HARARE - 7 May 2008
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) can no longer be relied on as a "neutral and nonpartisan electoral umpire." That is the view of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Zimbabwean Bishops' Conference. In a statement. issued on Sunday, the commission condemned the climate of violence in the country and says: "All fair minded Zimbabweans have lost faith and confidence in ZEC, which can no longer be trusted to superintend a runoff."
On May 2, the ZEC finally published the results of the presidential elections held March 29, now over a month later. The opposition's candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai received 47.9% of the consensus, versus incumbent Robert Mugabe's 43.2%. Mugabe had been the head of the country for 28 years. According to electoral guidelines, an absolute majority (50% plus 1, of the votes) is needed in order to win the first round. If none of the candidates receive the absolute majority vote, a second round of voting must be held. Tsvangirai affirms that, based on independent calculations, he had already won elections, however the opposition appears to accept the second round.
The date of the second voting has not yet been determined and should take place within 21 days, according to the law. The day after the second round of voting was announced, the party of President Mugabe (ZANU-PF) announced that it would file a complaint against the assigning of 52 seats of Parliament to the opposition. The Movement for Democratic Chande (MDC), Tsvangirai's party, also contested the 60 seats of the party in power.
As the country prepares for the vote, violence and intimidation on the part of the military and militias, has increased. The teachers' union in Zimbabwe has announced they were the main targets of the violence that followed elections March 29. According to union representatives, last week 133 teachers suffered assaults and 496 were interrogated on "electoral matters." Over 1, 700 teachers have had to leave the country due to threats.
Facing this situation, the Justice and Peace Commission of the Bishops of Zimbabwe have asked for intervention from the United Nations and the African Union to supervise a planned presidential runoff.
A delegation from the Southern African Development Community left Luanda, Angola for Harare to hold crisis talks with the regime and follow up the current situation in the country...........................
Tuesday, 06 May 2008 13:54
JOHANNESBURG - REGISTERED Zimbabwean voters based in South Africa have vowed to return home and help end President Robert Mugabe's 28-year reign, during a run-off election against Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai. The exiled voters maintain they will finish off President Mugabe (84), who lost the March 29 presidential poll, and his ruling party, which also surrendered its stranglehold on parliament to the opposition. The pledge comes hot on the heels of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) releasing the results of the controversial presidential poll, which despite President Mugabe's defeat, produced no outright winner, thus paving way for a run-off poll, whose date is yet to be announced.......
..hivi msimamo wa Tanzania kuhusu huu mgogoro ni nini?
..naona Benard Membe yuko kama hayuko.
Kheee! hivi nini kinaendelea huko Zimbabwe? Wameshatangaza mshindi wa uraisi au mazingaombwe (kama ilivyo kawaida ya Waafrika) bado yanaendelea?
Huyu Mkapa ndio anataka kututoroka kiaina wakati msalaba wake hapa Tz unamsubiri?? Halafu majitu mengine mambo yao yanawashinda huku nyumbani lakini wako mijicho mbele kujifanya kwenda kusuruhisha matatizo ya wengine...Lakini anapoza maumivu tu lazima kichapo kiendelee...
Zimbabwe inanuka damu ,Mkongwe hana hata utu wa kujali wanamchi wake alimaradi aendelee kutawala hadi kifo kitakapomchukua.Mambo mengine kama siasa za mashamba ni michezo tu ya kujaribu kugeuza chuki kuwa mapenzi.msimamo wa nchi za Kiafrika ni unafiki mtupu.
Half of the results from Zimbabwe's parliamentary polls in March have been challenged in court, state media says.
Lawyers say the 105 petitions should not disrupt the work of parliament, but could in the end overturn the opposition's historic majority. The announcement came as southern African mediators arrived for talks over the presidential run-off impasse.
The opposition might boycott a run-off, saying candidate Morgan Tsvangirai was the rightful winner in the first round.
Results published by Zimbabwe's electoral commission last week gave Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Mr Tsvangirai more votes than President Robert Mugabe, but not the 50% needed to avoid a run-off.
The MDC says he won at least 50.3%. Mr Mugabe has said he will stand in a run-off, but a date for the second round of voting has yet to be set. The MDC says the official death toll of their supporters killed in post-election violence has risen to 25, but the party fears the figure could be higher.
The Southern African Development Community (Sadc) has been at the centre of efforts to resolve the deadlock in Zimbabwe following elections in March. On Tuesday, African Union foreign ministers discussed the crisis in Zimbabwe. AFP news agency reports that the body called for "a free, transparent, tolerant, and non-violent" run-off.
'Vote-buying'
The ruling Zanu-PF party has filed petitions challenging the results in 53 constituencies and the MDC has challenged 52, Zimbabwe's Herald newspaper reports. That is exactly half of Zimbabwe's 210 parliamentary seats. The petitions were filed by losing candidates for alleged electoral malpractice like vote-buying, intimidation and corruption. To cope with the extra legal work, the chief justice has appointed 17 more judges to hear the cases in the electoral court.
Under the law, the court has six months to deal with the cases, with another six months allowed for appeals. But constitutional lawyers say the cases should not disrupt the work of the government and parliamentarians can still be sworn in. There will be by-elections only if the electoral court declares the seats vacant. Normally, the newly elected MPs would be sworn in within a week of the election, but because of the ongoing impasse over the presidential poll, there is still no indication of when that might be.
Meanwhile, the MDC says that five more of its supporters were beaten to death on Monday night by Zanu-PF supporters, bringing the number of MDC members killed in post-election violence to 25. "We think the actual death toll is even higher because there are some farming areas that have been cordoned off by militias and vigilante groups," MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told AFP.
The BBC's Orla Guerin, reporting undercover in Zimbabwe, says there is a systematic attempt under way to change the political landscape.
She says the aim is electoral cleansing - to drive opposition supporters from their voting areas, or make them too afraid to vote for the MDC again.
The death toll of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters killed in post-election violence that is being investigated by South African officials has increased to 24. Shepherd Mushonga, an MDC MP for Mazowe Central, said four MDC members had been killed in Chiweshe, 100 kilometres north of Harare, on Sunday night after being beaten by youth militia loyal to Mugabes Zanu-PF party.
Mushonga told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the youths went door to door looking for MDC members and that several other people had been hospitalized with injuries following the attack. It was not possible to immediately verify the report, which the MDC says brings to 24 the number of people from within its ranks killed in revenge attacks by mainly Zanu-PF youth militia and soldiers following Mugabes partys defeat in March parliamentary elections.
The MDC defeated Zanu-PF in the 210-seat House of Assembly. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai also took more votes than 84-year-old Mugabe in the presidential election, but not enough for an outright win. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is expected to announce a date for a runoff between the two leading candidates in the coming days. Mugabe has said he will participate but Tsvangirais Movement for Democratic Change, which insists he won decisively, has yet to announce whether their man will partake.
A team of South African officials led by Local Government Minister Sydney Mumafadi has arrived in Zimbabwe Monday night to investigate the violence. They are already here and they are busy conducting wide-ranging interviews. This is not going to be a selective process. They are going to talk to all relevant players, William Geerlings, First Secretary at the South African embassy in Harare, said.
The African Union (AU) was also due to discuss the Zimbabwean crisis at a two-day meeting in Tanzanias northern town of Arusha starting Tuesday, the countrys foreign minister Bernard Membe confirmed. MDC activist in Hurungwe North, Tapiwa Mubwanda(Pictured) was reportedly killed by Jawet Kazangarare and Private Peter Madamombe, a militia of the Zanu-PF and soldier of Zimbabwe National Army, respectively. But no arrests have been made,the perpetrators are still in Hurungwe.
Zimbabwe Metro said:
May 8, 2008
ZANU PF admitted on Thursday to foreign observers that there has been violence against MDC supporters and that government militias were instilling terror in the rural areas. As the opposition alleged that 30 supporters had now been killed and a union leader said 40 000 farmworkers and their dependents had been made homeless, the authorities played down the levels of violence.
Meanwhile, six days on from the announcement of results from an inconclusive March 29 presidential poll, there was still no word on when a second round should take place nor whether the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) will participate.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who believes he secured an overall majority over veteran President Robert Mugabe in the first round, has argued his rival is trying to spread fear in the population to ensure his victory in the run-off. In its latest toll, the MDC said it now had information that 30 supporters
had been killed by Mugabe supporters in attacks in rural areas.
What is worrying is that each day comes with gory stories of how human beings are being treated, said MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa. This is why we are appealing on bended knees to the international community to assist in ending the carnage. In a press conference in South Africa, the leader of a Zimbabwe farmworkers union said that 40 000 people had been driven off their land either as a result of direct attacks by militias or through fear.
Since the elections we have recorded a total of 40 000 people who have been displaced, Gertrude Hambira, general secretary of the General Agriculture and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe, told reporters in Johannesburg. Our members and their families have been left homeless. They have been attacked by a group of militias wearing army uniforms. They have been accused of voting for the opposition. Most of them are either on the roadside or sheltering at some farms.
A number of human rights groups, including the New York-based Human Rights Watch, have accused security forces of complicity in attacks since the elections on March 29 which have been concentrated in rural areas. However the army has disputed the allegations, with a spokesperson saying earlier this week that it categorically distances itself and any of its members from such activities.
Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena admitted that almost 30 MDC members have been killed but questioned the death toll, saying Of the 30,three of the cases had no basis whatsoever while others were under investigation. International disquiet however is growing, with the UNs secretary-general adding his voice to calls for international observers to oversee the
run-off.
Gordon Brown, prime minister of former colonial power Britain, has asked for the run-off to be monitored by the whole international community. In a statement, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said future stages of the electoral process must be conducted in a peaceful, credible and transparent manner in the presence of international observers while also voicing concern about
violence.
The run-off should in theory take place on May 24 but the electoral commission has dropped strong hints that the deadline will be missed. According to results released last Friday by the commission, Tsvangirai fell just short of an overall majority needed to avoid a run-off but his party says the figures were doctored to save Mugabes skin.
Clemence Manyukwe FinGaz said:
...as succession issue refuses to die PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has hinted to his close lieutenants that he will resign in two years if he wins the impending run-off to be held this month,
but details remain sketchy on how the veteran nationalist plans to manage his exit without causing further harm to the fractious ZANU-PF.
The contentious succession issue surfaced at the partys politburo meeting held last Wednesday at which reform-minded ZANU-PF members openly told the meeting that the revolutionary party would have to renew itself soon after the tricky run-off in which President Mugabe squares up against Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
While the meeting of the partys supreme decision-making body renewed its pledge to support the incumbent in the run-off, consistent with President Mugabes endorsement at last years special congress held in Harare in December, it took the unprecedented step of lifting the lid on the succession issue, once considered a hot potato in ZANU-PF. In 2004 President Mugabe invited ZANU-PF members to discuss his succession
openly, but the Zimbabwean President had to kill the debate fearing it would tear apart the party.
At the time, intense jockeying for the high-pressure job had emerged between Rural Housing Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa and Vice-President Joice Mujuru, backed by her husband, retired army general Solomon Mujuru. The defection of former politburo members Simba Makoni and Dumiso Dabengwa from the party and ZANU-PFs loss of its majority in Parliament has however, jolted the partys leadership to revisit the succession debate albeit after
the run-off.
Highly placed ZANU-PF sources told The Financial Gazette this week that it became apparent at the politburo meeting that President Mugabe would not complete his term of office that is supposed to end in 2013 if he won the impending second round of voting. According to presidential results released by the Zimbabwe Electoral commission (ZEC) last Friday, President Mugabe lost to Tsvangirai but neither of them garnered sufficient votes of more than 50 percent as required under Electoral Laws to avoid a run-off.
ZEC said the ruling party leader garnered 43,2 percent; Tsvangirai had 47, 9 percent, independent candidates Makoni and Langton Toungana had 8,3 and 0, 6 percent of the vote respectively. But the MDC claims that its presidential candidate won the poll with 50,3 percent of the vote and there was therefore no need for a run-off.
ZEC is yet to decide a date for the polls and it remains to be seen whether or not it will comply with the countrys election law that requires that the second round of voting should be conducted within 21 days. Sources this week said President Mugabe indicated he would not finish his term and the person to succeed him would be chosen at the partys congress to be held next year.
They said ZANU-PF is also amenable to a government of national unity (GNU) but would want to buy into the proposal once it has secured victory for President Mugabe who will then take charge of the resultant governing structure. Buying into the proposal now would mean that Tsvangirai as the winner of the first round of voting would assume control of the GNU, which we (ZANU-PF) may avoid if President Mugabe is to win the runoff, said a
source.
Asked why the ruling party leader could not stand down now, the source said: The president felt standing down now would confuse the electorate. It is like the casino, you cannot change the bet when the ball is already rolling. We have to make sure that the wheel spins full circle. The source added that the politburo also deliberated on the reasons why the president had lost to Tsvangirai.Divisions brought about by the partys primaries that witnessed ZANU-PF having two candidates representing some constituencies before some were ordered to withdraw were cited as one reason for the poor showing.
It was decided that next time, primary elections should be held long before the elections unlike the situation that prevailed. This would enable party members to solve differences before the elections are held. We went into the last election when wounds were still fresh among some losing candidates in the primaries, the source added.
ZANU-PFs Patrick Chinamasa who heads a recently established information committee could not be reached for comment.
But the partys parliamentary chief whip, Joram Gumbo, who is also a member of the politburo yesterday told The Financial Gazette that he was not aware that President Mugabe would retire in 2010, but confirmed that the party would appoint new leaders next year. What you are saying is news to me. However, ZANU-PF appoints new leaders at congress and the next congress will be held next year. In ZANU-PF the first secretary of the party is the president, Gumbo said.
He said President Mugabes representation of the party in the last presidential election was above board as he had been elected as the partys first secretary at the partys 2004 congress. At last years special congress, there was only confirmation and endorsement because the president had received the nomination at the 2004 congress, Gumbo added. There have been calls for President Mugabe, in power for almost three
decades, to step down and allow a leadership renewal in his party by people such as South African Nobel Prize winner Bishop Desmond Tutu.
President Mugabe has resisted pleas from his peers to step down. Most post-independence regional leaders like Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Joachim Chissano of Mozambique, Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania and Festus Mogae of Botswana have passed on the leadership baton.