Links ~ 19 – 20 August 2008
August 20th, 2008
New inflation high (The Mercury)
Zimbabwe’s annual inflation rate zoomed to 11.2 million percent in June, amid a ruinous political crisis that is exacerbating the country’s meltdown. “Zimbabwe’s annual rate of inflation surged in June to 11.2 million percent,” the Herald newspaper reported yesterday, saying: “It gained 9 035 045.5 percentage points from the May rate of 2 233 713.4%.” The real figure could be 40 million percent in June, says independent economist John Robertson.
Mugabe now has support, claims Harare (Daily Nation )
[...] The state controlled Herald newspaper, which usually reflects government thinking, claimed that some Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders had apologised for their stance and accused Mr Tsvangirai of lying to them about the political situation in Zimbabwe. The paper claimed that leaders from Zambia, Botswana and Tanzania expressed “embarrassment†at having “blindly supported†the opposition leader [...] “The biggest surprise, however came from Nigeria, which sent a high profile emissary to South Africa on Sunday to seek a meeting with President Mugabe and offer apologies for taking an “uninformed position†on Zimbabwe’s electoral processes during the last AU summit in Egypt,†the paper claimed. Botswana, whose leader President Ian Khama boycotted the summit protesting against Mr Mugabe’s presence, is also said to have urged Mr Tsvangirai to accept a power sharing deal with Zanu PF. “He (Botswana’s foreign minister, Mr Phandu Skelemani) said his analysis of the situation was that Tsvangirai had misled them on Zimbabwe’s political processes,†the Herald said. (Sokwanele note: The Herald is known for peddling propaganda on behalf of the Zanu PF regime)
Mugabe ‘working behind scenes’ to outflank MDC (Business Day)
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is trying to cut a political deal with opposition MPs behind the scenes while his rival Morgan Tsvangirai is mustering support in the region to pressure him to accept a power-sharing arrangement. Mugabe’s move to wrest power is being plotted under the guise of convening a new parliament and could further jeopardise negotiations for a unity government, which have already stalled.
Recall of parliament threatens Zimbabwe talks (The Telegraph)
The calling of the legislature, elected on March 29, has been on hold pending the outcome of talks between the two sides. With the negotiations deadlocked on their relative powers in a proposed government of national unity, Robert Mugabe’s move could see the process ending without a deal being reached. “The swearing in would take place on Monday or Tuesday to enable new legislators to execute [the] mandate they were given by the people,” Austin Zvoma, a parliamentary clerk, told state television. [...] The MDC said last night it did not object to calling parliament, but under the constitution a cabinet is supposed to be formed once the legislature is sitting. “If he goes further and appoints a cabinet, it will be against the letter and spirit of the MOU,” said a party spokesman, Tapiwa Mashakada.
Zanu prepares fresh crackdown as talks face collapse (ZimDaily)
Information obtained over the past couple of days shows that rather than what President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa has repeatedly been promising- continuation of talks and a deal likely “soon”- Mugabe is actually preparing to relaunch a crackdown on the opposition, civil society and the media he perceives to be enemies. [...] Zimdaily has it on good authority that Mugabe met members of his junta and resolved that “either Tsvangirai changed his position or its game on”, meaning the regime would cling onto power and wage a new wave of terror to maintain a stranglehold on power. [...] It has emerged that the junta is bracing for an offensive as soon as it is official that Tsvangirai cannot be hoodwinked into a deal under its terms. The crackdown, an intelligence source said, would include “fixing” Biti, who was arrested two months ago and charged with treason for allegedly subverting the Electoral Act. The plan would spread to a countrywide terrorization of MDC officials and supporters, harassment of civil society as well as independent media practitioners.
Zimbabwean activists say violence continuing (PR-Inside)
Political violence in Zimbabwe is continuing even as leaders haggle over how to share power, one of the country’s most respected rights groups said Tuesday. The independent Women of Zimbabwe Arise also called on politicians charting their country’s future to consider not just how to create stability and reverse a dramatic economic decline, but also what to do to heal a nation with a “legacy of violence” stretching back to colonial rule. [...] “There’s all this talk about talks,” WOZA head Jenni Williams said at a news conference in Johannesburg. “But nobody talks about the fact that a memorandum of understanding was signed (by political leaders) July 21 that called for an end to violence … but on the ground we are still being arrested, we are still being beaten.”
Magistrate dismisses case against MDC-MP elect Ian Kay (SWRA)
MDC-MP elect for Marondera Central in Mashonaland East province, Ian Kay, is a free man after a magistrate threw out state charges levelled against him for allegedly inciting violence in his constituency. Kay was arrested at the height of the state sponsored violence against the MDC in May and spent two weeks locked up in police cells in Mutoko. He was subsequently granted bail but has been on remand ever since. The MP elect was reporting twice weekly to the police and was asked to surrender his passport.
South African Shelters For Xenophobia Victims To Stay Open For Now (VOA)
South Africa’s constitutional court has reserved its decision on a request that it order Gauteng province officials to keep open shelters for Zimbabweans and others displaced by xenophobic violence in May, instructing lawyers for the displaced and the government to come up with a plan to close down the camps while assuring the safety and rights of the homeless.
S.African firms set to cash in on post-Mugabe deals (The Guardian)
South African companies — used to working in risky African markets — are poised to benefit from lucrative investment opportunities if a deal to end Zimbabwe’s post-election crisis goes through. [...] South African firms, many with small units in Zimbabwe already, have capital that companies in that country cannot raise, and boast a historic, geographic and linguistic edge over other foreigners, having not had political pressure to stay out.
August 20th, 2008 13:19
Re: Zanu prepares fresh crackdown as talks face collapse -
If Mugabe goes down that road he will be openly proving that he has no intention of ever being committed to democracy. He may not care whether the world will treat him as nothing more than a tin-pot dictator, because he may believe that he can rely entirely on the Chinese government to bail him out of the country’s misery while he and the JOC continue to intimidate their political foes.
It is therefore up to strong diplomatic forces in the world to convince, even to plead, with the Chinese authorities that they must not help Mugabe. How this can be done, given their own human rights record, I do not know. But there are some liberal elements in the Chinese administration, and it may be a feather in their cap if they can be seen to show progress
and help create a fairer world.
August 20th, 2008 15:11
I think the JOC are aiming at a version of the regime in Burma. China may well support this, if it gives them a good supply of Platinum.
Both these parties would consider the people of Zimbabwe to be at best an inconvenience.
August 20th, 2008 18:18
Mugabe and the JOC have NO intention of giving up power and allowing themselves to face prosecution. The elections and the present talks are the usual delaying tactics.
In my humble opinion, it is time for Mbeki to admit that he has NO influence upon events, withdraw from further contact with Mugabe and let Mugabe and the JOC openly flout international opinion by claiming a mandate to govern.
This would allow Ian Khama ( it seems there is nobody else) to pursue African support for his policy of absolute repudiation of Mugabe. Perhaps the spineless other African leaders might be encouraged to follow his lead in memory of Levy Mwanawasa, who would have been arm in arm with Ian Khama had he not been so tragically struck down.
I know that allowing Mugabe to userp power again will cause more bloodshed in Zimbabwe, but it might shorten the agony by many months, and perhaps years, if the matter is allowed to come to a head.
I can think of nothing worse than the MDC sharing power with a Mugabe who remains in control of Zimbabwe’s secret services, police and army. Please remember Joshua Nkomo.
Why, why, why is Mbeki allowing this to continue?
Good luck, Zimbabwe, you need it.
August 20th, 2008 23:33
Re: Mugabe now has support, claims Harare…
What a ridiculous story! There is no need for Mr Tsvangirai to lie or mislead anyone about the political situation in Zimbabwe. The evidence is there for the whole world to see:
ZIMBABWE IS A POLICE STATE.
Killing and maiming the political opposition and its supporters; stealing farms under the pretext of land reforms; bulldozing and burning peoples homes; controlling the legal system to Zanu-PF’s advantage; rewarding cronies and henchmen with wealth stolen from the nation; abusing women; arming militia and allowing them to rampage above the law; banning a free press and intimidating independent journalists; allowing the economy to go into free fall; barring aid organizations from distributing food and medicines to the population; allowing people to go hungry and even starve if it does not suit the regime to give them food. All this adds up to only one analysis of the political situation: ZIMBABWE IS A POLICE STATE.
August 21st, 2008 19:15
A colleague of mine observed that as far as he was aware there have almost been NO African leaders who have ever stepped down down out of power by choice. So I Googled it, and really, apart from the most obvious and famous and loved Statesman Africa has ever known – Nelson Mandela, it looks like only two others. At least that I can find.
The rest have, without exception, choosen to die in office, die by the sword, or other interesting, but damaging exits of this nature.
So – does anyone seriously believe that this primitive, immature behaviour so manifest in African “leadership” (loosely used) is likely to simply evaporate conveniently just when we need Mugabe to disappear?
Naive in the extreme, I say – Bob will have to be removed against his will, or die, naturally or some other how.
This is NOT advocating voilence – it is simply a statement of a fact that is irrefutable.
August 21st, 2008 21:28
I see the Batswana have roundly denied the Herald’s story. No surprise there.
@ True Grit: I think you are trying to give Police states a bad name
. Whatever motivates undemocratic military or police led regimes, they usually try to keep order rather than destroy it. What we have here is a Criminal State, why make it sound like something more legal than it really is?