Pliz, Mugabe must go now, people are starving
We’ve added images of a small protest in Zimbabwe, sent to us by a subscriber, to our flickr account. You can see the thumbnails in the far right column of our blog, but swing by Flickr and see them larger.
Issue 10 of our Zimbabwe Election Watch was mailed to our subscribers last night. You can read the full version on our website here, or the Executive Summary below. For those who are counting and watching with us, the tallies are as follows:
Total breaches of SADC standards identified under ZEW:
648 breaches (as of 06-11-2007)
Standards with most recorded breaches:
Article 4.1.2: 90 breaches
Article 7.4: 80 breaches
Article 4.1.1: 77 breaches
Article 2.1.3: 75 breaches
Article 2.1.1: 52 breaches
Zimbabwe Election Watch - Issue 10 : Executive Summary
At this point it is not clear whether the Zimbabwean joint elections - presidential, parliamentary, senate and municipal - will be postponed to June 2008, a move which would allow more time for preparations and for the lack of crucial financial resources to be resolved. The elections are currently scheduled to take place during March. David Coltart, MDC (Mutambara) for Bulawayo South says that the country needs at least six months to put everything in place before calling an election.
The South African mediated negotiations between the ruling Zanu PF party and both factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have resumed. According to the Zimbabwe Independent (ZI), they are expected to discuss issues such as the de-militarisation of state institutions, the role of traditional chiefs in politics, use of state and donor food relief for political gain and foreign broadcasts to Zimbabwe.
So far, according to the ZI, the parties have agreed on a draft constitution, which has been circulated to their respective leaders, but have not reached an agreement on electoral laws, security legislation, media laws or the political climate. Delimitation of constituencies has not yet started and registration of voters is still continuing.
The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition held a rural outreach programme which presented an overview of the governance crisis and perspectives on the 2008 elections, with close reference to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) initiative.
The resolutions made were:
- No to elections without a new constitution
- Development programmes should be isolated from politics
- Zanu PF should be confronted through holding joint meetings with the opposition
- People should be allowed to vote using their national identity cards
- People of foreign origin should be allowed to vote as they are citizens
- Delimitation of boundaries should be undertaken by an independent body
- Village heads should not be used for partisan political programmes
- People should be engaged in intensive voter education
- Election officers should not be politically biased
- Need for independent media structures and the reinstatement of the Daily News and the Tribune
In our media overview, Zim Online reported this week that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has turned down an opposition request for an all-party meeting to discuss voter registration and demarcation of voting constituencies.
The Registrar General’s office has admitted that the outdated voters’ roll - which requires major surgery - has not yet been printed due to inadequate funds.
The government has reduced the number of voter registration centres by over 60 percent amid reports of critical shortages of financial and human resources.
Civic groups report they are restricted by the country’s electoral laws from conducting efficient voter education programmes.
Thousands of Zimbabwean-born people whose forefathers came from neighbouring SADC countries could fail to vote if their citizenship is not restored in time.
Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi has acknowledged that opposition supporters are being victimised and has undertaken to study an MDC dossier detailing 4 122 incidents of political violence and human rights abuses between January and June. Further examples, threats and incidences of human rights abuses, as well as the withholding of food aid from opposition supporters are included in this report.
November 7th, 2007 20:18
I’ve been watching the events unfold for the past couple of months and cannot believe what I’m seeing.
You say that sokwanele means enough is enough.Obviously Zimbabweans haven’t had enough of Mugabe’s atrocities yet as he remains in power.Why are people not rising up?Why are people not out in the streets?
What’s it actually going to take for Zimbabweans to simply say that they’ve had enough?Starvation?
You have been WAY TOO KIND to those in power,those who are committing atrocities against the Zimbabwean people.
You have been INEXCUSABLY,UNFORGIVABLY and INSANELY WAY TOO KIND To Mugabe and his cronies.
When are people going to wake up and realize that there is a war going on against the people of Zimbabwe?
When are people going to stop giving Mugabe permission to continue doing what he’s doing?
When are people going to start to strike back?
February 21st, 2008 20:43
Given the current collapse and erosion of the country,i find it very inhuman that Mugabe still wants to stand as a presidential candidate in the forth coming elections.Has he got any new and fresh ideas to put the country back on its feet? certainly not.He just have to go and go now.