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…)

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…)

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!

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!

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.

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!

Is this a sign that Zanu PF are recognising they cannot simply steal the elections and get away with it?

The state controlled Herald (aka The Horrid) has an article today which proposes a government of National Unity lead by Robert Mugabe and outlines what they (read Zanu PF because The Herald is their mouthpiece) want SADC to do:

The Zimbabwe Government and independent international observers are agreed that the just-ended harmonised elections did not produce an outright winner in the presidential race. It is unlikely that the on-going recount will substantively alter that position.

Accordingly, it stands to reason that, the transitional government of national unity, negotiated by the two leading contending parties, under the mediation of Sadc, supported by the international community, should be led by the incumbent president.

For the above scenario to materialise, there needs to be a major paradigm shift in the thinking of three major players.

It is up to Sadc, assisted by the progressive international community, to ensure that such a shift does take place.

The three players are the ruling Zanu-PF party, the opposition MDC-T party, and the UK/US establishments.

Personally, I think that since they are now acknowledging the results are probably not as flawed or corrupted as they initially tried to claim, then perhaps the Presidential should be released so we all (officially) who the real winner is.

This man, above, is from UMP, Mashonaland East Province, the local ‘war vet’ and Zanu PF militia put plastic on his back and arms and burned it. He only managed to get to hospital four days later.

This man, above, is also from UMP area. He was tied to his hut door by militia and then set alight. This happened last week and he only managed to get to hospital last night.

The email accompanying the images echoes the message received yesterday from a different source.

We cannot get ambulances to go into that area as they are either turned back by Police or threatened by CIO. So we are borrowing fuel off anyone and everyone for our MDC guys vehicles to go in and find the injured.

The same person who sent us this message also advised us that someone he knows in the Macheke area saw two youngsters walking down the road with AKs slung over their shoulders. He asked another person – a war vet he had a friendly relationship with – what it was about:

The answer was, “Yes we are all being armed; we are going back to war”.