game theory said:Hivi mnajua anayempa funding MT na MDC?
Hivi mnajua anayempa funding MT na MDC?
Roy Chinamano said:⋅ May 17, 2008
A plot to assassinate Majority leader Morgan Tsvangirai as he arrives in
Zimbabwe was leaked to MDC security operatives.
The details of the attacks were not immediately available, but it is
believed the government intended to use Militias instead of the army,and
deny responsibility. Tsvangirai would be attacked en route from the airport shortly after he lands and leaves the Harare International Airport. Senior MDC officials accompanying him will be targeted to completely paralyse his organisation.
The plot was leaked to the MDC early this morning. It has since emerged that President Mugabe refused to guaranteed Tsvangirais safety in a meeting with Mbeki on Friday. He reportedly told Mbeki he has lost total grip on the security forces.
This story will continue to be updated as details become available.
time for commercial break
......edited to remove pictures.......]
Mmegi said:
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
NOAH SALAKAE*
Fourteen long agonising years now separate us from those days which turned day into night, life into death, when an orgy of bloodletting unprecedented in the history of the Republic of Rwanda.
The genocide was sparked by the death of the Rwandan president Juvenal
Habyarimana, a Hutu, when his plane was shot down above Kigali airport on 6
April 1994. And with him the president of Burundi Cyprian Ntaryamira and
many chief members of staff were killed. Some seconds after this painful ordeal, Leaders of the political opposition were murdered, and almost immediately, the slaughter of Tutsis and moderate Hutus began. The early organisers included military officials, politicians and businessmen, but soon many others joined in the mayhem. Encouraged by the presidential guard and radio propaganda, an unofficial militia group called the Interahamwe (meaning those who attack together) was mobilised. Soldiers and police officers encouraged ordinary citisens to take part.
Participants were often given incentives, such as money or food, and some were even told they could appropriate the land of the Tutsis they killed. On the ground, the international community largely left the Rwandese alone. UN troops withdrew after the murder of 10 soldiers. Between April and June 1994 (hardly three months), an estimated 800,000 Rwandese were killed and many more fled to the neighbouring countries of Burundi, Tansania and Uganda in a space of 100 days.
Just across the border to the north of our beloved country, humanity is yet again threatened by these lingering murder mystery and gruesome crimes perpetuated against innocent souls, this time around against the voiceless and poor ordinary Zimbabweans while the international community is yet again trapped into a culture of suffer in silence. What pains us more is the fact that the victims of these occasionally ethnic-ridden tensions are none other than members of the so-called minority tribes whose only participation in many economies is marked by the casting of a ballot. By so doing, opening doors to riches for eventual office bearers and their beloved families who later turn around and put knives on these innocent voters' throats as a token of appreciation.
A quite regrettable scenario and a sheer act of infamy is a case where these
voiceless and economically disadvantaged groups often fall victims of their own very decisions it is purported they make through the power of their vote. They queue lines with little knowledge that they are in actual fact spelling doom to their sacrosanct right of existing as humans; they queue lines with little knowledge that they are in actual fact sliding their lives once more into depression and despair, and other problems that distort and mutilate human existence. The vital task therefore, confronting all those who desire the creation of a more humane society like Chelwa ya Shekgalagari Association is to raise up the banner of hope, to establish once again in the popular consciousness the inextricable connection between elections, which is basically the inalienable right of choosing a leader of your choice, and peace and security, as well as hope for better living. The challenge is to help restore to peace and security their democratic essence, their passionate concern with human freedom. At a memorial conference at the UN headquarters in April 2004, Kofi Annan, then UN Chief of Security Council
(Kofi Annan was UN Secretary-General from Jan 1997 to Dec 2006) said he
realised he personally could have done more to rally support for
international efforts to stop the Rwandan genocide. To quote him verbatim, he said: "The international community failed Rwanda and that must leave us
always with a sense of bitter regret," and that "the international community
is guilty of sins of omission". We only wish as Chelwa ya Shekgalagari Association that Annan's painful memories could influence the current UN Chief of Security Council Ban-Ki-moon (Ban Ki-moon succeeded Annan as the
current UN Secretary-General) to lobby the international community to employ the political will to achieve the necessary agreement on how to put in place the type of measures that will prevent a possible genocide that is currently looming in Zimbabwe from happening to the world in the future.
African Union (AU) under the Chairmanship of President John Kufuor of Ghana
(Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete succeeded Kufuor early this year) watched helplessly as people were being butchered recently in Kenya and is continuing watching helplessly as people are being butchered in Zimbabwe.
SADC under the Chairmanship of President Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia is helplessly watching as people are being butchered in Zimbabwe. Is the international community only going to act decisively after a plane carrying Tsvangirai and his entourage who can be you, or your relative is courageously brought down by the so-called war veterans? Is the international community only going to act decisively after the Ndebeles in Bulawayo, Plumtree and other Ndebele areas are brutally massacred and forced to flee their ancestral land? It took three months in Rwanda to unashamedly force close to a million souls to depart from this world before it was their time! A buoyant Minister of Justice in Zimbabwe, Hon Patrick Chinamasa has of late been pronouncing that it might take close to a year before the anticipated presidential run-off takes place! One wonders how many souls would have unceremoniously departed this world before then because of the butchering perpetuated by war veterans' militia! What then can we do to help as Botswana?
To begin with, we kindly request that as you read through this discourse, you close your eyes and think deeply about the situation of Zimbabwe. Think if it were your mum or kid, how would you be feeling now? As we speak a person is virtually sent to a death row by war veterans' militia in Zimbabwe without a trial and eventual conviction by a competent judiciary. The threat of genocide and with it, of human annihilation, is greater now in Zimbabwe than at any time in the contemporary history of any Sub Saharan African state.
This discourse is written under the conviction that under the world now plagued by violence and war normally perpetuated by lust for power and greed by fascist-type dictators so much characteristic in Africa, no African
country can confidently say its territory is immune to a situation that has now bedevilled Zimbabwe. It does not matter the types of names Botswana would attract from her detractors, if ever an effort was needed to position ourselves as caring, compassionate and serious minded human beings or nation in the face of the world, it must be today. It is becoming a necessity to determine whether our existence as human beings on the one door created by one God holds any validity if the very existence of human beings next door
is under siege.
Zimbabweans stand in desperate need of a genuine help today than ever before. They have fought to break the chains of domination that have tied them to a life of drudgery and misery through a power of vote but reality has proven them otherwise. Jacques Roux put it at the height of the French Revolution in 1793 that; "Liberty is no more than an empty shell when one class of men is allowed to condemn another to starvation without any measures being taken against them. And equality is also an empty shell when
one class of men, have the power of life or death over other members of the
community".
It is against this background that we pray with peace loving people of this country, Human Rights Institutions, Political Organisations across the divide i.e., Government and the civil society as a whole to converge at the National Stadium and once again condemn the monstrous acts that were once attributed to the Late Ian Smith's regime by none other than Robert Gabriel
Mugabe and his lieutenants. We urge the nation to unequivocally declare solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe. God willing! It is our hope that Zimbabweans who flee their country and seek refuge in Botswana shall be treated with dignity and respect.
Christian Science Monitor said:
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was invited for talks with President Robert Mugabe, says a top official. Would the talks negate a runoff presidential election scheduled for June 27. By Scott Baldauf | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor from the May 19, 2008 edition Reporter Scott Baldauf discusses why Zimbabwe's ZANU-PF and MDC parties may soon negotiate a power-sharing deal.
Johannesburg, South Africa - Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai canceled a trip home from South Africa this weekend, citing a rumored assassination plot against him.
The trip was timed for a celebration of his party's gaining a parliamentary majority in the March 29 elections and to gear up for the newly announced June 27 presidential runoff vote. But a senior member of President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party tells the Monitor that he had met with Mr. Tsvangirai over the weekend in Johannesburg, and that Tsvangirai had indicated that he had been invited back to Harare to begin power-sharing talks with Mr. Mugabe himself. These would be the highest-level talks yet, and could pave the way for a political settlement that would avoid a runoff that most observers say will not be free and fair. "[Tsvangirai] said he had been approached by the ZANU-PF and they were prepared to forgo a runoff in favor of establishing a government of national unity," says Dumiso Dabengwa, a former Zimbabwe chief of intelligence and current member of ZANU-PF's politburo, and one of the leading ZANU-PF officials to turn against Mugabe in support of independent candidate Simba Makoni.
"I said: 'Please don't hesitate. Take it up, and let's get on with the negotiation,' " says Mr. Dabengwa. But hearing minutes later on the news that Tsvangirai had canceled his trip in fear of his life, Dabengwa could only shake his head. "What we want is Mugabe out," he says, "but we have this impossible character [Tsvangirai], and we have to swallow this bitter pill to support this fellow. If he doesn't go back now, he will lose face."
Glimmers of hope
By most appearances, Zimbabwe's post-election crisis would seem no closer to resolution. Attacks against opposition activists by pro-Mugabe militias continue, and leaders of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change party (MDC) insist that they won the presidential vote outright. But behind the uncompromising positions, there are glimmers of hope that the two parties are quietly negotiating. "Now there is a real possibility of a government of national unity," says Eldred Masunungure, a political analyst at the University of Zimbabwe. ZANU-PF insiders say that Mugabe's support continues to erode, and that aside from a small coterie of Mugabe's advisers and of course the roving bands of pro-Mugabe militias there are few voices in ZANU-PF who think that violence will do any more good. "I think they've always wanted a negotiated settlement, and the general tendency by the MDC and other democratic forces was to give an exit package for Mugabe which would give him immunity, but it would not give safeguards for anyone else," says Dumiso Matshazi, an opposition activist from Zimbabwe's second-largest city, Bulawayo. "What [top Mugabe backers] feared is if Mugabe gives in without giving safeguards for them. The rest of the guys around Mugabe felt vulnerable; they held Mugabe at ransom. They say, 'We've done everything for you. So if there is no package for us, then there is no package.' "
MDC officials continue to publicly deny any talks of a negotiated settlement. "That is a very remote possibility, because ZANU-PF is murdering our supporters," MDC spokesman Nelson Camisa told the Monitor. "The environment is not at all conducive for any talks and we are not talking. The runoff is not going to be free and fair, but despite that it is going to be a walkover on Mugabe."
Tough to hold a fair runoff vote
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has indicated that it was crucially short of funds to hold the June 27 runoff. ZANU-PF insiders confirm that South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki who has been charged by Zimbabwe's neighboring countries to lead a mediation process in Zimbabwe has assured the ZEC that it would provide whatever funding was necessary to hold the elections as planned. James McGee, the US ambassador to Zimbabwe, told the BBC news service that the current violence against opposition supporters made a runoff election impossible. He claimed to have evidence that state security agencies, including the police and Army, are involved in the violence against opposition members.
Yet former intelligence chief Dabengwa says he welcomes the runoff date in six weeks, because it forces both ZANU-PF and MDC to come to a negotiated settlement rather than face the cost and chaos of a new election. For Dabengwa, and many other ZANU-PF members the thought of five more years of Mugabe's rule is an unpalatable prospect. Dabengwa was one of many senior ZANU-PF members to support an independent candidate, former Finance Minister Simba Makoni.
"We started saying to ourselves, are we really going to have Mugabe stand as our presidential candidate, with all the problems we have in the country, all the difficulties we are going through?" says Dabengwa. "And are we really going to contend for him and tell our people, you are going to vote for this man? For some of us, it was a very difficult prospect of supporting an idea like that."
Now, he says few ZANU-PF members support Mugabe from their hearts, and are opening channels with Tsvangirai's party to form a transitional government of national unity, to last a maximum of two years.
MacDonald Dzirutwe said:
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, May 18 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's main opposition vowed on Sunday to 'bury' President Robert Mugabe at next month's second-round election, and called for the process of checking the poll results to be open to the media. The Movement for Democratic Change launched its campaign ahead of the June 27 election in the absence of its leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who delayed his return from abroad after the party said it had discovered a plot to kill him.
MDC vice president Thokozani Khupe told about 10,000 supporters in Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo that the opposition would win by an even bigger margin after official results from the March 29 first round vote showed Tsvangirai did not secure sufficient votes to avoid a run-off.
The MDC insists Tsvangirai won outright the first time. "We decided to participate in the run-off to give the people of Zimbabwe a second chance to kick out the dictatorship. We have now declared a zero vote for Robert Mugabe," Khupe told supporters on Sunday. "We need to give Mugabe a final blow. On June 27 we will be having a ZANU-PF funeral. We are going to make sure we bury them so that they will not resurrect again." The MDC has alleged electoral fraud in the March election, and Khupe said verification of results in next month's vote should be open to the media and
observers and recorded on camera "so that ZANU-PF will not cheat."
Earlier, police set up a security checkpoint on the main road leading to the stadium where the rally was held, stopping and searching vehicles for weapons. At a nearby police camp, four water canons were on standby. Police had initially banned the rally, but the MDC won a court ruling compelling the authorities not to interfere with the meeting.
Peta Thornycroft said:]size=3]Harare
Last Updated: 12:45AM BST 23/05/2008
Zimbabwe's army has threatened to evict the country's remaining white farmers if a single vote is cast for Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader, in polling stations on their land. The final round of the presidential election will take place on June 27 and Robert Mugabe's regime is trying to guarantee his victory with a violent crackdown on opponents.
At least 42 people have been murdered and thousands assaulted since Mr Tsvangirai defeated Mr Mugabe in the first round on March 29, although he fell short of the 50 per cent threshold needed to avoid a run-off. Five landowners from two different districts were called to a meeting last week by a lieutenant colonel in the army, whose name is known to The Daily Telegraph. He was accompanied by three senior officials from Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.
During the 90-minute meeting the colonel told the farmers: "I do not accept failure, and Mugabe has to win. If he doesn't win we will go back to war. Tsvangirai and the MDC [Movement for Democratic Change] will never rule Zimbabwe. If there is one MDC vote on your farm, there will be war." The colonel, who is in his early 40s and fought in Zimbabwe's military interventions in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo, told the farmers to ensure that Mr Tsvangirai received no votes on their land.
A farmer who attended the meeting, and who spoke on condition of anonymity, described how Mr Mugabe's re-election campaign was operating in his district. He said ''command centres" had been established in old homesteads once occupied by white farmers or in deserted schools. These were manned by groups of about 10 people, usually low-ranking Zanu-PF officials and occasionally veterans of the war against white rule of the 1970s. They roamed the countryside and captured MDC supporters, who they called "suspects". These people were "arrested" and taken to the command centre where they were beaten and tortured.
The victims were made to chant: "Vote for Mugabe vote for peace. Vote for the MDC vote for war." The farmer said: "We were told, 'there will be no more beatings unless you are MDC'." The army is in control of the operation. Major-General Nicholas Dube, from defence headquarters in Harare, used soldiers and army vehicles to evict Paul Stidolph, 65, a white farmer, two weeks ago. ''I imagine that will happen to all of us, as at least my wife and I are going to vote for Tsvangirai on our farm on June 27," said the farmer.[/size]
Raymond Maingire said:
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe, who is in the throes of a rigorous election campaign quietly left Harare on Wednesday heading for Beijing, China, where sources close to him said he was to undergo medical treatment. Mugabe, who departed as his rival Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC, prepared to return to Harare after a five-week absence from the country has been campaigning rigorously for the crucial presidential election run-off, which is scheduled for June 27. Mugabe, whose recent pictures portray him as aged and emaciated, is widely regarded as the underdog in the forthcoming election.
He won 43, 2 percent of the national vote in the March 29 elections to Tsvangirais 47, 9 percent. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission delayed the announcement of the presidential election result by five weeks. Mugabe is scheduled to officially launch his presidential campaign at his partys headquarters on Sunday amid fears even within his Zanu-PF party that he could be heading for another embarrassing defeat. Mugabe departed soon after addressing a police pass-out parade at Morris Depot, Zimbabwes national police training academy, on Wednesday afternoon. His motorcade was seen heading for the airport amid speculation he had gone to meet South Africas ruling ANC party president, Jacob Zuma who is expected in Zimbabwe soon on a mission to help resolve the deepening political and economic crises.
But sources say Mugabe, now 84, instead boarded a London-bound Air Zimbabwe flight. The flight was, as has become routine, diverted to Beijing where he is apparently due to receive unspecified treatment ahead of what is likely to be a gruelling election campaign. Mugabe is ill and is feared he may not be able to last the distance when he starts campaigning for the run-off, a source said. He left for China on Wednesday to receive some treatment that will energize him for his campaign.
Mugabes spokesperson, George Charamba could neither confirm nor deny his bosss absence. Who told you that? he asked. Is that person a medical doctor? I believe only a medical doctor can confirm the Presidents illness. But what you will be shocked to see is that the President will be strong and raring to go, come Sunday. But Sports and Culture Minister, Aeneas Chigwedere, all but confirmed Mugabes absence at a function in Harare this week when he addressed Vice President Joseph Msika as Acting President. Mugabes health has been the subject of both speculation and excitement among both observers and his rivals over the past 10 years. But, undaunted by his humiliating defeat at the hands of Tsvangirai in March, the battle-weary Mugabe appears determined to defy both his advanced age and his waning popularity to turn the tables on his opponent and win another term.
Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has returned to Harare to begin his presidential run-off campaign, after spending weeks abroad. Police stood by as a convoy carrying the Movement for Democratic Change leader left the airport after touching down from neighbouring South Africa. Mr Tsvangirai's scheduled return last weekend was delayed amid allegations the army planned to assassinate him. The ruling party rejected the MDC claims as a fantasy.
The presidential election run-off is scheduled to take place on 27 June despite warnings that election violence makes a fair second round impossible.
Police assault
Opposition and human rights groups have said hundreds of opposition supporters have been beaten up and at least 40 killed since the first round on 29 March. Mr Tsvangirai's first scheduled stop in Harare is at a private clinic to meet victims of political violence, says the BBC's Peter Biles in Johannesburg. Hospitals have been struggling to cope with admissions, our correspondent says, as a result of what is widely perceived to be a government campaign of intimidation against MDC supporters.
President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party denies supporting violence and says the West is trying to demonise Zimbabwe. Last year, Mr Tsvangirai was treated in hospital after being assaulted by police. Mr Mugabe has accused the MDC of fomenting violence since the disputed first round election. Mr Tsvangirai has spent nearly two months outside Zimbabwe, mainly in South Africa, since the first round trying to drum up international support. According to official results, the MDC leader won the presidential poll, but not by enough to avoid a run-off with President Mugabe. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said Mr Tsvangirai won 47.9% of the vote, with Mr Mugabe taking 43.2%.