwe

2009-11-05T08:25:00.004+02:00

Five warthogs, like the one seen above in a Zimbabwe park, collided with a plane on Tuesday at Harare International Airport, grounding the small Chinese-made Air Zimbabwe MA60. Two passengers were injured during the evacuation that followed, but not seriously.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 05 November 2009

Five warthogs (wild pigs) grounded a Chinese-made Air Zimbabwe plane at Harare International Airport yesterday, after the plane collided with them as it taxed down the runway for take off. The plane, an MA60, was damaged at the at the front and two passengers were injured in the incident.

The Minister of Transport and Communications, Nicholas Goche, says the warthogs had likely escaped from Mbizi Game Park near the airport.

The incident apparent happened soon after the plane carrying President Joseph Kabila had taken off from the same airport.

In a statement released yesterday, Goche said:

"An Air Zimbabwe MA60 aircraft impacted with warthogs during the take-off roll on November 3, 2009 at approximately 19:36. This resulted in a rejected take-off. The aircraft was on the take-off roll and was about to lift off the ground when it hit the five warthogs. The nose and left main landing gears collapsed after the impact. The aircraft veered off to the left side of the runway and stopped off the runway with damage on the engine propeller and on the wing tip."

This is a rare occurrence at th main airport in Zimbabwe. Normally, wild animals are common on the runways of the smaller airports, such as Hwange, which is situated smack in the middle of a National Park (Hwange National Park) that is bigger than Belgium.

Workers at these smaller airports routinely have to inspect the runways and chase away anything from zebras to elephants before planes take off or land.

The Chinese-made MA60 is one of three bought a couple of years ago by Air Zimbabwe under Mugabe's "Look East Policy". The Chinese threw in another one for free.

"Urgent Need To Monitor Upsurge In Violence In Zimbabwe"

2009-11-04T17:49:00.005+02:00

Robert "The Solution" Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai at the launch of something they called "National Healing" barely three months ago. MDC-T supporters dismissed reports here of continued militarisation of the countryside as sour grapes from Mavambo and Simba Makoni supporters. They dismissed all our warnings as not true and said Mugabe is finshed. SADC should leave them to their Solution and not respond to any reports of camps in the countryside or any other reports now being promoted as fact by the MDC-T and its supporters, the very same reports dismissed as false when we exposed here.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 04 November 2009

The Open Society Initiative, a South Africa-based NGO, has called on SADC to immediately send a delegation to Zimbabwe to monitor reports of an upsurge in violence in the country.

This is coming a bit late. As far back as four months, we warned on this very blog that JOC had deployed 2000 armed personnel into the countryside (200 per province). But at that time, Morgan Tsvangirai was still in the "Mugabe is the Solution" mode and I was accused by MDC-Tsvangirai supporters of only wanting to get attention for the party I support, Simba Makoni's Mavambo.

We also warned that there villagers were still being terrorised in the countryside, that the bases set up in June last year for the presidential run-off were still there. Again we were shouted down. The MDC-T was holding meetings in Uzumba Maramba and Pfungwe (ZANU PF stronghold), we were told by overzealous and out-of-touch MDC-T supporters. Like their leader, they know best, even if they are thousands of miles away in London and Minnesota and Johannesburg.

Morgan Tsvangirai subsequently confirmed all this detail in his "disengagement" statement. Now, all of sudden, the MDC-T wants us to feel pity for them?

So, I personally am tempted to say SADC should ignore these new calls. The MDC-T and their supporters denied the reports of these developments because they were too busy enjoying money and positions. They dismissed the truth because it was not convenient to their new-found best friend, Mugabe, who Morgan maintained was "The Solution".

But, of course, we are talking about the lives of Zimbabweans here. It is unlikely that Mugabe will agree to the deployment of a team to monitor violence.

But this is really going on.

Only yesterday, Dr Makoni was at a function where a priest from the Mt Darwin/Shamva area confirmed that reports of intimidation are pouring in. In fact, the priest, whom I can not name for his own safety, revealed that just last week, Jabulani Sibanda, Mugabe's hatchet-man (he railroaded Mugabe's nomination for candidate for the office of President at the December 2007 ZANU PF Congress) was in the area, saying that this time around, there will be "short sleeve, long sleeve" (the practice of either cutting off the hand (short sleeve) or the arm (long sleeve) that was prevalent during the presidential run-off). He told the villagers that they will just put a bullet through the head of anyone seen supporting Tsvangirai

And MDC-T supporters insist that the process of "change" is irreversible because Morgan Tsvangirai is called "Prime Minister"?

He still is the Prime Minister of the government even as this is happening to MDC-T supporters. Only now, there is no Simba Makoni, as there was in the March election, to sow stem the violence. Now, it is only Morgan and Mugabe, head to head. Let us hope that, in the next elections, Makoni will be present again to ensure that there is no electoral violence as he did in the March 2008 election. It is simply the man's sheer moral authority that ensured that.

So, what next? If Mugabe will not allow these monitors to come in (and he will not), what is next?

Well, the thing is, SADC knows that Mugabe will not allow this to happen,so they will not even bring up the subject with Mugabe. They will avoid the subject just so they avoid the embarrassment of having to be turned down. I am sure even those making these noises know this.

And, even if, by some miracle, SADC teams were to come in, the intimidation will not stop. The majority of our population live in the rural areas. The dollarisation of Zimbabwe's population, together with the 90% unemployment, mean that even more people have migrated to the rural areas.

SADC can not cover the whole countryside. The people will also know that SADC will have to leave at some point. And when they do, there will be hell to pay. So, the history of violence will still work for Mugabe.

The only way to stop the violence is organic, home-grown, as was shown by Simba Makoni in March last year. This is also the main reason why reconciliation and national healing, despite the high-sounding words from Mugabe and Tsvangirai, will never ever come about if supervised by these two. They both lack the moral authority internally (within Zimbabwe) to do this.

But, as Morgan Tsvangirai insists that Mugabe is The Solution, let him work with the solution and see how far he can get. The people of Zimbabwe can not continue to be held hostage to the ambitions of Tsvangirai. They can not continue swallowing the tripe Tsvangirai is the one and only person who can end all this.

He has shown that he can not. He says only Mugabe, who is The Solution, can end it. But Mugabe does not want to do that.

So back to Square One.

Something will give. It has to. But it will not be because of SADC of AU or United Nations. It will come from Zimbabweans themselves. That day is not too distant into the future, as Morgan Tsvangirai discredits himself in the eyes of voters everyday.

"Americans Say We Can Appoint Ex-Army People To Run Civilian Companies"

2009-11-04T14:36:00.004+02:00

The elite Presidential Guard stands guard, watching the Independence flame burning during celebrations in Harare earlier this year. The army is Mugabe's principal source of power and he has rewarded them very well, to the extent that retired personnel are deployed into the boards of civilian companies owned and run by the government. The State now says this is ok and points to comments by an American Defence Attache as proof that this is accepted practice worldwide, even in the States

Harare, Zimbabwe, 04 November 2009

It is called clutching at straws.

State media has been sent in to try and dampen criticism of the militarisation of Zimbabwe's government companies by using the statements of a former American soldier as a crutch to support Mugabe's patronage system.

Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick Anderson, the Defence Attache at the American Embassy, delivered a speech at the Food For Thought workshop run by the American Embassy in Harare yesterday. He spoke about former American soldiers going into civilian jobs and running private companies.

The Herald, the main and so far, only daily newspaper in Harare, duly reports today that he endorsed the appointment by Mugabe of former military men to boards of directors of government-run companies, known as parastatals in Zimbabwe.

What the paper fails to mention is that the question was a hostile one, which sought to accuse the Americans of double standards by pointing to the fact there are former soldiers running companies in America and therefore the running of government companies by soldiers in Zimbabwe should not be condemned.

His actual point also seems to have been lost on the reporters from the State newspaper.

Anderson was speaking of former soldiers who retire and then use their impressive CVs to join the private sector, where the make valuable contributions. They are, as Anderson said, citizens first, who would have gone to school to study engineering, medicine and even law.

He could also have mentioned the fact the American army does not appoint people to senior positions on the basis of their political affiliation, as is the case in Zimbabwe. In fact, the army routinely goes outside the army to try and poach lawyers and other professionals to serve in their ranks, with outstanding packages. Once they retire, they can go back to their professions and this is not militarisation of civilian companies.

In Zimbabwe, it is an entirely different kettle of fish.

Here, Mugabe takes retired military men and appoints them to the boards of companies that are industries where the appointed military men have no experience whatsoever. Right now, we have men sitting on the boards of the very same newspaper that carries this report even though they have no training whatsoever in media studies.

They do not even have practical experience in the field. Previously, we had another military man running the company that is charged with maintaining the strategic reserves of grain in Zimbabwe. He promptly sent the country into famine by poor planning and was dragged before the courts on charges of corruption. Even through all this, he was not asked to step down while the charges against were investigated. He continued in his post throughout.

When I broke the news of the appointment of retired senior military personnel to boards of state companies in Zimbabwe a few weeks ago, the first thing I had done upon getting the list was go through the CVs of the military guys to see if they could possibly be qualified in any way to sit on these boards. Most were not and it was clear that this was simply a way to keep the army sweet.

There are instances when it is justifiable, just as it is in the private sector, to appoint or hire people who do not really have the paper qualifications for the job at hand, but then their experience clearly stands out.

For instance, not many people objected to having the military guy at the Grain Company because it was assumed that as a former leader in the army, he would know about logistics, which is a required skill if you are marshaling the harvest from across Zimbabwe, allocating transportation and the funds to buy up that harvest.

But when he failed dismally, he was still kept on in the job. Which proved that this was never about competence.

In America, former soldiers use their paper qualifications and their experience to get back into the private sector after leaving the Armed Forces. They do not get appointed by the American president to plum positions created simply for the purpose of greasing palms and spreading patronage.

Images Of Farm Workers Shot At Friedewal Farm Last Week

2009-11-04T13:28:00.003+02:00

Harare, Zimbabwe, 04 November 2009

These are images from Sokwanele's Flickr Album of Terror and they show some of the farm workers who were shot this last week at a farm that is being taken over by the Deputy Governor of The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

The farm in protected by the SADC Tribunal ruling, but we all know that the government has said that it will not listen to anything the Tribunal says.

Of the farm workers shot (with rubber bullets, apparently), two were seriously injured and sent to Harare for treatment. The farm under discussion is in Mugabe's home province. Interestingly, these farm workers are being shot at and brutalised like this over a few piggeries- yes- piggeries.

The deputy governor has already taken over the bulk of Friedewal Farm, but now wants the farmer, Louis Fick, who is a South African and a leader of the Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers' Union, to give up what little he is still hanging on to.

Fick himself has not been allowed to set foot on the farm. The workers, who have nowhere else to go, are trying to fight for their livelihoods by defending the cattle, pigs and crocodiles that are still on the farm. Some of their own houses have been burnt down in an effort to get them to move off, but when one has nothing else to lose, they tend to want to fight to the death and this is what these farm workers are doing.

Zimbabwe Faces Massive Hunger Again in 2010

2009-11-04T10:33:00.005+02:00

Zimbabwe is experiencing acute fertiliser shortages and it is too late to do anything about it now, meaning that next year's harvest is already in jeopardy. Agriculture remains the backbone of Zimbabwe's economy and a key anchor for any prospects of recovery. While the main parties fight over positions and power, they have neglected the actual governing of the country and the formulating of policies and strategies that could easily have averted this crisis

Harare, Zimbabwe, 04 November 2009

A colleague who has detailed information on the state of preparedness in the Agricultural sector in Zimbabwe revealed yesterday that Zimbabwe is set to suffer massive food shortages next year as a result of a disastrous agricultural season.

Although the country has enough seed (especially seed for the country's staple food, maize), there is a massive shortage of fertiliser and it is too late for anything to be done about it.

While the Inclusive Government of Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe has been spending tens of millions of dollars on foreign travel, fertiliser companies in Zimbabwe have remained in the doldrums, with no one to help them boost production at all.

One of the companies in the industry, Sable Chemicals, says it needs about US$1 million a month just to pay for electricity. This is quite apart from the chemicals and raw materials needed to manufacture fertiliser.

The US$11 million spent by the government on foreign travel in the first six months of this year would have covered a year of electricity bills for the company, and it would have been able to pay that back to government, with interest, if it had been able to manufacture.

But, of course, there is also the continuing problem of electricity cuts, which would have meant that the company would not have been able to work at full capacity anyway.

The European Union has now released money for farmers to buy fertiliser in the country, but this is too little too late. There simply is no fertiliser in the country and the logistics involved in importing the fertiliser will mean that it will be not be delivered here on time, even if there was enough money to pay for it.

One then asks: What has Morgan Tsvangirai been doing since he was sworn in as Prime Minister, with responsibility for policy formulation and implementation? What has Mugabe been doing since he was sworn in as president? What have the Minister and Deputy Minister in charge of agriculture been doing if they could not see this time bomb.

Our communal farmers, who have traditionally produced the bulk of maize consumed in Zimbabwe, (about 60%), are the hardest hit and they will probably only harvest enough for themselves, with the majority being unable to swing even that, considering that they still till substandard land (the prime farming land has all been given to politicians and speculators)

This was a golden opportunity for the MDC-T and Morgan Tsvangirai to show that they could change the direction of policy implementation in this country and at least stabilise agriculture. They have failed this test and next harvest season will prove to the people that there is no difference between Mugabe/ZANU PF and Morgan Tsvangirai/MDC.

Both are too preoccupied with power, with spreading patronage in their respective spheres of influence and ensuring that they maintain a tight grip on their parties.

The people of Zimbabwe are left simply to swing in the wind.

"We Will Never Forget Mugabe's Help" - President Kabila

2009-11-04T10:02:00.006+02:00

President Joseph and Robert "The Solution" Mugabe soon after their talk at State House in Harare on November 2. Kabila was at the Africa University yesterday delivering a lecture in which he thanks Mugabe for helping prop up his father's government in the DRC. He also said it was a courageous move for anyone to share power with their former adversaries and says he should know, because he has done the same in the DRC.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 04 November 2009

If anyone harboured any illusion as to where in Zimbabwe the loyalty of Joseph Kabila, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo and current Southern African Development Community (SADC) lay, they were left in no doubt yesterday at the African University.

Kabila was delivering a lecture at the University (the Dag Hammarskjold lecture named after the former United Nations Secretary General who died in a plane crash in the Great Lakes Region in the 1960s).

Kabila thanked Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe for their intervention in his country, which intervention actually saved the government of his late Father, Laurent Kabila.

"We will never forget the blood shed by their gallant sons and daughters to help us preserve our independence, territorial integrity and national sovereignty," Kabila told his audience.

Even more tellingly, he also exposed the fact that he thinks Mugabe was courageous to allow Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC-T to share power with him in the Zimbabwe Inclusive Government:

"Indeed, accepting to share power with adversaries, or granting amnesty to rebels is seldom an easy decision. It can be politically painful and even dangerous. It takes vision, wisdom and, above all, courage, " noted Kabila.

He has since left the country and flown back to the DRC. Even as he left, he gave no indication that he thinks that there is anything serious going on in Zimbabwe.

The DRC president, after his meeting with Mugabe, also tried to give the impression that he was not in the country for the crisis facing the Inclusive Government. He told reporters that he was in Zimbabwe because he had told Mugabe in Kinshasa in September that he would pay a visit to the Zimbabwean president.

The bottom line is that he, Jacob Zuma and the rest of the SADC heads of state are saying that Morgan Tsvangirai should continue talking with Mugabe, exploring ways to find a solution. They all echo Morgan Tsvangirai's often-stated position that "there is no alternative in Zimbabwe to the Inclusive Government." Yes, those words are coming back to haunt Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mugabe, on the other hand, now knows that there is no joy coming Tsvangirai's way from SADC. It will now be a case of he either takes what he is given or he walks. Mugabe is not too bothered either way.

After Thursday's meeting of the SADC Troika, you will Tsvangirai express "disappointment" at the way the Troika would have handled the Zimbabwe situation. He may even posture publicly that there should be new elections in Zimbabwe held under the supervision of the United Nations and SADC/African Union, as he did when he announced his pull-out.

But Mugabe has already started floating, through the state media, the idea that there will be no new elections while sanctions remain imposed on Zimbabwe "because Zimbabweans will be forced to vote with their stomachs instead of their heads."

The so-called crisis in Zimbabwe is nothing of the sort and all Morgan Tsvangirai has managed to do is diminish his standing even further with his own supporters who fail completely to understand what it is he has just done. Most are of the view that he is no longer Prime Minister and has left government.

They fear the return of the Zimbabwe dollar. If that does not happen and Tsvangirai remains "disengaged", then the benefit will all be Mugabe's, at least as far as the voters are concerned.

Time will definitely tell.

Zimbabwe Diamond Ban Looms, Government Scrambles

2009-11-04T07:48:00.006+02:00

Small-scale Diamond miners are seen here at the Marange Diamond Fields in Zimbabwe at the height of diamond fever. Zimbabwe's diamonds face an international ban from the Kimberley Certification Process in Swakopmund, Namibia. The Minister of Mines made a presentation yesterday in the coastal town and did not address the main concern: the presence of the army at the diamond fields. There is no doubt that government is panicking.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 04 November 2009

Obert Mpofu, Zimbabwe's Minister of Mines and a Vice-presidential aspirant, is in Namibia where he is fighting against the tide, in a battle to block a proposed ban on the trade in Zimbabwe's diamonds.

Mpofu, with a straight face, says that the government of Zimbabwe has done all that it can to comply with the recommendations of the Kimberley Certification Process Team that visited Zimbabwe earlier in the year.

Talk about eating humble pie!

The team recommended that soldiers be removed from the Marange Diamond Fields, where it is alleged that they are using villagers there as slave labour. There are also allegations that people are being killed for not producing enough diamonds for the army, that the corpses are buried in anthills and then the bones are removed a little while later and taken away in order that there be no evidence of killings later on.

At first, the Zimbabwe government said that it would comply and remove the soldiers from the diamond fields. Soon after the team left, however, an army spokesperson was on television breathing fire and brimstone. The Certification Process Team could go and jump into the nearest lake, he said. The army, he insisted, would not move off the diamond fields "until the area had been secured."

This, more than anything else, is what led the team to take a hardline stance and recommend that Zimbabwe's diamonds be banned.

Curiously, Mpofu said nothing about the role of the army at the diamond fields during his presentation in Swakopmund, a picturesque coastal town in Namibia set against the backdrop of the red sand dunes of the Namib Desert.

The amount of panic in government over the impending ban has to be seen to be believed. Even I was approached by officials from our government to try and impress upon my party and my president, Dr Simba Makoni, the need to "speak out against a ban of our diamonds, because a ban would be disastrous and we would not be able to easily get ourselves unbanned if this happens."

I was told that we needed to issue a statement by yesterday! That has not happened, of course. I wonder why they think that we are here to take their chestnuts out of the fire for them.

Still, there is no doubt that a ban would have dire consequences and would simply entrench the presence of the armed forces at the diamond fields. It will ensure that diamond smuggling goes ahead unabated, lining the pockets of not only the army top brass, but also ZANU PF, which MDC-T ministers say is now sitting on diamonds worth US$300 million, stored in the vaults of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.

Even the First Lady, Grace Mugabe, is said to have established a diamond polishing business in China. Everyone is in on it. A ban would ensure that it becomes a true free-for-all.

That said, the government should really simply ensure that the army moves off from the diamond fields. Then they will have a leg to stand no in trynig to block a ban.

The diamond fields at Chiadzwa would make Zimbabwe the fourth largest diamond producer in the world. Managed by a caring and motivated government, used wisely, the fields would go a long way towards making Zimbabwe one of the richest countries in African and perhaps even the world.

My personal dream of making Zimbabwe a First World country within ten years would be easily realised if this resource, together with our gold, platinum and now uranium were all used wisely, anchored in sound policies and in the absence of corruption and greed.

None of the parties in government today have the capacity to ensure that this happens. At all.

Instead of addressing the main issue: the army presence at the diamond fields, the government has resorted to blackmail and bribery. They have managed to get through to Newman Chiadzwa, who called himself Chief Chiadzwa and has been before the courts here in Zimbabwe accused of illegal possession of diamonds.

He has now changed his tune, saying that villagers fed him wrong information, that there are no killings and atrocities at the diamond fields. Even more bizzare, even the community's objection to the rotten piece of land that the government wants to give then in order to clear the area where diamonds are now being mined has now disappeared, according to this Newman Chiadzwa.

This week, he wrote a grovelling letter to the Minister of Mines, in which he apologised "unreservedly" to "The Solution", the government and the people of Zimbabwe for saying all the things he has been saying all along. Now, like ZANU PF, he also blames the West and unnamed NGOs. whom he says are not interested in any positive stories about Chiadzwa because they have a hidden agenda.

Despite all this, it remains true that the surest way for government to ensure that Zimbabwe diamonds are not banned is to remove the army from the fields. That will go a long way towards disarming the troops lined up now against Zimbabwe's diamonds.

We Were Right: The Jestina Mukoko Insurgency Case Is Still Alive

2009-11-03T09:21:00.006+02:00

Morgan Tsvangirai meets with the SADC Troika Ministerial Team (and Secretay-General Tomaz Salamao) in his offices at the Presidential Office Building, Munhumutapa in Harare on 30 October. Tsvangirai's close relative and an MDC-T intelligence department worker, Pascal Gwezere, has now appeared in court after being "abducted" on 29 October from his home by armed men. As we explained in a previous article on this blog, he now faces charges of stealing weapons and training to overthrow "The Solution".

Harare, Zimbabwe, 03 November 2009

As we revealed on 28 October as reports of the abduction of Pascal Gwezere echoed across Zimbabwe, the man indeed now stands accused of plotting to overthrow Mugabe and stealing arms of war from Pomona Barracks, a military camp from where weapons disappeared a couple of weeks back.

Even though some remained skeptical, what we revealed in the story, published on this blog on 28 October has now been proved correct. Gwezere yesterday surfaced in court where, besides the charge of stealing weapons from Pomona Barracks, he was also accused of having received military training in Uganda in 1999.

Despite MDC-T officials giving him a title that he does not have in actual fact, the truth of the matter is as I stated in the article referred to above: Gwezere works in the intelligence department of the MDC-T. It is also not in dispute that he was in Uganda in 1999 for two months or so.

It is doubtful, however, (highly unlikely, in fact), that he got military training while there. Perhaps he was simply trained to be able to carry out his job and in preparation for a role in government, since at that time, the MDC believed that it was going to remove Mugabe through elections and start running the country itself.

But the fact that the issue of Uganda is being brought up reveals an aspect of the current goings-on within government and exposes one of the main reasons for Morgan Tsvangirai's baffling "disengagement". He knew this was coming. He also knows that the insurgency case is still alive as far as Mugabe and his hardliners are concerned.

A complete breakdown in the government of national unity of Inclusive Government now would also see the law being thrown out of the window, Jestina Mukoko, Ghandi Mudzingwa and others close to Tsvangirai re-arrested and charged with training insurgents.

Mugabe has pointedly informed Morgan Tsvangirai, apparently, that "some people" are convinced that the MDC-T was trying to stage a coup from within government and this is why they are pushing for the government to collapse in order to eject the opposition party from the corridors of power.

The so-called hardliners are determined to ensure the destruction of the MDC-T before any election is held in Zimbabwe. Whether the charges stick or not is immaterial to them. Thew object is to stage mass arrests one Tsvangirai is out of government and so paralyse the MDC so that there will be no one to campaign within the country in the event of an election. Anyone who dares to be active will be nabbed and thrown in with the others.

Mugabe would then have a clear run at the presidency and at parliament. That is what this is all about.

Gwezere is now said to have connived with one "Getrude" and some soldiers who are said to be still on the run. The prosecutors say that on 20 October 2009, Gwezere and Getrude took away the arms from One Engineers' Support Armoury and went with them to an "unknown destination" (even after all the torture Gwezere is said to have gone through, he still can not tell them where the arms are? Does this sound like he was the person behind the robbery?) .

I doubt that the soldiers said to be on the run really are. Rest assured that, should the matter go to trial, those same soldiers who are said to be on the run now will suddenly surface and turn state witnesses. That would be the end of Gwezere. Nail. Coffin. You get the picture.

At least that is the plan. Whether it succeeds or not remains to be seen. The new crop of judges in Zimbabwe are also now proving to be a thorn in the side of Mugabe and his hardliners, sticking to the proper conduct of the law and not being swayed by sectarian interests within ZANU PF.

It is for this reason that Morgan Tsvangirai will indeed come back into cabinet and drop this "disengagement" thing. He and his party are safer in office (although not in power) than they are out of it.

US$7 Billion Debt For Zimbabwe By 2011, Rhodesians Blamed!

2009-11-03T08:26:00.006+02:00

Ian Smith, the last colonial Prime Minister of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) seen here in later years at his home just behind Mugabe's own official home in Harare. Smith's government, it now emerges, left Mugabe a debt of US$700 million in 1980, which Mugabe nursed until today and it has now ballooned to the extent where, by 1987, it was consuming 65% of Zimbabwe's export earnings. It is yet another sign of Mugabe's bad management of Zimbabwe's economy that he allowed it to fester for so long. But it must still be paid, despite what misguided foreigners are now trying to tell Zimbabwe.

Harare, Zimbabwe, 03 November 2009

This must a new low. A record one, in fact.

A Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development, egged on by some misguided foreigners, apparently, yesterday resolved that a US$700 million debt inherited from the government of Ina Smith at Independence in 1980, should not be a burden of Zimbabwe.

State media quotes one of the attendants at the workshop, a staff member of the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development as saying: "Why should the present Zimbabwe pay for what the colonial government did?"

Government should pay no attention to such dangerous talk. It is an accepted norm of international relations that successor governments inherit the debts of their predecessors.

In fact, this is the main reason why Mugabe has now fallen out with the New Labour regime in Britain: Margaret Thatcher in 1980 agreed to fund Land Reform in Zimbabwe, to give the country money to buy farms from white farmers in order to resettle black Zimbabweans on those farms.

Tony Blair and Claire Short, when New Labour came to power in 1997, told Mugabe that they were not bound by the agreement made by Thatcher. This was an untenable position and, even though it was the trigger of the violent land invasions that followed, has been buried under mountains of propaganda from both Zimbabwe and Britain. But that incident is the root cause of the most of what we are experiencing today, exacerbated, of course, by disastrous policies from Mugabe and ZANU PF within Zimbabwe, which led to the butchering of an economy that should have withstood most of what has been thrown at it since 1999.

The Government of Zimbabwe would have no leg to stand on if it decided not to honour that debt from the days of Rhodesia. They have no option but to honour. failure to do this will lead to the country being a pariah in financial markets worldwide: no one will want to lend money to any Zimbabwe government because they will not be sure if the next government will turn around and say they can not pay for the sins of the previous regime.

Any party taking over from ZANU PF, for instance, will have to ensure that the debt that Zimbabwe is saddled with now is paid and paid in full. Or, alternatively, that the debt is written off. But it can not be ignored.

What right would Mugabe have, for instance, to ask David Cameroon, the likely next British Prime Minister, to pay up on the promises of Margaret Thatcher's regime if he himself will not pay up on the promissory notes from Ian Smith's Rhodesia.

Even the new democratic ANC government has to pay the debts that it inherited from the apartheid regime, even if those loans were taken out in order to buy rubber bullets and guns with which to shoot at black South Africans.

If this was all there was to the workshop in Harare yesterday, then it was a monumental waste of money. Zimbabwe must pay up the debts of Rhodesia when it can. It must never abdicate. Ever. Otherwise our already tattered reputation will be killed forever in the international community.

A for those "well-meaning" foreigners coming with these strange ideas, they should be put on the next plane back home and told firmly that their advice neither wanted not needed.

Just a question: with all the wealth that Zimbabwe is said to have had before 1999, why is it that a mere US$700 million from before 1980 is still outstanding? With all the goodwill Mugabe had in 1980, why did he not see it fit to negotiate for the loan to be expunged? He would have succeeded.

Too late now. No one wants to help him. That debt will have to be paid, even if Mugabe goes and another government comes in.