"THE CORRUPT ROLE OF NGOs, DONORS AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN THE ZIMBABWEAN CRISIS!" by PAUL RUMEMA CHIMHOSWA

The Corrupt Role of NGOs, Donors and Civil Society in the Zimbabwean Crisis


(Trading The Soul of The Change Movement for Pieces of Silver)



By Paul Rumema Chimhosva



3 February 2009



INTRODUCTION



The Franklin Pierce Law Center in its IP Mall: Traditional Knowledge publications define Civil Society as follows:


“Civil society refers to the arena of uncoerced collective action around shared interests, purposes and values. In theory, its institutional forms are distinct from those of the state, family and market, though in practice, the boundaries between state, civil society, family and market are often complex, blurred and negotiated. Civil society commonly embraces a diversity of spaces, actors and institutional forms, varying in their degree of formality, autonomy and power. Civil societies are often populated by organisations such as registered charities, development non-governmental organisations, community groups, women's organisations, faith-based organisations, professional associations, trades unions, self-help groups, social movements, business associations, coalitions and advocacy group.”


The same publications also define the concept of a non-governmental organisation as follows:


“A non-profit making, voluntary, service-oriented/development oriented organization, either for the benefit of members (a grassroots organization) or of other members of the population (an agency). (World Bank). A non-profit group or association organized outside of institutionalized political structures to realize particular social objectives such as environmental protection or serve particular constituencies (such as indigenous peoples). NGO activities range from research, information distribution, training, local organization, and community service to legal advocacy, lobbying for legislative change, and civil disobedience. NGO's range in size from small groups within a particular community to huge membership groups with a national or international scope. [UNEP]”





It is important to define what exactly is civil society and what is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) is so that the following analysis of the interaction between the political organisations in Zimbabwe and these formations can be truly unraveled. It is important to note also that the MDC is a political formation which now finds itself in government and with the real possibility of being the governing party in the not too distant future, if their own predictions are to be believed.


Zimbabwe as a nation has just (30 years) come out of one of the most protracted wars of independence the earth has ever seen. I use the word just very deliberately as it is now some 70 years after the holocaust and the Jewish people are still tracking down and punishing their oppressors something that black Africans have long been discouraged by various forms of persuasion including corrupt payments to existing and emerging African leadership. Estimates vary from 30000 to 50000 people who died during the liberation struggle. The population of Zimbabwe holds its sovereignty so dearly, close to its heart, that it is disheartening that a Robert Mugabe or a Tsvangirai uses national sovereignty as a political football. The donor community has used civil society and NGOs in Zimbabwe for a variety of purposes all of which serve interests other than those of Zimbabweans.


The operative words in the definitions of civil society and NGOs are voluntary, service- oriented, development, shared interest and values, and most importantly non-profit. These organisations can take the form of grassroot organisations with members being the focus of value migration from donors to the intended beneficiaries (the ordinary citizens).


OBJECTIVES OF CIVIL SOCIETY AND NGOs in ZIMBABWE



The strategic objectives of civil society and NGOs in an effort to transmit value to the down-trodden population of Zimbabwe should embrace advocacy for constitutional reform and organizing peaceful resistance to repression and other forms of restriction of individual and societal liberties. The quest for a new people driven constitution in Zimbabwe is central to this objective. The freedom to choose a leadership that is responsive to the people’s needs should be a fundamental objective of civil society and NGO backed revolutionary crusade. The crafting of a national vision and value system coupled to a people driven transformational agenda should be the focus of not only the change movement by of all donors, civil society and NGOs. The rule of law is not only achieved whilst in government but it is also demonstrated during the period of the struggle for people’s power. Therefore it is common cause that civil society should demand of its components total transparency and accountability both in actions and in the distribution of resources. Zanu PF and Robert Mugabe have failed the people of Zimbabwe mainly because there were no democratic structures to hold them accountable to the people of Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean parliament has always been a rubber stamp for Zanu PF and its president, there was never any debate apart from eulogising Mugabe as the second Christ. The objective therefore should be to foster a culture of constructive dissent. There should be a culture of transparency in the lead up to the inevitable change from the Mugabe regime. Civil society and NGOs should demand of those who seek to rule Zimbabwe in the near future to embrace the culture of accountability and transparency.


In the light of the above discussion an attempt will now be made to highlight some of the failures of civil society and NGOs and why they should now be discouraged to further undermine the struggle of the Zimbabwean people.


INDIVIDUAL ENRICHMENT



The donor community has accepted the classic definitions of civil society and NGOs and applied it to Zimbabwe as if Zimbabwe was a normal society. The concept of voluntarism does not exist in the context of the chaotic Zimbabwean socio-economic environment. Most entrepreneurial and sharp academic brains in Zimbabwe could not find employment in the public sector or the non-existent private sector. The only available foreign currency based entrepreneurial activity was the NGO and Civil Society sector. Instead of being a voluntary service oriented non-profit sector this sector graduated into a huge profit based industry whose source of competitive advantage was the speed at which the organisations could wood wink unsuspecting western donors into parting with their taxpayers’ funds. The end result has been the betrayal of the reason why civil society and NGOs exist, which is to garner socio-politico-economic value on behalf of an oppressed people.


There is not one leader in the change movement whose individual net worth has not dramatically improved since the escalation of the Zimbabwean crisis with the formation of the MDC in 1999. Granted, Zanu PF has been looting state coffers and development aid for the past 30 years. It cannot be said to be right that corruption is justifiable as long as it is not done by Mugabe. Civil society, the donor community and NGOs need to realize that very little of what they have donated have reached the people of Zimbabwe. The leaders of opposition parties have their children at private schools and universities abroad on the very same resources made to facilitate the struggle of the Zimbabwean people. Leaders in the so-called unity government who have never been gainfully employed in their lives now boast luxury German sedans and a multitude of luxurious suburban houses. These so-called leaders have holiday houses in places like Cape Town and other exotic places around the globe. People based in Zimbabwe, selling out on the people’s struggle, have set themselves businesses in Botswana and South Africa. So- called human rights campaigners on behalf of Zimbabwe, like Eleanor Sisulu of South Africa, have enriched themselves no end. It is a real shame that people who do not understand the struggle of the Zimbabwean people have gone out and got monetary resources on behalf of Zimbabweans and have enriched themselves to obscene levels.


The MDC and the democratic change forces in Zimbabwe got AU$15million from the Australian government, US$5million and 30million British pounds in 2008 to contest the Zimbabwe general elections. These are public figures that Howard, Bush and Blair gloated about as funds necessary to facilitate the demise of the Mugabe regime. In late

2009 Tsvangirai failed to settle a hotel lunch bill in Masvingo. Printers and others support services for campaign support for the MDC were paid late. Simba Makoni abused party vehicles, fuel and funds using them for personal gain. The west has donated a vast

amount of money to the constitution making process where the leaders of that process are pocketing copious amounts of money. The Zimbabwean crisis has long lost its value as the epitomy of the struggle for freedom of the oppressed masses of Zimbabwe but a very vibrant self-enrichment programme for donor sharks based in Zimbabwe, US, South Africa, Botswana, Canada, New Zealand and other countries.


Individuals who cannot provide any meaningful contribution to humanity have found themselves a very lucrative pastime: crying crocodile tears on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe and getting paid for it. A simple audit of estates of the individuals who lead all these mushrooming Zimbabwe crisis NGOs should show the donors how much of their investments actually reach the people of Zimbabwe. A huge chunk of their donations are destined for the pockets of the few and not the people. One would like to be introduced to any poor NGO functionary involved with the Zimbabwean crisis.


BREEDING A GENERATION OF BRAIN DEAD WESTERN FUNCTIONARIES



Whilst civil society and NGOs, together with the donors, think they are getting rid of the rot Mugabe has visited upon Zimbabwe they need to be aware that they have started breeding a far more corrupt culture in the ranks of the change movement. Money is changing hands midnight and no auditing of the movement’s accounts is done. This culture is going to be transferred into the Zimbabwean fiscus. Already elements of that are beginning to emerge with the introduction of corrupt language like “takiya kiya – we have made a plan” or “nhasi haulume – you are not eating” from the Finance Minister on serious matters of national resources distribution. This comes from the culture that civil society and NGOs is inculcating into the Zimbabwean political leadership. The culture that’s says: you do not have to account for anything to anyone. I am deeply disappointed with the complicity with which donors dish out resources in the name of the common Zimbabwean and then fail to hold people accountable for those resources.


It can be argued that auditing of the movement’s account may open up the movement to Zanu PF propaganda tactics, but how do you let the people know what you have done with the resources meant for them? What effective programme has the MDC done for the people of Zimbabwe except using the people to access power for personal benefit? The whole issue about the outstanding issues is about jobs for pals and nothing to do with the real change mandate. The change movement mandate was very simple: get a new people driven constitution, get free and fair elections and implement a democratic transformational agenda to have a better life for the ordinary Zimbabwean. These issues are not even on the outstanding issues list; they are there by inference if at all.


The preceding argument against transparency is not convincing. The more plausible explanation is that these NGOS and civil society are well aware that there is misuse of resources by the change movement functionaries. This is kept low as leverage to later champion an agenda that keeps Zimbabwe in check in case the Zimbabwean people would want to keep issues such as land distribution and economic liberation on the agenda. These issues cannot be a success in Zimbabwe in case Africa catches a fire, a revolutionary fire. The idea then is to lure the current leadership into the evil web of corruption and blackmail presenting Zimbabwe with a mirage of progressive democratic leadership yet the manufacturing process of a brain dead crop of compromised leadership is well and truly underway. It cannot be that civil society, NGOs and donors are not

aware of the abuse of donor funds by leaders of the change movement. Clearly this is an investment whose return is the ability to produce a malleable and docile leadership amenable to compromising the revolutionary transformational change agenda necessary for a democratic and prosperous Zimbabwe. No organisation will wantonly throw resources at a process from which it does not gain. The Zimbabwean nation must rise to the realization that a political dummy is being sold to the nation.


PART OF THE NON-DEMOCRATIC HISTORY OF ZIMBABWE



Donor nations and organisations that participate in the nurturing of this corrupt leadership should bear in mind that they are entrenching themselves deeply in the annals of Zimbabwean history as farmers of corruption and non-democratic tendencies. Their inability to report people who abuse the resources meant for the Zimbabwean people has meant that the name of Zimbabweans has been fraudulently abused for the benefit of a few. There are people who, and organisations which, will not be able to survive should Zimbabweans have a stable and prosperous nation. Where will organisations like Crisis Coalition of Zimbabwe and the flamboyant Eleanor Sisulu be if Zimbabweans are at peace? The same people could not hold Morgan Tsvangirai to account as he is seen, in the NGO community and civil society, as a source of donor funds. The only survival strategy that these organisations know of is that of remaining in Tsvangirai good books. It is common knowledge that once Tsvangirai or the MDC labels an organisation or individual Zanu PF, political extinction becomes but a reality. This is the reason why the dictatorship tendencies evident in the MDC today are a foretaste of what’s to come should it be a reality that indeed the MDC is in power.



CONCLUSION



That Mugabe and his regime should be removed is common cause. What should never be a consideration for Zimbabwe is to allow evil of the same or even worse magnitude, as what has been experienced in the last 30 years, to take root again. Civil society, non-governmental organisations and the donor community have let themselves and Zimbabwe down. These parties will forever be seen as having prolonged the suffering of Zimbabweans and having been facilitators of a succession plan for a dictatorship; they are breeding as sizeable pool of corrupt, inconsiderate, incompetent, affluent and insensitive successors to Robert Mugabe.

OPEN LETTER TO THE THEN PRES G W BUSH!!!

http://www.zimdaily.com/news/bush27.5007.html   also posted at http://bobchargesheet.blogspot.com/2008/05/open-letter-to-pres-g-w-bush-from-rev.html   and http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=500&Itemid=26   @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@   My name is Rev Mufaro Stig Hove. I am a Zimbabwean citizen by descent and I am also a South African Citizen by birth.   My father, a Shona from Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) married my mother (a Zulu from Natal) in January, 1956 and I was born at Dundee, Natal, RSA in October, 1956.    They went to Rhodesia in 1958 and I grew up there to manhood.     I have decided to live in South Africa since 2006 and have formally taken up my South African Citizenship because I could no longer live freely in Zimbabwe, the country I have so loved and have grown up in from the said 1958 to the said 2006.   I have written a lot about the true situation in my beloved land and the very reason why I decided to write was so that all those who want to know the truth can read for themselves and get it from the proverbial "horse's mouth."   I run a conglomerate of blogs and the Index one being www.zimfinalpush.blogspot.com .   For obvious reasons, I have never set foot on Zimbabwean soil since I left in August, 2006. With the type of free blogging I do, I would never see the sun 24 hours or less of setting my foot on Zimbabwean soil.   MY APPEAL, YOUR EXCELLENCY!   Your Excellency, Robert Gabriel Mugabe is a very evil, arrogant and cunning character. I will follow my knowledge and interaction with him from as far back as 1973.   I will provide links to articles that I (and a few others) have written and which were picked up and re-published on various other sites and a simple "google-search" of my names or the titles of my submissions can reveal the extent of my "influence".   The purpose of this, my humble letter to you, Your Excellency, is to dispel and correct a lot of propaganda items that certain well-placed persons like Mr Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (State President of the Republic of South Africa) may desperately try to ventilate.   I have been presently motivated by news that he is understood to have written a four-page letter to Yourself, Your Excellency. Although we are not aware of the full contents of the said letter, we understand he castigated you using numerous exclamation marks for he what he calls your "meddling" in Zimbabwe's affairs.   Allow me to give you the full story of the Zimbabwean affairs in question, Your Excellency!I wrote an Open Letter to Mr Robert Gabriel Mugabe ( who has illegitimately presided over Zimbabwe's for the past seven years) and I asked him to explain the deaths in mysterious (mainly) car accidents of numerous of Zimbabwe's cream of heroes. The said letter can be found at http://dearmrrobertmugabe.blogspot.com/2006/11/is-robert-mugabe-master-assassin.html under the title "IS ROBERT MUGABE THE MASTER-ASSASSIN?"   As a very dedicated ZANU-PF cadre up till 2003, I was aware of these assassinations and I ask Mr Robert Mugabe to respond to that letter for the benefit of the whole world.   I was Secretary of ZANU-PF at District level and we wrecked havoc and killed ZAPU members in Kadoma during the dark days of "GUKURAHUNDI" and I've written extensively on these evil activities and my perspective of how these things happened and I invite you, Your Excellency, to read my submission, "The Thoughts and Memories of a Former ZANU-PF Cadre" and the posting thereof is available at http://zimfinalpush1.blogspot.com/2007/03/memories-and-thoughts-of-former-zanu-pf.html    It is well known that on the 16th of June, 1984 the small farming and mining town of Kadoma (formerly Gatooma) was subjected to ZANU-PF mob-rule which left a trail of burnt houses, destroyed and-of looted furniture and dead and unburied bodies on innocent PF-ZAPU members. I recalled the events of that day that submission.   A fellow activist, Joseph Tanonoka Whande wrote a very revealing article on why Mr Robert Mugabe can never retire even if he wanted to. I posted this submission at http://chinja.blogspot.com/2007/08/mugabe-cannot-retire-even-if-he-wants.html  It is important to look at these issues when we reflect on the situation prevailing at the moment in the beloved, bleeding country of Zimbabwe.   Although he is a dubious character, Professor Jonathan Moyo also wrote a very intelligent analysis of the dangers we face as a Nation as Mr Robert Mugabe precariously clings to power at a shameful age of 84. I posted this article at http://zimfinalpush2.blogspot.com/2007/06/death-of-robert-mugabethe-tragedy-ahead.html . I re-named the submission "THE DEATH OF ROBERT MUGABE, THE TRAGEDY AHEAD" by Prof Jonathan Moyo.   I also wrote a submission along the same lines and I entitled it "IS THE NATION OF ZIMBABWE READY FOR THE EARTHLY DEPARTURE OF ITS 'FATHER'?" (http://zimfinalpush8.blogspot.com/2007/12/is-nation-of-zimbabwe-ready-for-earthly.html ) Your Excellency we are afraid! We are terrified of the aftermath of Mr Robert Mugabe's death. Those that follow him are more afraid than those of us who left him.   I wrote a very detailed submission on how WE RIGGED ELECTIONS in Zimbabwe. I wrote as one that participated in the evil processes and not as a visiting journalist. I can give an Interview on the things that I wrote in that submission.   (http://zimgossiper.blogspot.com/2007/04/full-submission-on-rigging-of-zim.html ) I wrote extensively on President Thabo Mbeki's strange dealings as far the Zimbabwean crisis is concerned. One was "THABO MBEKI'S PROVERBIAL LONG ROPE"   (http://dearmrthabombeki.blogspot.com/2007/07/thabo-mbeki-s-proverbial-long-rope.html ) and the other more detailed analysis is "WHY THE SADC/MBEKI INITIATIVE CANNOT AND WILL NOT SOLVE ZIMBABWE'S PROBLEMS!"   (http://zimfinalpush8.blogspot.com/2007/12/why-sadcmbeki-initiative-cannot-and.html)  I wrote from the heart, Your Excellency, and I cannot add anything to what I wrote.   A very respected Media person and Torch-bearer who has suffered untold hardships because of his commitment to Democracy for Zimbabwe ( and indeed for the whole of Africa and beyond): Mr Trevor Ncube who makes it possible for Zimbabweans and the world to get the true and fuller picture of the situation prevailing in Zimbabwe wrote a very lengthy article on the choices facing Mr Robert Mugabe. I posted this article at http://radicalzim.blogspot.com/2007/03/violent-or-peaceful-exit-for-robert_27.html . I need not add anything to that submission.   Last but not least, Your Excellency, there are numerous voices from the grave. Dr Joshua M N Nkomo who was the founder of the Liberation Struggle in Zimbabwe died a broken man. He left us his own perception of events as they unfolded in the 80s.   He wrote a Letter to the then Prime Minister Robert Gabriel Mugabe and it is self-explanatory. I posted it together with numerous other articles relevant to the dark era of the so-called "GUKURAHUNDI". (http://gukurahundi.blogspot.com/2007/04/full-letter-from-dr-j-m-n-nkomo-to.html )   Your Excellency let me not belabour you with information. Robert Gabriel Mugabe is a despicable crook and gangster who deserves neither Mercy nor Diplomacy.   He must be removed swiftly and even violently to save the sinking, suffering nation! Please under no circumstances should you be side-tracked by the likes of President Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki. The issue is not about land: the majority of the so-called redistributed land went to a few ZANU-PF "heavyweights" and Mugabe's sisters' children.   The issue is not about black pride: Mugabe is hiding an evil murderer who wrecked havoc in Ethiopia and brutally took the life of HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY HAILLE SELLASE (RAS TAFARI). Mugabe deserves no honourable place in History. Whoever would bring him down to size would be the Hero all of us are looking for!   PLEASE ASSIST THE DEMOCRATIC FORCES TO GET INTO POWER AND SORT OUT THE MESS LEFT BY THE DEFEATED FAILED ZANU-PF MAFIA REGIME.   I thank you for your time to attend to, this my humble letter.   Yours faithfully,   Rev Mufaro Stig Hove.   revmshove@gmail.com   www.zimfinalpush.blogspot.com  The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. ZimDaily is not responsible for what they say. Please keep your comments short and sweet. Obscene, tribalistic, racist, vulgar comments will be deleted. (HTML Codes not allowed) This is a joke Guys I think they should jus stop telling us the inflation figures because its pointless.The second highest inflation figure in the world is on 40%.Now look at the gap.Even Idi Amin only managed to get Uganda's inflation to 200% after expelling Asians from his country.Mugabe please nguva yakwana.Yu are jus making us a laughing stock to the whole world.I recently told a friend of mine in Australia who thought the inflation in Zim was around 1000% and I told him it was 200 000% which he didn't believe because he thought it was a joke.Now how do I tell him its now 1,7m%.mugabe do us all a favour shuzura pliz. Posted By Trevor Mapara , London UK : Jun 2 2008 01:00 AM Money Printing Machine CBZ Holdings Limited's group structure is in Asset Management, Properties, insurance and securities. WHERE IS THE relationship between THE bank and the industrial sector? ZIMBABWE IS A DEVELOPING COUNTRY THAT CAN NOT AFFORD THIS INSANITY. Posted By Shumba , Kariba, Zim : Jun 2 2008 02:16 AM MDC SPLIT CONSEQUENCES We can blame, Mbeki, we can blame sadc, we can blame uk...usa, we can blame zanu...junta, we can blame zec. BUT the really problem causer is MDC split. Posted By , : Jun 2 2008 02:40 AM who said there is no crisis in zimbabwe ? thabo mbeki said there is no crisis in zimbabwe - he also said there was no such thing as AIDS/HIV - well thabo my boy - you are the second cleverest person in africa ( after robert g M of course ) - with buffoons like this around africa it looks like the basket case continent will continue ! Posted By parks mukadota , windhoek namibia : Jun 2 2008 03:07 AM Mutambara arrested Arrested for critcising Tyrant Robert Mugabe. As a day goes past they get even more desperate. "Zimbabweans are the enemy, while the rule of law is just a con" - thats whats in a mind of a tyrant. Everyday i pray GOD send him to hospital... Posted By Brownsugar , Chigwell : Jun 2 2008 06:21 AM The Zimbabwe economy Did you know that the Zimbabwean economy is politically driven? A month b4 the stolen elections the rate shot up to about 450 to the pound. Two weeks later MDC had a rally with a massive turnout. This caught hopes of many investors & others with Zim interest then two days later the rate fell from 450 to 280. If you remember this then you know MDC runs the town... Everyday i pray GOD send Robert Mugabe to hospital. Posted By Kenlove32 , Chigwell : Jun 2 2008 06:29 AM RICH POOR MAN I FEEL SORRY FOR THIS RICH POOR MAN. HIS NAME IS GONO. 1 700 000%? I AM NOT AN ECNOMONIST BUT I COULD HAVE DONE BETTER. MANJE IF BOB WIN THE FIGURE WILL BE 9 999 999 999 999 999%! SO PLEASE GO TAKE BY FREE ADVICE: STOP SUPPORTING THE CHINOTIMBA, JOC, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY MUGABE. AKUBAIRA ZANHI NDEWAKO. Posted By JONGWE , JHB : Jun 2 2008 07:50 AM Chiwenga's Son studying at Hartpury College, UK Chiwenga's son is studying at Hartpury, Gloucester. There are nearly 10 children of the illegal Zimbabwe Government Officers at Hartpury. Numbers for Hartpury College are: 01452 702 132, 01452 700 283 (+44-1452 from out of UK). You can also send your concerns to the UK Border Agency at: 02920 924 657, 0208 760 2077, 0208 750 2446 and 0208 603 5409. Mudenge's son recently finished at the same college using a fake name. They all come through Watershed College in Marondera. Posted By Chiwenga's Girlfriend , Mandara : Jun 2 2008 09:20 AM Kwa Mutoko neku Mudzi Takavabika and talk to them today they will tell you. Even those with Children in USA, Canada, UK, Dubai China or where ever will tell you kuti mwanangu tiri kunovhotera upenyu come June 27. We are going to claim back more than half of that vote that T-Boy stole from 'our people' in these areas. Posted By Kenneth Mamvura , : Jun 2 2008 09:53 AM Mamvura Pamhhhataaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Posted By Ndini , SA : Jun 2 2008 10:13 AM I Love ZimDaily WESTERNERS This is your chance now he is now in your hands Bob its good time you arrest him for human rights violation there in Rome please help us he must not come back for the run off .Please help us thats the only chance teach that dog a lesson and send him where he belongs "The Hague". Britain and America don't let us down . Posted By Zanu and Mugabe Enemy , Zimbabwe : Jun 2 2008 09:23 AM Posted By , : Jun 2 2008 10:21 AM Mamvura imbwa Wabika nyama kwete mweya yavo nepfungwa will still vote MDC madhongi achikuma uri chii iwe Mamvura muroyi zvake paari uchasvotwa dzangu hama dziri kuti ndezvako come june 27 they will express their will uchida usingadi madhodhi anonhuwa Posted By Mamvura imbwa , UK ugondidiiko : Jun 2 2008 10:28 AM Bobo imbwa yaBOBO inonzi Mamvura Posted By Chongwe , : Jun 2 2008 10:45 AM What Economy? Zimbabwe no longer has an economy. Gono is printing money to use it as a mop for foreign currency in the parallel market. Whenever Mugabe and Grace have to travel, the Zim Dollar always falls massively, suggesting that a major player is flooding the market with printed worthless zim currency. Gono, what are you doing? You do not even have a doctorate on academic merit but yours was given to you. Do not let it go to your head as that will only kill zimbabwe Posted By Sweet MDC-T , South Africa : Jun 2 2008 12:25 PM ARREST GONO PLEASE People like Gono should be arrested, period. He is now busy looting Zimbabwe on behalf of Bob and stuffing the money in foreign accounts. Ko pashaiwawo here aenda ku Rome kunodzingirira Bob? Anoend kuRome kumeeting yemaPresidents iye achisiri President. Posted By New Zimbo , Malawi : Jun 2 2008 01:53 PM Check your voter status on www.zimvoter.com The election on 27 June 2008 is historical. We can get a new breath of fresh air if more people vote for change. Most people do not know whether they are registered to vote and which constituency and ward they are registered to vote. I for one did not know whether I was a registered voter until I checked a few days before march 29. I did not register but my name was on the voter's roll . They ( ZEC) said when I took my ID that's when I was automatically registered. Please check your and frineds , relatives voter registration status. I have made it easy by setting up an online voter registration database where people can search by ID number and those who can't remember their ID number can search by using their name and date of birth. The folks in the diaspora can also check on behalf of their relatives back home who do not have access to the internet or are victims of the slow browsing speeds here in zimbabwe. This is the best gift zimbabweans abroad can help folks at home. So if you are in the diaspora next time you call home ask them if they know where they can vote. Offer to do a search for them and then text them their voting details. You can find the voters roll online on www.zimvoter.com and or www.africaelectioncenter.com . If you are in the diaspora just cehck if you are appearing on the voter's roll and we can later do a survey to establish how many votes were lost by denying the diaspora to vote. Go now on www.zimvoter.com or www.africaelectioncenter.com Every vote counts on Friday june 27 2008. 25 days to go. Posted By shumbayenzara , Binga metropolitan center : Jun 2 2008 02:19 PM mamvura , i realy want to meet you in a free zim one person im craving to meet in a post mugabe zimbabwe is this mamvura . i want him to tell me how he managed to get admission to college in the states , the guy is not intouch with reality and he is still living in the past, i realy want to meet him so i can tell him what year we are in . Posted By lovemore mazivisa , london. uk : Jun 2 2008 03:23 PM lovemore u a kid Shut up Lovemore , give me yr contact number if you are a man . Posted By kenneth mamvura , : Jun 2 2008 03:43 PM kenneth mamvura Foolish dog, if you are man enough, give me your own phone number, bastard! Posted By Mbuya Rennie , Ballantyne Park, Harare : Jun 2 2008 04:32 PM Huh? What's all this "His Excellency" crap? In democracies, you call people by their first name. In this case, it's George W. In democracies, his excellency is everone or no one. EVERYBODY is equal, except in Africa where some politicians think they are more important than the electorate - NOT SO !! It's time we Africans got to understand this. Once we do, we will soon learn not to put up with the crap these policians dish up to us. Posted By Viva Democracy....... , .... is is coming to Zimbabwe : Jun 2 2008 05:19 PM Kenneth Mamvura be SERIOUS! Shame on you Mamvura, your mental acumen just shows how low it is, actually below par and far lower than a primary one child's. When others are discussing about Zim inflation , how it has risen to 1.7m % all you talk about is beating up , torturing and killing pple to get votes for mugabe. Honestly what part of your brain, if you have got any do you use! You have no clue of the economic status of the country all you talk and brag about are your uncivilized deeds, shame on you. Even if you kill all members of the opposition party, you still have one Enemy that you can't beat, torture, maim or murder, ZIM'S COLLAPSED ECONOMY! that is your number one enemy and needs taken care of ASAP, regardless of what you, mugabe, gono and others as shallow as you may take! Think about it! Posted By Nyarai , Scotland : Jun 2 2008 06:05 PM Kenneth Mamvura! Please tell me this mamvura idiot is not at college in USA. I am so disappointed if he is, what is he doing there? how can he achieve anything with his shallow head! what's happening with education these days? Educated pple are supposed to critically analyse events but this mamvura dude is just the opposite, he lacks everything that make human beings even my chihuahua is far clever than this mamvura dude, Shame! Posted By Cool , Zim Bindura : Jun 2 2008 07:26 PM mamvura ehure phona Iwe mazimvura ehure phona nmber dzangu idzo 07982484045 ..........................................Oscar Posted By Oscar , : Jun 2 2008 09:22 PM Mamvura is Hired I believe Mamvura's motive is very clear. The man intends to polute our minds. Slowly its dawning on him that people who visit this site are not as stupid as he thought. The worst thing about ZANU PF is that these people dont learn from the past. March 29 handed a defeat to Robert Mugabe, instead of them doing a good job about analysing what led to his defeat, you find they are going about unleashing violence in the rural areas! Poor ZANU PF! Cant you realizing that you shooting yourselves in the foot? Violence no longer works with Zimbabweans. They are fed up with the illegal govt. Look how much did they invest in the election but they lost all the same? Kenneth is hired! I would like to show him the staff i am made of on June 27. I will vote his boss out. Posted By Ripples , Harare : Jun 2 2008 09:38 PM Manvura e sewage Manvura e sewage, We all know that your mum is a bitch thats why you are pro Zanu and Mugabe, but uchamama after june 27 we will sort out all the trash in your head easy if you are in the U.S.A manvura e sewage........ i m COMING FOR YOUR HEAD Posted By Parry , WOLVES : Jun 2 2008 11:35 PM Viva Democracy....... , .... is is coming to Zimbabwe : Jun 2 2008 05:19 PM I don't care a hoot whether Presidents are "His Excellency" or not! Whatever they are, we need normal, simple human beings! One doesn't cease to be just a normal, human being just because they hold an Office called "President." That's what craps like Bob and Thabo fail to realise. Hope Morgan will continue to be his simple self! Posted By Rev Mufaro Stig Hove , ZIMFINALPUSH, AZANIA/RSA : Jun 3 2008 06:34 AM Dell vindicated So Dell was right when he estimated that inflation will rise to 1.5million%. http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/powell47.16577.html. Why do we Africans become so predictable in the negative? Posted By Dingizulu Masuku , Joburg, RSA : Jun 3 2008 08:42 AM mdc bandits BANDITS that are unleashing terror on the people in their desire to get to power at all costs should be stopped. They cannot be allowed to accomplish their programme of walking over dead bodies of innocent women and children and the elderly on their way up the echelons of power. So far several people have been killed while others have been maimed while property worth trillions of dollars has also been destroyed by marauding gangs of political thugs some armed with rifles. Elsewhere in this issue we carry a disturbing story of two ruling party officials who were shot and killed in cold blood in Mutoko by a gang of suspected MDC-T activists who have turned themselves into first class terrorists. Two other people including a headman were fired at but the culprits missed them by a whisker. According to police spokesman Chief Superintendent Oliver Mandipaka, the deceased were yesterday identified as ZanuPF Nyamukapa Ward secretary for publicity Cde Nancy Chidzidzi (53) and party activist Cde Taurai Chihuri (51). Posted By kenneth mamvura , : Jun 3 2008 09:13 AM MAMVURA Koo Tonderai Ndira, Shepherd Jani and many others vakanoonekwa na McGee kumahospitals varikutaura kuti vakarohwa neZanu unotii navo? You are a Zanu Bandit yourself or even worse.Asshole yamai vako. Pfutseki, ZIDHODHI Posted By ??? , jhb , S.A : Jun 3 2008 11:08 AM How Would MDC possess Weapons in Zimbabwe Kenneth Mamvura fools like you deserve to be thoroughly whipped on their arses.Can you imagine what would happen to an MDC supporter or sympathiser found with a gun? The security is so tight in Zimbabwe such that even having been smuggled it is very impossible for any MDC member to be in possession of a gun.So the Zanu-PF members you are talking about were shot by members of their own party. Zanu-PF used this trick before in order to cripple Zapu.The dissidents in Matabeleland who were said to be from Zapu were never Zapu at all.If they were Zapu why did they kill people who were Zapu stalwarts?That is proof that they were Zanu-PF mercenaries.Today Zanu-PF is re-employing the same tactic again.It is a futile exercise and will not win them any extra vote, Posted By Sydney Malunga , KoNtuthu : Jun 3 2008 12:51 PM MAMVURA!!! ZANU-PF is the dirtiest Organization that has ever existed since man came upon this world. Never believe ZANU stuff. Now they say MDC is doing the violence! Surely if MDC was doing the violence, they would have been in power 6 years ago! Mamvura (if you are serious), you are despicably demented! I WILL NOT USE VULGAR! Posted By Rev Mufaro Stig Hove , ZIMFINALPUSH, RSA/AZANIA : Jun 3 2008 01:03 PM Give Mamvura a Break. Of cause I do not support the sentiments posted by Mamvura because they are clearly irresponsible especially at this eleventh hour. He might have had 2 intentions in saying what he did. The first may have been to stir up the dicussion by being openly controversial while the second may have been to asses our political maturity as Zimbabweans. Real democracy which we are hoping for after the 27th respects freedom of speech where noone is percecuted or threatened for saying how they feel and where torturers are brought to justice through the courts and the rule of law prevails. Imbopafungayi ipapo! Posted By R Makaza , Essex : Jun 3 2008 01:15 PM car sticker imbwa yaMugabe inonzi Mamvura Posted By Liberal Democrats , of Zimbabwe : Jun 3 2008 03:35 PM who said what? As long as Mugabe and his cronies are alive they will do everything to throw spanners on Tsvangirai's political engine in a bid to block him from ascending to power. There shall be many recounts, runoffs, reruns, dead silence on election results and business as usual. The choice therefore is: let us forget about Mbeki and let us go on to also hold our machine guns, ponto final. This Tyrant declared war on his own people long time ago. Munhu tora gidi uzvi tonge there goes Mbuya Nehanda na Kaguvi's advice or kugara munyika hunge muno rugare. "Grab ur guns and rule yourself" Armed Vs the unARMED. FACE IT - HOW MANY MORE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DIE ALL BECAUSE OF ONE PERSONS POWER HUNGER, WAKE UP! Posted By Brownsugar , Chigwell : Jun 3 2008 03:36 PM black market rate ZW$ 3.24 billion = one US dollar black market rate ZW$ 3.24 billion = one US dollar or ZW$ 6.35 billion per one british pound. please note the important word is BILLION and not million. fellow diasporans, do not be fooled by gono and the crooked rserve bank of zimbabwe, ensure you get the correct rate for your hard earned foreign money. the free market rate is the only true rate & soon gono & mugabe will realise that they cannot beat the markets - like the price of green mielies on the streets - if there are a lot of mielies the price comes down & if there are few the price goes up - simple - economics is not one of mugabe or gone's strong points - change is very near Posted By prof milton obote , kampala uganda : Jun 5 2008 12:08 AM Rev Hove ! Is Rev your Pastoral title or its you first name from birth. I wonder what type of flock you head.Instead of using such platforms as these to preach the Word of God and stand up for Jesus.You are busy showing faith in Bush, a simple human being, probably not even born again. You want Bush to change the situation in Zimbabwe in his capacity as who.You think he is Bigger than God.There is nothing Biblical about your article, it looks like you are not proud to be associated with Christ but with George Bush. I can tell you you are the type of Rev who are misleading God people. You were the district secretary of ZANU PF during the Gukurahundi era, so you have a case to answer too and to me you dont even sound born again at all. You probably quit ZANU after they never gave you a piece of land they promised you.MDC should never allow people like you from ZANU to join their party, coz you caused a lot of suffering to people.I have a lot of relatives who were killed during the gukurahundi time, because of people who supported it like you.YOu admitting you were part of it should be evidence enough to try you.After admitting , will the lost lives come back ? If MDC pardons people like you who did such evil deeds willingly , then Mugabe should be pardoned too. We don't want your articles on this site again.You open old wounds and remind people of the pain they went through due to your deeds. Whats so special about being born of SA Zulu mother.No one one has ever written an article and introduced themselves by telling us their mother and father 's origins, whats the significance of that ? Stay in SA and leave true Zimbabweans alone, one day we will be free because we trust in God.You wont even be able to vote. I feel pity for the flock you are leading. Posted By Ken , Harare ,Zimbabwe : Jun 5 2008 01:25 AM Rev Everyone has a role to play in liberating Zimbabwe, and I would like to remind you of yours, its a spiritual role.Don't play other people 's roles .You saw what happened to your colleuge Bishop Pius Ncube ?Concetrate on your calling, and use spiritual influence in solving the Zim crisis, otherwise your articles dont show confidence in you spiritual belief, which you happen to teach your congregation every Sunday.Are you a Rev to earn a living or to stand for Jesus like Ken said ?You flocks 's house is burning in Zimbabwe, and you decided to run away.What a sherpard ? Posted By Ranga , Machipisa, Zimbabwe : Jun 5 2008 01:52 AM I Love ZimDaily Posted By , : Jun 5 2008 06:06 AM MY TWO FLOCK MEMBERS!!! The very reason why Robert Matibili is behaving like a "bull in a China Shop" in Zimbabwe today is because of such misguided views like the ones just above. Being a Christian does not mean being docile. I will not say too many words. You Ken of Harare and Ranga of Machipisa are part of my flock. Its true I will not vote: but its because of desperate crooks who are afraid of a free vote for ALL citizens of Zimbabwe. Even those without dual citizenships cannot vote if they happen to be outside the country. Matibili (Mugabe) fears they will uproot him. So what's the story about my being not able to vote? Also Id I had not left Zim would I be able to say freely what I'm saying now? Please grow up! If you are part of the ZANU gravy train.....enjoy it quietly and quickly while it lasts. SO CONCENTRATE ON YOUR VIOLENCE IN THE DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO PROP UP A DEMENTED CROOK LIKE ROBERT MATIBILI. About me accounting for what we did as ZANU-PF in the 80s, I'm available to anyone. I'm not hidden like the others like yourselves. GOD HAVE MERCY ON US ALL! Reverend Mufaro Stig Hove www.zimfinalpush.blogspot.com Posted By Rev Mufaro Stig Hove , ZIMFINALPUSH AZANIA/RSA!!! : Jun 5 2008 06:07 AM Mamvura Mamvura uri satani ,the devil leaves in you?Do you have brains,what do you use when you are thinkin ,magaro?The time **** is ticking its only a matter of time ,you will regreat the day you were born.Pamberi napresident Tsvangirai Posted By Bhona Mugabe Mwana vehure Grace naMakamba , State House Zimbabwe : Jun 5 2008 11:42 AM mamvura I THINK PEOPLE LIKE MAMVURA SHOULD BE IGNORED COMPLETELY THEY DONT HAVE ANYTHING POSITIVE TO SAY.THE ONLY GOOD THING IS THAT HE IS HIV POSITIVE.ARI KUKOSORA ZVAKAIPA Posted By BRIAN KANHUKARO , HARARE ,ZIMBABWE : Jun 7 2008 10:17 PM US Republicans, MDC-T alike in media deception!! STELLA Orakwue writes eloquently in the May 2008 issue of New African magazine "It is a pity!": "Do you think that if 'Mugabe', had got the money, the financial credits that Zimbabwe needed, that Zimbabwe's economic situation would not be utterly different, and that 'the people' would not have given him the vast majority he deserved? . . . It is a pity that the people who voted against President Mugabe have no ability to remember the servitude they existed in prior to the last eight years . . . Is it too hard without the white man? Without the Westerner in charge of your resources, your money, looking after you behind the scenes?" US Congressman Robert Wexler is demanding that White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan must testify under oath before House Judiciary Committee concerning devastating revelations made in his new book on the Bush Administration's deliberate efforts to mislead the American people into the Iraq War. In his book, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception," McClellan writes that Bush manipulated public opinion through a "political propaganda campaign" to justify going to war in Iraq. Public officials, whether pro-Anglo MDC-T or pro-Zanu-PF, should be held responsible for any actions that could lead to civil war, social disruption, and or additional economic sanctions. Sanctions are designed specifically to destroy the financial infrastructure of a country. For years MDC-T has media slandered the people of Zimbabwe with the most savage, filthy, and disgusting language, and disinformation ever written by an African. This is reminiscent of the American systematic dismemberment of a political candidate and a scorched earth strategy. After reading 'What happened' it appears Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC-T are imitating the George Herbert Walker Bush's 1988 campaign against Michael Dukakis: On page 68 McClellan writes "Instead, they developed a calculated strategy to go negative that had little to do with building their candidate up and everything to do with tearing their opponent down." "The campaign was by most objective accounts full of distortions, misrepresentations, and zero-sum politics, accusing Dukakis of everything from embracing furloughs for dangerous criminals to disliking the pledge of allegiance (the innuendo being that he was unpatriotic).' Tsvangirai is using all the American political personality deceptions and media spinmiesterism found common among American politicians; fooling a majority. A recent photo of Tsvangirai crying at a funeral is a typical public relations photo-shoot. It is no different from US presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton's tear jerk response at Press time claiming she's being attacked. World media is finally recognising and stating in their Press comments how she, like Tsvangirai, is waiting for a dreadful event for her to become president. MDC-T's relentless attack and permanent Press campaign against President Mugabe personally can be likened to Bush and the Republican Party's media spinmiesterisation that White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan regretfully participated in. "Media outlets should denote more resources to fact-checking ideas and information provided by political campaigns, politicians in office, or special interest organisations. When a candidate bends the truth, reporters shouldn't hesitate to point that out. When a television commercial uses, emotional appeals, distorted imagery, or misleading selective facts to promote a particular point of view, news organisations should expose those tactics, even if it means braving the fury of an offended advertiser. The do's and don'ts of the Media Spinmiesters and the journalistic stage they set are well defined in former White House Press secretary Scott McClellan's book "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception" making visibly clear MDC-T's "permanent campaign": Do not discuss any economic and trade issues, never discuss economic sanctions, never discuss direct investment for agricultural and educational institutions. Never discuss with Zimbabwe citizens the ways and means that white Rhodesians became owners of the best preserved land in Zimbabwe. Do not discuss the slaughter of millions of Zimbabweans who died in the wars and forced labour mines and plantations. The wars that matched African spears against European cannons and machine guns are crimes against humanity and never to be mentioned. Never discuss how the British wrote and signed their own land ownership papers and leases in Zimbabwe? Do not discuss how Zimbabwe's farmers ended up in South Africa nurturing a neighbours' land and neglecting their own farm land; is it a result of sanctions? If yes, illegally imposed sanctions should be the Press media's target for investigation. MDC-T's hired political media spinmiesters always direct the topic of discussions and comments to suffering and death issues, the American boogey man, the "evil" president and the "corrupt" Zanu-PF and ZEC fear and scare tactics. Do not define the New Zimbabwe in specifics. Propaganda media spinmiesters discourage intellectual debates and promote distrust among political opponents by making the opposition the enemy. Emphasise tribal, political, or religious differences. The media spinmiesters will make Zimbabwean nationalism, self-determination, and independence an unknown and unachievable factor by constant media ****ardment of government failures. Media spinmiesters never report success events or achievements. Should President Mugabe and Zanu-PF have responded to MDC-T like the Clintons? "By 1992, Clinton and his political advisors felt they had learned the lessons of the 1988 campaign: answer every attack; counter misrepresentations and distortions of one's record by using the same tactics against the opponent; play by the same rules the opposition plays by, but do it better. …the Clinton political machine became famous for its aggressive push back tactics, its subtle and not so subtle intimidation of reporters, its mastery of spin, and its rapid response to charges." "It was recorded in The Quest for the Presidency by Peter and John Matthews Goodman, the systematic dismemberment of Michael Dukakis" based on a "scorched-earth strategy." When illegally imposed sanctions began to deteriorate the success of the educational institutions from grade schools to the Universities in Zimbabwe; did MDC-T call a truce at any cost to avoid the near collapse of its educational institutions? The essenciality of any society begins in the home; it ends in the schools and learning centres that later evolve into scientific research and development laboratories of entrepreneurship. What is the cost of sanctions? Answer: a generation of students and citizens denied the social benefits and fruition of their scholarship. By MDC-T's demonisation of their head of state and its ruling political party they actually demeaned every Zimbabwean. If American laws are applied to Zimbabwe's present state of affairs charges of sedition, treason, and subversive activities would easily be applied to MDC-T top officials and their media spinmiesters. Zimbabwe is more of a "Democracy" than America. MDC-T officials are allowed to advocate, solicit, and join foreign forces in their attempt to "remove" the President and government from existence. This behaviour will never be tolerated in America, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the European Union. The support of foreign illegally imposed sanctions is a criminal act. Media Spinmiester "Tendai Biti, secretary general of the MDC, said Sadc must 'play the midwifery role' in easing President Mugabe from power in the aftermath of the March 29 election. Mugabe placed second to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in that vote but has vowed to win a runoff." "If diplomacy fails, the next thing is a war," Biti said after a news conference here. "It's not an option to us, but one day some [person] is going to say, 'This is the only solution.' Sadc must act now before rivers of dead people start to flow, as they did in Rwanda." Writer MacDonald Dzirutwe writes "The MDC insists Tsvangirai won outright the first time." "We decided to participate in the run-off to give the people of Zimbabwe a second chance to kick out the dictatorship. We have now declared a zero vote for Robert Mugabe," Khupe told supporters on Sunday. "We need to give Mugabe a final blow. On June 27 we will be having a Zanu-PF funeral. We are going to make sure we bury them so that they will not resurrect again." "The MDC has alleged electoral fraud in the March election, and Khupe said verification of results in next month's vote should be open to the media and observers and recorded on camera "so that Zanu-PF will not cheat." Well, MDC-T, in America if the President of the US, the Commander in Chief, is found to have deliberately deceived the American public for the purpose of going to war in Iraq and Afghanistan the president will be impeached and face federal charges for deceiving the US. You MDC-T have made explosive statements that ought to be answered and verified to the world public with actual facts. However, if the statements by MDC-T are to be taken at face value one can conclude the MDC, led by Tsvangirai is at war with the Government and people of Zimbabwe. I hope I am wrong. The seat of authority must always be respected even if it is a dictatorship or a family ruled monarchy. The respect you show today for the seat of authority will be the respect given to you if or when your time arrives for change. US gangsters or mobsters aka the Cosa Nostra have a rule of law in their Commission or Board of Directors: it states that whichever (member) calls for the removal of the chairman from his seat of authority cannot then be the chairman himself after the removal. In Japan it is said that one cannot be charged with treason if the foreign collaboration be determined to be in the best interest of the country. Sanctions have irreparable effects. There is a vast difference in being elected to a position of authority and the demand for the removal of a commander in chief from his or her position of authority. The demand places you in legal jeopardy particularly with non-members. "During electoral campaigns, reporters should work harder to pin the candidates down on policy specifics rather than accepting generalisations and rhetorical flair." God Bless All the People of Zimbabwe to solve their own crisis. Posted By Lloyd Whitefield Butler, Jr , USA!!! : Jun 10 2008 09:18 AM

"Mbeki should admit he has failed" Rose Maindiseka

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Just before the latest collapse of talks between the ruling ZANU PF and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), South African President Thabo Mbeki was characteristically upbeat about the prospects of the two sides signing a final agreement to set the scene for the staging of free and fair elections within the next two months.

Mbeki was reported to have told visiting Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern about a week before flying to Harare last Friday that he was “within days” of getting the two parties to sign a deal to end the crisis in Zimbabwe. Following meetings with President Robert Mugabe and the leaders of the two factions of the MDC, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, Mbeki was equally positive about the progress that was being made.

It, however, emerged soon afterwards that the talks had collapsed because of Mugabe’s refusal to accommodate opposition demands for a new constitution to be in place before the elections and for the polls to be postponed so that any agreed changes to media, security and electoral laws would be enforced to the satisfaction and benefit of all stakeholders well ahead of the electoral process.

Over the years, Mbeki has been in the habit of predicting “breakthroughs” in the Zimbabwean crisis that have never materialized and that in fact have heralded major failures for him as peace broker. Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern is not the first head of state to be given an over-optimistic prognosis on the Zimbabwean crisis during a state visit to South Africa. Four years ago, United States President George Bush was given a similarly rosy impression when Mbeki informed the American leader that a lot was happening behind the scenes and a breakthrough was imminent. Shortly afterwards, then German chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, who visited South Africa in 2004, was told the same story.

Mbeki once publicly gave June, 2004 as the deadline by which he would announce a resolution of the differences between the opposition and Zanu-PF, heralding the end of the political crisis. Needless to say, his predictions came to naught. Not only was the impasse not broken but that year Mbeki washed his hands of the crisis and announced that only the people of Zimbabwe would have to put their heads together to confront their problems. No one, not even South Africa could “import” a solution to Zimbabwe, Mbeki stressed.

However, despite publicly throwing in the towel on this occasion, Mbeki eagerly accepted appointment by the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) in March last year to act as mediator once more. Over the past year of acting as SADC mediator in Zimbabwe , Mbeki has characteristically stuck to the same muddled approach that resulted in spectacular failure during the years when he touted “quiet diplomacy” as the best way to deal with Zimbabwe ’s wily octogenarian president. He continued to raise false hopes and to over-estimate the efficacy of his hands-off skills as a mediator.

In August last year, he gave an upbeat briefing to the SADC summit held in Lusaka about the progress he had made in bringing Zanu-PF and the MDC to the negotiating table. But as is now clear, this latest mission has gone nowhere and there are no prospects for breaking the logjam and bringing relief to the suffering people of Zimbabwe through a negotiated solution. The question to ask is whether Mbeki’s dismal performance stems from poor judgment or sheer lack of concern about the plight of the people of Zimbabwe.

In the past, his defenders have argued that Mbeki’s “quiet diplomacy” was the only approach that was likely to bear fruit as opposed to the West’s hard-line public condemnation of Mugabe and his government. These defenders of Mbeki’s lacklustre performance claimed that adopting a more robust stance on Zimbabwe would merely promote Western prejudices about Africans being unfit or unable to run their own affairs.

But after the many years of non-delivery of results under “quiet diplomacy” and a year of stagnation under the SADC initiative, it is time for Mbeki to do the honourable thing and admit he has not brought enough leadership, goodwill and diplomatic skills to his role as mediator to make a difference. This lack of progress in fact to lends credence to accusations by critics that the South African leader has colluded with the Mugabe government all along.

In the latest exercise, Mbeki who only stirs into action when he is due to brief his SADC counterparts, has demonstrated a propensity for leaning heavily only on the opposition to make concessions without exerting similar pressures on the ruling party to address glaring governance and other shortcomings. Last week, Mugabe gloated that there was no progress in the talks because the opposition was simply not ready for elections and needed an excuse to chicken out.

The opposition is of course not ready for the polls because it has been prevented from holding rallies, to mobilizing support and campaigning freely throughout the country. It has been thwarted at every turn. The two MDC factions do not enjoy access to the official media in which opposition politicians are only featured when they are being attacked or mocked. These unjustified tirades and the subjection of opposition and civic leaders to police brutality are some of the issues on which Mbeki as the mediator should have spoken out. Pointing out the urgent need to end state-sponsored violence, the political persecution of opposition figures and to restore the rule of law does not represent vilification and demonization of Mugabe as Mbeki and other African leaders have dishonestly claimed.

It is no secret that Mbeki and other African leaders within SADC and the African Union are hamstrung by their belief that dealing with their Zimbabwean counterpart more honestly by getting him to face his blunders and abuses would be playing into the hands of Western powers such as the United States and Britain. Despite clear evidence to the contrary, African leaders have continued to attribute all the problems in Zimbabwe today to the fact that the British government reneged on undertakings to finance the land reform programme.

Even granting that this argument may have once been true, it no longer makes sense to use it to explain the dire situation prevailing in Zimbabwe now. The government of President Mugabe decided in 2000 to go it alone on land redistribution and proceeded to violently seize farms from whites. The government now resorts to citing the former colonial power’s failure to keep its promise because the land reform exercise has been an absolute disaster.

It has failed to take off in eight years and chaos and corruption continue to be the order of the day. Foreign powers can surely not be blamed for the violent and disorderly manner in which the matter was handled. They are not responsible for the allocation of prime land to cronies and friends who have failed dismally to utilize the resource resulting in endless food shortages and a disastrous impact on the economy. Mbeki and other African leaders know this but choose to sweep it under the carpet in the name of solidarity.

After a visit to Zimbabwe last year to assess the country’s economic crisis, SADC Executive Secretary, Tomaz Salomao, submitted a report calling for political and legal reforms and an overhaul of the civil service. This report, based the situation on the ground, reflects Zimbabwe’s continual descent into lawlessness, political tyranny and rampant corruption, which cannot, by any stretch of imagination, be the result of Western machinations. But as long as African leaders are blinded by their need to demonstrate solidarity with the Mugabe government in its supposed fight with the West, they will continue to betray the people of Zimbabwe as Mbeki has done over the years

Mbeki’s opaque dealings with Mugabe have enabled the Zimbabwean leader to buy time and consolidate his dictatorship. Beyond that, the South African leader and SADC should accept that he has failed dismally to deliver as an impartial and honest peace broker. The effect of his involvement has been to prolong the suffering of Zimbabweans and to hasten the disintegration of the economy. Mbeki, who is distracted by his own political problems in South Africa, should now let others have ago.

It is perhaps time for SADC and the African Union to reconsider a proposal made by Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade two months ago that a panel of African leaders should be constituted to deal with the wily Mugabe. After the latest Mbeki debacle, it is time for African leaders to remove their blinkers and for once, do what is right for the people of Zimbabwe.

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On the contrary, Thabo Mbeki has succeeded

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President Thabo Mbeki has not failed over his mediation in Zimbabwe, suggested in the article yesterday (January 24) by Rose Maindiseka.

This might sound illogical but this is the truth. Mbeki's aim was to achieve something for his god-father President Robert Mugabe and he has succeeded. Mbeki wanted to buy time for Mugabe. He has managed that. He wanted to dupe the progressive world into thinking he was doing something about the Zimbabw crisis. He has achieved that.

He did not want to achieve any real progress and, indeed, no progress has been achieved.

Lucas Mbambo

Panic in Mugabe's bunker: Dictator losing grip???

The First Post's exclusive reports of Robert Mugabe's plots- first to assassinate his critics, including ex-Archbishop Pius Ncube, then to destroy Ncube with charges of sexual misconduct - have enraged Zimbabwe's President.

But publication has caused him temporarily to call off the conspiracies.

Scenes reminiscent of the last days of Hitler were witnessed at a late-night meeting at State House, called by Mugabe on Monday.

The President raved and screamed at his top security men, threatening to sack some of them, including Central Intelligence Organisation boss Happyton Bonyongwe, unless they put a stop to the damaging leaks.


Bonyongwe confessed to the president that the latest plots against Ncube , which were attempting to link the former Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo with false charges of sodomy, adultery and deliberately spreading Aids, had all fallen apart, thanks to The First Post's reports. Several of those lined up to make accusations against Ncube had already disappeared.


Mugabe, frothing with rage, screamed at the hapless chief: "Get out of the kitchen if you cannot handle it, Bonyongwe. Since when have you failed to handle your boys? Or maybe you are one of those that think I should leave my job." Then he ordered a visibly shaken Bonyongwe to call off the anti-Ncube campaign for the moment, and instead launch a manhunt to track down the informants who gave information
to The First Post - and "deal with them first."
The government has been unable to pass off the reports about the Ncube honeytrap and the attempts on his life and reputation as fiction, because The First Post showed documents about the plans, passed to me at great risk by my sources.

Mugabe has now ordered that in future there must be no paperwork about such plots, and all briefings must be made strictly by telephone or in person, face to face.
The Monday night meeting was at the highest level of government. It included, apart from Bonyongwe, the defence forces commander General Constantine Chiwengwa, the army chief Phillip Sibanda, air force chief Perence Shiri, police commissioner Augustine Chirhuri, and the home and defence ministers, Kembo Mohadi and Sydney Sekeramayi.
Significantly absent was Security Minister Didymus Mutasa, who is out of favour because of his involvement with the 'magic diesel' affair.

When I spoke to Pius Ncube yesterday I warned him that the hiatus in the attacks on his reputation was only temporary. He told me: "I am not worried. I have said before that I only fear God, and Mugabe is not God. I will continue to fight for a better life in Zimbabwe."

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