MORGAN Tsvangirai was monstered by an MP last night over his performance on a world tour for failing to stand up for his government in front of western leaders.
“Where we expected dialogue among equals, he has not shown that he is an equal, he continues to behave like he is there as a faction political leader, or unfortunately a slave,” said Tsholotsho North MP Jonathan Moyo (Indep).
The astonishing attack came as the Prime Minister continued to meet sceptical western leaders who are refusing to commit direct financial aid to the government, or lift sanctions which the government says are hindering efforts to turn around the economy.
The Prime Minister met US President Barack Obama at the White House last Friday and was arriving in Britain on Friday for a meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Obama said the US would not be restoring direct support to the Zimbabwe government until certain benchmarks were met. He committed US$73 million in humanitarian aid.
“It will not be going to the government directly because we continue to be concerned about consolidating democracy, human rights, and rule of law. It will be going to the people of Zimbabwe,” Obama said after his meeting with Tsvangirai at the Oval Office.
The aid would be disbursed by American NGOs and the World Bank, Obama said.
Moyo blasted: “Obama treated him as if he were an envoy of American NGOs in Zimbabwe, and gave the impression American NGOs are in a better position to assist the people of Zimbabwe, more than the government of Zimbabwe of which Tsvangirai is Prime Minister.
“It was a personal disaster for Tsvangirai, and at the national level a complete waste of time. He cut a pathetic figure of a grateful slave.”
Moyo charged that most of the US$73 million “would remain in American pockets, paying Americans working in the governance and democracy field. A tiny bit of it will end in a Zimbabwean stomach, but the bulk of it has nothing to do with Zimbabweans.”
He added: “Time has come for us to be honourable enough to tell the truth, it is nothing, a mere trinket for a country which needs US$8,3 billion. Tsvangirai left this country knowing we need that money.”
Moyo, a former government minister, said “Tsvangirai should have understood he was being insulted personally, and that the people of Zimbabwe through him were also being insulted.”
“If an American President behaved the way the Prime Minister behaved overseas, he would be impeached,” he said in an interview with New Zimbabwe.com.
Tsvangirai, who formed a unity government with President Robert Mugabe and Arthur Mutambara in February, says the country needs US$8,3 million to get out of the economic woods after a decade-long crisis.
Only Denmark has said it will provide direct financial support to the government, but it committed only US$18 million – not enough to pay the government’s civil service wage bill for a month.
Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Germany have all said they will support the government through “humanitarian aid” to be channelled through western NGOs and financial institutions.
But it was the snub by the United States which Moyo says doomed the Prime Minister’s mission. And he says far from being the reformer he projected during his election campaign, Obama is using an old template in US-Africa relations.
He said: “Zimbabweans here were hoping Tsvangirai would make their case, he was there at the Oval Office on behalf of the government of Zimbabwe and failed to acquit himself as such.
“His host told him he would rather deal with people of Zimbabwe as if Tsvangirai was not aware he was there on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe. Why did he forget he presided over a planning process which has concluded US$8,3 billion is urgently and desperately needed to get this country working again?
“There is a simple issue these guys are forgetting. The only interest that Obama can have is whether or not Zimbabwe has a legitimate government, and of course we have a government. As to what policy that government implements is none of Obama’s business, Gordon Brown’s business, it’s our business.
“We are entitled to elect nincompoops and suffer them for the duration of their tenure, but cannot allow presidents and prime ministers of other countries to say ‘these are the policies we want you to implement’. That’s absolutely preposterous.”
Moyo said Tsvangirai should have pressed Obama to realise there is a gap between idealism and the practicalities of exercising political power – as his short reign as US President has demonstrated.
He added: “Obama ran a campaign promising to close Guantanamo, investigate and prosecute CIA agents who used water boarding. He is reneging on those promises, has anyone put benchmarks on that?
“Obama has changed his promise on practicalities on the ground as president, why should he expect that others like Tsvangirai, now in government, will not encounter practicalities which dictate a change?
“Why shove a reform agenda written by donors?”
The Prime Minister “should understand Europeans and their allies put the country on fire through sanctions, they must not be congratulated for that, they must be condemned”, said the former university lecturer and political scientist.
Moyo was also scathing over Tsvangirai’s failure to stand up for Tourism Minister Walter Muzembi who was barred from the Obama meeting – because he is from President Mugabe’s Zanu PF party.
Moyo said: “It was disgraceful for Tsvangirai to allow Americans to divide his delegation. How can you lead a delegation, and be told some members of your delegation are not allowed? It is yet another glaring example of the behaviour of a grateful slave.
“While is clear that Zimbabwe has problems, and we need to solve them, this was the worst show of leadership by Tsvangirai. His conduct during his trip so far has been less than satisfactory, but his conduct in the Oval Office was scandalous.
“The White House was built by slaves, he should have felt proud in that place -- a product of the forced labour of his ancestors, but he became worse than the people who built it.”
Moyo said a “shameful dimension” of the PM’s trip played out in Harare this week when the United States Development Agency (USAID) distributed a glossy free newsletter with “embarrassing pictures of Tsvangirai posing separately with Hillary Clinton and Obama to whom he deferred”.
He claimed the USAID pamphlet was presented as a newsletter from the Prime Minister’s Office “when it is clearly an American propaganda sheet”.
He added: “What is shameful is that while civil servants are going without salaries, while the UZ remains closed, while farmers struggle to plant wheat, and while peasants have been reduced to the life of hunter gatherers, Americans are showering Tsvangirai’s Office with previous US dollars to print and distribute neo-colonial propaganda on glossy paper in the streets of Harare and Bulawayo.”
The Prime Minister’s Office said the newsletter was printed in response to a state media blackout and misrepresentations of the PM’s overseas visit.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Morgan Tsvangirai jeered into silence
Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has been forced to cut short an event where he was addressing Zimbabwean exiles due to jeering.
Mr Tsvangirai was addressing more than 1,000 exiles, whom he urged to return home to rebuild the country, during an event at London's Southwark Cathedral. But his appeal was poorly received as questions were raised over assurances he made about the country's stability.
Mr Tsvangirai's UK visit is the final stage of a tour of Europe and the US. He has been seeking funding for the unity government he formed with President Robert Mugabe in February.
Mr Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change who became prime minister in the power-sharing deal, said the country needed the exiles' skills and money to help to rebuild Zimbabwe. He told the audience that improvements had been made through the creation of a "transitional" government, and that no-one had been "fooled" or co-opted.
Referring to the power-sharing deal, he went on: "It represented the best solution to a crisis that has engulfed us as a people."
The Zimbabwean prime minister said inflation had been cut, schools had reopened and previous scarce commodities were now available, adding that the government had "made sure that there is peace and stability in the country".
That assertion provoked a noisy reaction from sections of the audience. He went on: "Our mission is to create the necessary space, the necessary freedoms for Zimbabweans. Our mission is to make sure that we give the people of Zimbabwe hope.
"Zimbabwe is changing for the better, and that change is for you and me to ensure that we can build a Zimbabwe together."
He acknowledged that no-one should forget the struggles and suffering of the Zimbabwean people, adding that he, as a victim of beatings and arrests, would be the last to forget the past.
However, Mr Tsvangirai told the gathering that the plan to work towards a new constitution and referendum over the next 18 months was the correct one.
The European Union still holds sanctions against Zimbabwe, and EU leaders have told the Zimbabwean prime minister they want to see improvements in the human-rights situation in the country before they consider lifting them.
The Foreign Office in London has sounded a similar note, with minister Lord Malloch Brown saying sanctions would not be lifted until Zimbabwe's transition to democracy has "reached a point of no return".
Mr Tsvangirai is expected to hold talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday.
Mr Tsvangirai was addressing more than 1,000 exiles, whom he urged to return home to rebuild the country, during an event at London's Southwark Cathedral. But his appeal was poorly received as questions were raised over assurances he made about the country's stability.
Mr Tsvangirai's UK visit is the final stage of a tour of Europe and the US. He has been seeking funding for the unity government he formed with President Robert Mugabe in February.
Mr Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change who became prime minister in the power-sharing deal, said the country needed the exiles' skills and money to help to rebuild Zimbabwe. He told the audience that improvements had been made through the creation of a "transitional" government, and that no-one had been "fooled" or co-opted.
Referring to the power-sharing deal, he went on: "It represented the best solution to a crisis that has engulfed us as a people."
The Zimbabwean prime minister said inflation had been cut, schools had reopened and previous scarce commodities were now available, adding that the government had "made sure that there is peace and stability in the country".
That assertion provoked a noisy reaction from sections of the audience. He went on: "Our mission is to create the necessary space, the necessary freedoms for Zimbabweans. Our mission is to make sure that we give the people of Zimbabwe hope.
"Zimbabwe is changing for the better, and that change is for you and me to ensure that we can build a Zimbabwe together."
He acknowledged that no-one should forget the struggles and suffering of the Zimbabwean people, adding that he, as a victim of beatings and arrests, would be the last to forget the past.
However, Mr Tsvangirai told the gathering that the plan to work towards a new constitution and referendum over the next 18 months was the correct one.
The European Union still holds sanctions against Zimbabwe, and EU leaders have told the Zimbabwean prime minister they want to see improvements in the human-rights situation in the country before they consider lifting them.
The Foreign Office in London has sounded a similar note, with minister Lord Malloch Brown saying sanctions would not be lifted until Zimbabwe's transition to democracy has "reached a point of no return".
Mr Tsvangirai is expected to hold talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Zimbabwe Independent editors challenge constitutionality of Criminal Law
swradioafrica.com
Zimbabwe Independent editors, Vincent Kahiya and Constantine Chimakure on Tuesday appeared before magistrate Moses Murendo applying for a referral to the Supreme Court where they seek to challenge the constitutionality of section 31 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, which they are charged under.
Media watchdog, Misa-Zimbabwe, reports the two appeared along with Michael Curling who is representing the Zimbabwe Independent. The matter has however been postponed to 9 July to enable the prosecution to file its response.
Their lawyer Innocent Chagonda asked the magistrate for a referral to the Supreme Court stating that section 31 of the Criminal Codification Act, which attracts a maximum sentence of 20 years, is unconstitutional. The defence team say the penalty of a 20 year sentence imposed by section 31 is so heavy and disproportionate to the offence that it infringes section 20 of the bill of rights. Section 20 of the constitution of Zimbabwe guarantees the right to freedom of expression.
Chagonda also filed a second application in which he wants the Supreme Court to determine whether two law officers from the Attorney General's Office, namely Michael Mugabe and Morgan Dube, cited as State witnesses, can act as both complainants and prosecutors at the same time in the case.
Chimakure and Kahiya are being charged for the publishing or communicating of falsehoods when they published a story in May revealing the names of law enforcement agents involved in last year's abductions of MDC and civic activists.
The story titled, Activist abductors named - CIO, police role in activists' abduction revealed, stated that notices of indictment for trial in the High Court served on some of the activists revealed that the activists were either in the custody of the CIO or police during the period they were reported missing.
The Media watchdog said in a statement: "The two journalists submitted that as journalists, the very nature of their job obliges them to write on a regular basis, a task which they cannot safely or efficiently execute if they live in constant fear of arrest for their writings. This is a hindrance to free expression and it therefore violates the Constitution, the journalists argue."
Zimbabwe Independent editors, Vincent Kahiya and Constantine Chimakure on Tuesday appeared before magistrate Moses Murendo applying for a referral to the Supreme Court where they seek to challenge the constitutionality of section 31 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, which they are charged under.
Media watchdog, Misa-Zimbabwe, reports the two appeared along with Michael Curling who is representing the Zimbabwe Independent. The matter has however been postponed to 9 July to enable the prosecution to file its response.
Their lawyer Innocent Chagonda asked the magistrate for a referral to the Supreme Court stating that section 31 of the Criminal Codification Act, which attracts a maximum sentence of 20 years, is unconstitutional. The defence team say the penalty of a 20 year sentence imposed by section 31 is so heavy and disproportionate to the offence that it infringes section 20 of the bill of rights. Section 20 of the constitution of Zimbabwe guarantees the right to freedom of expression.
Chagonda also filed a second application in which he wants the Supreme Court to determine whether two law officers from the Attorney General's Office, namely Michael Mugabe and Morgan Dube, cited as State witnesses, can act as both complainants and prosecutors at the same time in the case.
Chimakure and Kahiya are being charged for the publishing or communicating of falsehoods when they published a story in May revealing the names of law enforcement agents involved in last year's abductions of MDC and civic activists.
The story titled, Activist abductors named - CIO, police role in activists' abduction revealed, stated that notices of indictment for trial in the High Court served on some of the activists revealed that the activists were either in the custody of the CIO or police during the period they were reported missing.
The Media watchdog said in a statement: "The two journalists submitted that as journalists, the very nature of their job obliges them to write on a regular basis, a task which they cannot safely or efficiently execute if they live in constant fear of arrest for their writings. This is a hindrance to free expression and it therefore violates the Constitution, the journalists argue."
The Invasion of Mount Carmel: From the Zimbabwe State Media Perspective
SOKWANELE.COM - For those who have not experienced the peculiar perspective of Zimbabwe’s state-controlled media, here’s an example in the form of ZBC coverage of the legal struggle for Mount Carmel farm (published on Friday 12 June). Please note, this farm is protected by a SADC ruling.
White farmers cause chaos at Dr. Shamuyarira’s farm
White farmers have regrouped themselves at Mount Carmel, a farm allocated to Zanu-PF Politburo member Dr Nathan Shamuyarira in Chegutu where they are causing chaos in clear desperate attempts to reverse the land reform programme.
The situation at Mount Carmel and Tyford farms in Mashonaland West Province was tense when ZBC News arrived.
The white farmers Bruce Campbell, Ben Freethe and Meredith had regrouped in their battle to try and evict ZANU PF politburo member Dr Nathan Shamuyarira and the party’s Central Committee member Cde Jimayi Muduvuri.
Dr Shamuyaria’s farm manager Cde Landmines Madongonda said on different occasions, the white farmers escorted by foreign journalists came to the farm to provoke the farm workers so as to create ugly scenes which could then be used to create false stories.
He said on Thursday the white farmers came and took away the farm workers’ food, clothes and a DDF tractor which was later recovered in Chegutu after being dumped there.
Cde Muduvuri who is facing the same problem said he is now worried about the constant visit and resistance by the white farmers and foreign journalists and says they are bent on stage managing events within the farms so as to come up with stories that tarnish the inclusive government.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice National Co-ordinator Advocate Martin Dinha warned the white farmers to stop playing games reminding them that the Global Political Agreement signed by the three political leaders has clearly stated that the land reform is a closed chapter that cannot reversed.
The new wave of farm disturbances by white farmers who are now working in cahoots with hired foreign journalists have been described by observers as blatant attempts bent on discrediting the inclusive government by stage managing some form of chaos within the farms.
Some sections of the western media have claimed that there are fresh farm invasions in Zimbabwe reports which have been dismissed as untrue by the inclusive government.
White farmers cause chaos at Dr. Shamuyarira’s farm
White farmers have regrouped themselves at Mount Carmel, a farm allocated to Zanu-PF Politburo member Dr Nathan Shamuyarira in Chegutu where they are causing chaos in clear desperate attempts to reverse the land reform programme.
The situation at Mount Carmel and Tyford farms in Mashonaland West Province was tense when ZBC News arrived.
The white farmers Bruce Campbell, Ben Freethe and Meredith had regrouped in their battle to try and evict ZANU PF politburo member Dr Nathan Shamuyarira and the party’s Central Committee member Cde Jimayi Muduvuri.
Dr Shamuyaria’s farm manager Cde Landmines Madongonda said on different occasions, the white farmers escorted by foreign journalists came to the farm to provoke the farm workers so as to create ugly scenes which could then be used to create false stories.
He said on Thursday the white farmers came and took away the farm workers’ food, clothes and a DDF tractor which was later recovered in Chegutu after being dumped there.
Cde Muduvuri who is facing the same problem said he is now worried about the constant visit and resistance by the white farmers and foreign journalists and says they are bent on stage managing events within the farms so as to come up with stories that tarnish the inclusive government.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Justice National Co-ordinator Advocate Martin Dinha warned the white farmers to stop playing games reminding them that the Global Political Agreement signed by the three political leaders has clearly stated that the land reform is a closed chapter that cannot reversed.
The new wave of farm disturbances by white farmers who are now working in cahoots with hired foreign journalists have been described by observers as blatant attempts bent on discrediting the inclusive government by stage managing some form of chaos within the farms.
Some sections of the western media have claimed that there are fresh farm invasions in Zimbabwe reports which have been dismissed as untrue by the inclusive government.
Tsvangirai denies running Mugabe's errands
WASHINGTON – Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has vehemently denied that he was sent by President Robert Mugabe to beg the West to remove sanctions imposed against him and his top lieutenants by countries in the European Union and the United States of America.Speaking in an interview as he prepared to leave the United States where he met President Barack Obama and senior Senate and Congress leaders, Tsvangirai said reports emanating from Harare that he was tasked by Mugabe to come and seek the removal of the targeted sanctions were far from the truth.
“I was not sent by anyone, it was my own initiative,” he said. “I told the President that it was time to reengage with the rest of the world following a cabinet resolution on reengaging the EU and other western countries. I took the initiative – I would have stayed at home, no-one would have sent me so I think it’s just a myth cultivated to promote a certain position which is not the objective of the inclusive government.”
The Prime Minister said the problem with some elements in Zanu-PF was that when they think of the biting targeted sanctions against them they think that I am the one responsible for them being put in place in the first place.
“The sanctions came because of the gross human rights situation in our country – the killings, the torture, the wanton destruction of people’s properties, the violence – they know that the violence – we cannot go back there now – but the world could not just sit and watch people being killed and maimed. Did they expect the world to applaud them.
Yes we have the issue of the sanctions or restrictions but when there is no rule of law and people’s rights are being trampled on, the whole world cannot just watch.”
On being only the second African leader to meet Obama, who gave him a book written by Martin Luther King Jnr, Stride Toward Freedom, Tsvangirai said: “It was quite a profound experience, we had talked over the phone but we had never really met so as we met I think there was a degree of convergence and I think the discussion was very productive, it was very informative about where the United States stands and what we need to do as a country in order to earn the full confidence of the international community.”
He said the objective of his trips abroad were two-fold, the first being to seek re-engagement after Zimbabwe’s 10 years of isolation.
“Yes one of the reasons was to try and seek transitional support apart from just humanitarian support and we set to do and the American government has made a commitment – over 75 million dollars committed to the short-term transitional support until there is definitive progress on a number of issues.”
Tsvangirai said the overall objectives of his trip had been met though the initial meetings were very tough with many being skeptical about the current political arrangement in Harare.
He later addressed a meeting organized by the MDC in Virginia. He took questions from skeptical Zimbabweans whom he urged to come back home and help rebuild the country.
One asked how Zimbabweans in the Diaspora could trust the unity government when Zanu-PF was not even committed to fulfilling the conditions of the GPA.
Tsvangirai, tried to assure the skeptical audience, and even told them he had refused to eat with Mugabe on the first night they had a meeting together. He said the acrimony between him and Mugabe was legendary – ‘ as you know, he would call me Chematama and say namai vangu vaBona hazviite and all sorts of things and I would say, “Kamudhara aka kasingadi kusiya power, kauraya nyika (this old man does not want to step down from office yet he has ruined the country)” and all that.
“That is legendary and you all know it and the scars I have sustained in the process but we have both realized that acrimony does not bring food onto the tables of Zimbabweans, medicines, education and all so it is now all in the past and we are all committed to working towards a better Zimbabwe”.
Tsvangirai told his audience that Mugabe laments to him that his politburo was saying that he had sold out. He said he had told the President that he too was being subjected to accusations of selling out.
“So we have a position where we are being blamed by our parties for this inclusive government so I said then it means we have both sold out. But everyone in Zimbabwe knows that this inclusive government is the only way we can get to set our country back on the right track again and we need the Diaspora support to do that.
“You are very important to us – like the Ghanaians who send billions back home every year – we expect to come up with programs to see how best we can harness such resources through the estimated four million of you living in the Diaspora so you can all play a part in rebuilding Zimbabwe because I know, some of you came here single and are now married, have children and are not ready to go back. But we want many of you to ride on the train with us because you risk being left behind because things are changing in Zimbabwe.
“Zimbabwe will never be the same again.”
He assured the dual citizenship problem had been resolved through Amendment Number 18 so no-one would be asked to renounce their Zimbabwean citizen once they became citizens of their new chosen countries.
Tsvangirai has since been to German where he was given full military honours. He is now in Sweden and goes to Norway tomorrow evening. He is expected to visit Denmark, Brussels, France and Britain before going back home.
“I was not sent by anyone, it was my own initiative,” he said. “I told the President that it was time to reengage with the rest of the world following a cabinet resolution on reengaging the EU and other western countries. I took the initiative – I would have stayed at home, no-one would have sent me so I think it’s just a myth cultivated to promote a certain position which is not the objective of the inclusive government.”
The Prime Minister said the problem with some elements in Zanu-PF was that when they think of the biting targeted sanctions against them they think that I am the one responsible for them being put in place in the first place.
“The sanctions came because of the gross human rights situation in our country – the killings, the torture, the wanton destruction of people’s properties, the violence – they know that the violence – we cannot go back there now – but the world could not just sit and watch people being killed and maimed. Did they expect the world to applaud them.
Yes we have the issue of the sanctions or restrictions but when there is no rule of law and people’s rights are being trampled on, the whole world cannot just watch.”
On being only the second African leader to meet Obama, who gave him a book written by Martin Luther King Jnr, Stride Toward Freedom, Tsvangirai said: “It was quite a profound experience, we had talked over the phone but we had never really met so as we met I think there was a degree of convergence and I think the discussion was very productive, it was very informative about where the United States stands and what we need to do as a country in order to earn the full confidence of the international community.”
He said the objective of his trips abroad were two-fold, the first being to seek re-engagement after Zimbabwe’s 10 years of isolation.
“Yes one of the reasons was to try and seek transitional support apart from just humanitarian support and we set to do and the American government has made a commitment – over 75 million dollars committed to the short-term transitional support until there is definitive progress on a number of issues.”
Tsvangirai said the overall objectives of his trip had been met though the initial meetings were very tough with many being skeptical about the current political arrangement in Harare.
He later addressed a meeting organized by the MDC in Virginia. He took questions from skeptical Zimbabweans whom he urged to come back home and help rebuild the country.
One asked how Zimbabweans in the Diaspora could trust the unity government when Zanu-PF was not even committed to fulfilling the conditions of the GPA.
Tsvangirai, tried to assure the skeptical audience, and even told them he had refused to eat with Mugabe on the first night they had a meeting together. He said the acrimony between him and Mugabe was legendary – ‘ as you know, he would call me Chematama and say namai vangu vaBona hazviite and all sorts of things and I would say, “Kamudhara aka kasingadi kusiya power, kauraya nyika (this old man does not want to step down from office yet he has ruined the country)” and all that.
“That is legendary and you all know it and the scars I have sustained in the process but we have both realized that acrimony does not bring food onto the tables of Zimbabweans, medicines, education and all so it is now all in the past and we are all committed to working towards a better Zimbabwe”.
Tsvangirai told his audience that Mugabe laments to him that his politburo was saying that he had sold out. He said he had told the President that he too was being subjected to accusations of selling out.
“So we have a position where we are being blamed by our parties for this inclusive government so I said then it means we have both sold out. But everyone in Zimbabwe knows that this inclusive government is the only way we can get to set our country back on the right track again and we need the Diaspora support to do that.
“You are very important to us – like the Ghanaians who send billions back home every year – we expect to come up with programs to see how best we can harness such resources through the estimated four million of you living in the Diaspora so you can all play a part in rebuilding Zimbabwe because I know, some of you came here single and are now married, have children and are not ready to go back. But we want many of you to ride on the train with us because you risk being left behind because things are changing in Zimbabwe.
“Zimbabwe will never be the same again.”
He assured the dual citizenship problem had been resolved through Amendment Number 18 so no-one would be asked to renounce their Zimbabwean citizen once they became citizens of their new chosen countries.
Tsvangirai has since been to German where he was given full military honours. He is now in Sweden and goes to Norway tomorrow evening. He is expected to visit Denmark, Brussels, France and Britain before going back home.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tsvangirai Linked to "Mystery Woman" Behind Attempted Farm Grab
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s spokesman, James Maridadi, is battling to protect the Premier’s image at a crucial time after unsavoury stories linking him to a woman did a round on online publications on Tuesday, right in the middle of his tour of the United States and Europe.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Dr Arikana Chiyedzo Chihombori walk the red carpet at the Jacob Zuma inauguration in Pretoria on May 9.
It is being alleged that Tsvangirai and Maridadi misled the nation over the identity of the mysterious woman who walked by the recently widowed Prime Minister’s side as he arrived to attend the inauguration of President Jacob Zuma of South Africa in Pretoria on Saturday, May 9.
Maridadi, speaking immediately after the Zuma inauguration, identified Tsvangirai’s bespectacled companion as the Prime Minister’s niece. The woman has since been identified as Dr Arikana Chiyedzo Chihombori, a Zimbabwean medical doctor based in the United States.
But doubt was cast over the truthfulness of Maridadi’s assertion when a Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU) spokesman claimed the Prime Minister had denied the relationship in a conversation with United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee. It was not clear why it became necessary for Tsvangirai to make the denial to the Ambassador or how the CFU, which represents Zimbabwe’s white commercial farmers, became instantly privy to such a privileged denial.
The renewed controversy over the woman erupted after a commercial farmer in Chegutu claimed Chihombori had tried to seize his farm. The farmer, named by the ZWNews.com website as one L. J. Cremer, claims Chihombori had been “actively trying to seize De Rus Farm since late last year”.
John Worsely Worswick, a spokesman for Justice for Agriculture (JAG), a group which campaigns on behalf of Zimbabwe’s embattled commercial farmers, told SW Radio Africa Monday night that the farmer had approached the American embassy after De Rus Farm had been visited by an individual “with an American accent looking to take over their property”.
Worswick said: “The feedback that came to the Cremers (from the US embassy) was to the effect that this was the same woman who attended the inauguration with Tsvangirai, and that the ambassador had taken Tsvangirai to task about who this woman was, and that he had denied any knowledge of her. Now that is very alarming.”
With the raging controversy threatening to distract the Prime Minister at a time when he requires to focus all his attention on the task in hand, The Herald reported Tuesday that Tsvangirai had embarked on the tour abroad on the specific instructions of Mugabe to press for the removal of sanctions and the restoration of the country’s lines of credit.
“Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is set to clash with US President Barack Obama when they meet on Friday as Washington has already announced that it will dig in on sanctions while the Prime Minister has a brief from President Mugabe and Cabinet to press for the lifting of the sanctions,” the paper reported in a front page article.
But Western nations insist they want to see more reforms in Harare, especially media reforms and a cessation of disruptive farm invasions. Tsvangirai recently characterized the latest wave of invasions as being “blown out of proportion”.
Maridadi was reported as saying that, in a bid to contain the developing crisis Tsvangirai had on Tuesday instructed Chihombori to “walk away from that farm”.
NewZImbabwe.com reported that Chihombori was expected to issue a press statement on Tuesday under pressure from the Prime Minister’s office. There was no evidence late Tuesday night that the statement had been issued. Maridadi was constantly unreachable on his number in Washington, where Tsvangirai is preparing to meet Obama on Friday.
“Dr Chihombori is the Prime Minister’s niece, that’s the truth,” Maridadi was reported to have said earlier in the day.
Chihombori’s appearance in Pretoria on May 9 alongside Tsvangirai was the cause of speculation on the internet, prompting the Prime Minister’s office to issue a statement.
“Dr Chihombori was invited separately to the Zuma inauguration, but she arrived at the same time as the Prime Minister,” Maridadi said at the time.
The matter would have died on the note had the Chegutu commercial farmer not approached the US embassy to make inquiries about the woman from America who wanted to take De Rus Farm over.
Somehow, it occurred to someone at the embassy that this was the same woman who had arrived at the Zuma inauguration in the company of Tsvangirai.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Dr Arikana Chiyedzo Chihombori walk the red carpet at the Jacob Zuma inauguration in Pretoria on May 9.
It is being alleged that Tsvangirai and Maridadi misled the nation over the identity of the mysterious woman who walked by the recently widowed Prime Minister’s side as he arrived to attend the inauguration of President Jacob Zuma of South Africa in Pretoria on Saturday, May 9.
Maridadi, speaking immediately after the Zuma inauguration, identified Tsvangirai’s bespectacled companion as the Prime Minister’s niece. The woman has since been identified as Dr Arikana Chiyedzo Chihombori, a Zimbabwean medical doctor based in the United States.
But doubt was cast over the truthfulness of Maridadi’s assertion when a Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU) spokesman claimed the Prime Minister had denied the relationship in a conversation with United States Ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee. It was not clear why it became necessary for Tsvangirai to make the denial to the Ambassador or how the CFU, which represents Zimbabwe’s white commercial farmers, became instantly privy to such a privileged denial.
The renewed controversy over the woman erupted after a commercial farmer in Chegutu claimed Chihombori had tried to seize his farm. The farmer, named by the ZWNews.com website as one L. J. Cremer, claims Chihombori had been “actively trying to seize De Rus Farm since late last year”.
John Worsely Worswick, a spokesman for Justice for Agriculture (JAG), a group which campaigns on behalf of Zimbabwe’s embattled commercial farmers, told SW Radio Africa Monday night that the farmer had approached the American embassy after De Rus Farm had been visited by an individual “with an American accent looking to take over their property”.
Worswick said: “The feedback that came to the Cremers (from the US embassy) was to the effect that this was the same woman who attended the inauguration with Tsvangirai, and that the ambassador had taken Tsvangirai to task about who this woman was, and that he had denied any knowledge of her. Now that is very alarming.”
With the raging controversy threatening to distract the Prime Minister at a time when he requires to focus all his attention on the task in hand, The Herald reported Tuesday that Tsvangirai had embarked on the tour abroad on the specific instructions of Mugabe to press for the removal of sanctions and the restoration of the country’s lines of credit.
“Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is set to clash with US President Barack Obama when they meet on Friday as Washington has already announced that it will dig in on sanctions while the Prime Minister has a brief from President Mugabe and Cabinet to press for the lifting of the sanctions,” the paper reported in a front page article.
But Western nations insist they want to see more reforms in Harare, especially media reforms and a cessation of disruptive farm invasions. Tsvangirai recently characterized the latest wave of invasions as being “blown out of proportion”.
Maridadi was reported as saying that, in a bid to contain the developing crisis Tsvangirai had on Tuesday instructed Chihombori to “walk away from that farm”.
NewZImbabwe.com reported that Chihombori was expected to issue a press statement on Tuesday under pressure from the Prime Minister’s office. There was no evidence late Tuesday night that the statement had been issued. Maridadi was constantly unreachable on his number in Washington, where Tsvangirai is preparing to meet Obama on Friday.
“Dr Chihombori is the Prime Minister’s niece, that’s the truth,” Maridadi was reported to have said earlier in the day.
Chihombori’s appearance in Pretoria on May 9 alongside Tsvangirai was the cause of speculation on the internet, prompting the Prime Minister’s office to issue a statement.
“Dr Chihombori was invited separately to the Zuma inauguration, but she arrived at the same time as the Prime Minister,” Maridadi said at the time.
The matter would have died on the note had the Chegutu commercial farmer not approached the US embassy to make inquiries about the woman from America who wanted to take De Rus Farm over.
Somehow, it occurred to someone at the embassy that this was the same woman who had arrived at the Zuma inauguration in the company of Tsvangirai.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
MDC Supporters Disgusted with GNU Compromises
THE MDC-T's readiness to compromise on some challenges that have confronted the three-month-old unity government will dent the party's credibility as the country heads for another election in two years, a legal expert warned last week.
A few days after joining Zanu PF in the unity government in February, the party led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai shocked many democratic activists when it agreed to proposals by President Robert Mugabe to increase the number of ministers in violation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).
Mugabe had initially tried to smuggle into cabinet additional ministers among his loyalists from Zanu PF without the knowledge of the MDC formations.The MDC formations said they agreed to the expansion of the cabinet, which even violated the constitution, to save the coalition from collapse.
The MDC-T also appears to have softened its stance on farm invasions and its long-held view that travel bans against Mugabe's inner circle cannot be described as economic sanctions.
Derek Matyszak, a senior researcher at the Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU), said Tsvangirai's party, which has fiercely fought for democracy and respect for the rule of law for close to a decade, was now singing from the Zanu PF "hymn book".
"Instead of insisting on enforcing the GPA and what are now constitutional provisions, the MDC simply accepts the flouting of its terms in accordance with its policy of propitiation, appeasement and compromise," Matyszak said.
The MDC-T leadership also seemed to be less enthusiastic about the need to push for the removal of Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono and Attorney-General Johannes Tomana despite the fact that their re-appointments violated the GPA, he said.
Matyszak said signals from the party's leadership, especially Finance Minister Tendai Biti, were that they were prepared to compromise on the two if their powers were curtailed.
Biti recently said reports of serious differences between him and Gono were a creation of the media."It has also been reported that cabinet has approved Biti's proposed amendments to the Reserve Bank Act," he said. "All this indicates that the
MDC-T is once again preparing to capitulate to Mugabe's unilateral exercise of power.
"We will be told that a compromise has been reached and that Mugabe has agreed that Gono will stay but with limited powers." Matyszak said the MDC-T also made a blunder by compromising on the re-appointment of permanent secretaries as most of them were Zanu PF politicians retained from the previous administration.
"So the MDC-T will have us believe that the likes of George Charamba, the permnent secretary in the Ministry of Information, and the likes of David Mangota in the Ministry of Justice who is responsible for the conditions in the prisons are suitable and non-political appointments," he said.
"As they did with Mugabe's unilateral allocation of the ministries, they have simply accepted Mugabe's unrestrained and non-inclusive exercise of power."
But Deputy Minister of Justice and MDC-T MP Jessie Majome said compromise was better than giving up and allowing the country to slide back into a situation where it is run by an "exclusive" government. "We are aware that some of the tactics are meant to frustrate us and push us out of the game but we believe that quitting is not an option," she said.
Responding to criticism that the government had not achieved much since its formation, Majome said resuscitating the country was a process which would take time.
"You need to understand that this transitional coalition government was established to provide first aid to a dying, ailing and traumatised society," she said.
"It is more of a paramedic act on the situation we found ourselves in as a country following widespread atrocities and humanitarian crisis under the former exclusive government.
"Work is in progress to bring about the promised reforms . . . it cannot be an event but a process." But Matyszak said it was unfortunate that the MDC-T had even compromised on fundamental issues such as the opening of the democratic
space.
"MDC-T has now decided to define sanctions the Zanu PF way," he said. "It now says sanctions do not mean targeted sanctions and travel bans against those who supported the Mugabe government.
"The MDC-T now uses the term sanctions to mean the absence of IMF and balance of payments support and the provision of aid from countries that Mugabe continues to insult."
He said instead of calling on donors to "open up their wallets", the MDC-T should be pushing for the opening up of the democratic space which he said was crucial in convincing the international community to come to the country's rescue.
Matyszak was contributing to a public discussion organised by Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
The theme of the discussion was "Assessing the Rule of Law, the humanitarian and economic situation in Zimbabwe in the context of the inclusive government's first 100 days and its 100-day action plan".
A few days after joining Zanu PF in the unity government in February, the party led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai shocked many democratic activists when it agreed to proposals by President Robert Mugabe to increase the number of ministers in violation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).
Mugabe had initially tried to smuggle into cabinet additional ministers among his loyalists from Zanu PF without the knowledge of the MDC formations.The MDC formations said they agreed to the expansion of the cabinet, which even violated the constitution, to save the coalition from collapse.
The MDC-T also appears to have softened its stance on farm invasions and its long-held view that travel bans against Mugabe's inner circle cannot be described as economic sanctions.
Derek Matyszak, a senior researcher at the Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU), said Tsvangirai's party, which has fiercely fought for democracy and respect for the rule of law for close to a decade, was now singing from the Zanu PF "hymn book".
"Instead of insisting on enforcing the GPA and what are now constitutional provisions, the MDC simply accepts the flouting of its terms in accordance with its policy of propitiation, appeasement and compromise," Matyszak said.
The MDC-T leadership also seemed to be less enthusiastic about the need to push for the removal of Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono and Attorney-General Johannes Tomana despite the fact that their re-appointments violated the GPA, he said.
Matyszak said signals from the party's leadership, especially Finance Minister Tendai Biti, were that they were prepared to compromise on the two if their powers were curtailed.
Biti recently said reports of serious differences between him and Gono were a creation of the media."It has also been reported that cabinet has approved Biti's proposed amendments to the Reserve Bank Act," he said. "All this indicates that the
MDC-T is once again preparing to capitulate to Mugabe's unilateral exercise of power.
"We will be told that a compromise has been reached and that Mugabe has agreed that Gono will stay but with limited powers." Matyszak said the MDC-T also made a blunder by compromising on the re-appointment of permanent secretaries as most of them were Zanu PF politicians retained from the previous administration.
"So the MDC-T will have us believe that the likes of George Charamba, the permnent secretary in the Ministry of Information, and the likes of David Mangota in the Ministry of Justice who is responsible for the conditions in the prisons are suitable and non-political appointments," he said.
"As they did with Mugabe's unilateral allocation of the ministries, they have simply accepted Mugabe's unrestrained and non-inclusive exercise of power."
But Deputy Minister of Justice and MDC-T MP Jessie Majome said compromise was better than giving up and allowing the country to slide back into a situation where it is run by an "exclusive" government. "We are aware that some of the tactics are meant to frustrate us and push us out of the game but we believe that quitting is not an option," she said.
Responding to criticism that the government had not achieved much since its formation, Majome said resuscitating the country was a process which would take time.
"You need to understand that this transitional coalition government was established to provide first aid to a dying, ailing and traumatised society," she said.
"It is more of a paramedic act on the situation we found ourselves in as a country following widespread atrocities and humanitarian crisis under the former exclusive government.
"Work is in progress to bring about the promised reforms . . . it cannot be an event but a process." But Matyszak said it was unfortunate that the MDC-T had even compromised on fundamental issues such as the opening of the democratic
space.
"MDC-T has now decided to define sanctions the Zanu PF way," he said. "It now says sanctions do not mean targeted sanctions and travel bans against those who supported the Mugabe government.
"The MDC-T now uses the term sanctions to mean the absence of IMF and balance of payments support and the provision of aid from countries that Mugabe continues to insult."
He said instead of calling on donors to "open up their wallets", the MDC-T should be pushing for the opening up of the democratic space which he said was crucial in convincing the international community to come to the country's rescue.
Matyszak was contributing to a public discussion organised by Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
The theme of the discussion was "Assessing the Rule of Law, the humanitarian and economic situation in Zimbabwe in the context of the inclusive government's first 100 days and its 100-day action plan".
Tsvangirai, Attorney General, Clash over Media Ruling
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday said he was surprised that the state intends to appeal against a judgement in favour of freelance journalists who successfully applied to stop the defunct Media and Information Commission from interfering in their work.
Freelance journalists, Stanley Gama, Valentine Maponga, Stanley Kwenda and Jealousy Mawarire sought the intervention of the court after the Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity insisted that those without MIC accreditation would not be allowed to cover the Comesa summit.
In a move hailed as a victory for democracy, High Court Judge Justice Bharat Patel upheld their appeal on Friday evening.
The judge said the MIC ceased to exist legally last year when it was replaced by the Zimbabwe Media Commission following the enactment of Constitutional Amendment No.19. He said the order would stand notwithstanding any appeal by the respondents.
Patel ordered Minister Webster Shamu and George Charamba, the Secretary for the Ministry to retract their statements to the effect that journalists must accredit with MIC for the purposes of covering the ongoing Common Market for East and Southern African summit in Victoria Falls.
Patel said they should do this by putting notices in the print media and also through radio and television.The judge also interdicted Shamu, Charamba, "their agents and any person purporting to act on their behalf or with their authority from making statements, publishing notices, or attempting in any other way to compel the
four and or any other journalists to accredit for the Comesa summit, or assuming any functions of the ZMC including the levying of accreditation fees".
While journalists hoped this could bring a closure to the matter, MIC lawyers on Friday announced that the state would appeal against the decision.
Reacting to the announcement yesterday, the Prime Minister said he was "surprised" that the state intended to appeal.He said the AG's office had indicated in its legal opinion that "the MIC was defunct".
Tsvangirai's office had sought legal opinion from the AG's office after Charamba dismissed the Prime Minister's assurances that journalists and media houses were free to operate without licences until the Zimbabwe Media Commission was set up in terms of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).
The correspondence between the AG's office and Tsvangirai was part of the evidence produced at the High Court."It is surprising that it is the same (AG who now wants to appeal) who advised that what was happening was wrong," Tsvangirai told journalists at the Harare International Airport shortly before leaving for Europe and the United States.
Tsvangirai left Harare on an eight-nation tour that takes him to France, Sweden, Britain, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Denmark and the US.He told journalists: "There is no legal basis for the media to be licensed to cover and report issues about the country."
Meanwhile, lawyers and journalists hailed Patel's judgement as a victory for those campaigning for a return to the rule of law and freedom of expression.
"It is a victory for those who wish to see a swift return to the rule of law, adherence to the laws of the country as well as cessation of the abuse of power by certain members of the executive," the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said in a statement.
John Gambanga, the executive director of the Zimbabwe Voluntary Media Council said the government must now put in place the ZMC to replace MIC.
"This is a major victory for democracy, freedom of expression and freedom of the press," he said. "I am particularly happy with the fact that the MIC's illegitimacy has been legally confirmed."
The ruling also came as a relief for journalists who have seen the MIC throwing tens of their colleagues into the streets after closing down several newspapers.Tafataona Mahoso, the controversial MIC chairman had opposed the application by the four freelance journalists.
Freelance journalists, Stanley Gama, Valentine Maponga, Stanley Kwenda and Jealousy Mawarire sought the intervention of the court after the Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity insisted that those without MIC accreditation would not be allowed to cover the Comesa summit.
In a move hailed as a victory for democracy, High Court Judge Justice Bharat Patel upheld their appeal on Friday evening.
The judge said the MIC ceased to exist legally last year when it was replaced by the Zimbabwe Media Commission following the enactment of Constitutional Amendment No.19. He said the order would stand notwithstanding any appeal by the respondents.
Patel ordered Minister Webster Shamu and George Charamba, the Secretary for the Ministry to retract their statements to the effect that journalists must accredit with MIC for the purposes of covering the ongoing Common Market for East and Southern African summit in Victoria Falls.
Patel said they should do this by putting notices in the print media and also through radio and television.The judge also interdicted Shamu, Charamba, "their agents and any person purporting to act on their behalf or with their authority from making statements, publishing notices, or attempting in any other way to compel the
four and or any other journalists to accredit for the Comesa summit, or assuming any functions of the ZMC including the levying of accreditation fees".
While journalists hoped this could bring a closure to the matter, MIC lawyers on Friday announced that the state would appeal against the decision.
Reacting to the announcement yesterday, the Prime Minister said he was "surprised" that the state intended to appeal.He said the AG's office had indicated in its legal opinion that "the MIC was defunct".
Tsvangirai's office had sought legal opinion from the AG's office after Charamba dismissed the Prime Minister's assurances that journalists and media houses were free to operate without licences until the Zimbabwe Media Commission was set up in terms of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).
The correspondence between the AG's office and Tsvangirai was part of the evidence produced at the High Court."It is surprising that it is the same (AG who now wants to appeal) who advised that what was happening was wrong," Tsvangirai told journalists at the Harare International Airport shortly before leaving for Europe and the United States.
Tsvangirai left Harare on an eight-nation tour that takes him to France, Sweden, Britain, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Denmark and the US.He told journalists: "There is no legal basis for the media to be licensed to cover and report issues about the country."
Meanwhile, lawyers and journalists hailed Patel's judgement as a victory for those campaigning for a return to the rule of law and freedom of expression.
"It is a victory for those who wish to see a swift return to the rule of law, adherence to the laws of the country as well as cessation of the abuse of power by certain members of the executive," the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said in a statement.
John Gambanga, the executive director of the Zimbabwe Voluntary Media Council said the government must now put in place the ZMC to replace MIC.
"This is a major victory for democracy, freedom of expression and freedom of the press," he said. "I am particularly happy with the fact that the MIC's illegitimacy has been legally confirmed."
The ruling also came as a relief for journalists who have seen the MIC throwing tens of their colleagues into the streets after closing down several newspapers.Tafataona Mahoso, the controversial MIC chairman had opposed the application by the four freelance journalists.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Zimbabwe Violence: A besieged farmer tells his story
BEN FREETH'S STORY/UPDATE ON INVADERS (JUNE O1,2009)
The invaders came at 11pm. Fifteen of them — singing, chanting and crashing metal objects together by our windows. “Out, out,” they shouted as they surrounded our farm — they certainly wanted us out. They broke into the house and dragged burning tyres through the front door.
This was last Tuesday. I called the police but then the invaders took the phone away. Their leader, who calls himself “Landmine”, was armed with a rifle. They pushed us around and raised sticks and said that we must leave. They beat my tonga drum so hard that the cowhide skin broke.
One of them went up to the children, who had been woken by the din. “Josh, Josh, there’s a man in our room,” said Anna, 4. Joshua, 9, told my wife Laura afterwards that the man was making hyena noises. My other son, Stephen, is 7.
Police arrived and the invaders were ushered out. None was arrested, but “Landmine” did return my phone at the request of the police. When the police left, though, the invaders resumed their attack. They did not break in this time, but they made a lot of noise, circling the house like whooping hyenas and shouting before they left: “We will eat the children.”
To be caught on the edge of life, isolated, without help and abandoned, is a hard thing. This is how it is living on a farm in Zimbabwe today. Our house, surrounded by wild stretches of swaying savannah grasses, should be a haven of peace. For us, though, looking out and listening, there are things we see and hear that make our hearts beat fast and our minds race. It is like looking out on a tranquil river, the languid stretches of the mighty Zambezi, and somehow being able to see the crocodiles beneath the surface lying in wait for the one who is careless and not alert.
We thought that with the new Government, and Morgan Tsvangirai becoming the Prime Minister, things might get better. Underneath the waters, though, we knew that the great crocodile, Robert Mugabe, was still in control. It is clear to us now that Tsvangirai does not want to harm Mugabe’s “sacred cow” — the eviction of the last of the white men from their farms must continue. Last week Tsvangirai said that there were invasions on only “one or two farms” and that they have been “blown out of proportion”. This is not the truth. Almost every white farmer that has so far survived is either being prosecuted criminally by the State for still being on his farm, or is facing an attack in which invaders take the law into their own hands.
To stay in our home, which we built on the farm from nothing in 1999, is a battle of wits and nerve — a battle that has raged since we completed our house and had our first child. Joshua, born three days before 2000, has known nothing but farm attacks. His first brush with the invaders was when he was four months old. We were driving out to visit another farm, but militia had erected a road block on the driveway. The invaders stopped us and smashed our car windows with axes and rocks. We had to drive for our lives, with Joshua in his carrycot on the back seat.
There was a time, though, when there was peace on the farm. It was a childhood dream of my father-in-law to reintroduce wildlife to the land. When the 1,200-hectare Mount Carmel farm, which has a river flowing though the middle, came up for sale he sold everything, took out a loan and bought it to create a safari enterprise. Over many years of hard farm work his dream gradually became reality. He introduced nine species of antelope and even had 45 giraffe by the time Joshua was born. The animals did well and my parents-in-law built a safari lodge set by the Biri River.
It was a happy place then, without fear stalking the veldt. Laura, my wife, grew up among all that.
The bush war made things difficult for a time in the late 1970s, but it was never as it is now. Today, of the several hundred antelope that were here, not one remains. They have all been killed and the safari lodge has been burnt down.
The battle now is relentless, wearing and it drains all our innermost reserves. It is also an unusual battle — where else in the world does a government declare war on its own people? Where else does the State aim to destroy the economic base of the country so that people will be poorer and therefore more easily controlled? Where else do police connive with criminals to destroy agricultural production — leaving the people starving and totally dependant on the ruling party? Those who have not lived through a time of terror at the hands of a dictatorial government will never understand what it is like.
We have 500 people living and depending on the farm but none of the 150 workers has been allowed to work since April 4. They are chased away with guns by the invaders whenever they try.
Ninety per cent of our farming community has left or is packing at the moment. Tsvangirai’s appointment has hastened our demise. There is a rush to clear the farms of the last white people so that Mugabe can put his men on to the land to control and terrorise the people when the next election comes. Nobody can farm in the midst of this controlled anarchy. That is why we are now the most food-aid dependent country in the world.
Police arrived and the invaders were ushered out. None was arrested, but “Landmine” did return my phone at the request of the police. When the police left, though, the invaders resumed their attack. They did not break in this time, but they made a lot of noise, circling the house like whooping hyenas and shouting before they left: “We will eat the children.”
We can run away of course. Most people have. If self-preservation is the goal then there is no sense in staying. For us, though, there is a greater good. It is a matter of principle. If individual men and women allow evil to advance unchecked, it will prevail and more people will suffer and starve. It is hard to live and try to make a difference in a time of terror — especially with a family. My wife has been amazing. It is only our faith in God and his provision that sustains us.
Tuesday was not Landmine’s first visit. When he came last month and broke in to the house of my elderly parents-in-law, Mike and Angela Campbell, during the night, shouting that they must leave, our workers were beaten. One was put in the fire and his trousers caught alight before he wriggled out. They then beat him with sticks and metal pipes all over his body. They dumped him, his skull fractured, at the local Chegutu police station. After that it was easy for the invaders. My in-laws are still trying to recover from a savage beating and abduction on the farm nearly a year ago. Then, between the three of us, we suffered 13 broken bones. My skull was also fractured. At the age of 38 I recovered well, but Mike, 75, who sustained the worst beating, is taking a long time to mend. Our crime was to try to get the whistle blown in the SADC Tribunal. With guns to our heads, they made Angela sign a paper saying that we would withdraw from the court, but we never did.
After Mike and Angela were forced to leave, Shamuyarira’s men were able to have the run of the place. For more than a month we have not been able to retrieve any of their possessions from the house. Two weeks ago the invaders drove a red government tractor into the fenced area around our house and started ploughing up our beautiful garden and driveway so that we could not get out. They screamed abuse and threatened to burn down our home, lighting sacks under the thatched roof before weaving off down our access road and ploughing that into a quagmire too. They then went to the workers and pushed down the door to the home of the foreman, Peter. He has been working for my father-in-law for 31 years. They took him from his bedroom and started beating him and then continued hitting him with sticks on the soles of his feet through the night. We could hear the singing and the raw screams of the beating through the night air, but there was nothing we could do. Nobody knew where Peter was until the next morning when he was dumped at the police station. There were no arrests.
It is harvest time in Zimbabwe. That is one of the reasons that Shamuyarira’s men have come now. This is the largest mango farm in Zimbabwe. There were 50 tons of mangos in the pack shed and cold rooms and another 120 tons still hanging on the trees two months ago. They have stolen all of them and are now starting on the oranges. After that it will be the maize and the sunflowers — and nobody is willing to stop them.
Where else in the world do the Government sanction people to reap what they did not sow, and get away with it? Where else do people come to take homes and occupy them? Where else do people get beaten and left at police stations and their attackers drive off with impunity?
Nobody is putting in a wheat crop this year. The wheat seed sits in the warehouses and in the shops. And so there will be no bread.
When the invaders are not here there is an eerie unease. The workers’ houses are quiet and deserted — their occupants in hiding. When we do see our workers they are furtive — listening, jumpy, ready to move at the slightest threat. Ultimately it must be for them that we stay. We know that if we run they will be chased from their homes and will starve.
It is our conviction that God has called us to stay and stand and resist the evil that continues to beset the land.
Pray for us as we have come face to face with Satan.
Ben Freeth
For now, though, we are reeling, sometimes seeing stars, bewildered in a bewitched land. We are waiting for a future.
The invaders came at 11pm. Fifteen of them — singing, chanting and crashing metal objects together by our windows. “Out, out,” they shouted as they surrounded our farm — they certainly wanted us out. They broke into the house and dragged burning tyres through the front door.
This was last Tuesday. I called the police but then the invaders took the phone away. Their leader, who calls himself “Landmine”, was armed with a rifle. They pushed us around and raised sticks and said that we must leave. They beat my tonga drum so hard that the cowhide skin broke.
One of them went up to the children, who had been woken by the din. “Josh, Josh, there’s a man in our room,” said Anna, 4. Joshua, 9, told my wife Laura afterwards that the man was making hyena noises. My other son, Stephen, is 7.
Police arrived and the invaders were ushered out. None was arrested, but “Landmine” did return my phone at the request of the police. When the police left, though, the invaders resumed their attack. They did not break in this time, but they made a lot of noise, circling the house like whooping hyenas and shouting before they left: “We will eat the children.”
To be caught on the edge of life, isolated, without help and abandoned, is a hard thing. This is how it is living on a farm in Zimbabwe today. Our house, surrounded by wild stretches of swaying savannah grasses, should be a haven of peace. For us, though, looking out and listening, there are things we see and hear that make our hearts beat fast and our minds race. It is like looking out on a tranquil river, the languid stretches of the mighty Zambezi, and somehow being able to see the crocodiles beneath the surface lying in wait for the one who is careless and not alert.
We thought that with the new Government, and Morgan Tsvangirai becoming the Prime Minister, things might get better. Underneath the waters, though, we knew that the great crocodile, Robert Mugabe, was still in control. It is clear to us now that Tsvangirai does not want to harm Mugabe’s “sacred cow” — the eviction of the last of the white men from their farms must continue. Last week Tsvangirai said that there were invasions on only “one or two farms” and that they have been “blown out of proportion”. This is not the truth. Almost every white farmer that has so far survived is either being prosecuted criminally by the State for still being on his farm, or is facing an attack in which invaders take the law into their own hands.
To stay in our home, which we built on the farm from nothing in 1999, is a battle of wits and nerve — a battle that has raged since we completed our house and had our first child. Joshua, born three days before 2000, has known nothing but farm attacks. His first brush with the invaders was when he was four months old. We were driving out to visit another farm, but militia had erected a road block on the driveway. The invaders stopped us and smashed our car windows with axes and rocks. We had to drive for our lives, with Joshua in his carrycot on the back seat.
There was a time, though, when there was peace on the farm. It was a childhood dream of my father-in-law to reintroduce wildlife to the land. When the 1,200-hectare Mount Carmel farm, which has a river flowing though the middle, came up for sale he sold everything, took out a loan and bought it to create a safari enterprise. Over many years of hard farm work his dream gradually became reality. He introduced nine species of antelope and even had 45 giraffe by the time Joshua was born. The animals did well and my parents-in-law built a safari lodge set by the Biri River.
It was a happy place then, without fear stalking the veldt. Laura, my wife, grew up among all that.
The bush war made things difficult for a time in the late 1970s, but it was never as it is now. Today, of the several hundred antelope that were here, not one remains. They have all been killed and the safari lodge has been burnt down.
The battle now is relentless, wearing and it drains all our innermost reserves. It is also an unusual battle — where else in the world does a government declare war on its own people? Where else does the State aim to destroy the economic base of the country so that people will be poorer and therefore more easily controlled? Where else do police connive with criminals to destroy agricultural production — leaving the people starving and totally dependant on the ruling party? Those who have not lived through a time of terror at the hands of a dictatorial government will never understand what it is like.
We have 500 people living and depending on the farm but none of the 150 workers has been allowed to work since April 4. They are chased away with guns by the invaders whenever they try.
Ninety per cent of our farming community has left or is packing at the moment. Tsvangirai’s appointment has hastened our demise. There is a rush to clear the farms of the last white people so that Mugabe can put his men on to the land to control and terrorise the people when the next election comes. Nobody can farm in the midst of this controlled anarchy. That is why we are now the most food-aid dependent country in the world.
Police arrived and the invaders were ushered out. None was arrested, but “Landmine” did return my phone at the request of the police. When the police left, though, the invaders resumed their attack. They did not break in this time, but they made a lot of noise, circling the house like whooping hyenas and shouting before they left: “We will eat the children.”
We can run away of course. Most people have. If self-preservation is the goal then there is no sense in staying. For us, though, there is a greater good. It is a matter of principle. If individual men and women allow evil to advance unchecked, it will prevail and more people will suffer and starve. It is hard to live and try to make a difference in a time of terror — especially with a family. My wife has been amazing. It is only our faith in God and his provision that sustains us.
Tuesday was not Landmine’s first visit. When he came last month and broke in to the house of my elderly parents-in-law, Mike and Angela Campbell, during the night, shouting that they must leave, our workers were beaten. One was put in the fire and his trousers caught alight before he wriggled out. They then beat him with sticks and metal pipes all over his body. They dumped him, his skull fractured, at the local Chegutu police station. After that it was easy for the invaders. My in-laws are still trying to recover from a savage beating and abduction on the farm nearly a year ago. Then, between the three of us, we suffered 13 broken bones. My skull was also fractured. At the age of 38 I recovered well, but Mike, 75, who sustained the worst beating, is taking a long time to mend. Our crime was to try to get the whistle blown in the SADC Tribunal. With guns to our heads, they made Angela sign a paper saying that we would withdraw from the court, but we never did.
After Mike and Angela were forced to leave, Shamuyarira’s men were able to have the run of the place. For more than a month we have not been able to retrieve any of their possessions from the house. Two weeks ago the invaders drove a red government tractor into the fenced area around our house and started ploughing up our beautiful garden and driveway so that we could not get out. They screamed abuse and threatened to burn down our home, lighting sacks under the thatched roof before weaving off down our access road and ploughing that into a quagmire too. They then went to the workers and pushed down the door to the home of the foreman, Peter. He has been working for my father-in-law for 31 years. They took him from his bedroom and started beating him and then continued hitting him with sticks on the soles of his feet through the night. We could hear the singing and the raw screams of the beating through the night air, but there was nothing we could do. Nobody knew where Peter was until the next morning when he was dumped at the police station. There were no arrests.
It is harvest time in Zimbabwe. That is one of the reasons that Shamuyarira’s men have come now. This is the largest mango farm in Zimbabwe. There were 50 tons of mangos in the pack shed and cold rooms and another 120 tons still hanging on the trees two months ago. They have stolen all of them and are now starting on the oranges. After that it will be the maize and the sunflowers — and nobody is willing to stop them.
Where else in the world do the Government sanction people to reap what they did not sow, and get away with it? Where else do people come to take homes and occupy them? Where else do people get beaten and left at police stations and their attackers drive off with impunity?
Nobody is putting in a wheat crop this year. The wheat seed sits in the warehouses and in the shops. And so there will be no bread.
When the invaders are not here there is an eerie unease. The workers’ houses are quiet and deserted — their occupants in hiding. When we do see our workers they are furtive — listening, jumpy, ready to move at the slightest threat. Ultimately it must be for them that we stay. We know that if we run they will be chased from their homes and will starve.
It is our conviction that God has called us to stay and stand and resist the evil that continues to beset the land.
Pray for us as we have come face to face with Satan.
Ben Freeth
For now, though, we are reeling, sometimes seeing stars, bewildered in a bewitched land. We are waiting for a future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
