Links ~ 4 July 2008

Mugabe says opposition must drop claim to power (Reuters)
Robert Mugabe said that the MDC must drop their claim to power and accept that he is Zimbabwe’s leader. Mugabe spoke to Zanu-PF supporters on Friday upon his return from the African Union summit.

“Tsvangirai and his group must disabuse themselves of their claim (to power), he said, adding: “We are open to dialogue but reality is reality and it has to be accepted… I am the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe,” said Mugabe.

Mugabe said that he was happy that the AU had accepted that Zimbabwe’s problems had to be settled internally.

Recognise me as Zimbabwe president or no talks: Mugabe (AFP)
Mugabe said that unless the MDC recognised him as the president of Zimbabwe, there would be no talks. “Everybody has to accept that if they want to dialogue,” said Mugabe. “If they agree on that, and we are satisfied, then we shall go into dialogue and listen to them by way of ideas (but) those votes can never be thrown away.”

Zimbabwe’s Mugabe says happy with Mbeki as mediator (Reuters)
President Robert Mugabe said on Thursday he would like South African leader Thabo Mbeki to continue mediating between Zimbabwe’s rival political parties.

“We are happy that President Mbeki continues to be the facilitator. We have said that the facilitator did nothing wrong. We had constitutional amendments leading to the elections. We did all that with president Mbeki,” Mugabe told supporters.

Mugabe warns neighbours against provoking Zimbabwe (Reuters)
Robert Mugabe warned those neighbouring countries allegedly wanting to provoke Zimbabwe that they would have to reconsider their actions.

“If there are some who may want to fight us, they should think twice,” Mugabe said.

“We don’t intend to fight any neighbours. We are a peaceful country, but if there is a country, a neighbouring country that is itching for a fight, ah, then let them try it.”

Robert Mugabe moves to erase the MDC (Times Online)
Leaked minutes from a meeting of the Joint Operations Command (JOC) reveal Mugabe and the military junta’s strategy that entails the assasination or framing of dozens of MDC MPs with the aim to regain control over Parliament. The original plan was to challenge MDC wins through the courts on allegations of vote rigging. The plan had failed when judges would not compromise their integrity.

On Tuesday, Naison Nemadizwa newly elected MDC MP for Buhera South was abducted from the High Court in Harare. Witnesses saw him being abducted by a group of six men, one of which was identified as a colonel in the army. Nelson Chamisa spokesperson for the MDC said that 10 MDC MP’s have been arrested in recent weeks on charges of, amongst others, inciting violence ahead of the presidential run-off election. Two of the MDC MP’s remain in police custody whilst the others have been released on bail. Sources say that the remaining MDC MP’s will now be arrested on trumped-up charges ranging from assault to rape. Any MP that is convicted will immediately loose his seat in Parliament and would necessitate a by-election, enabling Zanu-PF to steal the election as it had done with the presidential poll. MP’s who had gone into hiding face being debarred from Parliament as they can legally be dismissed should they fail to attend parliamentary sessions for 21 consecutive days.

MDC MP Thamsanqa Mahlangu, who was attacked by Zanu-PF youth militia a week before the presidential run-off election, remains in a coma in hospital. Morgan Tsvangirai President of the MDC had pulled out of the election hours after the attack saying that he could no longer ask supporters to risk their lives to participate in the election.

Zimbabwe police put seven opposition MPs on wanted list (DPA)
Zimbabwe police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena said that 7 MDC MP’s are wanted in connection with crimes which range from inciting public violence to attempted murder.

Luke Tamborinyoka Director of Information for the MDC said ‘This tells that this government is not serious about talks. How can we go to the table when half the leadership is either on the run or in police custody.’

‘We have more than 100 supporters who have been killed in broad daylight, but no one has so far been arrested in connection with that.’

The MDC has demanded the release of all political prisoners as a precondition to negotiations with Zanu-PF

Zimbabwe: MDC-T MP-Elect Wanted By Police (The Herald)
According to the Zanu-PF sponsored newspaper The Herald, the Zimbabwe police are looking for MDC MP Shepherd Mushonga in connection with an investigation into the politically motivated violence that allegedly left scores of Zanu-PF supporters injured throughout the country. Superintendent Andrew Phiri said that Mushonga was suspected of being the mastermind behind the violence. The public has been warned that Mushonga is armed and dangerous.

Youth militia continues to wreak havoc despite Mugabe’s controversial reign (CAJ News)
anu-PF militia continues to launch attacks aimed at suspected MDC supporters. Prime targets are those commuter omnibus operators who do not belong to Zanu-PF schemes and therefore do not receive subsidised fuel from the government. The militia took over a commuter omnibus rank in Bulawayo on Thursday and forced operators to charge passengers below market rate fares.

Youth militia also raided the Nkulumane flea market (also known as Sekusile), not only did they take all they could, they also assaulted the people at the market, of whom many were women.

NGO ban puts older people at risk of starvation in Zimbabwe (HelpAge Int.)
Hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people are at critical risk following a ban by the Zanu-PF regime on non-governmental organisations. These people face severe food shortages. It is the elderly, children, and the disabled who are particularly vulnerable in Zimbabwe. HelpAge International (HAI) has been unable to reach those who are in need of aid, since the ban has been implemented. HAI distributes food on behalf of the World Food Programme and reaches 7 500 people in 125 care institutions. Alex Bush Assistant Director of Programmes at HelpAge International said, “This situation is incredibly serious. Vulnerable groups who are supported by food distributions, such as older people and the disabled, have no other means of survival.”

Tesco cuts all trade links with Zimbabwe (Farmer’s Guardian)
Tesco has cut all trade ties with Zimbabwe and will stop sourcing produce from Zimbabwe. The company is removing existing stock from the shelves. Tesco said in a statement that its decision was because the political situation in Zimbabwe could no longer be ignored and necessitated actions to ‘maximise’ pressure to bring about change in the country. The amount of produce sourced by Tesco from Zimbabwe amounts to ₤1 million per annum, which Tesco said was ‘insignificant in terms of global trade and influence’. The company’s decision to withdraw from Zimbabwe came as a surprise as they recently indicated that they would not do so.

Mbeki’s Zim mediation role under scrutiny (Cape Argus / Sapa-AFP)
Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade has questioned South African President Thabo Mbeki’s role as the SADC-appointed mediator in the Zimbabwe crisis. Wade said during an interview with the Cape Argus that the African Union’s call for a government of national unity did not go far enough to address the crisis. Various members of the African Union (AU) had refused to acknowledge Mugabe’s re-election as president of Zimbabwe.

Wade said that he had recently told Mbeki that Morgan Tsvangirai was not comfortable with Mbeki’s role as mediator. On the other hand, Mugabe had told Wade that, “Mbeki is a friend, of course, but I am not accepting what he wants.”

In Wade’s opinion the decision to limit opinion at the “intervention point” in calling for negotiations, was under the circumstances not the correct measure to take. “Because (President Robert Mugabe) will get back as a president, full president, the chief of the police, of the army. And, on the other side, you have half of the population. They will fight. And we (the AU) will be responsible for not taking the correct measures.”

We will not recognize Mugabe-Tanzania (ZM)
Tanzanian Foreign Affairs Minister Bernard Membe said that Tanzania would not recognise Robert Mugabe as the legitimate leader of Zimbabwe. Membe, who is also chairperson of the African Union (AU) foreign affairs ministers, said that the African Union Heads of State Summit had declared the June 27 presidential run-off election as ‘null and void’ after adopting the reports of the election monitors of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the AU, and the Pan African Parliament (PAP). The reports of the election monitors were unanimous in the consensus that the elections were not free and fair. The AU has mandated the SADC to immediately lead a mediation process between the leaders of Zanu-PF and the MDC to form a government of national unity. Regional leaders will convene soon to review the progress made in the mediation process.

Membe said that the AU chairperson President Jakaya Kikwete had told Mugabe to his face to go back home and think about what the leaders had decided and said that the situation in Zimbabwe will get worse if he (Mugabe) does not give the matter serious thought.

Nigeria rejects Mugabe victory in Zimbabwe run-off (DPA)
Nigerian Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe expressed Nigeria’s “strong displeasure” with the situation ahead of the June 27 presidential run-off poll and the outcome of those elections. Maduekwe said, ‘We express our strong displeasure at the process leading to the election and its outcome,’ Ojo Maduekwe told reporters. ‘We therefore do not consider the outcome of that election as a basis for moving forward.’

Liberia comments on run-off Elections in Zimbabwe (LBC)
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said that her government rejects the outcome of the Zimbabwean presidential run-off election. Sirleaf said that the election result did not ‘reflect the will and aspirations of the people of Zimbabwe’. She said that should the African Union want to prevent the African continent from slipping into chaos and instability, the AU must act now, to discourage fraudulent elections.

Botswana calls on SADC not to recognise Mugabe (Reuters)
Botswana called on Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Friday, not to recognise the re-election of Robert Mugabe as president of Zimbabwe.

“As a country that practises democracy and the rule of law, Botswana does not … recognise the outcome of the presidential run-off election and would expect other SADC member states to do the same,” Botswana’s Foreign Minister Phandu Skelemani said in a statement.

Merkel takes tough stance on Zimbabwe sanctions (AP)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has taken a tough stance on sanctions against Robert Mugabe. Merkel has condemned Mugabe’s re-election on June 27 as illegitimate. She said that Germany would take up the issue with the European Union (EU) and “will think up all possible sanctions” and explore what more Germany could do to move against Mugabe and members of his regime.

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