Four weeks to the day after Zimbabwe queued to vote in the 29 March 2008 elections, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) have finally confirmed their original results, and that was that Zanu PF has lost its majority in the House of Assembly for the first time in 28 years.

Prior to the recount, ZEC announced that 99 seats had been won by the MDC MT, 97 seats were won by Zanu PF, 10 went to MDC AM, and 1 to Jonothan Moyo who stood as an Independent.

To win a majority, Zanu PF would have needed to win 106 seats - so they needed to win an additonal 9 seats in the recounts to transform their earlier loss to a majority. (more…)

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This was released yesterday, 25 April 2008. We are reproducing it here in full:

Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights

Statement concerning ongoing cases of organised violence and torture, and of intimidation of medical personnel, from April 22nd to April 24th 2008

dated April 25th 2008

The number of victims of organised violence and torture presenting to members of ZADHR continues to escalate, with 62 patients being documented in the last 3 days alone. The numbers quoted under-reports the true total as full documentation (e.g. confirmation of suspected fractures by Xray) of a number of cases has not yet been completed.

Sixty two cases were assessed and treated, including 9 women, one of whom is 84 years old and sustained serious facial injuries when she was struck in the face with stones on opening her door to unknown assailants. The youngest patient seen was a one year old baby boy who suffered gastroenteritis with dehydration following sleeping in the ‘bush’ with his mother after their home had been burnt down. 23 cases were from Karoi; otherwise there was still a concentration in Mudzi, Mutoko and Murewa with 12.

(more…)

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You may remember that I wrote a post ten days ago about information that had been sent to us about hands being cut off. I relayed the information from my contact like this:

he said a contact of his had phoned him and told him that people in the Musana Communal Lands, in the Bindura / Shamva area (Mashonaland Central), have had their hands cut off.

We were unable to verify it - he was unable to get back in touch with his source - so it began to feel like one of those grotesque rumours that start to grow as people panic.

I am thinking this morning that it may well be true.

This morning The Mirror, a British tabloid paper (I know, I know…) carries a story claiming the same - but they have a name and they directly quote the victim’s words (more…)

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Thanks to all the comments left on this blog for the alerts:

Angola has given authorisation for a Chinese ship loaded with arms destined for Zimbabwe to dock, but it will not be allowed to unload the weapons, state news agency Angop reported overnight.

The ship, the An Yue Jiang, has been authorised to dock in the capital Luanda but can only unload “merchandise destined for Angola,” Angop said, citing a government statement.

“The weaponry that the ship brings destined for Zimbabwe is not authorised to be unloaded on national territory,” the statement said. (link)

Is it really a concidence that Emmerson Mnangagwa just happens to be there at the same time? Accompanied by someone in the Defence sector? I don’t think so:

The President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Robert Gabriel Mugabe sent this Friday to the Angolan capital, Luanda, his minister of Rural Housing and Social Amenities, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who arrived in the country this Friday morning, in the capacity of special envoy of that African Head of State.

ANGOP learnt at “4 de Fevereiro” International Airport, moments after his arrival, that the envoy is the bearer of a message of President Mugabe to his Angolan counterpart, José Eduardo dos Santos.

Minister Emmerson Munangagwa, who came to Angola accompanied by his colleague of the Defence sector, Sydney Sevc-Gramany, will return to his country late this Friday afternoon. (link)

It’s disgusting.

Update:

Here are the Angolan addresses registered on the contact database. A mixture of ports, government and media:

dnmmp@netangola.ao;
geral@mirex.gov.ao;
angola@angola.org;
assembleianacional@parlamento.ebonet.net;
emagalhaes@rna.ao;
dgeral@rna.ao;
alourenco@rna.ao;
jmendonca@rna.ao;
bmorias@minplan.gov.ao;
learao13@yahoo.com;
jornaldeangola@nexus.ao

The Portuguese letter is here.

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How much bad press does one government want?

I lightheartedly posted a blog about Simon “Dreadman” Mudekwa and his fellow protestors being arrested, thinking their right to protest would be upheld in a country like South Africa and that it wouldn’t be long before they were out and about.

But after the arrests resulting from a protest outside the Chinese embassy in South Africa, I was alerted to this via 702:

Zimbabwean exiles to be deported after illegal protest

Pretoria police say over a hundred of the Zimbabwean exiles arrested during an illegal protest outside the Chinese embassy today will be deported.

(more…)

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Via SKY at this link here. These are some of the injured.

An MDC spokesman said 300 people were removed, including all the staff.

A statement said: “These armed police have taken hundreds of people that were now staying at the party headquarters running away from the different parts of Zimbabwe, where the regime has been unleashing brutal violence.”

Spokesman Nelson Chamisa said supporters who came to the HQ after sustaining injuries in violence since the disputed March 29 elections were among those seized.

“They took everyone in the building, including those who had come just to seek medical care. They are trying to destroy evidence of their brutality,” he said.

He said police also took some computers from the party offices.

Police said the raid targeted people who had sought refuge after having “committed crimes” outside Harare.

Spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said: “Some of them are not office workers at all. We are busy screening them.

“There are some cases we are investigating and we will release those who have not committed any crime.”

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In open defiance of the ruling of a tribunal of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the government of Zimbabwe has tacitly given the green light to a new wave of terrorism against the opposition forces and have included the few remaining white farmers in the country. All part of a campaign of violence and intimidation launched when the government of Robert Mugabe realized that it had lost the March 29 parliamentary and presidential elections.

In late March, the five-person SADC tribunal, sitting in Windhoek, Namibia, ordered the government to halt the eviction of 74 farmers and take no steps to interfere with peaceful residence and beneficial use of the farms pending the outcome of a mass hearing set for May 28.

But as the Mugabe regime cracks down on Zimbabweans in the run-up to what most believe will be a run-off election, dozens of white-owned farms have been invaded and harassed, including four specifically protected by the SADC ruling. (more…)

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I just had word that Simon “Dreadman” Mudekwa, the President of the Zimbabwe Revolutionary Youth Movement, was arrested in South Africa while protesting outside the Chinese Embassy.

He is apparently, as we speak, locked up in Sunnyside Police Station - with his cell phone.

The guy who cryptically relayed the message thought it was very funny.

Simon is a fearless activist who will only be emboldened by this.

I emailed back a reply saying that Simon’s battery was going to go flat and his ear would be burning with the phone calls he was going to get, so please, don’t let me down!

Give him a call (we can’t) and let us know in the comments what’s up. Please give him a big cheer from all who love Zimbabwe and stand with him in Solidarity.

Cell phone number: + 27 (0)79 619 2955

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This was emailed to us (click to enlarge), as ’street reading material’ available in Zimbabwe for those who do not have access to email or the internet. Some of it looks familiar, and its great to know that our mailings are passed on beyond email. Thank you for that!

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Don’t celebrate too soon. Weapons and force are the key to Mugabe’s survival - he is not going to give up so easily and we must not let our vigilance drop.

News everywhere is that the ship has been recalled to China, but an article posted a lunch time today in South Africa has a different view:

The ship An Yue Jiang, loaded with weapons for Zimbabwe, is expected to dock in Lobito, Angola at midday on Friday, where activists hope it will meet the same fate as it did in Durban last week.

(more…)

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The response from everyone to the campaign to stop weapons on board the An Yue Jiang from reaching Zimbabwe has been phenomenal. A wealth of information and contacts poured in to us, but finding all the contributions amongst all the comments was a little overwhelming.

In response, we have developed an ‘Action Contact Database‘. At the moment, the database reflects many of the suggestions put forward via everyone reading this blog, and we hope to continue building and developing it with your suggestions playing a key role. (more…)

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Our cell phone network has been appalling in recent weeks, but one network has managed to dramatically improve its service: my friend reckons its because the Trade Fair is going on.

It’s all part of glossing up the lie that there are no problems in Zimbabwe and trade is normal.

In 2005 we blogged here about how petrol was suddenly made available during the Trade Fair week. In 2006, we wrote about how the homeless and street kids were being rounded up and temporarily locked up to ‘clean up the streets’.

It is definately not ‘business as usual’ this year. In fact, I heard a story that on one morning the Fair was opened up and it was littered - littered - with protest phamphlets. So much so that all available police were rushed in to clean the place up before the public arrived. Not quite normal then!

The government’s line on the Fair is this (from The Herald):

“I know that our enemies were saying we would postpone the fair. What they did not realise is that as Government, we are keen to promote business because it has a direct link with the livelihood of the people.

“Why then would we postpone such a thing? It is just that some people want to politicise virtually everything,” she said.

“We have both foreign and local companies at the ZITF out to do business and that’s as it should be.”

Is business booming? The Herald tells us there were 565 exhibitors — 544 of them local and 21 foreign. Those figures don’t indicate a rush of confidence and interest to do trade with Zimbabwe to me.

It is was this comment from the first secretary for economic affairs at the Zambian Embassy in Zimbabwe that made me laugh out loud: she optimistically looks forward to business opportunites saying,

“People have expressed interest in buying sugar, cooking oil and medicines, which apparently are in short supply here,” she said.

Well… yes.. apparently they are! I’m surprised her stand wasn’t mobbed for its display if that’s what they are exhibiting.

Normal happy trading days, indeed … how ridiculous!

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These were sent to us by email. The pictures are credited to Durban Photographer Clinton Wyness. I am told that people are welcome to use them for non commercial use on Zimbabwean websites.

Thank you Clinton!

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This cheeky Zimbabwean touts for cash with infectious humour at South African traffic lights. How can you not smile and reach for your wallet?

Humour isn’t only happening outside our borders. Today a story a hilarious story was relayed to me by Gogo - and here it is for your enjoyment too!

Gogo was coming in from the rural areas yesterday when her sardine packed tshovva (taxi) was stopped by a group of six policemen at a road block.

As the tshovva pulled up, one of the passengers shouted out to the police that they must hurry because they were on their way to a funeral.

When the police asked whose funeral, the comedian retorted,

“Don’t you know, mugabe and gono are dead and gone. We have to bury them!”

The passengers and driver roared with laughter, and so did all of the cops - except one!

This peeved uniformed servant of the regime was unamused and warned the stand-up comic that he would be arrested.

The tension was diverted when another policeman approached the driver for the normal bribe required these days to get them through a road block.

The now emboldened gag artist couldn’t resist, so he made an appeal to the passengers:

“Come on man, let’s give these guys some more money, they need our help. Look at their shoes, they are all curling up. They can’t even walk to work any more. Winter is coming and they are going to be cold on a government salary.”

By then all of the cops were roaring loudly with laughter - only the Zanu PF servant was enraged. But he was outnumbered and they were waved through, the tshovva spinning off cheerfully on its route into town.

Fantastic!

Zimbabwean people are being beaten and intimidated daily, but it is humour like this which keeps them going. Small acts of defiance help to empower communities, building the confidence so desperately needed in our blighted nation. Zimbabweans are fed up and they know they have nothing more to lose.

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Avaaz have another petition. This one is to SADC leaders and governments around the world:

Petition to SADC leaders and governments throughout Africa and the world: We, the undersigned, call for your support preventing any weapons shipments from reaching Zimbabwe until the crisis is resolved. We believe that, if delivered, these weapons would likely be used to violate the human rights of Zimbabweans, and we support the efforts of ordinary citizens and African trade unionists to prevent their transit through neighbouring countries. This shipment highlights the urgent need for a strong international arms trade treaty, and the continuing violence demands that all regional and global leaders act to protect human rights.

1. Please sign it
2. Please ensure you forward details to as many people as you know via the function on their website
3. Thank you!

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