‘Zimbabwe Today’ by Robb WJ Ellis (11-05-2008)

Every time I read Chinamasa’s name in the press these days, I grow increasingly angry and frustrated. Will those that write these articles please stop referring to him as the Zimbabwean Justice Minister?

Chinamasa lost his parliamentary seat in the March 29 elections. The cabinet that he sits on, as far as I am concerned, is illegal as not on has he not got the popular mandate, and lost his seat in the process, the continued tenure of Mugabe as President, and his re-appointment of the cabinet, is illegal.

That being said, I cannot ignore what this man has said about the MDC participating in the runoff.

“Zimbabwe‘s justice minister on Saturday ruled out accepting any pre-conditions for a presidential run-off after the opposition leader said he would only participate if international monitors had full access.

“The runoff will be held within the framework of the constitution and the electoral laws. There will be no conditionalities that will be outside this framework,” Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa told Reuters.“

Spoken like the true cheat that he is. The constitution has been so mauled by Mugabe and his bunch of merry men, that it is singularly unrecognisable as a constitution, and there are so many Statutory Instruments that they are more voluminous than the original document.

“Within the framework” means that the assault on the people will not only be sustained, but with escalate. I will put money on it.

“Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Saturday he would only contest the run-off against President Robert Mugabe if international observers and media were granted full access to ensure the vote is free and fair.“

Remember that yesterday I wrote about policemen being threatened with firing squads if they did not vote for Mugabe in the second round? Well, this will be why – because the postal votes cast by the uniformed service are recorded and traceable.

There is not a lot that you can do in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe that ZANU PF don’t make part of their business. I would hazard a guess that they have a docket on me, even though I am 6000 miles away – and I guarantee that they have my address and telephone number.

“Ninety percent of the police force voted for Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC in the March elections, a senior police officer told a meeting of the force last week.

Supt Mumba of PPU (Police Presidential Unit), Tomlinson Depot, Harare, revealed this at a meeting of members of the police force and their families. They were then formally instructed to vote for the ZANU PF candidate, Robert Mugabe, in the proposed presidential election run-off.“

The policemen that voted for the MDC should be proud of themselves. Hugely proud. They chose who to vote for with an open mind. And followed the convictions of their heart.

Those that trace the votes back to a name should be named and shamed. What happened to democracy?

In the last two weeks we have heard of the new Zimbabwean crime of ‘journalism’ – I suppose that this is also to become a new crime – that of ‘freedom of choice’…

“A serving member who was present at the meeting said he was ashamed at the depth to which his superiors had sunk in their craven support for the aging dictator. He said he was amazed that his superiors had failed to take into account the poor salaries and working conditions of the junior officers, that had deteriorated drastically under Mugabe™s rule, “because they want to defend their luxury lives at the expense of us”. He begged the MDC, “the nation at large” and the international community to ensure that the postal ballot be abolished “ otherwise “they will rig this run-off”.“

But the Mugabe-ites are still intent on firing up the rhetoric, and do so in a threatening manner.

“I am talking to the security forces who know how to keep official secrets. As members of the ZRP we are loyal to the President who happens to be the leader of the ruling party, which is ZANU PF. œDuring the previous election, 90% of you officers voted for the opposition party which is MDC, and this is a surprise to me that even to note that Chikurubi Dept. has a carrying capacity of about 1000 members, but only 20 members voted for the ruling party.

I am here with on order from the top to tell you that this time around you don™t have to repeat a mistake. We let you free to go and vote in your wards, knowing that you will vote for ZANU PF one common party. And you betrayed us.“

Whilst I was in the ZRP, there was only one minor election, but I refused to cast a vote as I viewed my service as apolitical. But what is going on here is totally wrong. How can they talk of betrayal when they are attempting, under threat, to force the serving officers to vote for Mugabe?

I love it when I read of people sticking it to the system – wanting to be heard, recognised and acknowledged before they do X or Y.

“The family of an MDC polling agent, allegedly murdered by suspected ZANU PF militias, have refused to bury him until they are given 63 head of cattle and US$5000 by the families of the accused, The Standard was told.

Zvidzai Mapurisa was reportedly murdered on 24 April by suspected ZANU PF thugs who descended on his homestead in Village 21 in Gunikuni area, Masvingo South at around 1AM.

They are alleged to have taken him away and assaulted him severely with sticks and sjamboks, accusing him of mobilizing people to vote against ZANU PF.“

The ZRP have stated that they are ‘investigating’ three of the 30 deaths. I would be most interested to know whether this is one of those three – or is it one of the majority that have to be signed of by a magistrate as not suspicious?

Whilst in the ZRP, I used to grow concerned with a certain aspect of investigations which gave a certain amount of latitude to senior stations personnel. A case would be reported, and initial investigations may establish that a crimes was committed, but there is absolutely nothing to assist in the investigation of the crime with a decent chance of the accused being apprehended.

So the case would be give a crime reference number, and then would be closed “NSND” – No Suspect No Docket.

Even if the deaths were signed off on SDD’s, the cases would more than likely be closed NSND.

A travesty of justice when you think that the families of the deceased would have been cheated of any closure.

“We attended the funeral and we had to leave early after Mapurisa™s father refused to bury him and dumped the corpse at ZANU PF ward chairman™s house,” Sitemere said.

“I think they must pay for their sins because it is not fair to kill someone for supporting a party of his choice.”

Sitemere claimed the MDC activist was killed by 12 ZANU PF supporters going around Gunikuni area assaulting opposition party supporters.

The 12, reportedly arrested and detained at Masvingo remand prison, are awaiting trial after their initial appearance before a provincial magistrate.“

Would you like some cheese to go with that whine?

“Despite whining every day about alleged sanctions imposed by the West, the government says it has in place plans to survive any wave of new sanctions.

In an interview last week Information minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu said the government was not bothered by sanctions threatened by United States Assistant Secretary of State, Jendayi Frazer and the European Union.

“The threats do not mean much to us because we have always survived sanctions,” Ndlovu said. “We have been living with them for the past 10 years and we have our tried and tested survival plans.“

Quite amazing to read this, During the election we heard the Zimbabwean ambassador to Mozambique complaining about sanctions, saying that he had never heard of any country surviving sanctions. You may recall that I wrote that we only have to go back to the 1970s to see how Rhodesia did it.

Not the Zimbabwean regime is saying that targeted sanction don’t hurt them.

I do wish that they’d make up their mind…

“Ndlovu said such strategies as the “Look East” policy, economic turnaround plans and black empowerment could help Zimbabwe hold its own.

But these have been widely criticised as barren, with authorities admitting that the Look East policy was bearing minimal yields in the tourism sector where it was largely embraced.

On the other hand, the government had implemented a cocktail of economic turnaround strategies in recent years, none of which had proved productive.

The government™s approach to black empowerment has been widely criticised, especially after the collapse of the agricultural sector, triggered by the land reform programme.“

Inflation is reportedly 165000% – the Reserve Bank just released a new ZW$250000000 bearer cheque, there is no food, fuel, medical services, jobs and money.

Ja – black empowerment works – especially for those in the upper echelons of power.

Ndlovu needs a reality check.

“When we blame our economic problems on sanctions, all we are saying is that we are members of the International Monetary Fund and this being a global village, we deserve equal opportunities, otherwise we are not begging anyone for their money,” he said.

“The fact that we successfully hosted a trade fair without the West shows we can do without them.“

If the Zimbabwean economy is to be gauged a success by looking at the enrichment of government, then the country is a success – but when you remember that the vast majority of the population lives on less than a meal a day – then everything that Ndlovu says is rubbish.

“Any sanctions would bring the country down and hurt Zimbabweans even more,” Robertson said. “Instead of considering sanctions which will leave 12 million people much, much worse off than before, the international body should be trying to unseat the few hundred culprits who are responsible for the country™s problems.“

Including Ndlovu…

Not everyone is convinced of the existence of Mugabe’s torture camps. But they don’t have to be big. Just a couple of hundred square metres or flat ground and maybe a half dozen aspirants to the administration of Mugabe’s re-education exercise.

“Mugabe’s ZANU PF denies intimidating opposition voters before the run-off poll. But a local correspondent went undercover for the Telegraph to reveal the truth about the tyrant’s campaign of violence.

The militia brought Mary Nyandoro into the school yard blindfolded and in handcuffs.

“Witness the baptism of traitors,” Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF thugs told us. In the cold of the early morning, we gathered around as instructed.

Mary’s crime had been to vote for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe‘s blighted elections. She was a peasant farmer, about 30 years old, frail and defenceless.

They frogmarched her into the yard, then they made her do press-ups while bricks were loaded on to her back. Any lapses attracted the fiery boot of George, the commander – a heavily built man of about 35 who claimed to be a war veteran, one of those who supposedly fought in the war of independence and who now keep Mr Mugabe in power.“

This sort of activity was carried out often during the Gukurahundi – but in those cases, they left very few witnesses. The tortured people invariably died.

“Then the militia descended on Mary like a group of vultures fighting for a carcass. Booted feet and clenched fists struck her all over her body, on the face, the ribs, the buttocks. Her tattered blouse was torn open.

They ignored her plea for forgiveness and, in agony, she writhed from one side of the militia wall to the other – blood, so much blood, gushing from her battered red mouth and nose. Her legs struggled to hold on.

Suddenly, a group of about 30 women broke into song and dance, denouncing Mary and pouring buckets of cold water on her clothes as she rolled across the mud. “Watch out sell-outs, the mighty of ZANU PF is fast catching up with you,” they sang in the Shona tongue.

As they sang, some women whipped her. Something hot was used to burn her forehead. They left her virtually naked.“

Being a Sunday, I will spare your the balance of this story. But, trust me, this is just one of hundreds of stories that need to be told – have to be told… and hopefully one day will be told.

Mugabe may act like a statesman when the situation demands. In reality he is a sick megalomaniac who will walk all over anyone as he clings to power with every ounce of his being.

What I am truly amazed at, is the number of seemingly educated people who have been taken in by his craziness, his madness, his paranoia…

“At 4am every day, the militia break down the doors of their targets’ homes and march the victims to the school where malnourished local people are made to sing ZANU PF revolutionary songs. The victims are tortured and then left in pools of blood while the militia return to the villages to extract more victims.

People acting as good Samaritans smuggle them out of the school to hospital. But the conditions are squalid. There is no running water, they are not allowed to use the pit latrines, or bath.“

This has echoes of the Rhodesian bush war – the chimurenga – and is chilling in the telling…

“I was told that Mary had been taken to the Mutoko General Hospital, where the doctors found she had a fractured skull, as well as a broken rib and bruising all over her body. Just above her damaged eyes, a deep red mark remains, where her skin was seared. I think that mark is with her for the rest of her life.”

Take care.

‘debvhu