Links ~ 9 June 2008

MDC families targeted in escalation of violence (SWRadio)
The wife of Patson Chipiro, MDC district chairman of Mhondoro Ngezi, was brutally murdered on Saturday morning. Patson Chipiro was not at home when a gang of Zanu-PF militants attacked the village. The militants assaulted Mrs Chipiro. After beating her, they cut off her hands and her legs, dragged her body into a kitchen hut, and set it on fire. A sack containing her hands and legs were found later on.

In Harare South, Zanu-PF militants set a house on fire belonging to the MDC councillor for Ward 1. The councillor’s 6-year old son died in the blaze, his pregnant wife died on the way to hospital and the councillor survived. Zanu-PF MP Hubert Nyanhongo was blamed for the attack. Police have refused to assist the family in compiling a report.

Vicious attack by Zanu-PF on church reverend in Nyazura (SWRadio)
Reverend Takura Bango of the United Methodist Church has lost an eye in an attack by soldiers and militia near Nyazura in Manhicaland province, on Saturday. The Reverend is in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Mutare. An operation on his right eye is necessary and will be done within the next 48 hours. Major Dangirwa led the brutal attack on the reverend.

The MDC said that dozens of people were injured in attacks on Saturday. Soldiers and militias carried out the attacks as punishment for attending a MDC meeting on Friday. Major Dangirwa said that the MDC was banned from holding rallies in the province.

Mugabe hits out at Zimbabwe churches (Tearfund)
The offices of the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA) in Harare were raided on Monday. 5 Staff members were taken to Harare Central Police station for questioning. Riot police carried out the raid and at least one person was assaulted during the raid. The police confiscated papers including the March edition of the ZCA newsletter. Nobody has been charged, yet.

Zimbabwe opposition fears new crackdown (AFP)
Mugabe’s Zanu-PF has vowed to “get tough” on perpetrators of political violence and will refuse bail to anyone suspected of political violence. The MDC fears that this may signal a new crackdown on MDC officials and supporters ahead of the run-off for the presidential election. Nelson Chamisa spokesman for the MDC said there was scepticism on the part of the MDC that the law would be applied evenly. Chamisa said that the measure would possibly be used to target key MDC members and activists, who could then be detained and thus Zanu-PF could further hamper the MDC campaign.

MDC battle on in ‘Mugabe’s country’ (M&G)
Nelson Chamisa spokesperson for the MDC said that the party had a successful day of campaigning on Sunday, despite attempts by Zanu-PF to thwart the MDC election activities. One rally had to be cancelled but 2 other rallies went ahead as scheduled in Harare. Morgan Tsvangirai leader of the MDC continued campaigning in Bulawayo on Sunday. Tsvangirai have been speaking to small groups of voters in Bulawayo and visited a small rally in Kwekwe. Members of the MDC was however prevented from putting up posters in Bulawayo and were told by the police and other security forces that “it was Mugabe’s country and only Mugabe could put posters on street poles and the MDC would not be allowed.” Police in riot gear later assaulted the team and one MDC member suffered a fractured leg and had to be hospitalised. Sapa-DPA, Sapa-AP.

Famine Warning Network Says Zimbabwe’s Food Crisis Worsening (VOA)
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) has issued an alert that current food crisis in Zimbabwe is the worst on record and is expected to get worse. The summer crop yield will feed no more than 28% of the population in Zimbabwe. The recent ban on food aid means that the Zimbabwean government will have to import a massive amount of food. Most of the banned aid organisations have started to withdraw from the field offices in the region. It is believed that they were banned from providing aid because they are witnesses to what is happening in the rural areas and because Zanu-PF wants to take over the role of distributing food ahead of the presidential run-off election.

When only one man dared speak (Times –SA)
800 Delegates attended the World Economic Forum for Africa, in Cape Town last week. They were mainly political and business leaders, including President Thabo Mbeki and leaders of other African states. Among the many, one African leader dared to talk about that which everybody else seemed to be avoiding. Raila Odinga, the prime minister of Kenya broke the conspiracy of denial and said: “It is unfortunate that, in an African country, elections can be held and no results announced for more than a month, and African leaders are silent about it.” Justice Malala in this article, give voice to the frustration many Africans have with the “conspiracy of silence among African leaders”.

New wind is blowing in Africa, but storms are not at an end (BusRep)
The MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti said that a revolution was occurring in Africa, the time has come for leaders who are sensitive to issues of ruling constitutionally and have a desire for economic stability and growth. Biti was speaking at the World Economic Forum for Africa and said that the nationalist groups that took over from colonial rulers had a role to play in that they had initially united the nation, but a new form of leadership was now needed. Kenya, Zambia and Ghana now have new leaders. Tendayi Frazer US assistant secretary of state for African Affairs said that a number of governments had adopted policies which are friendly to growth, however many of the institutions underpinning democracy were weak and therefore did not exclude the possibility of more situations comparable to that of Zimbabwe developing.

Letters from Zimbabwe – Missed the target (Moneyweb)
Cathy Buckle writes in this article about the new schedule of minimum wages for some categories of employment.

‘One of the lowest in the schedule is a yard or garden worker whose minimum wage has been set at 3.2 billion dollars a month. To outsiders this may sound like a massive amount of money but in reality, it is a death sentence. As I write this letter a 1 kg packet of plain hard biscuits is 9.2 billion dollars, a 2 kg packet of potatoes is 3.6 billion dollars, a 400 gram tin of baked beans is 1.8 billion dollars. By the time you read this letter all of these prices will have increased; it is likely they will have doubled within a week. On a full month’s pay a yard or garden worker cannot even feed himself for a few days; worse still, he cannot provide any food for his family, he cannot buy any clothes or shoes and cannot pay his children’s school fees. God help him if he gets sick. Perhaps the saddest fact of all is that this government stipulated minimum wage is currently worth just ten US cents a day…’

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