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“Zimbabwe Today” by Robb WJ Ellis (01-11-2008)

WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.

Original Post Date: 2008-11-01 Time: 07:00:10  Posted By: The BeardedMan

Howzit

There isn’t that much in the news today – but the one thing which comes out loud and clear is the failure by African states to pressure Mugabe to honour his agreements and to take the defeat on the chin. Not that any of these articles are going to change anything.

What angers me is the world’s reaction to the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and how world powers are intent on intervening immediately and resolving the crisis.

Why did they not do the same in Zimbabwe?

-o00o-

This whole SADC mediation is a comedy of errors. I have stated before, and will no doubt say it again, it is almost as if Mugabe can do no wrong in the eyes of the African body.

He signs agreements and then ignores the provisions therein.

The body is either divided over the Mugabe question and his response is to ridicule the regional leaders, lambaste the West and declare that the problems facing Zimbabwe are not of his making.

Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders are on a collision course over Zimbabwe™s faltering power-sharing agreement which they are due to discuss at an extraordinary summit, possibly next week.

Divisions among SADC leaders have been simmering since the March elections that President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF lost to the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) faction and its leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

SADC in March held an emergency summit in Lusaka to discuss the election crisis. Mugabe boycotted the meeting after his defeat in the first round of the poll, but was criticised in his absence by the late Zambian president Levy Mwanawasa.

When Tsvangirai didn’t make a similar meeting in Mbabane, Swaziland because of passport problems, he was taken to task – on a major scale when compared to that which Mugabe received for missing the Lusaka meeting.

Africa is the only continent in the world where the loser of an election can remain in power, whilst the winner is obliged to negotiate with the loser about how much power the winner can have…

Diplomatic sources said this week the summit could be explosive following signs of wrangling during the ill-fated SADC troika meeting of the organ on politics, defence and security in Harare this week.

Despite a public show of unity, sources said SADC leaders who met in Harare between Monday and Tuesday were divided over what should be done to break the deadlock between ZANU PF and the MDC on the allocation of government ministries.

The troika leaders from Swaziland, Mozambique and Angola endorsed Mugabe™s proposal – which he gazetted on October 10 – and this did not go down well with South African president Kgalema Motlanthe and his Foreign Affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

The troika claimed in its communique only the issue of the Ministry of Home Affairs remains unresolved, but the MDC rejected this on Tuesday. It wrote a letter to SADC on Wednesday saying in fact there was a range of issues which were unsettled. It said there were 10 ministries, governors and diplomats and permanent secretaries which were still outstanding.

Mugabe exercises what powers he has to the fullest degree. No matter what position he holds or what agreements he has signed, his party continues to beat up on the population, arrest MDC activists and in some cases, those activists turn up dead.

The party also said Constitutional Amendment No 19 and correcting the forged September 15 agreement still remain unresolved.

The MDC also complained the troika issued a “misleading communique” without seeing it, suggesting “shenanigans” by some troika leaders.

Sources said even Dlamini-Zuma was dismayed that the communique was a misrepresentation of the troika deliberations. They said she wondered why the communique did not put it on record that it was agreed the September 15 agreement was a forgery and should be corrected.

SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salomao, who insists only home affairs is outstanding as an area of dispute, has admitted that the September 15 agreement is flawed.

There is a huge difference between ‘flawed’ and ‘forged’…

I fail to see what a summit is going to do to break the impasse.

-o00o-

Very simply, if the MDC can prove the forgery, then I believe that that would put Mugabe in a totally different light – and one would assume that his position would then be at question and he would have to be obliged to step down and/or face prosecution.

A forgery of this nature puts national security to the fore. Mugabe’s party would have been looking at a forged coup and therefore are in contravention of the Zimbabwean Constitution.

SADC Secretary General Tomaz Salomao has finally admitted the power sharing deal signed on the 15th September was fraudulently altered before the signing ceremony and different from the one agreed to by the parties on the 11th September. The Tsvangirai MDC initially raised the concerns in an interview with Newsreel in early October, complaining that ZANU PF had doctored the agreement to alter certain clauses in the document that was to be signed a few days later. Despite Monday™s Troika meeting acknowledging this fraud, the communique released by Salomao after the meeting said nothing about the issue. But analysts felt it was important for the Troika to come out publicly and condemn the alteration.

The Tsvangirai MDC accused Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, Secretary General of the MDC Mutambara group Welshman Ncube, and Thabo Mbeki™s representative at the talks Mujanku Gumbi, of making the changes to the document, without Tsvangirai™s knowledge. The party claimed Chinamasa, Ncube and Gumbi changed clauses relating to – an increase to the number of non-constituent senators issued to the Mutambara faction, a clause stating that a replacement for vice prime minister cannot be a non-constituent MP and that parties would jointly consult each other on the appointment of ambassadors and other key government officials.

There can be not doubt that not only are these serious allegations, but that other people knew about the deception.

Call it intuition or call it suspicion – I watched the signing ceremony and I was a little concerned at the alacrity Mugabe had at putting pen to paper. Perhaps he knew what changes had been made.

Not that tyhose changes actually mean a hell of a lot as he has broken every clause there is to remain in power with his party faithful.

Salomao has now publicly admitted to the alterations in interviews with journalists and pledged that the issue would be resolved. This follows pressure from the MDC who wrote a stinging letter to the SADC headquarters highlighting their concerns. Meanwhile Mugabe™s ZANU PF party held a politburo meeting this week in which sources say the party resolved not to make any concessions on the ministries they grabbed using a government gazette issued by Mugabe. If this is true it could mean the urgent full SADC summit which was called for, after Monday™s deadlock, could again be a waste of time.

Mugabe is obviously set to stay in power – and will do anything to remain so. Even if it is signing one thing while doing the exact opposite.

Will SADC actually do something about the forgery? Will they force Mugabe’s hand on this issue? Will Mugabe actually listen to SADC?

No, no and no…

-o00o-

We must not betray those who lost their lives during the countdown to the sham June 27 presidential election run-off,” bellowed MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

“They didn™t die in vain. The MDC will not be party to a bad all-inclusive government deal.

It is interesting that Tsvangirai should look at the loss of life in the election violence, whilst Mugabe parades the lives of those lost in the chimurenga. By now Zimbabweans are used to having the history shoved in their faces almost daily – but at least Tsvangirai’s plea is more topical.

The average life expectancy in Zimbabwe is 37 years – and Mugabe has been in power for almost 29 years. The chimurenga is a lifetime ago.

The 15000-strong crowd which thronged Sakubva Stadium in Mutare on Sunday roared, ululated and clapped in approval of the former trade unionist™s words.

Tsvangirai was in the Eastern Highlands to appraise his supporters on the political settlement signed between him, President Robert Mugabe and the leader of the smaller faction of the MDC, Arthur Mutambara, on September 15 in the capital.

With songs being belted out encouraging Tsvangirai to remain resolute, the MDC leader did not mince his words on what he wants from the deal.

There can be no doubt that Mugabe has decided to hunker down in the hallowed halls of power, believing possession to be nine tenths of the law.

We are saying to Mugabe we need power-sharing, not grabbing. We are deadlocked on allocation of ministries. ZANU PF wants to take all key ministries and leave us as junior partners in the all-inclusive government,” he said. “We are saying no to grabbing. If they insist on power-grabbing, we will go back to the trenches until we get what we want.

Mugabe cannot be viewed as a never-ending evil. His tenure on earth and in Zimbabwe will end.

You can bank on that…

-o00o-
And while the political figures in Zimbabwe continue to haggle over the morsels left on Mugabe’s plate, his party continues to intimidate and oppress MDC supporters.

ZANU PF militia have this week terrorised Epworth, east of Harare, attacking MDC activists and forcing many to flee the area. At least 20 needed hospital treatment. One MDC activist is still missing.

Some MDC activists have gone underground while others have sought refuge in other areas of the capital. A source told us the (152)˜Green Bombers™ started their offensive in Epworth on Wednesday and have been carrying out night time searches for the (152)˜enemies™ (MDC supporters).

MDC Senator Morgan Femai said the ZANU PF militia have been beating MDC supporters for what they say is revenge, alleging that Tsvangirai is refusing to join a power-sharing government with Mugabe.

Isn’t it interesting that the ZANU PF support should lay the blame of a failure to create a power-sharing government on Tsvangirai when Mugabe has grabbed basically all there is worth having, leaving little or nothing for the MDC?

I go back to one point which displays his inability to stand by his word and his signature.

The agreement calls for Tsvangirai to be appointed Prime Minister, with Arthur Mutambara as his deputy.

Mugabe has not even had the amendment drafted so that it can be ratified and signed into law! Which means that he remains the kingpin and no one else has any power.

We have always known ZANU PF to negotiate in bad faith, but it shocks us to learn they are beating up our supporters to try and force Tsvangirai to join the inclusive government,” Femai said.

Femai confirmed that former Mines Minister Amos Midzi, the losing ZANU PF candidate for Epworth in the March 29 election, instigated the violence as he was in the area a few hours before the attacks.

Nelson Chamisa, the MDC spokesman said the ZANU PF youth militia set up two torture bases in the area, one located in Ward 4 at Rueben Shopping Centre and the other at Maulani. The MDC has managed to identify the ring leaders as ZANU PF youth chairman for Epworth, known as Zimbwe. Others have been identified as Garakara, Chikandiwa and Makangira.

Of course, the existence of the torture camps is common knowledge, but are denied by ZANU PF – but when one is surrounded by liars, lies are easy…

-o00o-

Take care.

‘debvhu

Source: http://thebeardedman.blogspot.com/2008/11/saturday-1st-november-2008.html