The Bearded Man

Saturday, 5th December 2009

2009-12-05T07:32:00.004Z

Howzit

Okay - so this page has been very quiet the last four days... and I trust that you understood my need to go on a course to get an NVQ. My intention is to pursue the next stage of the progress - and hopefully secure gainful employment. But more about that as it happens.

Sadly, when it comes to this page being regular, we are not quite out the woods yet, with tomorrow being the first Sunday of the month, I have a Royal British Legion monthly meeting...

Sorry, but there isn't very much I can do about it.

-o00o-

I am not sure exactly what Mugabe is complaining about here. During the chimurenga, I seem to remember that the two 'freedom fighter' camps had their own 'pirate' radio station beaming programmes into the country.

And the continuous story line there was that the 'freedom fighters' were doing the right thing opposing and fighting the Rhodesian government - they just failed to tell the whole truth of the terrorist activities of killing innocent people, murdering mission school staff and blowing up travellers with landmines...

I don't know what Mugabe wants Botswana or England to do. If the radio stations are legal and are not inciting racism, terrorism or religious bigotry, then there is not much that can be done.

And let's remember that Mugabe uses the ZBC as his personal media company, extolling the virtues of ZANU PF and its leader...

"Botswana has been hosting pirate radio stations beaming hate messages into Zimbabwe, a discovery that is likely to cause diplomatic tension between the two countries.

Reports from Harare, Zimbabwe's capital say

Zimbabwe

's northeastern neighbour, by hosting these stations, is violating the Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed on September 11 2008 by President Mugabe, MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC-M leader Professor Arthur Mutambara.

The ZANU PF party issued a statement Tuesday saying

Botswana

's actions are threatening the survival of the inclusive Government."

How can Botswana be in violation of the GPA if they were not a signatory of that agreement?

"The country is also in violation of SADC resolutions on

Zimbabwe

, to which it is party. SADC is the guarantor of the GPA and mediating the all-party talks.

Secretary for Foreign Affairs Ambassador Joey Bimha yesterday said

Zimbabwe

made a formal complaint last year through the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation and they would soon raise the matter with Gaborone directly.

"We made a complaint and the Organ said the issues should be addressed bilaterally through the Committee on Defence and Security and the Joint Permanent Commission," he said."

As far I am concerned, the so-called 'pirate' radio stations are not something that need to be resolved ahead of other issues, such as the unilateral appointment of Gideon Gono and Johannes Tomana by Mugabe. These remain stuck in the craw of Zimbabwean democracy, and are much more important than radios stations operating in foreign lands.

"The Voice of America special broadcast, Studio 7, beams illegally into

Zimbabwe

through

Botswana

while

Madagascar

plays host to another pirate radio station, Voice of the People, in violation of the International Telecommunications Union protocols," says a report in the daily.

"Both countries are SADC members - though

Madagascar

is presently suspended following a coup that deposed Marc Ravalomanana - while

Botswana

not only hosts the bloc’s secretariat, but has been badmouthing ZANU PF over alleged failure to implement provisions of the GPA which ironically condemns the pirate broadcasts."

-o00o-

If Mugabe feels so strongly about the alleged 'pirate' radio stations, why does he not allow these broadcasts to come from within the Zimbabwean borders? Surely they would be a balance for the pro-ZANU PF ZBC, who are instructed to refer to Mugabe as 'the President of Zimbabwe and the Commander in Chief of the armed forces' (as if we need to be reminded), so that the people of Zimbabwe have a choice.

Mind you, they had a choice last year in March as to who should rule them and he took that choice away from them using violence, threats, intimidation and death as a tool to get his own way.

"Deputy Information Minister has hit back at those seeking the banning of exiled radio stations broadcasting into the country saying they were justified in doing so because Zimbabwe had a capacity to licence 31 commercial radio stations.

"A market has got rules. If you control the price of goods and services, you create a parallel market. This is how the law of supply and demand would respond to an intervention into a natural law of the market. This is very simple," Timba told journalists in Harare.

He said in terms of the current frequency allocation plan, Zimbabwe had the capacity to host three new television stations on the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) band and one TV station on Very High Frequency (VHF) band. If

Zimbabwe

was to go digital through a multiplex, it could have six additional television stations on the UHF and one more on the VHF and this would be an additional 7 stations in the country.

Timba said

Zimbabwe

also had the capacity to host two more national FM licences in terms of the current frequency plan and 31 local commercial radio stations. This could allow every urban centre in

Zimbabwe

to have a radio station."

Mugabe is the one person who claims that Zimbabwe is a democracy - when it is more than apparent that the country is anything but democratic.

The external radio stations abide by the laws of the host country - so I cannot work out just how Mugabe can label them 'pirate' and also how he can make the demand that they be shut down.

For years Mugabe had banned the BBC and CNN from news coverage within Zimbabwe - but once banned, did he call for the two stations to be shut down?

"If you have got all these capacities in terms of broadcasting, issue them," Timba said. "When you issue those licences, you will remove that market which is parallel. If you continue to close that space, then those entities will continue to operate."

In the event that - for example - SW Radio Africa decided to apply for a licence to broadcast from within Zimbabwe, would Mugabe allow that to happen? This radio station did begin its life from within Zimbabwe, but was forcibly shut down, making a move to a foreign country a necessity.

-o00o-

-o00o-

Desperate times call for desperate measures. And I am not defending the illegality of the workers' status, but I do point at the global economic decline whilst I specifically point at the situation in Zimbabwe which makes life within the country almost pointless unless you have serious political connections to ZANU PF.

"Zimbabweans are amongst scores of illegal migrants nabbed by the UK Border police force while working on the London Olympic site.

More than 80 migrants were arrested after border police swooped in a crackdown on unlawful working.

Some of those caught were asylum seekers - who are banned from employment here - while others were migrants who has arrived as 'tourists'.

Half had used fake passports or other false documents to get a job, according to the Evening Standard.

Others were detained for overstaying their visas or working despite being barred from doing so under immigration or asylum rules."

The 2012 games are obviously very attractive for workers who would like a regular wage packet, and a chance to put a foot on the employment ladder.

But if that employment is gained via illegal means - either by fraud, falsifying documents or working without the correct permissions - then those people caught should expect that the law courts will deal with them without favour.

"Many of the offenders have already been removed from

Britain

. The rest are either in custody, awaiting prosecution or facing deportation.

The arrests by the UK Border Agency over the past seven months will fuel the controversy about employment at the Stratford site.

They come in the wake of Gordon Brown's pledge to provide 'British jobs for British workers'.

Protesters have accused 2012 bosses of using cheap agency workers, often from overseas, in breach of labour agreements."

I am of the belief that deportations to Zimbabwe are currently on ice, but I stand to be corrected.

-o00o-

I have no doubt that Mutambara is better educated than Barrack Obama - but, seriously, who cares?

In my book "Without Honour" I write of a day when I actually met Robert Mugabe. Educated he may be, but he is not a wise man. And Mutambara doesn't do anything for himself or Zimbabweans around the globe by trotting out his qualifications.

Instead of advertising his scholastic achievements, why doesn't he actually do something that reflects the hope that the party put in him, and also befits his vaunted office of Deputy Prime Minister?

"Zimbabwe will not benefit from the "patronising" and "ignorant" meddling of foreigners who know nothing about the real situation in the country, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara has said.

Speaking in

South Africa

on Thursday, DPM Mutambara said

Zimbabwe

was better guided by SADC and the African Union, and that Zimbabweans have the last say on the way forward politically.

Internet news sites also quoted him as saying although the inclusive Government had a two-year lifespan - from September 2008 to September 2010 - there was room to keep the arrangement in place if conditions on the ground so required.

"There are two major reasons why there is scepticism (about the inclusive Government by Western countries), one of them is sheer ignorance and arrogance on the part of the West.

"I went to Oxford - I taught at MIT, I’m a Rhodes scholar. I think it’s fair to say that I know better than (US President Barack) Obama what is good for

Zimbabwe

, that I know better than Mrs Hillary Clinton what is good for

Zimbabwe

.

"So it is very arrogant and patronising for Hillary or Obama to prescribe what is best for

Zimbabwe

without talking to me first.

"In my opinion, the starting point is to remove ignorance and to remove arrogance on the part of the West vis-à-vis what’s good for Africa," he said."

I cannot believe what I just read... "Zimbabweans have the last say on the way forward politically"?

The people spoke with one voice last year and rejected Mugabe and ZANU PF - and where is Mugabe and his party today?

The Zimbabwean people obviously have no say in the way forward!

Mutambara may be a gifted scholar and an extremely educated person, but I do not view him as a wise person - or indeed as a servant of the people. In fact he has done little or nothing for anyone since taking office - and now decides that he needs to tell the world that he knows best?

The man is a hypocrite!

"So the greatest influence over the future of Zimbabwean politics lies not with the intervention of Western governments, but rather lies with Africa and the will of the African people," he said.

DPM Mutambara said Zimbabweans were best placed to know their needs, adding that the inclusive Government was the best alternative at the moment for the governance of the country.

He also said the problems

Zimbabwe

was facing were not insurmountable.

"Our people are experiencing a new reality. Yes, there are problems, yes there are challenges, but they are not insurmountable."

Why, if the solution is for the Zimbabwean people, does the administration spend time asking the West for money? They want the money, but not their input? They are not going to be given very much aid, are they?

If I were a potential aid donor, I would be very guarded as to whether I should hand any money to the Zimbabwean government as Mugabe remains in control of the wreck of a country - a wreck that he created!

-o00o-

I am unable to confirm the veracity of this story, as this is the only article I can find on it - but, without doubt, it is easily possible that Chinotimba has taken the law into his own hands (again)....

"The so-called leader of the War Veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war of the 1970s (although he actually never went to war and is not a real Veteran), Joseph Chinotimba, has invaded a house in Harare and is refusing to leave. The house belongs to Harare City Council, which has taken Chinotimba to court, but witnesses have mysteriously disappeared, leading to the case being struck off the roll.

The self-styled Commander of Farm Invasions, Joseph Chinotimba, who is also a leader of the Mugabe-supporting War Veterans' Association of Zimbabwe, is refusing to vacate a suburban house in Harare that he has been occupying for years now.

The house, in Belvedere, was occupied by Chinotimba in May 2006, when ZANU PF still had some clout at the Harare City Council. The home belongs to the Council and was given to Chinotimba on the basis of a "verbal contract".

With the MDC-Tsvangirai now controlling Council, they are seeking to evict Chinotimba from the Council House and they had given him notice to vacate the building by end of September 2008.

Chinotimba defied the eviction order and has now been hauled before the courts.But, in true ZANU PF style, all the witnesses lined up by the Council in their case against Chinotimba failed to show up in court, leading to the case being struck off the roll, which means the process of filing papers will have to start from scratch."

Not that long agi, Chinotimba led the eviction of a woman from a house in Gweru, and the report on that event, described Chinotimba as 'brandishing a handgun'... Why is it that Mugabe loyalists seem to get away with murder, whilst everyone else has to suffer for their acts?

And when I say 'murder' - I mean MURDER. The illegal and intentional killing of another.

"The Minister of Local Government had recommended that the Council should sell the property to the defendant as the sitting tenant, which recommendation, has not been acted upon, despite the defendant’s request," Chinotimba says in his opposing papers before the courts. Chinotimba also dares the Council to go to Zimbabwe's rent Board if they want to evict him, so that they get an eviction certificate from them. He knows full well how things like that go. The Rent Board is ineffective and is generally shunned by both landlords and tenants in matters such as these. The upshot is that Chinotimba has effectively invaded a house in Harare and is refusing to vacate it, relying on the backing of the Minister of Local Government, a ZANU PF dyed-in-the-wool hardliner, to keep him safe."

Welcome to the real Zimbabwe - the Zimbabwe that Mugabe (and Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara) would prefer that the public don't see.

Invading farms is nothing - and now it seems that Chinotimba is testing the water when it comes to private residences...

"...he now lives a lavish lifestyle, drives a Jeep Cherokee and claims that he is making bundles of money through his "businesses". Some of these businesses are Security companies that intimidate companies into engaging them to "protect" their properties. A couple of months back, he got the Deputy Minister of Youth, an MDC-T appointee, arrested, saying the man had stolen his cellphone at a conference in Harare. The Deputy Minister was subsequently acquitted by the courts.

All this really shows the mentality that still exists in ZANU PF. They believe that they can get away with literally anything and it is safe bet to say that Chinotimba will not be leaving the house any time soon."

-o00o-

Well, isn't this a surprise?

Not that the Mugabe regime employed 'war officers', but that a member of Mugabe's inner sanctum has actually told the truth! (I sincerely hope that it is contagious!)

"Youth Development minister Saviour Kasukuwere this week admitted that his ministry violated public service job recruitment regulations when it hired 13000 youths just before last year’s bloody presidential election run-off to work nationwide as ward officers. Appearing before parliament’s public accounts committee on Monday, Kasukuwere said his ministry had between May and June 2008 employed 13000 youths, not 10277 as first revealed by the Comptroller and Auditor-General, Mildred Chiri, in her report to the House last month.

"He admitted before the committee that the procedures (in hiring the youths) were violated and the ministry was regularising," a senior member of the committee said.

The regulations violated included the failure by the Public Service Commission to advertise for the posts and also failure to open personal files for the hired youths.

The ward officers did not have bank accounts to receive their salaries, rather the ministry used an imprest account from which money could be paid in advance to the youths."

Does this admission not go a long way to proving that the elections in March last year were fraudulent? Does this admission not prove beyond any reasonable doubt that Mugabe never intended to hold a 'free and fair' election?

Not that it is going to make one blind bit of difference, because Mugabe considers himself 'elected' and that is that!

"Officials from the Finance ministry who also attended the meeting admitted that they had erred by failing to check the list of employees before releasing funds for their payment.

"The Public Service Commission was culpable for the ghost workers because they waived proper procedures and abdicated their responsibility to the Youth ministry, even to the extent of waiving O-Level requirements,” another committee member said.

As reported by the Zimbabwe Independent in October, Chiri in her report exposed gross abuse of state resources by top government officials and the unlawful recruitment of the youths."

And before the Mugabe administration attempts to deflect the blame towards Tendai Biti, the Minister of Finance, we must emphasise that these 'appointments' took place before the election - before the 'inclusive' government came into being...

This was pure ZANU PF treachery.

"Kasukuwere then accused the audit report of having many inaccuracies and said he would make an official response once the ministry’s accounting officer was through with their own audit.

The parliamentary committee is compiling a full report on the recruitment of the youths with remedial recommendations and this report would be tabled in parliament before year-end.

Meanwhile, minister for Public Service Professor Eliphas Mukonoweshuro yesterday told the Independent that results of a pilot human resource audit in the civil service done in Harare, Midlands and Chitungwiza was expected to be out early next week.

Mukonoweshuro said: "In those areas there was nothing out of the ordinary. There’s nothing that they were able to evaluate that would raise eyebrows."

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Friday, 4th December 2009

2009-12-04T17:21:00.002Z

Howzit

Okay - course complete - exams written and I will find out next week the results, which should, theoretically, allow me to then use it as a stepping stone to the true target. I will reveal more once I am sure of the progress.

Today's headlines...

Politics Casts Shadow Over Economic Recovery – Analysts

Foreign Radio Broadcasts On The Agenda In

Zimbabwe

Unity Gov't Crisis Talks

Southern African Regional Official In Harare To Push Unity Government Talks

Botswana

propaganda Pact Exposed

A Workable Strategy For Zimbabwe

World Leaders Photographed 'Up Close & Personal'

Mnangagwa Accused Of Selling-Out To MDC Demands

Take care

'debvhu

Thursday, 3rd December 2009

2009-12-03T17:19:00.002Z

Howzit

Three days down - one to go with two exams tomorrow afternoon. It is quite surprising for me that the law of England is so similar, yet vastly different, from that in Zimbabwe - well, as I knew it anyway...

Headlines for the day...

Tsvangirai Says Progress In Zimbabwe Talks

'We Want To Transform Zim Into Functional Nation'

PM Berates MPs Heckling In House

Biti To Curb Robert Mugabe's Trips Abroad

Back On The Air, But Don't Mention Mugabe

Zimbabwe Takes Botswana To Task Over Foreign Radio News Transmissions

Tsvangirai Urges Probe Of Erring Public Officials

Zimbabwe Mediators Complete First Session

Former MDC-Mutambara MPs Join Tsvangirai's MDC

Take care.

'debvhu

Wednesday, 2nd December 2009

2009-12-02T17:22:00.002Z

Howzit

That's 2 days of the four day course done - two exams on Friday afternoon... just a little bit of revision to do!

PM Addresses More Than 50,000 Supporters

"We're Not Going Home" - Professionals In The UK

Germany Concerned Over Return To Lawlessness

Matonga’s Culpable Homicide Trial To Open Next Month

From Today BBC Radio 5 Unleashes Live Broadcasting From Harare

MDC's Gwezere Still Detained At Chikurubi Prison

ZANU PF Abducts Nine Year Old

Gono Retreated On Zimdollar After Heated Meeting

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Tuesday, 1st December 2009

2009-12-01T17:16:00.002Z

Howzit

The first day of the course is done - very interesting, and also good fun - and so herewith the latest headlines on Zimbabwe:

South African Facilitators Meet With Zimbabwe Unity Government Principals

Zuma due in

Zimbabwe

to assess progress on crisis talks : MDC

Sally Mugabe Orphanage Abandoned

UN appeals for US$378 emergency aid for Zimbabwe

Mutsekwa Calls for Sanctions Removal

GPA - Fresh Issues Emerge

We are the MDC, not MDC-M - Ncube

Mugabe pressures Tsvangirai to fire Biti

Money - The root of Mugabe's evil

Tsvangirai Bodyguard Jailed

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Monday, 30th November 2009

2009-11-30T07:04:00.004Z

Howzit

Foreign currency mid-rates updated.

-o00o-

Okay, from tomorrow through Friday, postings on this page will be irregular and could be rather sparse. This is because I am on a four day course.

Thank for understanding.

Yesterday I also wrote about one of my hard drives going on strike. Well - with the use of a freeware programme, I was able to recover the vast majority, if not all of my pictures. I am unsure as the recovery resulted in the files being numerically renamed...

I am beginning to sort them out - but I am mightily relieved.

-o00o-

You may recall a few weeks ago, I published a number of student opinions on Mugabe sent to me by a friend who teaches.

Here are a few more:

"The ruler of

Zimbabwe

is Robert Mugabe. He is what many people today would call a crooked man. Robert will take stuff from the people of

Zimbabwe

and give it to his own family members. So the people of

Zimbabwe

don’t really care to have him in power."

"The current president of

Zimbabwe

is Robert Mugabe. No this man is not the man they want ruling them. He has dominated the political system since 1987. This man actually takes land from others and simply gives it to his family! An abuse of power!"

"Robert Gabriel Karigamombe Mugabe is the current president of

Zimbabwe

. He has held power as the head of government since 1980 as prime minister from 80-87, and as the first executive head of state since 1987. Mugabe is definitely not who the majority of the people want ruling

Zimbabwe

. He takes things from the people of

Zimbabwe

and gives to his own family. He totally abuses all his power."

"Robert Gabriel Karigamombe Mugabe is the current President of Zimbabwe. He has held power as the head of government since 1980, as Prime Minster from 1980 to 1987, and as the first executive head of state since 1987. Since 1998 Mugabe's policies have elicited domestic and international condemnation. Mugabe's government supported the Southern African Development Community's intervention in the Second Congo War; expropriated thousands of white owned farms; printed hundreds of trillions of Zimbabwean dollars causing hyperinflation; and harassed and intimidated such political opponents as the Movement for Democratic Change. The resulting downward spiral in

Zimbabwe

's economy has been accompanied by oil and food shortages, massive internal displacement and emigration."

"The current president of

Zimbabwe

is Robert Gabriel Karigamombe Mugabe. Robert Mugabe has been in power since 1980. The people do not like him. He has cause hyperinflation, oil and food shortages, and many other harmful things. Since he has been in power the

Zimbabwe

economy has spiraled into a deep hole."

My thanks to my teaching friend who continues to highlight the abuse of power in Southern Africa. Much appreciated.

-o00o-

The crisis in Zimbabwe is well documented. Possibly so well documented that we are used to it and it no longer bugs us. But the truth is that the crisis is real - very real - and that there are many people losing their lives each day because of the crisis, caused by a lack of food, a lack of adequate housing, a distinct lack of medical services - all of which could have been avoided if Robert Mugabe had played the game and gone with the will of the people.

"Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai complained Sunday that his unity government deal with President Robert Mugabe was not being implemented and appealed for South African help.

"The real problem is not about the conflict. The real problem is about implementing the Global Political Agreement... then we move our country forward," Tsvangirai told a Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) rally.

He said

South Africa

, which mediated the agreement, needed to stay involved.

"

Zimbabwe

's instability is not a domestic issue, its not a foreign policy to

South Africa

. It is a domestic issue (for

South Africa

)," Tsvangirai said.

Tsvangirai and his MDC boycotted the unity government in October, complaining about the non-implementation of the unity deal. But they re-joined the government after the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the guarantors of the agreement, promised to mediate."

Since the elections last year, Mugabe has continued on the route that he had adopted before, ruining Zimbabwe's economy from within and abusing the power that he has.

It has escaped his notice that his ZANU PF party lost last year's general election - and the free world just ignores that fact that Mugabe was only 'elected' to the Presidency because he had his people visit a reign of terror on the MDC following, forcing Morgan Tsvangirai to withdraw from the run-off - run off that many people believe was not required as Tsvangirai had won the required 50% plus one vote required - but that ZANU PF had the ballot boxes magicked away and re-engineered the result, only to have that result made public some five weeks later...

"Negotiators from Tsvangirai's MDC, Mugabe's Zanu PF and smaller faction of the MDC are still in talks on how to resolve their disputes, in line with SADC recommendations. The outstanding issues being contested are the appointments of senior civil servants who include the central bank governor, the attorney general and provincial governors as well as the removal of sanctions."

I have said it before - sanctions are not the domain of the MDC, but the choice of the countries that enforce them. They were in place before the advent of the MDC and yet Mugabe continues to blame Tsvangirai's party for the targeted travel sanctions.

-o00o-

Well, history tells us that Mugabe has a habit of not standing up to his promises - and that includes not paying back money that he has borrowed. The IMF, the World Bank - the list is as long as the figures that he owes.

And very little of the money so borrowed was used for what it was intended...

"Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika is under fire for lending

Zimbabwe

US$100 million in June 2007 when the tiny southern African country has so many development projects at a standstill owing to shortage of cash.

To make matters worse, beleaguered

Zimbabwe

is failing to pay back the loan. It should have finished paying this month, according to Wilson Banda, the general manager of the Reserve Bank of

Malawi

. The loan was to pay for the maize

Zimbabwe

imported from

Malawi

in 2007.

Since then,

Zimbabwe

has been importing maize from

Malawi

, apart from other countries in the region. This year, it imported 40000 tonnes of maize from the tiny southern African country."

Just why Malawi, one of the poorer African states should lend this sort of money to Mugabe, I don't know. What on earth were they thinking about when they made the offer?

It would be interesting to see an accounting of this money. And I mean right up until the time the maize is distributed to the people in need. How much of the money was gobbled up by ZANU PF 'administration' - and how much of the maize actually ended up in the stomachs of people who needed it, free of charge?

"To put it mildly, that was sheer madness. It was wrong. It should not have happened,” Mpinganjira told Capital Radio, a privately-run radio station in

Malawi

over the weekend."

And while Mugabe is borrowing money for food, he has stated recently, a couple of time, that Zimbabwe is capable of feeding itself. If that's the case, why did he need to borrow from Malawi?

-o00o-

"South African President Jacob Zuma has urged, during a Commonwealth summit, that

Zimbabwe be re-admitted into the group, the presidency said on Sunday.

"President Zuma... welcomed efforts by the leaders of the Commonwealth Group attending the Commonwealth head of government summit in

Trinidad and Tobago

, to consider the re-admission of

Zimbabwe

," said spokesperson Vincent Magwenya in a statement on Sunday.

"

Zimbabwe

's re-admission into the Commonwealth, will serve as a recognition to the progress that has been achieved thus far.

"Equally, along with the lifting of sanctions, it will represent the international community's support and encouragement to parties to continue the dialogue that will deliver a lasting solution to the challenges facing the country," he said."

Wasted breath, Mr Zuma. Mugabe has already had one of his senior ministers reject the idea.

And if Mugabe doesn't understand that rejoining the Commonwealth would be a step forward, perhaps the re- admittance will have to be delayed until Mugabe is no longer part of the Zimbabwean political landscape.

For a man who claims that he wants to be 'friends' with the Queen again, he isn't doing very much to help matter, is he?

-o00o-

You mean to suggest that the ZANU PF hierarchy haven't stripped the Marange diamond fields bare of all of the precious stone?

"A private investor is looking to construct a runway at the controversial Marange diamond field in eastern

Zimbabwe

to ensure secure movement of the gemstones to a handling facility being built in Harare.

A top official of Mbada Investments, which was chosen together with another private firm to partner state-owned Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) in exploiting the Marange claim, said the runway was part of efforts to halt any illicit movement or smuggling of diamonds from the Marange or Chiadzwa field.

"Diamonds from this area will be flown to Harare in a more secure condition," Mbada chairman Robert Mhlanga told government taskforce that visited Marange at the weekend.

"We are also constructing a diamond handling facility at the Harare International airport and time permitting we will be inviting you to see the facility in Harare," Mbada said."

Isn't it very comforting to know that Mbada Investments is, in actual fact, a private venture - formed by ZMDC and a foreign investor? Which means that ZANU PF have still got their fingers in the pie, but are just a little further away from the mine work face - paperwork wise.

"The partners, Grandwell and Core Mining Minerals both from

South Africa

are extracting the rough diamonds on an area 1005 hectares in extent under ZMDC’s special grants.

Grandwell partnered ZMDC to form Mbada Mining while on the other hand the State mining entity joined forces with Core Mining to form Canadile Miners to mine Chiadzwa diamonds."

Meanwhile, diamonds from Marange and Chiadzwa have been found as far afiel as Canada - and yet thr Kimberley Process refuses to ban the sale of diamonds from Zimbabwe, nor to sanction the production.

"...a KP meeting in

Namibia

about three weeks ago decided against banning

Zimbabwe

diamonds from the world market and instead agreed to give Harare more time to review operations at Marange and improve security arrangements to comply with the organisation’s standards."

That ought to fix it!

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Sunday, 29th November 2009

2009-11-29T09:13:00.005Z

Howzit

A disaster yesterday has seen one of my external drives decide that it doesn't want to play anymore, and, as luck would have it, it is the drive that has all of my photos, pictures and artwork on board. I am presently running a recovery in the hope that I can save them all, but the process is chewing my machine resources, so this posting may be a little late.

-o00o-

Well FIFA seem to have realised that by allowing the world cup to visit Zimbabwe and to have Mugabe handle the world championship prize, that they have transgressed.

Mugabe used the opportunity to lay in the West - again - stating that the cup was made from stolen gold...

"Just last week, for example, they allowed their prize of prizes, the FIFA World Cup trophy, to be held in the blood-stained hands of

Zimbabwe

's tyrannical Robert Mugabe.

Given this unexpected gift, the tin-pot dictator took full advantage. "

Britain

does not have any gold, neither does

Germany

," Mugabe told a crowd in Harare while holding the golden trophy, which is on a tour of Africa.

"I am tempted to think that it came from Africa, and from

Zimbabwe

, and was taken away by adventurers who shaped it into this cup.

"When I hold the cup, I know all of you will have the urge that I should not let it go because this could be our gold."

Human rights officials have justifiably condemned FIFA for allowing Mugabe the platform on which to strut his odious self."

As I have come to expect, FIFA will do the same as so many people, countries and bodies before it - nothing. The event will have a curtain drawn around it, and that will be that...

Pathetic. I now remember why I hate football so much.

-o00o-

Readers will know of my affiliation with the Gukurahundi - the reign of terror visited upon Matabeleland and the Midlands in the early to mid-1980s, when the Korean-trained Fifth Brigade killed between 20 and thirty thousand people. And not one soldier, commander or executive has ever been brought to book for those heinous acts.

Mugabe himself, stops short of apologising to the Matabele people, stating that it was a 'moment of madness'.

"Tempers flared up at a meeting of the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration on Thursday when victims of the Gukurahundi massacres demanded compensation. President Robert Mugabe’s previous administration turned a deaf ear to calls from human rights activists and politicians from Matabeleland and the Midlands to compensate victims of the mass killings by the North Korean-trained 5 Brigade in the 1980s.

Co-Minister of National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration and ZANU PF outgoing chairman John Nkomo who chaired the meeting came under fire from representatives of civic society, churches and residents who took turns to demand justice for the victims.

The leader of the Matabeleland Constitutional Reform Agenda, Effie Ncube, led the attacks and called for those behind the deaths of more than 20000 civilians to be brought to justice."

I was a serving member of the ZRP during that time, based at Esigodini, Plumtree and Gwanda, and I saw enough to chill my blood. For many years I kept quiet about what I had seen and witnessed. In my book, "Without Honour", I ask, if I didn't have the intestinal fortitude to speak out at that time, what of the families of the victims?

The threat of action against those who would speak out is huge - and it took me to leave Zimbabwe and the encouragement of friends and family to write about those days.

"We need to bring justice to victims of the violence and take justice to the perpetrators.

"We have to pursue accountability because those who were responsible for violence must be answerable," he said to applause from the audience.

"Those who killed others should be taken to jail."

For my part, I am desperately sorry for the people of Matabeleland who lost loved ones. I think back to those days and am aware, more than ever, that I let those people down.

"He told the ZANU PF chairman that he was not the right person to lead the national healing process since his hands were "dripping blood" of his party’s opponents who died between 2000 and 2008.

In his response Nkomo avoided the issue of Gukurahundi."

Typical ZANU PF! Ignore the problem and lay into the West - by way of a change!

"The Gukurahundi issue must be dealt with because it will be pointless to talk of national healing when some people are still crying.

"There must be a legal framework for national healing to cover compensation of Gukurahundi victims," Chirimuuta said.

He said even victims of "Operation Murambatsvina" deserved to be given compensation, since they lost valuable property during the destruction of their homes."

All very contentious and in dire need of resolution.

"As churches we call for forgiveness but that doesn’t mean that we should do away with justice.

"People who were affected by political violence in this country should be given access to justice, then from there we can move to national healing," he said."

-o00o-

And while we have ZANU ignoring things like the Gukurahundi and Murambatsvina, it would appear that the negotiators have agreed not to discuss the appointments of Gono and Tomana...

"The country’s three governing parties have agreed to suspend discussions on the controversial appointments of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomana until they find common ground on the other outstanding issues in their power sharing agreement.

The decision was taken as the parties raced against time to meet a 30-day Southern African Development Community (SADC) deadline that expires on Saturday.

Sources said the decision followed a realisation that the emotive issue could scuttle the negotiations, which resumed at a secret location in Harare yesterday.

Gono and Tomana’s fate will now be discussed after the more than 20 items on the agenda are exhausted."

I don't understand. Why focus on others issues - and then come back to Gono and Tomana's appointments? Surely the problem will be just as big when they return to it?

So why delay the inevitable?

"Nothing has changed in terms of the issues being discussed," said the source.

"Today the discussions will centre on the issue of sanctions and the media, that is, both the local media and pirate radio stations."

Sanctions and radio stations? Neither of these are issues that can be resolved by the political parties in Zimbabwe. Sanctions are measures put in place by foreign governments and seek to limit Mugabe & Co's travel. Radio stations that focus on Zimbabwe are not 'pirate' radio stations... They are legitimate and legal structures, abiding within the laws of the host country.

End of story.

-o00o-

Things in Zimbabwe are not all going Mugabe's ZANU PF party's way. And the people are finding this out, little bit by little bit...

"Members of the ZANU PF women’s and youth leagues recently got the shock of their lives after they were chased away from the Great Zimbabwe University graduation for showing up at the ceremony in party regalia. The angry supporters were escorted out of the university campus by security personnel who told them that the graduation was not a party event.

Chaos broke out after the supporters started toyi-toying and chanting ZANU PF slogans, accusing the security details of being MDC supporters.

The frustrated women led by self-styled war collaborator and special interest Masvingo urban councillor Namatai Chivhanga then resorted to insulting the security details accusing them of being "MDC people".

"We do not understand why these MDC people are sending us away because we are wearing this regalia to welcome our party president Cde Mugabe," she said."

I tend to agree with the security personnel. The graduation ceremony should be an event in which families and friends celebrate the achievement of the students. Nothing More. Nothing less. And that graduation is nothing to do with the politics of the day.

ZANU PF deserve no thanks for the education that the graduates have received. The education system in Zimbabwe began its collapse about 10-15 years ago - and the students have succeeded through all manner of problems and logistical hassles.

"ZANU PF provincial chairman, Lovemore Matuke was fuming after the fracas.

"I don’t see anything wrong with my comrades putting on our regalia because we are here to meet our president who is the first secretary of ZANU PF and the Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces," he said.

"Since he is the commander, does it mean that soldiers here should take off their uniforms? These guys are just crazy."

-o00o-

If Gidean Gono told me personally that today was Sunday, I would want a diary to double check his claim.

The man is a born Mugabe apologist and is also prone to playing the double bluff.

Whilst he says that the Zimbabwean dollar is not going to make a return anytime soon, he and his cohorts are planning exactly that - and will spring the change (excuse the pun) on the country without any notice...

"

Zimbabwe

’s central bank governor has said the country will not reintroduce the local dollar any time soon as the economy must first achieve growth rates of at least seven percent, a state daily reported on Saturday.

"For the avoidance of doubt and market uncertainty, it is hereby clarified that the re-introduction of the

Zimbabwe

dollar will only be contemplated when certain fundamentals have been achieved," the central bank governor, Gideon Gono, was quoted as saying in the local press."

For someone who's appointment is subject to the inter-party negotiations, Gono seems well set to continue in the position of Reserve Bank Governor.

Apart from being a liar and a thief, Gono daily puts out the idea that he is in control and that all he does is in "the nation's best interests".

Meanwhile, behind closed doors, he panfers to Mugabe's every need, enriching himself and Mugabe's stalwarts en route.

And that, dear reader, you can take to the bank!

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Saturday, 28th November 2009

2009-11-28T08:53:00.008Z

Howzit

I don't know of many Zimbabwean registered cargo plane companies, but I do know of one - and I am particularly good friends with two crew members of that company...

"A Zimbabwe cargo plane crashed as it took off Saturday from Shanghai's main international airport, killing three crew members, a government official said.

The official Xinhua News Agency cited Shanghai's municipal information office as saying three people died. A man answering the phone there confirmed the deaths and said one other crew member was seriously injured, with the other three slightly hurt.

Xinhua cited health officials as saying two of the seven crew were from the United States and Indonesia, while the nationalities of the remaining staff had not yet been identified."

Hopefully more information will be forthcoming, and I will update as it happens.

"China Central Television said the plane's tail struck the ground on takeoff, and an airport warehouse also caught fire in the crash. The report showed billowing thick black smoke at the scene, with police officers blocking closer access.

A reporter from Shanghai's Oriental Satellite Television told CCTV the tail of the plane broke in two or three parts, and hundreds of firefighters were spraying fire retardants on the plane.

The crash occurred at 7:40 am, Xinhua said. The plane, which was headed to Bishkek, the capital of

Kyrgyzstan

, veered off the runway and burst into flames."

{EDIT: The aircraft belonged to Avient, and they issued this statement:

"An Avient Aviation operated aircraft was involved in an accident at approximate 00:16 GMT today while the aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas MD11 Freighter, was operating a charter freight flight from Pudong International Airport in China.

Preliminary information indicates that the accident occurred on takeoff from Pudong International Airport. The aircraft was carrying a crew of 7.

At this time, the full resources of Avient's accident response team have been mobilised and will be devoted to cooperating with all authorities responding to the accident.

At this time no further information is available. Avient will continue to release additional information as it is confirmed."

And on The Aviation Herald website, this was amongst photographs published, but I am unable to confirm if this is the crash in question.

ENDS}

-o00o-

It would appear that the Attorney-General is playing for time in the Roy Bennett terrorism trial. Not only did their key witness fail to appear - in all fairness, Michael Hitschmann has disassociated himself from the statements that he made to police, he says under duress - but that it would appear that the State case investigation is incomplete.

"Defence lawyers of the MDC treasurer, Roy Bennett, who is facing charges of plotting to topple Robert Mugabe have applied for the release of accused's passport and relaxation of reporting conditions after a key state witness failed to attend court on Friday.

The matter will now resume on January 12, 2010.

Peter Michael Hitchmann was reported to be in Mutare and was nowhere near the High court when he was called to testify after two other state witnesses had given evidence in court.

Beatrice Mtetwa made the application to High court judge, Bhunu Chinembiri arguing that the state had been failing to 'speedy' the trial by making lame excuses thereby prejudicing her client, latest being the failure to bring Hitchmann to court."

In conversation with another Zimbabwean yesterday, I stated that an adjournment into next year would suit not only the State case, but also gives Mugabe more time to continue with his disastrous rule. Mugabe has refused to swear Bennett into cabinet as the Deputy Minister of Agriculture as he says that the charges Bennett is facing are very serious.

What I am a little taken aback at is that Mugabe is able to make these decisions without consultation - and so if the State accuses anyone of whatever crime, they lose their rights before even spending one day in court!

"We are asking this court to release my client's passport and that his bail reporting conditions be relaxed so that he may travel as he has severe engagements he needs to attend to,"Mtetwa said in court.

"We therefore request that his passport be released.

"We have no problems that the passport be returned to the registrar and reporting conditions remain after the relaxation of the bail.This will ensure the balance required in ensuring the accused enjoys his freedom of movement particularly during this festive season."

"There is no suggestion that the accused will be a flight risk."

But Attorney General, Johannes Tomana in reply to the defence application said: "The state is not amenable to a relaxation of the accused person's bail conditions."

Of course Tomana will oppose any relaxation as then Bennett can get on with his life as a senior MDC official and that works directly against Mugabe's ZANU PF.

Also we have to make a mental note of the apparent laxity of the Attorney-General who attended a pass out parade on Thursday instead of undertaking his proper duties as the AG...

-o00o-

"The trial of a top ally of Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on terrorism charges has been adjourned to January next year after a key prosecution witness failed to attend court on Friday.

Roy Bennett, a senior official in Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party who was nominated deputy agriculture minister, was arrested in February on charges of illegal possession of weapons for terrorism, banditry and insurgency.

Bennett denies the charges, which the MDC says are politically motivated to keep him out of the unity government formed with President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF party. The charges carry a death penalty upon conviction.

The MDC says Mugabe is frustrating efforts to swear in Bennett, along with other senior MDC officials, as required by a political agreement signed last year between the rival parties."

My question is simple. The sitting judge said that he would make a ruling on the relaxation of bail conditions for Bennett at 4pm yesterday afternoon, and all reports seem to omit that ruling.

Does that mean that the ruling was not handed down? If so, why indicate that a ruling is pending if the judge is not prepared to make that ruling?

Are the bail conditions therefore to stay in place until January at least?

"He (Hitschmann) did not come because we thought he would not (be required to) take to the witness stand. This is a situation we did not anticipate,"

Zimbabwe

's attorney-general Johannes Tomana, leading the prosecution team, told the court.

"The way forward is to adjourn to the next available date."

-o00o-

"The founder of a London-based radio station that broadcasts to

Zimbabwe

took exception this week to a statement by Industry Minister Welshman Ncube saying talks within the Harare unity government focused on "pirate" radio stations as well as Western sanctions and top-level government appointments.

Ncube is a negotiator in the intra-governmental talks for the Movement for Democratic Change formation led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, a rival to the larger MDC formation of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

The latest round of talks, urged by leaders of the Southern African Development Community and South African President Jacob Zuma in particular, are aimed at resolving a number of issues which were left unresolved at the inception of the unity government in February, or which have cropped up since then."

I would have thought that Mugabe et al would have been proud of a Zimbabwean radio service outside of the country. I mean, it is not as if ZANU PF have been excluded from interviews. Not that long ago Violet Gonda had Didymus Mutasa in a telephone interview.

It was Mutasa's decision to get quite annoyed with Gonda and terminated the call...

"Short-Wave Radio Africa founder Gerry Jackson said her station, which like the Voice of America's Studio 7 provides news to Zimbabweans from outside the country's borders, is operating legally and is not controlled, as Zanu-PF has maintained, by the MDC, or aligned with the former opposition party.

"Guys - please - get a grip," Jackson stated in an editorial broadcast this week and published on the station's Web site. "We’re not controlled, owned or are even members of the MDC... Our broadcasts on shortwave and via the internet are completely legal and we want nothing more than a free, peaceful, democratic

Zimbabwe

. And yes we do believe that Zimbabweans have an absolute right to the information that has been denied them for so many years."

-o00o-

This is an article that suggests that Mugabe is not very happy with the South African team that Zuma is sending to Harare tomorrow.

"The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is encouraged by South Africa's appointment of new mediators for Zimbabwe, but President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF is wary.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC believes former cabinet ministers Charles Nqakula and Mac Maharaj and Zuma’s international relations adviser, Lindiwe Zulu, can help break its impasse with ZANU PF over fulfilling all the requirements of the unity government’s founding agreement.

The team’s appointment ends Thabo Mbeki’s mediation role in

Zimbabwe

. The MDC has frequently accused Mbeki of being biased towards Mugabe."

Mugabe is a little surprised at the Zuma's eager participation - perhaps he thought that his role would be a continuation of the Mbeki 'quiet diplomacy' which we all know achieved nothing whatsoever.

"Some well-placed ZANU PF officials are uneasy, with a party politburo member saying the negotiations will become tough for his party.

"With Mbeki we would be under no pressure because he sympathised with ZANU PF and did not get on really well with the MDC," he said.

"The truth of the matter is that with Mbeki there was some kind of protection for us, but with Zuma it could be different. Zuma himself has in the past condemned us, even before he became president.

"Maharaj is also tough and wants things done properly, and this Lindiwe Zulu is a professional and not a politician, so it won’t be easy."

Only time will tell...

-o00o-

Please note that Zimbabwe's media restrictions prevent the reporter's name from being published...

"By Zimbabwe Correspondent (author cannot be identified because of

Zimbabwe

's press restrictions)

Published: October 22, 2009 06:01 ET

HARARE, Zimbabwe - Mention

Zimbabwe

and the listener will think of chaos and decay. But in October, with jacaranda trees displaying their striking purple blossoms, the nation’s capital, Harare, could easily be described as charming."

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Friday, 27th November 2009

2009-11-27T07:27:00.004Z

Howzit

Foreign currency mid-rates updated.

-o00o-

Yesterday I wrote about Zimbabwe being offered a place back in the British Commonwealth within the next couple of years. Before anyone really has a chance to react to the idea, Mugabe's administration has shot the idea down in flames.

"Zimbabwe

shot down a proposal to return to the Commonwealth on Thursday after a senior official declared: "We don’t want to be part of the Commonwealth."

President Robert Mugabe pulled his country out of the organisation - a club of former British colonies - in 2003 and has been a fierce critic of

Britain

ever since.

However, the new political coalition in

Zimbabwe

has helped pave the way for a possible early return.

Leaders of Commonwealth countries - including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown - will gather for their biennial meeting in

Trinidad and Tobago

on Friday. Discussions will take place that are expected to set a timetable for

Zimbabwe

to be re-admitted at the next summit in two years time.

Officials say the re-admission will be linked to a series of political reforms being implemented by the

Zimbabwe

government."

Obviously Mugabe wants nothing to do with the Commonwealth.

I must say that I am somewhat surprised at the alacrity of the rejection. Mugabe has said he wants to be 'friends' with the Queen again, and he has been pleading with the UK to release buckets loads of money to help rebuild Zimbabwe (which he rule has destroyed), but he draws the line at rejoining the club...

"But Didymus Mutasa, Zimbabwe’s Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and a senior figure in Mugabe’s ZANU PF party told New Zimbabwe.com: "We left the Commonwealth by choice. If we want to go back, it’s us who are supposed to tell them.

"Their offer is empty of any meaning, it has no meaning. We went out voluntarily, nothing has changed. We still don’t want to be part of the Commonwealth."

Mutasa said they were unconcerned that

Zimbabwe

’s neighbours have remained part of the organisation, declaring: "It’s not a problem that our friends are members of the Commonwealth.

"We don’t want to be bothered by the Commonwealth. We won’t go back because we don’t want to be bothered."

I wonder if the knee jerk reaction was anything to do with the comment in an article about this yesterday in which it was suggested that 'the Robert Mugabe show is almost over'?

"The Commonwealth is a mere club, but it has become like Animal Farm, where some members are more equal than others. How can [Tony] Blair claim to regulate and direct events and still say all of us are equals?" he said."

ZANU PF should try looking in the mirror.

-o00o-

Oh, don't talk such unutterable rubbish! The one thing that ZANU PF and all its allied wings - which includes the ZRP, the CIO and the army - has is a failure to experience any fear. Using fear a an excuse for breaking protocol is just rubbish!

"A senior police officer has said police were forced to bypass crucial procedure during their search for weapons at arms dealer Peter Michael Hitschmann’s house because they feared the possibility of gunfire.

"The enemy was going to fire at us and the public was going to be injured My Lord," Superintendent Arnold Zorodzai Lungisani Dhliwayo told a Harare court on Wednesday.

Dhliwayo, a state witness in the trial of MDC treasurer-general Roy Bennett, had been quizzed by defence lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa why police failed to prepare a "contemporaneous" inventory of arms recovered at Hitschmann’s house.

"We were at the scene of a very serious case which involved terrorism and the security of the state," said Dhliwayo, who claimed he was also a soldier. "The enemy could attack us any time. We could not spend two hours at the scene."

First of all, the witness should define "enemy" and then should produce substantiation that the "enemy" were about to fire upon the people at the house. Just saying that there was an "enemy" and suggesting that they were about to fire upon them holds no water whatsoever.

"Dhliwayo, the investigating officer in Hitschmann’s case, said soon after recovering the weapons from Hitschmann’s house on March 6, 2006, they rushed for the safety of Mutare’s Adams Army Barracks where they completed the inventory.

During the trial, an evasive Dhliwayo insisted evidence gathered against Hitschmann was "overwhelming" although he failed to justify how Hitschmann, who is said to have connived with Bennett to purchase arms for purposes of banditry and insurgency, was later acquitted of the same charges.

He further said police could not go to Hitschmann’s house, the scene of the alleged crime, on their own as they feared the explosives which were part of the arsenal could explode without the advice of any bomb disposal expert."

The manner in which the 'evidence' is presented by Dhliwayo would probably suit a film script, but in real life, I think he has overstepped his remit.

Being able to testify in court with an air of drama is one thing - but substantiating the testimony is another thing entirely.

-o00o-

I am willing to bet that the warrant of arrest is cancelled before anyone has a chance to execute the order - or that Mugabe will give instructions to the police not to act on the order.

Co-Minister of Home Affairs, Kembo Mohadi, will probably also enter the fray making comments about Mutsekwa working hard to destabilise ZANU PF.

Let's see...

"A warrant of arrest for the fugitive Joseph Mwale, the reclusive CIO operative accused of masterminding the gruesome murder of MDC activists in Buhera during the run-up to the 2000 parliamentary election has been issued.

Co-Home Affairs Minister Giles Mutsekwa said: "We have directed that all people with criminal cases should be arrested, Joseph Mwale included."

He said he was confident Mwale’s freedom will now come to an end and he will, at long last, face justice. The fugitive CIO is believed to be hiding in Nyanga.

Mwale has eluded justice despite a High Court order to have him arrested and charged with the gruesome murder in broad daylight of MDC activists, Tichaona Chiminya and Talent Mabika at Murambinda Growth Point in 2000.

Chiminya, then an aide to Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader and Mabika, a youth activist, were petrol-bombed in their vehicle while campaigning for the party ahead of the 2000 parliamentary elections."

It boggles the mind that ZANU PF have ignored a warrant of arrest from High Court for Mwale's arrest - and, I am sure, they have assisted in the hiding of the fugitive.

The ZANU PF reaction to the new warrant of arrest will be nothing less than dismissive and I don't see Mwale being dragged into a court of law any time soon.

"Mwale and three ZANU PF activists, including one Kainos Kitsiyatota Zimunya, were immediately identified as the perpetrators of the brutal attack that shocked

Zimbabwe

. They have, however, remained out of custody on bail and the case has never proceeded.

Mwale, a CIO operative who is the alleged mastermind of the murders, has remained virtually untouched and appears to enjoy immunity from arrest and prosecution.

Mwale’s whereabouts have also remained a closely guarded secret although Mutsekwa said he was believed to be staying in Nyanga. Early this year Mutsekwa, the MP for Dangamvura and Chikanga, said Mwale’s "honeymoon should now come to an end"."

And it is attempts like this to secure justice for the families of the dead men that ZANU PF continues to fight. It is amazing that ZANU PF lost the general election last year, but continue to rule the roost in Zimbabwe. But when it comes to Robert Mugabe, do we really expect anything less?

-o00o-

The arrival of a South African mediation team in Harare has now been delayed until Sunday.

Another week has ticked by with no action against Mugabe's continued grasp on power - and it is apparent that not only will he fight to hang on to whatever power he can, but that the nee mediator, South African president, Jacob Zuma, is not particularly concerned at just how long the resolution of the crisis will take.

"A South African mediation team that was expected in Harare on Friday to give a push to talks on settling issues troubling the power-sharing Zimbabwean government will now arrive on Sunday, sources in Pretoria said Thursday.

They said negotiators for President Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF party, the Movement for Democratic Change of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and a rival MDC formation led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara wanted more time to focus on the agenda of vexed questions including the swearing-in of provincial governors promised the MDC and the tenure of Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomana, both Mugabe stalwarts.

But Pretoria sources told VOA that President Jacob Zuma has become exasperated by continued delays in Harare and wants the parties to meet a December 5 deadline for resolution of the so-called outstanding issues set by the Southern African Development Community in early November."

Zuma is 'exasperated'? I don't think so!

Just like his predecessor, Zuma is obviously unsure of how to attend to the crisis - and, as I have written so many times in the past, Mugabe is the master when it comes to time-wasting.

They are looking to resolve problems that arise from the election which ZANU PF lost almost 2 years ago. What is it that is so hard about allowing the MDC to take their elected place in government? Why should they negotiate with the losers of the election and fight for the position in government which is theirs through the will of the people?

"Despite the signals of impatience in Pretoria, negotiators for members of the tripartite government took a break Thursday so Finance Minister Tendai Biti, lead negotiator for the Tsvangirai MDC formation, could wrap up his 2010 budget.

The negotiations will pick up on Saturday.

Political analyst Charles Mangongera told VOA Studio 7 reporter Blessing Zulu that Zuma’s no-nonsense approach is likely to produce results."

I am not holding my breath as this feels very similar to the Mbeki announcement that a 'breakthrough' was expected - and nothing happened.

-o00o-

With a huge crisis in Zimbabwe that has the potential to spoil the world cup footbal tournament next year, why was it necessary for the cup to travel through Harare - and why was it given to Mugabe?

"President Mugabe of

Zimbabwe

clutched the 6.5kg solid gold Fifa World Cup in his hands last night as the roadshow rolled into Harare. The cup is touring Africa before the continent’s first World Cup finals next year.

Mr Mugabe said that it symbolised the return of plundered wealth which should be retained by African victory in

South Africa

Zimbabwe

failed to qualify for the tournament."

In typical Mugabe style, he used the presence of the cup to have a go at the free world. What in earth were they thinking about, and what on earth did Mugabe think he might achieve by making such an outlandish statement?

Why did the cup even get to be held in Mugabe's thieving hands?

I know he has not got that many friends, but his making a comment like that just added to the list of detractors...

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Thursday, 26th November 2009

2009-11-26T08:37:00.005Z

Howzit

This page continues to focus on the sham trial of Roy Bennett on charges of banditry, terrorism and related firearms offences.

"The trial of Roy Bennett, the MDC senior official accused of trying to overthrow the Mugabe regime, continued on Wednesday with the cross examination of another state witness, Superintendent Arnold Zorodzai Dhliwayo. Journalists covering the terrorism case of the MDC’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture designate say the statements made by the state witnesses expose even more holes in this controversial trial.

Bennett is accused of conspiring with Peter Michael Hitschmann, a registered firearms dealer, to acquire weapons to 'eliminate' government officials.

SW Radio Africa correspondent Simon Muchemwa said that just like the first State witness, Dhliwayo’s testimony was full of inconsistencies and contradictions. The first State witness was lead police investigator Chief Superintendent James Makone, who told the court that Dhliwayo had recorded all the weapons found at Hitschmann’s house.

But Muchemwa said Dhliwayo contradicted Makone’s testimony, saying he only noted about half the weapons, as anything that might explode was left in the hands of military experts. This showed that the 'firearms' could have been tampered with by the military, who took over the investigations at an army barracks in Mutare when Hitschmann was arrested in 2006.

Muchemwa said most of the evidence Dhliwayo gave created laughter in the court as he contradicted statements made by the previous witness. He was also constantly caught off guard and seemed unable to answer any of the questions properly. Observers say there was often a clear indication that he may have been coached to lie, on behalf of the Attorney General’s Office."

It seems almost unreal that the sitting judge should allow the case to continue, but under the laws of Zimbabwe, the case must proceed - regardless of what is uncovered or proved by the trial.

As each day goes by, it becomes more and more apparent that the case is dodgy to say the least.

And the Attorney-General, a man who's unilateral appointment by Mugabe is one of the contentious issues within the power-sharing government, has been proved to be incapable of presenting a case, although the show piece is perhaps the worst example of all.

"Bennett himself told SW Radio Africa on Tuesday that the trial was an absolute 'farce and a joke'. He also said it would appear the State was using delaying tactics to prolong the duration of the trial. He said he also feared the trial could take several months, in spite of the fact that the State has so far failed to link him in any way to a plot to overthrow Robert Mugabe."

I am a little surprised that SW Radio Africa were able to interview Bennett during the trail. as this may seem prejudicial - but interview him they have, and the State's case is rapidly falling to pieces.

-o00o-

"Michael Peter Hitschmann, one of the witnesses lined up to testify against MDC-T treasurer Roy Bennett - facing terror-related charges - disowned his statements on several occasions after realising that he was facing more serious charges, the High Court heard yesterday.

Hitschmann, who has since served for 40 months for possession of firearms without a licence, allegedly implicated Bennett in the case.

Under cross-examination by lead defence counsel, Ms Beatrice Mtetwa, detective Superintendent Arnold Dhliwayo, said Hitschmann was earlier charged with lesser offences but changed his mind after realising that more serious charges were being preferred against him.

"Hitschmann only changed his story after noticing that he was being charged with more serious offences. The charges he was then facing attracted life imprisonment and death sentence," said Supt Dhliwayo."

I am a little staggered that the State case relies on tying Hitschmann to the 'confession' and the 'payment' and even though the State is unable to prove either, the case continues. Given that the case has garnered such interest, the sitting judge has no choice but to allow the case to run its course.

"Supt Dhliwayo, however, confirmed that the e-mails now being relied upon by the prosecution in the case were never used in Hitschmann’s trial.

"Yes, they were not used because they were not relevant to that case. We already had overwhelming evidence against Hitschmann and there was no need for producing the e-mails," he said.

In winding up her cross-examination, Ms Mtetwa suggested to the witness that police charged Bennett without using any of Hitschmann’s statements in an attempt calculated at deliberately falsifying the summary of facts in the case. She further told the court that the State should have indicated in the summary of evidence that Hitschmann once wrote and disowned several statements.

She also argued that the history of the recovered laptops was never stated in the police investigation diary logbook."

The Herald reporter should learn that the word is 'tampered', not 'tempered' when it comes to discussing the history of email on Hitschmann's laptop.

-o00o-

Regardless of whether a visiting foreign judge is present or not, the trial of Roy Bennett will continue. And even if the sitting judge's remit is exceeded, the visiting judge is just an observer, nothing more.

"South Africa

’s Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Azhar Cachalia is visiting Zimbabwe

to observe the ongoing trial of Deputy Agriculture Minister Designate Roy Bennett, who is charged with plotting acts of terrorism in the country.

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), which is an international non-governmental organisation comprising sixty of the world’s most eminent jurists dedicated to the primacy, coherence and implementation of international law and principles that advance human rights, said Justice Cachalia observation of the trial will assist the ICJ to evaluate the fairness of the trial of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s top aide.

"Justice Cachalia’s experience will therefore be invaluable in assisting the ICJ to come to a conclusion on the fairness or otherwise of the Bennett trial process," said Martin Masiga, the senior legal adviser at the ICJ Africa Programme."

It must be noted that Cachilia's report will only be completed well after the completion of the trial - and will probably never be made public - so the whole thing will be an exercise in futility.

"The trial of Roy Bennett is significant as

Zimbabwe

goes through its transitional phase because serious allegations of executive use or misuse of the justice system to persecute legitimate opposition to it have been made," said Masiga.

The ICJ said the question as to whether the trial of Roy Bennett is in good faith at all or is politically motivated continues to overshadow his trial.

"The handling of what to charge Bennett with and the failure to explain the multiple changes in charges against him raised suspicion. The issuing of summons and/or arrest of some the lawyers defending Roy Bennett and his potential witnesses deepened the suspicions," the ICJ said."

The sad truth is that Mugabe will ignore any report - unless the report backs him and his zealots...

-o00o-

I do note that the announcement was made by Zimbabwean authorities - not a word from British Airways... yet.

"A senior aviation official in Zimbabwe said Wednesday that British Airways would start flights to the country next year, two years after abandoning the route on viability grounds.

Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe chief executive officer David Chaota said the airline had agreed to resume flights to

Zimbabwe

between March and April next year after negotiations.

British Airways pulled out of

Zimbabwe

two years ago, citing viability problems, but observers suspected it had been pressured by London, which opposed President Robert Mugabe's government, to withdraw."

First of all, there was no fuel, and up until last year at least, Air Zimbabwe flights to Gatwick were having to stop en route at Lusaka to take on fuel.

I also wonder if the runways at Harare International have been maintained...

"British Airways will be coming back next year between March and April, and that is why we have hope (of more tourists) in 2010. The coming back of BA may also bring in other airlines."

-o00o-

An article like this is perhaps a bit premature - primarily because even if Mugabe was no longer at the head of Zimbabwean politics, who would be? Another ZANU PF populist?

"Zimbabwe could be readmitted to the Commonwealth in two years if its unity government carries out a wide range range of reforms, and with the Robert Mugabe show coming to an end,

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to raise the possibility at a summit in Trinidad this weekend, The Times of London reported Wednesday.

"We want this offer to be on the table to encourage more progress," one diplomat told The Times. "There has been some, but on the human rights front things are grim."

A special Commonwealth committee has been looking at ways of returning the country to the Commonwealth so that it can use its professional networks to assist aid, reconstruction and humanitarian efforts."

I do believe that the intentions are honest, although I am a little stunned at the timing...

"Observers say indications from Harare suggest the government would welcome a return to the Commonwealth if the chance arose.

The South African Development Community set a 30-day deadline last month for

Zimbabwe

's president and prime minister to make progress in resolving their differences."

-o00o-

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Wednesday, 25th November 2009

2009-11-25T08:57:00.004Z

Howzit

Foreign currency mid-rates updated

-o00o-

Now - this is important. From Tuesday through Friday next week I will only be posting as and when I can. The reason for this is that I will be on an SIA course which hopefully will result in me being 'security badged' which should, in turn, allow me to seek employment within the security sector.

I will endeavour to keep this page going in the four day period, but I am making no promises!

-o00o-

Regular readers of this page will know of my support of WOZA - and it isn't every day that they are recognised for their efforts - let alone by the President of the USA.

"US President Barack Obama on Monday honored one of the co-founders of the Zimbabwean human rights group Women of Zimbabwe Arise and the group itself, presenting the Robert F Kennedy human rights award to Magodonga Mahlangu and WOZA in a ceremony at the White House.

In his remarks Mr. Obama also took a swipe at President Robert Mugabe, referring to him as a "dictator" though not singling him out by name.

Mr Obama praised WOZA's fight for social justice in Zimbabwe, noting that Mahlangu and co-founder Jenni Williams are due back in court in Zimbabwe on Dec. 7, charged with "conduct likely to cause a breach of peace" and if convicted could face a prison sentence of five years.

"By her example Magodonga has shown the women of WOZA and the people of

Zimbabwe

that they can undermine their oppressor's power with their own power, that they can sap a dictator's strength with their own," Obama said.

"Magodonga and WOZA have given so many of their fellow citizens of

Zimbabwe

that voice, and tonight we express our gratitude for their work," the president said in presenting the JFK Human Rights Award."

I did smile when the President came out with his version of the word "Gukurahundi" - it passed muster even though it was incorrect, as it is not a language that he grew up with.

I am immensely proud of Magodonga and Jenni... and all of the members of WOZA and MOZA.

-o00o-

I am sure that when people read this article yesterday, that blood ran cold - but I do believe that this was a genuine 'technical fault' - nothing more.

"A SA Airlink plane, carrying Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Tuesday, was forced to turn back to Johannesburg after experiencing a technical fault on its way to Harare.

Officials in the prime minister’s office said the plane had just entered Zimbabwean air space when the fault was detected.

Tsvangirai touched down safely in Johannesburg shortly after 8am and caught a later plane."

Given that Tsvangirai has been a target for Mugabe's various wings for a number of years, I am sure that there will be a number of people asking telling questions, but I do not see an entire aircraft full of innocent people being brought down just to hopefully take out one individual...

-o00o-

This is typical Mugabe... When his wife attacked a photographer in Hong Kong, somehow she qualified for 'diplomatic immunity' - there is nothing 'diplomatic' about an assault.

These two bodyguards could be prosecuted, but they are already back in Zimbabwe - and we would be naive in thinking that Mugabe may surrender them for prosecution...

"Two bodyguards protecting Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe's student daughter in Hong Kong could be prosecuted for working in the city on tourise visas, officials confirmed on Monday.

The two bodyguards were found to be working on tourist visas after they allegedly roughed up two photographers in June outside Bona Mugabe's Hong Kong home.

They were spared prosecution because the Department of Justice ruled that they were acting out of concern for the safety of Bona Mugabe, who studies in Hong Kong.

However, after an investigation into their visa status, the Department of Justice confirmed on Monday that there is a case for the two bodyguards to answer. Working illegally in Hong Kong carries a jail term of up to two years."

Mugabe takes as many shortcuts as possible to avoid any added expense - and whilst he will shield the two from prosecution, he must also be aware of the damage that a case such as this will cause in diplomatic circles.

"Police have been advised to formally interview Mapfumo Marks and his female colleague Manyaira Reliance.

However, the pair are unlikely to face prosecution as they returned to

Zimbabwe

and have since been replaced by other bodyguards.

The Department of Justice declined to comment on Monday on whether any action was being contemplated against the Mugabe family."

Forget it. The Hong Kong authorities will just have to take the hit, but will be a little more aware of just how Mugabe and his henchmen treat foreign laws. And for guidance, all we have to do is to look at how they treat their own laws in Zimbabwe!

"Marks and Pepukai were reported to police on February 13 after allegedly roughing up two photographers, Timothy O'Rourke and Colin Galloway, outside the Mugabe's luxury house.

The fracas came just a month after another photographer, Richard Jones, was allegedly beaten up by Grace Mugabe, wife of Robert Mugabe, when he took pictures of her shopping in Tsim Sha Tsui at a time when

Zimbabwe

was mired in political and social chaos.

Grace Mugabe claimed diplomatic immunity over the incident and has since returned to visit her daughter.

Critics have accused the Hong Kong government of failing to apply the law fairly in the case of the Mugabes for fear of upsetting Beijing, which has a warm relationship with

Zimbabwe

."

This is the attitude that I question. Why is it that the Mugabe family can literally get away with murder? Why?

"No action was taken over the visa status of the two bodyguards at the time of the incident, even though investigating officers took copies of their passports which contained three-month visitor visas.

A Department of Justice spokeswoman said of the investigation into the bodyguards' visa status: "Advice has been given to the police. Their investigation cannot be completed as the Zimbabweans have left Hong Kong.

"In the event that they return to Hong Kong, the police will seek to interview them and to complete their investigation."

-o00o-

And talking of immunity, it would appear that Gideon Gono, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, has been offered a limited immunity and a safe exit strategy. But, and it is a big but, Mugabe will not allow him to just walk away.

Mugabe needs him - and, in the event of Gono vacating his post, he has the potential to bring Mugabe's house of cards crashing down around his ears.

"The partial immunity from prosecution granted to the Central Bank Governor Gideon Gono through amendments to the Reserve Bank Reform Bill "is a safe exit strategy" for a man under immense pressure to throw in the towel, political analysts said last week.

Parliament passed the Bill after it was amended to include a clause that gives partial immunity to Gono or any employee of the bank "for anything done in good faith and without negligence under the powers conferred by this Act".

Earlier in the week, ZANU PF MPs had threatened to block the Bill because they felt it was "targeted at an individual rather than an office"."

Gono is responsible for a little more than doing anything done in 'good faith' and could and should be held accountable for his actions. I ask who would be the one to make the decision as to what deeds were in 'good faith'?

"But the analysts said by agreeing to a clause that gives immunity to Gono, ZANU PF had, in a way, endorsed calls for the central bank chief to make way for fresh ideas.

They said ZANU PF can no longer bear with the pressure from both MDC and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) on the resolution of the outstanding issues to the power-sharing agreement with the MDC factions.

The MDC-T has been pushing for the removal of Gono from the RBZ accusing him of destroying the economy through quasi-fiscal policies and recklessly funding ZANU PF programmes."

Whoever has to make the decision would have to be aware that theft is theft, no matter how prettily it is decorated.

This is an attempt by ZANU PF to protect one of their own - a man who has now been sucked into the political sphere insofar as he is now the secretary for finance in the ZANU PF Manicaland Province.

-o00o-

"MDC Treasurer General Roy Bennett has described his terrorism trial, which began two weeks ago, an ‘absolute farce’ and ‘a joke.’ The MDC official, who has not been sworn into government as the Deputy Minister of Agriculture because Robert Mugabe is refusing to swear him in, said he is frustrated with the slow pace the trial is taking.

He told SW Radio Africa on Tuesday that the time spent in court is very little: "We have not even done a full three hours in court yet. If the court is supposed to start at 10 o’clock, we are only starting, most days, after 11am, having arrived there at 10 am and sitting a full hour waiting for the judge to come in… the whole thing is just a joke."

Last week the judge, Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, refused to recuse himself from the case after Bennett’s lawyers requested that he hand the trial over to another judge. The High Court judge had in 2006 handled the Peter Hitschmann trial which the defence team said showed he might be ‘prejudicial’ to Bennett. But he refused, saying the cases of Hitschmann and Bennett ‘were separate.’

Bennett said because of the slow pace the trial is likely to drag on for some months. He said so far only two state witnesses have testified and have failed to show a case against him. The first witness was Chief Superintendent James Makone who told the High Court on Monday that, despite the case going to trial, investigations against the MDC official had not been completed."

The pace of the trial is slow - but at least it is underway. It has taken forever to get to this point, and then the first State witness suggests that investigations are not yet complete!

Each day that the trial is drawn out, the more secure Mugabe feels.

As Roy Bennett says, he is everything that Mugabe hates - and he would like nothing more than to have Bennett at the end of a noose.

"The lead investigating officer also said, they had found evidence showing that Bennett had paid Hitschmann $5000 to acquire weapons to eliminate government officials, and the money was allegedly deposited in Hitschmann’s account in

Mozambique

. But the State witness failed to link the MDC official to the money deposited into Hitschmann’s account. Hitschmann is a registered firearms dealer.

Bennett said he found it bizarre that the case is nearly three and a half years old but the investigations are not finished. "Why go to trial if the investigations are not completed?"

He added: "And the second witness was a CIO operative from the President’s Office, and basically I don’t know why they called him because he had absolutely nothing to say."

"The whole thing is an absolute farce and there is absolutely nothing linking me to anything that has happened. Everything is going along on basically what happened to Peter Hitschmann, and based on the arms that were found in Hitschmann’s house - a case which was thrown out of court completely." These are the same charges that Bennett is charged with, and he says the state has failed to link him to Hitschmann."

The farce continues...

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Tuesday, 24th November 2009

2009-11-24T07:57:00.003Z

Howzit

Not long after lunch today I will be catching a bus into town, and then a second one to Royal Derby Hospital where I will visit the Pulvertaft Hand Unit and see the hand specialist. I will be taking with me my brown leather orthotic brace as I am praying that he will allow me to move from the white thermoplastic brace.

It is just over eleven months since the operation that started this latest episode which has seen me spend weeks in hospital and have some half dozen surgical procedures. The infection that began the whole thing is no one's fault as it does happen.

I just want to start to get on with my life.

-o00o-

If the investigations into the alleged crimes by Roy Bennett were not complete, then the State had no business referring the case for trial. And I do believe that the correct route forward is for the case to proceed without that information and seen through to the end.

If the policeman has spoken out of line, then let the system deal with his discipline.

"The investigating officer in Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) treasurer general Roy Bennett’s terrorism trial stunned a Harare court Monday when he said he was yet to conclude investigations in the trial of the deputy agriculture minister designate.

Chief Superintendent Sipho James Makone told the court while testifying in Bennett’s trial he was yet to obtain relevant documentation which reveals Peter Micheal Hitchmann’s Mozambican account, which the state says was used by Bennett to deposit cash to purchase arms.

Hitschmann, who is alleged to be an accomplice to Bennett, is also the key witness in Bennett’s trial.

Makone, the first state witness among 13 witnesses lined up to give evidence, said he did not find a need during the trial of Hitschmann to produce documentation that confirmed the details of the account."

If Makone 'did not find the need' and chose not to produce the exhibit - which it turns out the police do not have - then he has missed the boat. Courts have a method - tried and tested (excuse the pun) - and this cannot be changed to suit ZANU PF.

Without producing the back account, yet speaking about it, the State leaves an air of suspicion in the court.

"The court has already barred any evidence brought by the police which was purportedly extracted through confessions by Hitschmann during investigations. Hitschmann was absolved of any possession of dangerous weapons although he served a two and a half year jail term for possessing unlicenced weapons.

The defence, led by Beatrice Mtetwa said: "How can they bring a case to a trial when they have not completed their investigations?"

"How is Bennett supposed to respond to what they say they had not established through their investigations. What if they discover that they are trying him is based on what is not real? This is inadmissible evidence that we are saying should be struck out. The said amounts deposited in Hitschmann’s account on 13 February 2006 has not yet been supported in any way by the evidence."

We wait for some sort of ruling, although I do believe that the process is pretty straight forward. The suggestion of an account should be struck off.

-o00o-

So as not to dilute the poignancy of this article, I have reproduced it in its entirety...

"One man stands at the heart of a power struggle for the future of

Zimbabwe

. His name is Roy Bennett, and he is literally fighting for his life. The white former landowner and member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is standing trial for trumped-up terrorism and treason charges - proceedings that began Nov. 9.

Zimbabwe

's attorney general, Johannes Tomana, is leading the prosecution himself.

How this plain-spoken, sturdily built, third-generation Zimbabwean ended up on trial has much to do with his position as a practitioner in the country's most politically controversial industry: agriculture. Bennett was a coffee farmer, running one of

Zimbabwe

's many prosperous outfits until President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF Party government confiscated the land in 2003. The seizure was part of Mugabe's larger "land reform" scheme, officially intended to give land back to the black Africans deprived of it during colonization. In reality, the campaign resembled more closely what the country's own minister of justice, Patrick Chinamasa, called it - a kind of punishment for white farmers' forefathers being "thieves" and "murderers."

But it wasn't only Bennett's farm that landed him in his current predicament. Bennett was a parliamentarian and a key player in the MDC, which he joined in 1999. Being in the opposition made Bennett unpopular from the start, but things became worse after the land seizure, and especially after Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's chose him for deputy minister of agriculture in the power-sharing government that took shape in the spring of 2009. Mugabe refused to swear Bennett in to his post, citing Bennett's ongoing trial - a refusal that featured high on the list of grievances that inspired Tsvangirai to boycott the power-sharing government in October. The prime minister has since returned to negotiations, with a looming deadline in early December to sort out disagreements with Mugabe.

Attorney General Tomoma (appointed by Mugabe) is accusing Bennett of providing $5,000 to purchase weapons in a conspiracy to overthrow the president. The defense says that the key witness, a former, legal arms dealer named Peter Michael Hitschmann, tried in 2006 on the same charges, was tortured into implicating Bennett. (Hitschmann was writing an affidavit claiming he had no reason to implicate Bennett in October, but the lawyer helping him was arrested and later released on bail.) If found guilty, Bennett faces life in prison or the death penalty.

With December looking ever closer and the coalition government dangerously near collapse, the conclusion of this trial will serve as a litmus test. At stake is whether the MDC and its supporters can work with ZANU-PF and its founder, Mugabe, a man who has proudly compared himself to Adolf Hitler. Bennett, for one, is confident that Mugabe's reign of terror will end, though not necessarily anytime soon. Speaking to journalist Laura Wells, Bennett explains why Mugabe is a racist, why Tsvangirai's wife may well have been killed thanks to foul play, and why, nonetheless, the opposition keeps fighting.

Foreign Policy: When Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai left the power-sharing agreement with Mugabe last month, he cited the government's treatment of you as one of his reasons for leaving. He has recently returned to the government and you are still on trial. Can Tsvangirai help you?

Roy Bennett: No, I don't think he can at all. Mugabe is still fully in control. [His party,] ZANU-PF, is still fully in control. The MDC has pulled out of that government to show that, unless we were taken seriously within the cabinet and there was definite power-sharing, we would no longer be part of that government or part of any dealings with ZANU PF. I am one of those outstanding issues; I need to be sworn in [as deputy minister of agriculture.]

FP: What do you think will happen to the current power-sharing agreement?

RB: You can't have an agreement where one side is doing what you've agreed to and the other side is totally intransigent, totally unreliable, and totally deceitful. Unless the sincerity and the proper [political] will to make this work come from above in ZANU-PF, [that is, from Mugabe] this thing will never move forward or succeed. It will all fall apart.

FP: Do you ever expect to be sworn in as deputy minister of agriculture?

RB: No, definitely not. I am everything he [Mugabe] hates, and I think it is a very big thorn in his side that I could be sworn in the agricultural portfolio, where I could expose a lot of the corruption, rampant corruption, theft, and bad policies that are taking place there.

FP: As a part of Mugabe's "land reform," the government has confiscated many, mostly white, landowners' property, including yours. In a 2004 session of Parliament, Minister of Justice Patrick Chinamasa justified land reform on the basis that your forefathers were "murderers" and "thieves." How does this happen?

RB: [Mugabe] has used the land and the race [issues] as a front to destroy opposition figures, to intimidate opposition figures, and to destroy an opposition constituency. You take my farm, for instance, and where I was. I was a senior leader within the Movement for Democratic Change. I had a farm that was under the Zimbabwean Investment Center, which gave it special protection, because I had an external partner through the export processing zone. One Easter, in 2004, when my wife and I were with friends on holiday in

Mozambique

, [Mugabe] moved the military in and took over my farm. I've never set foot back there. They took everything I own - even my clothes, my children's clothes. Since then, I've been in prison on three occasions; I've been arrested on more than 11 occasions. I've had my home searched for arms of war more than 15 times. I've had my workers killed. I've had my workers' daughters and wives raped.

FP: You have spoken about racism against whites within the current government. How deep-seated is it?

RB: The current government, especially under ZANU-PF, is full of hate. We [whites] don't see ourselves as whites; we see ourselves as Zimbabweans, and fortunately, the majority of people in

Zimbabwe

see it the same way. It's a small echelon of the ruling ZANU-PF and Robert Mugabe. But he, himself personally, is an avid, avid racist.

FP: You are now on trial for terrorism and treason. What evidence do they have?

RB: They have absolutely no evidence whatsoever. The whole issue is premised on the arrest of one Hitschmann in 2006, along with 12 other people. He was charged with exactly the same charges I'm being charged with, and so were the other 12. It was established in court that the warn and caution statement [a signed statement made under police interrogation] that he had given had been obtained under duress. It had also been proven under doctors' reports that he had been tortured. So that warn and caution statement was thrown out of the courts. All the terrorism and treason charges were dropped. They were dropped against all 12 of them. Hitschmann was then charged under a completely different offence. In his trial, I was never mentioned. And since then, he has contacted his own advocate and given an affidavit to say that he had absolutely nothing to say against me or to involve me in the proceedings of what I am being accused of.

FP: The current administration has put you in jail off and on during the past year, even against high courts' and the Supreme Court's rulings. How can they do that?

RB: There is no rule of law in

Zimbabwe

; there's selective application of the rule of law. Patrick Chinamasa, who is the minister of justice, destroyed the independent judiciary. When he was sworn in as the minister of justice, [he] interfered with the judges, forced them to resign and leave - any independent judges, replaced the judges with political appointees who he gave farms for patronage to make sure they would remain loyal and have the rulings that he wanted. And you can see even with my case, his interference is there the whole time.

FP: If the current President and his political allies have not treated you fairly before, how can you receive justice this time around?

RB: There will be no justice. You know, I don't know how they are going to do it. When Hitschmann gets into the stand and completely denies everything, and makes him [Attorney General Johannes Tomana] look stupid, I don't know what they are going to do or what their next move is. I honestly believe, in my case, that they are using me. I am very sure they will sentence me. And once they have gone ahead and sentenced me, they will go back to negotiate with my party to have an amnesty in order that their people that have done the murders and the killings during the last elections, when over 200 MDC people were killed, their eyes gauged out, their throats cut, killed in the most brutal manner. The perpetrators are known, and those perpetrators were instructed by Robert Mugabe himself to carry out those actions. I honestly believe that's what this whole thing is about, is to use me as a bargaining point for amnesty in order that those people will say, "He's on death row. Now he's going to hang, unless you agree to amnesty, across-the-board amnesty."

FP: You are potentially facing a death sentence or life in prison. How are you feeling about your trial?

RB: You know, when you enter into a struggle, and you genuinely believe in what you are doing, and you live under injustice, and you live under a regime that is dictatorial and oppresses people, there have to be sacrifices. I have a constituency that has placed me where I am. I have entered into this foray of my own will. And if I have to sacrifice by going to prison or whatever that exposes and shows this regime for what it is, so be it.

FP: You have said you'd be willing to die if that's what Mugabe and and his ZANU-PF want. Do you think it will have to come to that?

RB: It could easily come to that. You're dealing with total, total thugs and mafia-type people. They don't care. Right now it's the looting of the Marange diamonds. It's Robert Mugabe's wife together with [Reserve Bank Governor] Gideon Gono that are taking the gold, the diamonds - it's all about money. There is a company that has the claim to those rights. The high courts of

Zimbabwe

have ruled that that company can run that mine, yet the government has taken the mines in partnership with a South African company. They are illegally mining diamonds on somebody else's claim. The whole thing is so rotten, it's disgusting.

FP: Prime Minister Tsvangirai has seen many attempts on his life, suffered torture during multiple jail sentences under weak charges at best. He has lost his wife in a suspicious car accident in which he was also injured. Though he nominally has more power than President Mugabe, do you think Mugabe will defeat Tsvangirai?

RB: Definitely not. Mugabe and ZANU-PF's days are over. It's a process, and it's a matter of time for them to go. And it depends on how brutal they become and how willing they are to take

Zimbabwe

to the brink. But definitely, they will go. There is absolutely no doubt that Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF have lost the popular support of the people of

Zimbabwe

. And the more they become intransigent, the more they become vicious and try to repress people, the more it turns people against them and the less chance they have of ever holding onto power. They are just making it harder and harder for themselves while being intransigent and trying to force the fact that they must remain in power.

FP: Speaking of Tsvangirai's deceased wife, Susan, how do the investigations stand, and do you believe foul play was involved?

RB: I, personally, definitely believe that foul play was involved. There is no doubt about it in my mind. But, again, you know, that just shows the greatness of a man like Morgan Tsvangirai. The people in the country of

Zimbabwe

come first. He knows full well what happened to his wife. But it makes us closer together as colleagues and makes you more determined.

FP: Do you think Mugabe will ever be brought to justice?

RB: I sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, hope so. Because one evil, evil man has destroyed a beautiful country that was the jewel of Africa. He's destroyed it; [there are] millions of people in abject poverty and suffering, and it's through his doing. So, at some stage, he's accountable for that."

-o00o-

Yesterday we read that Zuma was considering speeding up his intended visit to Zimbabwe - now we read that he has postponed the trip!

This is the big problem in Africa right now. There is no urgency, no desire to resolve issues in good time. The saying, "There's no hurry in Africa!" rings very true this morning...

"South African President Jacob Zuma has postponed his visit to assess Zimbabwe's troubled power sharing agreement after the feuding parties missed a deadline to kick-start negotiations but his advisors have expressed impatience over delays.

Regional leaders at a summit in Maputo

Mozambique

on November 5 gave President Robert Mugabe and his coalition partners 15 to 30 days to sort out their differences.

But the 15 day deadline to resume the dialogue elapsed without any meeting between the negotiators. The South African government says it now expects the Zimbabwean crisis dealt with by December 5.

President Zuma who was mandated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to facilitate dialogue between Mr Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Professor Arthur Mutambara will now visit

Zimbabwe

on December 6."

And in the time that has been wasted - the 15 days - how many people have died needlessly in Zimbabwe?

"Meanwhile, the negotiations from ZANU PF and the two MDC formations were due to hold their first meeting later today.

The meeting would come against a background of worsening relations between the MDC factions and ZANU PF."

That meeting did take place - yesterday...

-o00o-

"Negotiators of Zombabwe's three main political parties have started talks to try and resolve the outstanding issues under a power sharing agreement signed last year in September.

The negotiators are meeting in Harare two days after a 15 day deadline set by the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security by which the negotiators should have started the negotiations.

Two of the negotiators from the two MDC parties confirmed on Monday afternoon that negotiations have started.

"I am in a meeting - our meeting has started," said Tendai Biti, one of the negotiators representing MDC party led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Welshman Ncube who is one of the two negotiators from the MDC party led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambaraa also confirmed that the meeting had started."

"We have just started the meeting and I am right now in that meeting," said Ncube."

The meetings may have started, but just how fruitful they may be is anyone's guess.

ZANU PF are obviously intent on holding on to as much power as possible, whilst the MDC factions will attempt to wrest control into their courts. It must be remembered that ZANU PF lost the general election last year - and only 'won' the Presidency after they visited a reign of terror upon the MDC structures which resulted in the deaths over well over 100 people.

"Zimbabwe’s coalition government is yet to be fully consummated because of a number of outstanding issues that the three parties want resolved.

These outstanding issues led to the partial disengagement of Tsvangirai’s MDC last month. The disengagement ended early this month following the intervention of SADC.

Among some of the outstanding issues are the appointment of MDC treasurer-general Roy Bennett who is yet to sworn in as Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development.

The MDC also wants the reversal of the appointments of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono and Attorney-General Johannes Tomana and the appointment of provincial governors.

On the other hand ZANU PF wants sanctions imposed on its members to be lifted and the closure of the so-called pirate radio stations."

At the risk of repeating myself - targeted travel sanctions on ZANU PF are not imposed by the MDC - they are in place through the participating countries' governments. Take it up with them!

-o00o-

And finally for this morning, whilst the inter-party wrangling continues, there is much infighting within ZANU PF.

Don't you just love it when they argue amongst themselves?

"Rtd. General Mujuru's ZANU PF faction is pressing ahead with the decimation of Mnangagwa's power-base this time with the ouster of Joseph Chinotimba and Jabulani Sibanda in a crucial palace coup shifting the power of ZANU PF control.

Members of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association aligned to General Solomon Mujuru are pressing ahead with the national conference to elect new executive members this weekend despite pleas from the current executive to defer the conference to next year.

The last national conference was held in 2002.

According to the organisation’s constitution, a new executive was supposed to be elected in 2005.

The leader of the organising committee which is co-ordinating the elections Retired Colonel Basten Beta said the conference would, among other issues, correct constitutional anomalies, which had resulted in the current executive serving more terms than stipulated in the constitution."

The ousting of Chinotimba is relatively important - when you consider that he never participated in the chimurenga, and therefore is as much a Zimbabwean war veteran as I am.

"There were a lot of constitutional violations and we hope to correct those anomalies at this conference.

The constitution is clear that a leader should serve for not more than two terms, but some leaders have already exceeded their terms. We want to elect leaders who look into the welfare of war veterans," said Rtd Col Beta.

He said it was expected that the new chairperson would come from the former ZANLA side because the last two chairpersons were from the ZIPRA camp.

"The last two chairpersons Chenjerai Hunzvi and Jabulani Sibanda were from the former ZIPRA and we hope that the new chairman should come from the ZANLA side," said Rtd Col Beta."

Hope and reality in Zimbabwe are two entirely different things.

"Deputy chairperson of the current executive Joseph Chinotimba confirmed the elections but said they had pleaded with the war veterans to put the elections on hold until early next year.

"We heard that there is an election on Saturday, but we have asked the war veterans to postpone the elections to January next year.

"A lot of preparations need to be done before the elections but of course some members are complaining that we are overdue. The best person you can talk to on that issue is Jabulani Sibanda," said Chinotimba.

Jabulani Sibanda is said to be behind the killing of opposition supporters in the run up to the aborted presidential run-off elections.

In 2003, he was demoted amid allegations of organising and attending a rebel meeting dubbed the "Tsholotsho Dinyane Indaba" that produced the Tsholotsho Declaration.

The meeting organised by Jonathan Moyo and funded by the rogue Zimbabwean businessman Billy Rautenbach had the intended purpose of backing Emerson Mnangagwa, who was supposedly being put forward by the group for the vice presidency against President Mugabe’s choice, Joice Mujuru."

Like most other things in Zimbabwe, the elections will be deferred, delayed, vetoed and sidestepped...

-o00o-

Oh, and here's a kicker for the day. Reserve Bank Governor, Gideon Gono, has been appointed the ZANU PF Manicaland Province secretary for finance. This will lend credence to MDC's claim that Gono is a politically biased public figure...

Take care.

'debvhu

Monday, 23rd November 2009

2009-11-22T16:58:00.007Z

Howzit

Foreign currency mid-rates updated.

-o00o-

As I indicated yesterday, this posting will probably only get out there a little late today as I have an early morning appointment at the dentist.

(Don't tell anyone, but I actually started the posting last evening just to get some sort of head start...)

Okay - the dentist has booked himself in sick and the appointments have been rescheduled for 8th December...

-o00o-

Obviously this article was written yesterday and suggests that the negotiation teams were due to meet yesterday. I wonder if they did - although you will excuse me if I say that I very much doubt it.

"Negotiators of

Zimbabwe

's major political parties are expected to meet in Harare on Sunday for formal discussions aimed at ironing out sticking points around the implementation of the Global Political Agreement, The Sunday Mail reported.

The meeting follows the lapse of the 15-day timeframe set by the SADC Organ on Politics, Defense and Security Co-operation for commencement of the talks. Mugabe's ZANU PF co-negotiator Nicholas Goche said his party and the two MDC formations failed to meet within the stipulated time-frame because MDC negotiators, Professor Welsham Ncube and Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, were out of the country on ministerial business.

Earlier this month, the SADC Troika, comprising Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, Swaziland's King Mswati III and President Rupiah Banda of Zambia, held an ordinary summit in Maputo, Mozambique, to review progress made in the implementation of the GPA and told ZANU PF, MDC-T and MDC to immediately engage in dialogue."

Perhaps I may display my ignorance by asking the obvious... Just because MDC-M negotiators were travelling, would it have not been a sign of good faith to have at least met with the MDC-T negotiators in the mean time?

It couldn't have hurt!

"The deliberations were to be held within 15 days of the summit and not exceed 30 days. On the first Wednesday after the summit, the negotiators, Patrick Chinamasa (ZANU PF), Tendai Biti (MDC-T) and Prof Ncube (MDC), met informally before scheduling another meeting for last Monday.

This followed prior discussion among the principals to the inclusive Government, which outlined the issues the negotiators were to adhere to during their formal engagement. According to a communiqué issued after the summit, the deliberations were to include all outstanding issues arising from the implementation of the country's GPA and the January 27 SADC Communiqué."

It is quite obvious that MDC-M and ZANU PF are not particularly interested in solving the stalemate. I mean, it isn't as if the deadline was a State secret - even if ZANU PF did try to deny the existence of a deadline from SADC.

Almost every article that discusses the stalemate indicate that ZANU PF want MDC to remove the targeted sanctions on the hierarchy of ZANU PF and their families and associates... Why does ZANU PF insist that the sanctions are in place at the behest of the MDC?

If I am not mistaken, the travel sanctions have been in place since before the advent of the MDC!

"On the other hand, ZANU PF's key concerns are that MDC-T should participate in the implementation of the GPA by calling for the lifting of sanctions imposed on

Zimbabwe

by the West."

When were ZANU PF going to stop behaving as if they won the general election last year?

-o00o-

"Zimbabwean First Lady Mrs Grace Mugabe arrives in the country tomorrow,Monday November 23rd, to attend the African First Ladies against HIV and AIDS (OAFLA) conference.

Her Ethiopian counterpart Azeb Mesfin who is OAFLA President arrives in Zambia the following day on Tuesday. Other First Ladies expected to attend the conference are Namibia’s First Lady Penehupifo Pohamba who is represented by Reverend Mrs Hilukiluah who has already arrived in the country.

The OAFLA Conference is intended to empower SADC First Ladies with information on maternal health issues and also develop a comprehensive SADC OAFLA sub-regional plan of action."

I have to shake my head. Who is Grace Mugabe? A former secretary that was the President's 'bit on the side' whilst his wife, Sally, lay dying an agonising death.

Half his age, she does not display the leadership qualities that her vaunted position may suggest. She has assaulted photographers in Hong Kong - and acts as if the laws of Zimbabwe (and further afield) do not apply to her. Mind you, she does take the lead from her geriatric husband.

"According to the statement, Technical Advisors of the visiting spouses of heads of states are already deliberating ahead of the First Ladies’ workshop which begins on Tuesday November 24, 2009. Among the planned activities is a visit-site tour to Matero Clinic in Lusaka where there is a support programme for mother and child health, and the State House Women’s Club, Nursery and Pre-School.

The workshop will close with a gala dinner at Hotel Inter-continental in Lusaka on Thursday November 26 whose major function will be to raise funds to help support OAFLA Zambia Chapter activities."

And there is the real reason that she is in Zambia - apart from spending huge amounts of money on trinkets and treasures to fill an aircraft to take home... she is there to get a decent meal!

How pathetic!

-o00o-

"Hugo Chavez has defended imprisoned terrorist Carlos the Jackal, saying the Venezuelan was an important "revolutionary fighter" who supported the cause of the Palestinians.

The Venezuelan President praised Carlos - whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez - saying: "I defend him. It doesn't matter to me what they say tomorrow in Europe."

Ramirez gained international notoriety in the 1970s and 80s as the alleged mastermind of a series of bombings, killings and hostage dramas. He is serving a life sentence in

France

for the 1975 murders of two French secret agents and an alleged informant.

"They accuse him of being a terrorist, but Carlos really was a revolutionary fighter," Chavez said in a televised speech to socialist politicians from various countries."

Chavez is well known for his partisan opinions - and we also know that he has an open admiration for Robert Mugabe.

"Chavez also sought to defend other leaders he said were wrongly labelled "bad guys" internationally, including

Zimbabwe

's President Robert Mugabe and

Iran

's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Chavez called both of them brothers and said he now wondered if Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was as brutal as he was said to be.

"We thought he was a cannibal," Chavez said of Amin, whose regime was notorious for torturing and killing suspected opponents in the 1970s. "I have doubts... maybe he was a great nationalist, a patriot."

And perhaps Pol Pot was a level headed human being, whilst Hitler sought to correct the wrongs of the West... Unreal!

Sometimes I think that these radicals say what they do for effect alone.

-o00o-

Why is it that people connected with Zimbabwe, one way or another, always seem to leave a trail of destruction, broken promises and unpaid bills behind them?

"As if sleeping on the floor in jail wasn't enough, former Zimbabwe finance minister Chris Kuruneri's bout of bad luck is continuing in South Africa.

Civic association wants the city to bulldoze the house or face court action. His dream home - a four-level, eight-bedroom house in Cape Town with an elevator - may be reduced to rubble. That is if the civic association of the wealthy seaside suburb of Llandudno gets its way."

In comparison to the mansion that Mugabe built in Harare, this intended lavish home is a hovel!

" Chris Hayman, Kuruneri's construction project manager, said: "Dr Kuruneri has informed the council, through myself, that at this point he is not prepared to put more funds into

South Africa

because of the way he was treated last time. He will be selling his asset, which is the Apostle Road home. He has been trying to do so for the past six months to a year to fund the completion of the Sunset Road home." But due to the recession, Hayman said, it was difficult to sell the property.

Estate agent Shaun Kramer confirmed that he met with Kuruneri in Cape Town in 2008 to discuss the sale.

"It was a brief, professional meeting and he conducted himself in a very gentlemanly manner," was all Kramer would say. Kuruneri wants R14.5-million for the house, which has four en suite bedrooms, a study, central air conditioning, a utility room and a two-bedroom domestic's quarters."

You would think that a learned lawyer - an economist to boot - would be a little more circumspect in his ideals. He just abandons the project because he is unhappy with the neighbourhood reaction?

I really don't know where the legal mind has gone in Zimbabwe!

-o00o-

Despite anything that Mugabe has said since the signing of the two agreements with the two MDC factions, life as a peaceful activist in Zimbabwe is hard, tough and riddled with problems - like arrests and beatings.

And yet the ladies of WOZA continue to spread the word of democracy and continue to stand up for basic human rights...

"After the beatings by President Robert Mugabe's policemen, the overcrowded, lice-ridden jail cells, the degradation of nightly strip-searches, Jenni Williams and Magondonga Mahlangu still cling to hope for

Zimbabwe

.

They talk of hope that the devastated country still may be able to write a home-grown constitution, which would lead to real elections and recovery from the depths that a decade of increasingly malign misrule has dug.

How can these women, together arrested more than 50 times for leading nonviolent protests against the Mugabe government, still think such things?

"Look," Williams says, flinging out her arms, "we're trying to be optimistic here!" Both women laugh.

The women were interviewed in Washington in advance of Monday night's White House ceremony in which they are to receive the 2009 Robert F Kennedy Human Rights Award from President Barack Obama."

Who can forget the video footage of the women being beaten whilst lying on the ground at Africa Unity Square, or the numerous cases that have been instituted against the various members and their leadership.

The one thing that I really like about WOZA is their refusal to retaliate. If they are confronted and beaten, they just sit down and allow the molesters to have their fun.

Now that takes dedication!

"An absolute for the demonstrations by WOZA and its newer male counterpart, MOZA, is nonviolence, the founders insist. No matter what, demonstrators are told, do not strike back.

Asked if the movement had been patterned after Mohandes Gandhi's, which ended the British Raj in

India

, Mahlangu said no, it was modeled on that of American civil rights leader Martin Luther King.

Like King, Williams said, "We do it for social justice." And like King and his followers, they and theirs have paid heavily.

Williams and Mahlangu's latest struggle with Mugabe's judicial apparatus began a year ago after they were attacked and jailed for leading a sit-in to demand food for hungry Zimbabweans and a power-sharing government between Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai after the octogenarian president claimed victory in what many believe was a tainted election last year.

"What WOZA is doing is putting our lives on the line," Mahlangu said. The aim always is to meet violence with nonviolence, she said.

Williams and Mahlangu expect little from the

Zimbabwe

judicial system, although WOZA and other activists often have been supported by judges who ordered them to be released. Normally the government ignores judges' writs and releases activists only when it wants to, they said."

WOZA - a Zimbabwean institution that we should be hugely proud of.

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu

Sunday, 22nd November 2009

2009-11-22T08:31:00.004Z

Howzit

Just so you know, tomorrow's posting will be later than usual as I have an appointment with the ivory mechanic* early in the morning. I need to get the ball rolling to get my missing front tooth replaced...

*dentist

-o00o-

I know that I have commented on this before - but this is serious - and for a change it is not ZANU PF that are delaying everything, it is the smaller faction of the MDC.

Have these people no sense of urgency?

"Zimbabwe

’s main political parties have failed to meet for talks to resolve the country’s power-sharing dispute amid revelations that some of the negotiators had snubbed the negotiations and traveled abroad.

The delay in convening a meeting of negotiators from ZANU PF of President Robert Mugabe and the rival factions of the former opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) saw the negotiators missing Saturday’s deadline set by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) by which they should have agreed on outstanding issues from last year’s power-sharing agreement.

A spokesman for the main MDC wing led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said negotiators from a breakaway MDC faction had decided to travel on government business at a time the talks were supposed to have commenced this week.

"The deadline set by the SADC troika for the resolution of outstanding issues has once again been missed because of the intransigence, mischief and insincerity exhibited by the political players who are not taking the plight of the people of Zimbabwe seriously," the spokesman said."

The sad thing about this is that SADC will do nothing - as usual.

What they should have done is to have established the deadline and also told the three parties what was at risk if the deadline was missed. And even that would have resulted in delays as Mugabe is determined that if anything happens, it will be on his timing.

"An emergency summit of the Troika held in Maputo on October 29 gave the Zimbabwean parties 15 days to agree on outstanding issues from the Global Political Agreement, after which they should implement the agreed matters within the following 15 days."

-o00o-

"The deadline given by the regional community in Maputo passed on Friday without a single decision regarding the issues that are still outstanding being met. The political agreements were signed by the three Parties to the

Zimbabwe

crisis in September 2007. The reason was quite clear - ZANU and the Mutambara group simply do not know what to do. If they agree to do what the region wants, they are dead in the water.

But they signed the deal, they have nowhere to go and there have been intense discussions behind closed doors for weeks now. What to do? When MDC resolved to suspend all contact with ZANU PF in the Cabinet and Council of Ministers, they reacted with glee and started talking about "caretaker Ministers" and going it alone. Mr Mugabe made a speech in the Midlands where he said that the

Zimbabwe

dollar would be back before the end of the year. Rumours of the Reserve Bank printing new currency were rife.

But they had underestimated the sophistication of the MDC decision and the reaction of regional leaders. They also misread the full implications of the SADC decision to divert the management of the

Zimbabwe

crisis to the Troika. By doing so regional leaders reduced the status of Mr Mugabe from Head of State (at the SADC summit) to President of ZANU PF on a par with Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Mutambara at the meetings of the Troika.

This past week an aircraft arrived at Harare airport with tons of new local currency on board. They tried to keep it secret but without success and we were called by people to say the consignment was at the airport. When this news found its way through the corridors in Harare speculation was widespread. The most frequently asked question was "why"?

Printing a new currency simply did not make sense, who would accept the new currency? It would mean a rapid and complete collapse of the already fragile economy - empty shops and no fuel. It would run the risk of a national revolt and it was doubted if the army and the police would accept the new currency. A violent reaction was probable; certainly the people did not want to see a new local currency so soon after the 2008 collapse.

There was only one logical explanation – ZANU was contemplating a UDI from the region rather than go along with what they regard as political suicide. This made complete sense - they could arrest the MDC leadership, appoint "caretaker Ministers" and simply go it alone. Issue the new currency and exile Mr Tsvangirai. That is exactly what Smith had done in 1965 in reaction to what the Rhodesian leadership regarded as unreasonable political demands by the international community.

But on reflection, even the crazies in ZANU (and there are many) would soon appreciate that Smith could contemplate such a move, encouraged by regional support from neighbouring States, particularly

South Africa

Zimbabwe

is a land locked State and very dependent on its neighbours. It is also a minnow – with a GDP today of less than

Swaziland

Lesotho

. A large army but poorly equipped and motivated. No major sponsors after

China

and other international States began to distance themselves from ZANU PF and its widely perceived rogue status.

Any talk of a UDI from the regional block would soon be heard in Pretoria and I have no doubt that it would be dealt with swiftly. So I do not expect to have to spend the next few weeks in a detention centre. I think the new currency will quietly go into storage at the Reserve Bank and will not be heard of again. I would guess that after a tense two weeks, the negotiators would be in discussion this weekend to decide what to recommend on the way forward on the issues to the Party leadership early next week.

MDC is not taking any chances and Mr Tsvangirai is visiting the leadership of the African Union (past and present) this weekend. He will be back on Monday just in time to pick up where the negotiators left off and reach a deal with his colleagues in government so that they can report positively to the President of South Africa when he makes his planned visit to the country.

El Nino is once again working its menace in the Pacific Ocean. In the past month temperatures have risen 1,5 c. and the signs are all there that this is not going to be as good a season as in 2008/9. The wet season has started and all areas have had heavy rains this weekend. Parts of

South Africa

have had floods, but typically for an El Nino season, parts of the Cape are bone dry and drought stricken.

We are busy distributing small allocations of fertilizer and seed to a target of one million families in the rural areas. I am sceptical that this will make much difference. What concerns me even more is that the international agencies that deal with the question of food availability to the disadvantaged simply do not have the resources to do the same job they did last year.

We have millions who do not have the money to buy what food is now available, tens of thousands of elderly and orphans by the hundreds of thousands – the remnants of the aftermath of 30 years of ZANU delinquency and failure. The Diaspora plays a key role by sending money to the affected families where the links exist, but they have problems this year finding the resources to maintain the flow of money to their relatives.

Then there is the ongoing saga of the trial of Roy Bennett in Harare. This dragged on all week with Roy’s lawyers tearing holes in the prosecution and the fabricated nature of the charges becoming apparent to all. Displays of weapons that are supposed to be evidence of the arms dealing by Roy were found to include weapons from another case altogether. No evidence linking Roy to the arms was presented and the State claimed State secrecy to withhold evidence on which they based their claims.

It’s very tough on Roy and Heather and you must keep them in your prayers. Thank you also for the funds sent through to Zimfund and others to help with his defence and other needs. Just be sure to email notification of any donations so that we can personally thank you and notify the family of your support.

But in all of this, just remember what we have said many times in the past - this is not a sprint, it’s a marathon and it takes not only physical stamina but also intellectual commitment. We are in this to the finish line. Perhaps for the first time we sense this is ahead and that the final leg is going to be in the form of a guided suicide for ZANU PF. They must make decisions in the next few days that will seal their fate in the next two years, perhaps even next year."

-o00o-

At last we see some reaction to the report by the Auditer-General on the corruption, theft and corruption within government before the formation of the unity government... hopefully a few heads will roll - but somnehow I doubt it.

Y'see, Mugabe was quite happy to allow Gono to help himself to foreign currency in accounts held at the Reserve Bank and ministers have obviously decided that their need outweighs the national need when it comes to State assets.

"Cabinet will soon decide on the course of action to take against ministers who looted State assets before the formation of the inclusive government in February amid indications that there is convergence in the thinking of the three principals in the transitional arrangement to wield the axe on those caught on the wrong side of the law.

In what might pass for the most callous abuse of power in the country's history, State assets worth several millions of

United States

dollars were pillaged closer to the formation of the unity government between ZANU PF and the two Movement for Democratic Change formations.

The plunder of government property and resources was brought to light by the Comptroller and Auditor-General, Mildred Chiri, in her report covering the first quarter of the current financial term.

Government critics are convinced that the few cases that were uncovered in the report could just be the tip of the iceberg that must be unravelled by a forensic audit."

It will be very interesting to see what is decided next week - but somehow I see the decision being delayed, just like the negotiations.

Time is Mugabe's friend - and I don't see him or his shower of incompetent ministers allowing Biti & Co deciding their fate.

"Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, told The Financial Gazette this week that he will table before his colleagues in Cabinet the damning report he received from the Comptroller and Auditor-General's Office on public accounts.

"I will table the report in Cabinet. Cabinet will then come up with a decision on the course of action to be taken," Biti said.

The minister could not immediately say when he intends to table the matter in Cabinet.

The audit report, compiled by Chiri, and tabled in Parliament last month lifted the lid on the looting of State funds and assets among other illegal activities that were perpetrated by some government officials before leaving office.

The report said a government minister went away with a Toyota Prado despite the fact that it was a pool car, which could not be handed out as part of his exit package, while another minister and his deputy are said to have looted a laptop each from the ministry."

I just don't see Mugabe allowing his ministers to bear the brunt of the crimina; activity - and in the event that they ministers are to be arraigned in criminal court, Mugabe will give them amnesty or somthing that allows them to escape punishment.

"At one of the mentioned ministries, the report said: "The former cabinet minister took possession of two motor vehicles which he had been using before leaving the ministry; the former deputy minister was authourised to purchase the vehicle which he had been using before leaving the ministry and the former permanent secretary took possession of four motor vehicles which he had been using when he left the ministry."

Chiri, who conducts three main audits - financial, value for money and specialised audits charged that the possession of the said assets by the government officials was not authourised.

At another ministry, Chiri said the former minister, his deputy and permanent secretary illegally took possession of three vehicles each belonging to the government. The report also detailed the abuse of funds and fuel."

I watch with huge interest.

"The report, which was tabled in the House of Assembly on November 3 by the PAC chairman, Tapuwa Mashakada, said as part of giving the office teeth, there should be amendments of governing legislation to compel the Finance Minister to table a remedial plan of action on any corrupt activities that would have been brought to light by the Auditor-General.

"The committee feels that if audit reports are to have the desired impact, the enabling legislation should place an obligation upon the treasury and the accounting officers whose accounts have been qualified to respond with a remedial action plan to the Comptroller and Auditor-General's annual report. The Comptroller and Auditor-General would then follow up on the action plan and report on action taken in its next annual audit," part of the PAC report said."

-o00o-

It has to be remembered that the crisis in Zimbabwe when it comes to hunger is a man-made crisis. A one man crisis. It is primarily caused by Robert Gabriel Mugabe. He has ruined the agricultural sector and when the economy collapsed - largely through the land grab - people no longer had the necessary money to purchase food for their families.

"About 1.6 million people in

Zimbabwe

risk going hungry and will need food assistance between now and the end of the year, the

based Famine Early Warning Systems Network said in a new food security assessment conducted in September.

About one million of those likely to require food distributions are in

Zimbabwe

's rural areas, the rest in the cities.

The report cites poverty and unemployment as factors in continuing food insecurity in the country, which has seen a series of bad maize harvests due to dislocation in the agricultural sector after a decade of land reform and chronic shortages of essential inputs such as seed and fertilizer."

Mugabe will deny this report is correct with pathetic announcements that the harvest this year will be bumper.

What interests me as well is the want that ZANU PF have that they control the food distribution...

-o00o-

-o00o-

Take care.

'debvhu