‘Zimbabwe Today’ by Robb WJ Ellis (05-02-2008)

“Zimbabwe‘s former finance minister Simba Makoni, a senior member of the ruling ZANU PF party, announced Tuesday he would challenge President Robert Mugabe as an independent in elections next month. “Following very extensive and intensive consultations with party members and activists countrywide and also with others outside the party, I have accepted the call and hereby advise the people of Zimbabwe that I offer myself as candidate for the office of president,” Makoni told a press conference. “Let me confirm that I share the agony and anguish of all citizens over the extreme hardships that we all have endured for nearly 10 years now,” added Makoni who was Mugabe’s finance minister from 2000-2004. “I also share the widely held view that these hardships are a result of failure of national leadership and that change at that level is a pre-requisite for change at other levels of national endeavour.“

Eish! Harsh words indeed. And Mugabe doesn’t take kindly to criticism of any sort. What’s the bet that Mugabe issues a statement suggesting that Makoni is sponsored by Western governments?

Either way, it makes no difference to the ballot paper which will now have at least two ZANU PF protagonists offering their services to the good people of Zimbabwe.

“The announcement by the widely-respected Makoni comes after the breakdown of talks between the two factions of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change designed to agree on a joint candidate to take on 83-year-old Mugabe. Since Makoni left office, Zimbabwe‘s economy has been a dramatic downward spiral and it now has an annual inflation rate of more than 26,000 percent, the highest in the world. Unemployment also stands at around 80 percent.“

ZimOnline also had an article on this move by Makoni. “Makoni To Contest Presidency“

Of course we must remember that this article was written before the surprise change of tack by Simba Makoni which changes a poll, which was heavily in Mugabe’s favour, into a more even match. Let battle begin!

“The Zimbabwe opposition’s failure to bury their differences and agree on a joint electoral strategy means President Robert Mugabe is a virtual shoo-in for a sixth term of office, analysts said Monday.

With annual inflation beyond 26,000 percent and unemployment at around 80 percent, Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) party might have all but given up ahead of the polls on March 29.

But Sunday’s announcement that the two factions of the Movement for Democratic Change would field separate candidates rather than make common cause against Mugabe has led commentators to close the book on the contest.

“It’s worthless going into the election divided as they are because there is no chance they are going to win even against a ZANU PF that has been weakened by the economic crisis,” said Harare-based political commentator Bill Saidi.“

How Makoni’s entrance into the race changes things. Yes, he may be only standing against Mugabe, and the government may end up with the ruling party in power again, but what would happen if say Tsvangirai won the ballot for the all important position of President and with it all the executive presidential powers?

He could have a field day moving all the ruling party bigots out of positions which hold so much power over the people, placing sysmpathetic personages in their stead…

The March ballot now promises to be an interesting experience.

“A lot of people had placed hope on the opposition to deliver them from the present difficulties. This is a big letdown and the MDC leaders should be ashamed of themselves.”

Once a formidable force posing the stiffest challenge to Mugabe’s more than two-decade stranglehold on power, the MDC split into two factions following a row over contesting senate elections in 2005. There had been hopes the cracks would be at least papered over at election time, with the MDC’s main leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his party rival Arthur Mutambara talking up the need for unity after they were both beaten up by the security forces last March.“

Instead of the opposition reuniting, we see a huge crack in the armour of ZANU PF. I love it!

“After voicing his “regret” over the MDC’s failure to unite, Tsvangirai tried to put on a brave face and insisted that there was still “a fighting chance” of toppling the 83-year-old Mugabe.

But Eldred Masunungure, a political scientist at the University of Zimbabwe, said the decision was tantamount to electoral suicide.

“The decision to go separate ways was self-destructive… They will be mince-meat for the ruling party,” said Masunungure.“

How fitting that the hope comes from a move inside the ruling party… how fitting indeed.

“The Zimbabwean authorities were today accused of a criminal conspiracy to kidnap and deport the British mercenary Simon Mann after it emerged he was held incommunicado for a day and then secretly flown out of the country before his appeal process was finished.

Contrary to claims by Zimbabwean officials, the Guardian has established that the former SAS officer was bundled out of the capital, Harare, on Friday evening in a military plane and arrived in the west African state of Equatorial Guinea on Saturday morning.

He was taken to the notorious Black Beach prison to await trial for an attempted coup plot four years ago.

His precise whereabouts, which have been uncertain for the past four days, were revealed before a panel of British law lords today as they began a hearing into Equatorial Guinea‘s claims for damages against the alleged plotters.

The latest drama in the so-called “Wonga coup”, began last Wednesday when two high court judges in Harare rejected his appeal against deportation. When his lawyer, Jonathan Samukange, tried to see him at Chikurubi prison on Thursday morning he was told he had been taken away by the police.“

One thing that I have noticed is Mugabe’s reaction to all manner of stories and reports on the internet.

If he decides to remark on a report, it normally is with what he believes are withering comments and accusations, alleging that Western governments were out to bring about his fall from grace.

When he is obviously trapped by his own ineptitude, as in this case, his government choses to play mute.

Hasn’t he realised yet that holding his tongue just makes the accusations against his rule hold that much more water?

The fact that his government saw fit to remove this man to Equatorial Guinea before the end of his appeal in court, is an international crime as far as I am concerned. And is a good example of the meaning of the word “prejudicial” (tending to favour preconceived ideas – ‘the presence of discriminatory or prejudicial attitudes in the white population’ WordWeb).

The accused, Simon Mann, has served his sentence in Zimbabwe yet continued to be held.

And as the court processes his appeal, he is spirited away to Black beach.

This is wrong. And what will the international community have to say about it? very little, I fear.

“At a high court hearing later in the day, Samukange sought a writ of habeus corpus and an injunction not to remove him until a final appeal to the supreme court. Two Zimbabwean officials then presented affidavits saying that he had been extradited earlier that morning.

“They clearly lied,” said Anthony Kerman, Mann’s London lawyer. “This was a criminal conspiracy between elements of Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea.”

The Guardian has seen affidavits from Evans Siziba, the principal immigration officer, and Police Superintendent Crispen Makedenge, speaking for the commissioner of police. Both men say Mann was taken from prison in the early hours of Thursday and handed over to Equatorial Guinea officials who left the country in a military plane at about 5.30am.

Kerman said: “It was acknowledged by Zimbabwe that he had a final appeal and assurances had been given to the British high commissioner that that would proceed.“

Just what did Mugabe and his government gain from the Guinean government for their part in this travesty of justice? What promises were made by the two governments to each other?

Whatever is supposedly coming Mugabe’s way he will seek to use to enrich himself and his hierarchy. And being the ‘gentleman’ that he is, he will ensure that his needs, wants and desires are fulfilled first…

The people of Zimbabwe will continue to suffer, and the person in the centre of all this can look forward to a stacked case against him, and with Mugabe breaking all known laws, will the Guinean government seek the death penalty against their earlier promise?

“Equatorial Guinea has promised a fair trial and has agreed not to execute him if found guilty, but he faces many more years in jail.

The South African arms dealer Nick Du Toit, a leader of the alleged coup is now serving 34 years in Equatorial Guinea.“

“Simon Mann, the British former SAS officer accused of plotting a failed coup in Equatorial Guinea, is in prison in the West African nation, one of his lawyers confirmed today.

Mr Mann, 55, had lost contact with his legal team after he was snatched from a maximum security cell in Zimbabwe last week only hours after losing an appeal against extradition. But in a dramatic opening to a case before Britain's highest court today, Philip Shepherd, QC, told the House of Lords that Mr Mann was being held in the notorious Black Beach prison in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea.

Mr Shepherd said: “This is an almost unique situation. Until early this morning, I did not know where my client was or if he was still alive.“

No thanks to Mugabe and his interpretation of local and international law.

And, I say again, Mugabe will never be held accountable for this – just like he will never be made to pay for the lives lost in the Gukurahundi in Matabeleland in the early 1980s…

It is almost as if he leads a charmed life.

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Is this supposed to make the Zimbabwean people feel any better?

“The government of Zimbabwe says it has taken back 1,449 of the farms it seized from their white owners and gave to wealthy black would-be farmers after it discovered the land was either empty or the new occupiers were not doing any farming, according to the state media Monday.

Lands minister Didymus Mutasa was quoted in the state-controlled daily Herald as saying that his ministry was repossessing ‘all vacant and underutilized A2 farms (a state scheme meant for settlers with independent finance to carry out commercial farming) and we are not going back on this exercise.’ The farms would be given to new, deserving applicants.“

In the past, I have asked for – and I know will never be acceded to – a listing of the farms that were seized and who’s control they are now under. This is information that will never be made public.

Now they are saying that they have repossessed these 1449 farms. On that list are there the huge farms that the Mugabe cabinet helped themselves to – or the land land taken by senior armed forces personnel?

The article refers to A2 farmers who, by my understanding, are small-scale one-man affairs, a bit of land worked by a family…

What of the huge farms, which before the land grab, were some of the most productive farms in Southern Africa?

Mugabe can say that the farm are being used as weekend retreats and have been taken away, but by publishing lists, the governance of the land would be so much more transparent and open to the public.

But transparency is one word which Mugabe knows nothing about…

“In 2000 President Robert Mugabe launched his revolutionary resettlement land programme, in which lawless ruling party militias were used to drive white owners from their land, mostly violently, forcing off nearly all of the community of about 4,000 highly productive white commercial farmers.

About 300 are left, most of them still under constant harassment by ruling party officials. The seizures were followed by a collapse of the agricultural industry, which had earned Zimbabwe the reputation of being Africa‘s breadbasket, and ricocheted on to the rest of country’s agriculturally-based economy, triggering the fastest economic collapse in modern history of any country not at war.

Many of the farms were given to high-ranking ruling party politicians, military and police offices, administrators and judges, while thousands of peasant farmers also initially resettled on land seized from whites were later driven off by members of Mugabe’s inner circle, including his relatives.“

The land lies unworked, and homesteads are in ruins, stripped of everything salable. Mugabe and his government of thugs, bandits, thieves and conmen should be made aware that when they fall from grace, they will soon be rehoused with many of the people which their government has billeted in Hotel ZPS… (the Zimbabwe Prison Service).

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When Mugabe and his shower of fools took over in 1980, were they not aware that many things in Zimbabwe would require planned maintenance and that the maintenance would cost money? And that as a government they would have to provide that money to allow men to carry out that maintenance?

Unlike the article yesterday that attempted to blame the ‘colonial’ past for the present state of the roads in Harare!

“The Zambezi River Authority says it could open the spill way gates of Kariba Dam to prevent its collapse after heavy rains that pounded the region over the past few months.

In a statement to the media, the Authority said the gates “may be opened at any time if the need arises” raising fears of severe flooding for villagers living in the low-lying Zambezi valley.

The Zambian government is said to have already started evacuating villagers along the Zambezi River to prevent further loss of lives.

At least six people have died because of floods in Zambia with at least 21 people dying in southern Zimbabwe because of the floods.“

Could we imagine a world with the Kariba dam wall? Mugabe had best get his act together. I am not sure that the international community – who are reknowned for saying very little about the events in Zimbabwe – would be kind to Mugabe in the event that the wall comes down.

We must also bear in mind that the locals know the story of the river god Nyami Nyami and how the building of the dam angered him. Many people will see this latest possibility as the Nyami Nyami carrying out his threat.

A Nyami Nyami carving watches over the Karoba Dam wall…

“The Tonga people believe the building of the Kariba Dam deeply offended Nyami Nyami, separating him from his wife. The regular flooding and many deaths during the dam’s construction were attributed to his wrath. After the Dam was completed the Tonga believe that Nyami Nyami withdrew from the world of men.

Southern African countries of Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique have been hit by massive flooding because of incessant rains that have pounded the region since last December.

The Kariba Dam, one of the biggest man-made dams in Africa, was built in the 1950s and lies on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.“

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Take care.

‘debvhu