As of Friday 25 April 2008

1. The Foreign Minister told the House of Lords that the Angola Ambassador told him that they would not let the An Yue Jiang unload. Personally I would like to hear confirmation from IFTW about the fact.

What I have learned about the process is that governments will ask each other for assurances on their position and they will announce who they have asked and the answer they were given.

2. A high level and very large British diplomatic mission has gone to China and is there. It is not about us obviously. China overtook Britain in economic size this year and there are a lot issues for them to discuss. Tibet is one. We are one. We are part of a larger picture.

What I have learned is that that mission is there now and it is a good time to petition British embassies around the world and UK MP’s if you are in UK.

3. To petition an MP in the UK you can go to your website called “Theywordforyou”. You choose your constituency and press on your MP’s name and type in your letter.

Someone tried and asked their MP to take up Zimbabwe’s cause. An answer came back the same day with the information the MP had consulted on of the foreign affairs group just the morning about Zimbabwe.

That tells us how to reach MP’s and how it works. They have to speak to someone for us and it all adds up. It keeps us on the agenda and it shows we care enough to at least get on the internet.

I hope this helps anyone working the UK end. Saidia might be able to comment and add.

Try to have a food weekend. And of course looking forward to hearing what recount magic has conjured up for us. Think, other people have to pay good money to see magicians at work!

If you by any chance have a list of excellent contacts in the media over there or in government who we could lobby and keep up to dates with developments in zim, we’d be very grateful. We can be emailed at info@sokwanele.com.

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General Vitalis Zvinavashe concedes defeat, blames Mugabe
Thursday, 24 April 2008 11:11
THE losing Zanu PF Senate candidate for Gutu constituency General Vitalis Zvinavashe has blamed President Robert Mugabe for the party’s poor showing in Masvingo Province after a recount of ballots in his constituency failed to change the party’s fortunes.
The former army commander also urged fellow Zanu PF candidates at a counting centre in the province to live with the reality that they had indeed lost the elections to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
Zvinavashe, a former army commander who once vowed he would never salute Tsvangirai, spoke Wednesday while addressing Zanu PF House of Assembly and local council election candidates during the recounting of ballots for three constituencies at Gutu rural district council offices in Masvingo.
Zvinavashe said: “There is no need to fight over these results. We must accept the reality that we have lost these elections to the MDC. What is important is to live together in peace, both losers and winners. We do not want violence in this area. We are relatives.”
The former Zimbabwe Defence Forces chief startled election officials and agents when he publicly suggested that Zanu PF candidates in Masvingo had lost because of the party’s presidential candidate President Robert Mugabe.
He said: “Most of us lost these elections not because we are not popular in our constituencies. We lost these harmonised elections because of one man.
“People rejected us because we were campaigning for Mugabe. People in Masvingo have rejected him and we became collateral damage. There is no reason to fight with the MDC over this election. The real problem is that man not us.”
The revealing remarks by Zvinavashe were made in the presence of MDC candidates and polling agents who were at the counting centre.

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