PS Gee I really hope I got this wrong!!! They (we) deserve something better than a terrorist for a president. I.R
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PS Gee I really hope I got this wrong!!! They (we) deserve something better than a terrorist for a president. I.R
Some comments via a Zimbabwean emailing which I've not read yet:
*What's new on Kubatana Blogs?*Zimbabweans speak out about The Deal- Marko Phiri calls it not so happy a day <http://kubatanablogs.net/kubatana/?p=788>-
Bev Clark reckons this isn't any kind of victory <http://kubatanablogs.net/kubatana/?p=785>-
Susan Pietrzyk is optimistic Zimbabwe can resolve its identity crisis <http://kubatanablogs.net/kubatana/?p=786>-
Amanda Atwood thinks it's an anticlimax <http://kubatanablogs.net/kubatana/?p=789>-
Dennis Nyandoro is proud to be a Zimbabwean <http://kubatanablogs.net/kubatana/?p=787>-
Brenda Burrell contemplates change <http://kubatanablogs.net/kubatana/?p=790>-
Natasha Msonza shares Zimbabweans' text messages <http://kubatanablogs.net/kubatana/?p=791> about the deal
Wrong question, wrong answer! - Fay ChungRead more <http://www.kubatana.net/html/archive/opin/080908fc.asp?sector=OPIN>
Sirs
The comments in the article found at the following link pretty much sum up the present state of affairs.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=5097
I.R
Check this BBC News accoubt: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...-PF-party.html
davidbfpo
I have been expecting this to happen but the degree is a bit more than I had guessed was coming. Mugabe is old and will not be around that mush longer but he has institutionalized thuggery as a preferred practice. They the ZANU-PF elites will not go when Mugabe does and I wonder if armed rebellion is the only road ahead; certainly the economy will get no better. Mbeki has proved a man with feet of clay. Who will step up?
Tom
Quote:
Robert Mugabe grabs key Zimbabwe Cabinet posts
The surprise move, in defiance of a power-sharing deal, ensures Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party will retain their iron grip on the troubled country.
By Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 12, 2008
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA -- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has defied a fragile power-sharing deal with the opposition, giving all key Cabinet posts, including the crucial security ministries, to his own party.
The power grab took Zimbabwe by surprise Saturday, less than a month after the deal was signed. Opposition spokesman Nelson Chamisa, whose Movement for Democratic Change has said ruling party control of the police would be a deal-breaker, called it "a giant act of madness which puts the whole deal into jeopardy."
Would have to agree with you, even with (retired) Mbeki's return to broker yet another deal, Tsvangirai's persistent threats of stepping down with each speed bump he encounters leaves me wondering what he would even accomplish as PM.
I think we're well past the overinflated Zaire banknote... "On Thursday, it was announced that Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate had soared to 231,000,000%" Well, they could always knock a few more zeros off (again) :confused:
Brilliant! Stan and I should have thought of the "stop shaking hands" bit in Goma '94. Of course, the could use their Zim dollars to buy bottled water.
Turning off the water because chemicals are unavailable guarantees that the population will use contaminated water.
Tom
Quote:
Mob runs riot as Zimbabwe runs out of water
Water supplies to residents in Harare were cut by the authorities yesterday as Zimbabwe’s cholera epidemic tightened its grip and the city witnessed its worst unrest for a decade.
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority turned off the pumps in the capital after it ran out of purifying chemicals. With cholera cases soaring above 11,000 across the country, and an anthrax outbreak ravaging the the countryside, David Parirenyatwa, the Health Minister, urged Zimbabweans to stop shaking hands to avoid spreading disease.
Dave and Bill as usual have rounded up the best Zimbabwe articles for the past several days. The cholera outbreak may be the final straw toward pushing South Africa into action.
Mugabe's regime use of the outbreak to again trot out the Western colonialist conspiracy is nothing less than mass murder through deliberate neglect.
Meanwhile Kenya's calll for the AU to send troops is noteworthy in that it accepts that AU troops may not be available and acccomodates UN forces in advance.Quote:
Rescue Zimbabwe
Tens of thousands will starve or die of cholera unless the outside world ends the madness of Robert Mugabe.
Sunday, December 7, 2008; Page B06
ZIMBABWE'S TRAGIC implosion is gaining momentum. On Thursday the government announced a national health emergency because of a rapidly spreading cholera epidemic, which so far has killed at least 500 people and infected more than 12,000. The water and sewage system of Harare, the capital, has broken down; hospitals have virtually ceased to function. The United Nations and aid groups say that hundreds of thousands of people are at immediate risk. That comes on top of the 5 million -- more than half of Zimbabwe's remaining population -- who will need international food aid by next month to avoid starvation, according to the United Nations. Zimbabwe's economy has seized up: only one in 10 people now works, most schools are closed and prices double every 24 hours. In short, a country that once was a relatively prosperous food exporter will soon be the site of a major humanitarian catastrophe unless there is international intervention.
Another call for action--one that uses the "G" word, genocideQuote:
Zimbabwe Says West Exploiting Cholera to Undermine Mugabe
By VOA News
07 December 2008
Kenya's prime minister has called for foreign troops to enter Zimbabwe to help end that country's deepening humanitarian crisis.
Kenyan PM Raila Odinga, speaks to the media in Nairobi, 07 Dec 2008
Speaking in Nairobi Sunday, Raila Odinga said the African Union must immediately authorize sending troops into Zimbabwe.
Quote:
Remove Robert Mugabe from Zimbabwe to save African lives
Last Updated: 10:01pm GMT 07/12/2008
As a cholera epidemic starts to engulf Zimbabwe and threatens to spread to the whole region, the world must now seek an urgent end to Robert Mugabe's murderous and illegitimate reign. The future bill for sorting out a southern African epidemic will inevitably end up, in part, being paid by Britain. It would be advantageous, both financially and morally, to finance action now and prevent a mass outbreak, rather than wait until millions of Africans are needlessly sent to their graves.
Taken from a slightly longer report on a debate at the Royal African Society (London) on 4th DEc '08, via Deutsche Welle to a Zimbabwe newsletter; remarks attributed to a South African academic observer:
Asked if South Africa could do more to end the chaotic regime of Robert Mugabe, Professor Habib this to say: "The problem is: how do you get rid of a thug with guns? That's the dilemma. He's a thug with guns. We confronted this with Abacha and we confront this with Mugabe. We have three options. We invade, which South Africans don't buy. I don't buy, I must say. We've seen what happened in Iraq and frankly, I think they'd give us a hiding. That's our first problem. Second, sanctions. Well, sanctions take fifteen years to work. Sanctions might please the Foreign Office and the electorate in London. The third option is negotiations. But how do you get leverage against a bleddy dictator? That's the dilemma. That's what we should be talking about. Up until now everyone has been criticising Mbeki and I think he should be criticized. He didn't have to hug Mugabe. He didn't have to stay silent when the elections results came out. But the question that no-one has put on the table is -How do you get rid of a thug with guns?"
Asked if he agreed that South Africa would get a hiding from the Zimbabweans, Moeletsi Mibeki said: "I don't really think that South Africa would be in for a hiding in an armed conflict with Zimbabwe. Yes, the South African Army is very weak. The average age of a private in the South African Army is 35 years old. In the US Army, the average is 22 years old. So you see already that the South African Army is not in very good shape. There are lots of weaknesses in terms of equipment. Its got old equipment which goes back to the 1970s which was developed for the war in Angola. So there are a number of weaknesses. However, the Zimbabwean Army., like all modern armies, runs on armoured vehicles and all the oil that goes into Zimbabwe comes through South Africa, either through South Africa or from South African sources like SASOL. The reality is that if South Africa wanted a conflict with Zimbabwe, it would force the Zimbabweans military out of their military vehicles just by cutting off the diesel."
Unable to find a link to the talk.
davidbfpo
The link: http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...uote=1&p=61804 is to a long review article on how Zimbabwe came to where it was. A very different point of view and so may cause some interest here.
davidbfpo
Apologies for the IT failure. This is the link to the article: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v30/n23/mamd01_.html and this is a link to some of the initial responses: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v30/n24/letters.html#letter1
davidbfpo
Just found: http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/Ne...20Chief%20Shot
Yes, Zimbabwe is under attack by terrorists?
davidbfpo
ICG, 16 Dec 08: Ending Zimbabwe's Nightmare: A Possible Way Forward?
Quote:
......Zimbabwe’s long national nightmare must end, and its only legitimately elected body – the parliament – must take the lead. The rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation, including a transnational cholera epidemic threat and the hunger and starvation of half the country’s population, has intensified discussion of the responsibility to protect the population from its government. The AU and SADC must say enough is enough, appoint a new mediator and encourage a new negotiated outcome, which would involve Robert Mugabe’s immediate departure from the presidency and the postponement of Morgan Tsvangirai’s leadership aspirations.
Since implementation of the seriously flawed 15 September agreement seems impossible in light of Mugabe’s unilateral actions and unwillingness to cede any security sector authority, MDC and ZANU-PF negotiators should establish a transitional administration by constitutional amendment. A pragmatic shift in the current approach to negotiations by Zimbabwe’s elected political leaders of the kind described appears to be the only peaceable way to break the long deadlock now destroying the country.
http://bellum.stanfordreview.org/?p=325
Mugabe is 85. Rumors of his poor health are littered throughout cyberspace. “Hardliners” need not remove him from power to send Zimbabwe into chaos; he merely has to die. There is no clear successor and the durability of the power-sharing arrangement is extremely suspect. The combination of all of this — an aging autocrat, an unstable government, rampant disease, skyrocketing inflation, and a disgruntled military — should make Zimbabwe’s neighbors rather wary, as they will bear the tides of refugees in the event.
I have recommended this website before: http://www.sokwanele.com/ which appears to be a Zimbabwean opposition blogsite and the latest article shows massive holes already in the power-sharing agreement.
davidbfpo
A report in The (UK) Daily Telegraph, that more commercial i.e. white owned farms are to be seized: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...e-farmers.html
davidbfpo
Timed to coincide with Mugabe's 85th birthday party a grim report on the cholera epidemic: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009...cholera-mugabe The attached short newsreel does not appear to work.
davidbfpo
This one is a tough read and it really hits at the heart of the white farmer's reality--that regardless of government, Zimbabwe's farmers face expulsion in its harshest terms, at great cost to them and ultimately the country of Zimbabwe. This is a tragedy all around and one only becoming more tragic. Zimbabwe--once a bread basket--has become a wasteland.
Tom
Quote:
Robert Mugabe's thugs chanted: 'We will eat your children'
As militants attack his home with burning tyres and drive workers from his land, one of the last white farmers in Zimbabwe feels betrayed by the new Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
The invaders came at 11pm. Fifteen of them — singing, chanting and crashing metal objects together by our windows. “Out, out,” they shouted as they surrounded our farm — they certainly wanted us out. They broke into the house and dragged burning tyres through the front door. They invaded the hallway and occupied the courtyard. The flames leapt into the thatch as they pulled the tyres under it, but it did not catch alight.
This was last Tuesday. I called the police but then the invaders took the phone away. Their leader, who calls himself “Landmine”, was armed with a rifle. They pushed us around and raised sticks and said that we must leave. They beat my tonga drum so hard that the cowhide skin broke.