1. Posted on Tuesday 15 April 2008 - 17:18

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   AfricaNews editor

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   Olivier Nyirubugara, AfricaNews

   Over three weeks after the harmonized elections in Zimbabwe, the electoral commission has failed to release results, leaving room for rumours and speculations. Now a recount is being envisaged which can result in Robert Mugabe's victory. What is you opinion about this?

   

   The opposition seems to be desperate. The High Court rejected their demand for immediate release of results. Southern Africa leaders and Colonel Moammar Kadaffi strongly back Mugabe and the West has no say as it is absent. The opposition cannot go to the streets like in Kenya because “if you demonstrate in Zimbabwe, Mugabe will just kill you”, says MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti admits on the BBC. What then?
   
   Suggest a solution by answering [one of] these questions:
   
   -What would you advise Mugabe to do?
   -What would you advise the MDC to do?
   -What scenario do you envisage for Zimbabwe in the coming weeks?
   -What attitudes should African leaders take with regard to Mugabe?
   -What attitudes should international community take with regard to Mugabe?
   
   
   See previous discussions
   

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Reactions

1. Posted on Tuesday 15 April 2008 17:45

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   Nigeriatelecoms

   

   Emmanuel Okoegwale
   9 berichten
   Lid sinds January 2008
   Lagos, Nigeria

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   The situation in zimbabwe is bad and African leaders are not helping matters because they are either planing thier own long stay or some opposition is pushing for their own removal.
   
   The leaders in African cant draw a distinct line between democracy and monarch.I will urge the opposition to act withing the rule of law and get international Judiciary to make rulings on the elections.
   
   One thing that I know for certain,Mr Mugabe will soon the leave the stage if not politically.The man is over 83 years.It is only a matter of years if not months.
   
   South African leaders are not taking any stand because they are scared of the old man but same issue will either weaken their own economy by the time millions of refugees move into their country without adequate help from the west.
   
   I believe strongly that African leaders have a role to play in resolving the crisis.
   Emmanuel Okoegwale

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2. Posted on Tuesday 15 April 2008 17:54

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   John M

   

   John Mahoro
   54 berichten
   Lid sinds July 2007

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   I have to admit that the situation in Zimbabwe is embarrassing not only for Zimbabwe but also for its neighbours. Robert Mugabe is still perceived as a freedom fighter by most South Africans, Zambians and other peoples who suffered the cruelties of apartheidlike regimes.
   
   The ANC fighting units were based and supported by Zimbabwe. Is it time for the former ANC fighter now on power to spit on the hand that fed them? On the other hand, should the freedom-fighter status grant Mugabe the right to act against the democratic principles? The wisest thing for him, would have been retirement from politics. But it is not too late. I am afraid that he is going to stay on power by force for the rest of his life as Kadafi suggested.

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   Et in terra pax hominubus...

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3. Posted on Tuesday 15 April 2008 18:44

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   Evans Wafula

   

   Evans Wafula
   158 berichten
   Lid sinds July 2007

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   Lets take some lessons from the Kenyan crisis. l was in Nairobi a day after the Presidential vote had been casted. From the airport where l had arrived from Japan and Finland, l called for a taxi which the driver was a Kikuyu. l am a Luhyia who did not vote anyway due to pressing issues.
   
   While riding in the taxi, the driver broke the new that Kibaki of PNU was headed for a defeat in the polls. He was basing his asumption on the preliminary results which ofcourse has given the opposition ODM an undesputed victory.
   
   On the 28th Dec, l went to cover the talling process from the KICC-the venue had been set aside by the Electoral Commision of Kenya to be used as a talling centre for the presidential results.
   
   Its here that it all begun. for hours and days Kenyans waited as the ECK cooked and over cooked the results.
   
   Pressure mounted from within and outside the country for the ECK to announce the winner of the Presidential polls. Its was a clear opposition victory.
   
   BUT to our suprise, the chairman of the ECK Samuel Kivuitu decleared President Mwai Kibaki the winner and went ahead an swore his as President in a night ceremony held at State house.
   
   Its was day time robbery of the people of Kenya. The ECK had robbed their votes and hell broke loses.
   
   For 30 days, over 1500 people were reportedly killed and over 350,000 internally displaced.
   
   This is about democracy, it the price we had to pay to restore any meaningful price to the cost of democracy and constituitonal order in Africa.
   
   Now, lets look at Zimbabwe, Mugabe seems to have not watch TV or followed the news from Kenya. My advice to him is that not even the barrel of a gun can defeat the peoples power. The people of Zimbabwe will surprise him very soon. They will topple his old regime when he has gone to bed. Zimbabweans have taken pride in the Kenyans and are ready to stand up rightfully and defend democracy and the institution of the presidency .................NOT Mugabe and his cronies.
   
   BUT, South Africa's policy of “quiet diplomacy” is a threat to democracy in the region. President Mbeki has turned a blind eye on the political and economical crises that is currently sending millions of Zimbabweans across to South Africa.
   
   Despite the European Union is pushing the 14 Nations Southern African Development Community (SADC) to take the firm action aganist Mugabe, Mbeki and indeed the AU has choosen to glorify Mugabe.
   
   After last weks meeting in Harare, it was shocking that African leaders could not reach an agreement.” In diplomatic terms, that terse line in the lengthy
   statement is a clear indication about how deep differences between the two organizations over Zimbabwe.
   
   Its meaningful if SADC act firmly against the Mugabe government, which continues to clung to power through fraudulent elections.
   
   The EU also fears that the Zimbabwean is blocking food aids to the regions of the country that supports the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and Mugabe has threatened to unleash his terror.
   
   The international community should plan, bank roll and facilite a citizen coup aganist Mugabe.
   
   He who assumed power through the gun will also leave power through the same way. That seems the clearest message for Mugabe.
   
   Africa is waiting the day when Mugabe will be facing trial at the ICC like his fellow comrades Charles Tailor. The International Community should also consider issuing an arrest warrant for Mugabe for using food to commit crimes aganist humanity. which is atactic used in war times to cut the supply chain and defeat the enemey. But in this case Mugabe is cutting the supply chain to defeat his own people.

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4. Posted on Tuesday 15 April 2008 21:10

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   Lekan

   

   Lekan Otufodunrin
   16 berichten
   Lid sinds August 2007
   Lagos

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   The best option for Mugabe is to for once be take the honorable option of allowing the will of the people to prevail. For too long he has gotten away with electoral malpractices and manipulations of all kinds.
   More than ever before the people have spoken with their votes and he should not remain in power under any pretence.
   Like Nigerians told our former Military president, Ibrahim Babangida popularly called IBB who eventually reluctantly "stepped aside" I say
   GO MUGABE GO.
   Lekan Otufodunrin
   Lagos, Nigeria

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5. Posted on Wednesday 16 April 2008 08:26

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   Maditla

   

   Neo Maditla
   35 berichten
   Lid sinds October 2007
   Pretoria, South Africa

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   I think the most embarrasing thing about the Zimbabwean situation is the way in which our President (Thabo Mbeki) continues to keep a straight face while telling the whole world that the Zimbabwean elections were free and fair. News have been flying around of how there might be a run off between MDC and ZanuPF but the initial results haven't even been released yet?
   
   Last week the SADC leaders held a summit where they discussed the Zim election and Mugabe snubbed the event and now he is apparently employing crooks to scare people into voting for him in the event of a run-off.
   Clearly the results are being delayed in order to give Mugabe time to hatch up another scam but I believe SADC leaders should have forced him to release the result..

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   Pretoria, Gauteng and surrounding areas and news on places I have been to elsewhere in the country

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6. Posted on Wednesday 16 April 2008 11:20

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   Lloyd Himaambo

   

   Lloyd Himaambo
   3 berichten
   Lid sinds September 2007
   Lusaka

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   I live in Zambia as such alive to the situation in Zimbabwe. We have thousands upon thousands of Zimbabwean traders especially women in our country. It is a pitiable scenario to see how these proud but poor women are struggling to earn a living. A lot turn to prostitution just to have somewhere to sleep for a night. The good thing here is that our sisters and brothers here in Zambian move freely and are not harassed by either citizens or the police as long as they don't break the law. As Zambians we are used and therefore will never complain about hosting our neighbours going through temporary political crisis. We have hosted thousands of refugees from Angola, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, Namibia and in fact people like Mbeki, Mugabe and others had their homes here when they were liberating their countries. Until his death a few moths ago, Milton Obote was a resident of Lusaka. All I am saying is that countries like South Africa should not complain when they have economic and political refugees from Zimbabwe. Africa, as long as it does not control its economies will continue having such upheavals.
   
   The question is who is more to blame for the problems in Zimbabwe? Yes, Mugabe takes some share of that. But is he only one? He is no doubt trying to preserve himself. But who wouldn’t? Before Mugabe grabbed the land from white farmers in there, Zimbabwe was regarded as the food basket of southern Africa. Its manufacturing base almost at par with that of South Africa. The president of that country that time was Mugabe. And since the job of the Zimbabwe head of state is definitive and not ceremonial, we can safely state that Mugabe is the one who made Zimbabwe what it was. Now, how possible is it that overnight Mugabe became an incompetent dictator who turned the ex food basket of SADC to the laughing stock of the world?
   
   You see, I saw some news item that Britain had staked 80 million pounds (Not very sure about figure) for the fast track recovery of Zimbabwe should Mugabe lose the elections. This simply means that the countries that control the world economy can rectify the problems in Zimbabwe if they so wished whether Mugabe is in office or not. But it appears that these powers feel insulted that a black man could have the courage to evict whites from their farms. The Zimbabwe opposition is so drunk with the possibility of gaining power that they will sign a contract with Satan if he promised to give them power. They were here a few days ago trying to influence SADC leaders against Mugabe. But maybe they didn't know that these SADC leaders have their own sources of information and could not act on emotion. They fully understand the situation in Zimbabwe. It is not really about Mugabe. That one is an old man in the afternoon of his life and will soon be out of the stage. But the question is about the future of ZIMBABWE. Will those little black boys and girls in Zimbabwe want to grow up without real property and be tenants in their own country? Look at Zambia, we removed Kaunda and his humanist policies and replaced him with IMF driven policies. Today Zambia is praised as one of the best countries to invest in. But look at who is doing the praise. It is the people from outside who have the capital to run businesses and acquire assets. Zambians are just labourers. We produce copper here but the price is fixed in London. Zambians can hardly access bank loans for capital. Zambians are getting poorer except for a few who are either politically connected or those born with silver spoons, the corrupt and the thieves. Yet, there was a time when Zambians were really empowered and were proud owners of the economy. Zimbabwe is headed the same way. Mugabe will go and aliens will be in charge of that country's economy. The MDCs or whoever will be in charge will have political power only.
   I am disappointed with the African journalists and media generally. We have lamentably failed to portray the Zimbabwe situation correctly. But then, how can the African media give a balanced view. They only depend on distributing content from the western media which has an agenda in Zimbabwe. Just pick any newspaper or listen to any station in Africa, you will see that there is no original story on Zimbabwe but replicas of the western media. Yet we are closer to Zimbabwe both physically and emotionally. What the western media has done on Zimbabwe is to continue talking about perceived wrongs in Zimbabwe continuously until everybody has now become to believe them. It is the old trick of repeating a lie over and over and in the end it will begin to look like the truth. We journalists, especially African journalists, let us try to be objective on Zimbabwe. Even the way this discussion question is phrased is wrong. It could have been put more objectively instead of leading discussants to take a particular angle.
   Zimbabwe is not going to hell.

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7. Posted on Wednesday 16 April 2008 15:12

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   Jack Meena

   

   Jack Meena
   30 berichten
   Lid sinds February 2008
   Dar es Salam

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   What is happening in Zimbabwe could simply be termed as 'an insult to democracy, democratic systems and democratic people'. If democracy in Zimbabwe is defined as, 'imposition of decisions on the electoral commission by the incumbent ZANU-PF political crooks', then what is happening is a true Zimbabwean democracy. Neither the people of Zimbabwe, the opposition nor the international community need to cry foul!
   
   My advise to Comrade Mugabe is that he should pack gently and go- the issue is where? Is there any country which is ready to host him? What is the position of the International Court of Justice on him- he has caused a lot of suffering to the innocent women, children, oldmen and women, the youth, the animals, the environment and all the living creatures. The fear of prosecution is what is haunting and gripping him thus clinging on power! Well Comrade, dig a hole somewhere like Osama Bin Laden and disappear. He should stop inflicting unnecessary suffering to the people of Zimbabwe.
   
   MDC should exert more pressure on Mugabe to step down, for the time been they could embrace enmenshed Comrade Mugabe and after he steps down then they could take him before the court of law.
   
   I see Zimbabwe getting into dip troubles unless the International Community intervenes and get Mugabe to concede defeat either diplomatically or through millitary intervention.
   
   I also think African leaders, especially my President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete who is currently the AU Chairperson should convene an emergency meeting for African Heads of States and issue a statement on Zimbabwe. Time to show sympathy to Comrade Mugame is no more. He has insulted Africans and true and committed African leaders.
   
   The International Community should also mount more pressure to support the people's decision in Zimbabwe. It's really a mind boggling to see the so called independent electoral commission failing to announce Presidential results even when none of the contestors has contensted the 'disputed' results. How would you dispute something you don't know? Why not get hold of the Chairperson of Zimbabwean Electoral Commission (ZEC) to explain what is happening? Is he under the gun point position?
   
   Jack Meena,
   
   Dar es Salaam.

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8. Posted on Thursday 17 April 2008 11:48

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   Andrew

   

   Andrew Kanyegirire
   9 berichten
   Lid sinds January 2008
   South Africa

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   As a response of sorts see below. It's not directly in response, but it raises some issues. This also ran in 'The New Vision' earlier on this year. I think some of the issues are still on the ball and some of them are way off. It's also on the log page. Enjoy
   
   'Mugabe Not As Bad As Portrayed By West'
   
   New Vision (Kampala)
   
   OPINION
   6 January 2008
   Posted to the web 7 January 2008
   
   By Andrew Kanyegirire
   Kampala
   
   THE demonisation of President Robert Mugabe by Western leaders, commentators and their local comprador agents in Africa, masks their refusal to engage with the question of land reform in Zimbabwe. In addition, their calls onto African leaders to vilify Mugabe portrays their disregard for the region's geo-politics.
   
   For instance, in the article titled: "African leaders must condemn Mugabe" (New Vision, December 11, 2007) the author advises African presidents to stop 'hero-worshipping' this 'evil' and 'barbaric man' and to make him feel 'unwelcome at civilised meetings' such as the recent EU-AU summit.
   
   This portrayal of Mugabe are in line with Western media views of him as a villain and a power-hungry brute that is curbing human rights against his own people so that he can stay in power.
   
   Trouble started when Mugabe embarked on a campaign to expropriate land from white commercial farmers for redistribution to the rural black poor.
   
   Human rights organisations declared the campaign to be an illegal exercise of farm seizures through murder, rape and arson. The so-called 'land grabs' basically re-awakened white fears of black barbarism and racist views about uncivilised blacks and their inability to control their own destiny.
   
   Faced with low food production levels and international restrictions, Zimbabwe is now going through an economic crisis. Official inflation has hit 8,000% although real inflation is closer to 90,000%. There is starvation, fuel shortages and forced unemployment. There are also threats, imprisonments, disappearances and even murders against people that oppose ZANU-PF.
   
   Despite the crisis, some Zimbabweans, even those who oppose the Mugabe regime, agree with him on the farm seizures. My repeated visits to Harare, Gweru and Bulawayo have led me to conclude that while Mugabe may not have fulfiled the aspirations of his people, especially those that are landless, they still feel that he has at least attempted to undo the colonial structures of land ownership.
   
   In fact, many Zimbabweans, including those in the diaspora, are skeptical about any new land reform proposals, say, from the British, given that such attempts would simply leave the settler community in control.
   
   This would only serve to entrench the colonial land ownership structures. In addition, there is also the belief that Western calls for external intervention and regime change in Zimbabwe have had nothing to do with human rights and democracy, but everything to do with attempts to secure advantages for US and European corporations, banks and investors.
   
   The repercussions of the crisis in Zimbabwe are being felt throughout southern Africa with large numbers of Zimbabweans leaving their country for the likes of South Africa and Botswana.
   
   Under such circumstances, one would have expected SADC leaders to be openly critical of Mugabe and to even be in favour of a quick fix military solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe.
   
   Instead, Mugabe is continuously being received by his fellow heads of state with rapturous rounds of applause at various events, as in the cases of the recent COMESA and SADC summits.
   
   However, African presidents are not doing this simply because they support what he is doing to his people, but rather because he supported many of the liberation movements.
   
   This sentiment was articulated by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni during his October 2004 state visit to Zimbabwe, where he said: "When I hear these people trying to demonise President Mugabe, I say you can't demonise a leader of the liberation struggle and expect support from us. You are just stupid".
   
   The one-time guerrilla leader against British colonialism is also still being respected by his comrades because he, similar to Cuba's Fidel Castro, represents one of the few seasoned leaders in the Southern hemisphere that can defy Western imperial interests whilst also reminding us of their continuing history of curbing self-determination in Africa.
   
   In addition, African leaders are hesitant to publicly humiliate Mugabe at summits because they know that such tactics will only serve to drive him further away from any mediation efforts.
   
   This is why African leaders, with South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki as the chief negotiator, have preferred quiet diplomacy and behind-the-scenes arm-twisting in the negotiations between ZANU-PF and MDC. Besides, public condemnations and support for regime change in Zimbabwe would make them susceptible to accusations that they have sided with the imperial powers.
   
   African presidents have also steered clear of the Western calls for the less viable option of military intervention given that some SADC leaders are also yet to carry out any meaningful land reforms in their own countries. To advocate Western intervention would put them at the risk of having to go through the same experience in their own countries in case they ever decided to return the land to the people.
   
   Mbeki's approach of quiet diplomatic mediation between ZANU-PF and MDC may have scored some success. Both parties have agreed on a draft political accord, which should clear the way for presidential elections in March 2008.
   
   The accord attempts to look into the stringent media and security laws that are preventing the opposition from carrying out election campaigns.
   
   Therefore, it is not surprising to find that African leaders are showing their solidarity with Mugabe at various regional meetings and that they also prefer quiet diplomacy as the preferred route. It is not because they agree with him as such, but rather its part of an attempt to negotiate and balance a plethora of competing factors such as the sensitive issue of land reform without losing sight of their mediation attempts.
   
   The continuing vilification of Mugabe only serves to eschew the more pertinent and nagging question of how to carry out genuine land reform in the country. More pertinently, it also serves to foster a Western-led quick fix solution that would ultimately deter Zimbabweans from taking charge of their destiny.

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   TASK

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9. Posted on Saturday 19 April 2008 17:41

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   Reuben-M

   

   
   3 berichten
   Lid sinds March 2008

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   .
   
   "The opposition seems to be desperate."
   
   Should the opposition be "the opposition".? I believe in politics even less than tacitly, but i do believe in logic. And physics.
   
   Why has the prevailing party in Zimbabwe not opened and made public to the people of Zimbabwe what the result was.? By opening the election boxes containing the ballot papers, and holding up the results.? What are the figures.? People can count.
   
   The absence of this happening, to the shame of the decrepit Mugabe and his crew, Does clearly serve as an indication that there is something to obscure. If Mr Robert Mugabe had won the election by the ballot papers after people in that country had voted, if would be likely that Mr Robert Mugabe would have wasted no time in publishing the election return in paperback, hardback, pdf, leather-bound volumes, in any format available to trumpet his mandate.
   
   Like smooth operators of democracy and it's potential for manipulation, democracy according to many countries is democracy when it brings out the results that are desired, not the actual arithmetic. This becomes 'invention' and is not in the same dimension of democracy.
   
   Democracy is a greek word. Demo = people. Cracy = breathed.
   Democracy being from the mouth or throat, or an expression of the people. Is that happening in Zimbabwe.? The voice is locked in unrevealed boxes. Talk of a 2nd election vote is a cruel joke that would never become funny.
   
   There are bungled elections, and there are bungled elections. One might be tempted to open the boxes and even show the results.
   
   I feel for the people of Zimbabwe, and do hope they get downtrodden and abused as little as possible by people from within their own country. The authorities are thumping people about. This does nobody favours.
   
   Telling British Prime Ministers to ''go to hell'', and using a post 1980 Independance Day speech platform to orate that 'Britain is trying to take Zimbabwe back' is ridiculous, and even if true, is not compatible with failing to open ballot boxes belong to the people of Zimbabwe. Telling anyone to go to hell does not serve the countrymen.
   
   It has been mentioned on news outlets and on this forum that South Africa's premier has not been manly, and has stayed quiet by & large on Mugabe/Zimbabwe/Election.
   This is not neighbourly. Keeping quiet and acting feeble & meek is not the correct way to assist in a crisis, and one that has not having any termination in sight. An autocratic heavy baton and a wimpish muted neighbour are a bad combination. It is really 1 bus stop short of dumb insolence.
   
   Re: Mr Mugabe.
   Having a very public illness, a world-wide audience for one's senility is not an ideal. Not recommended. 'Terrible punctuation for a head of state's end of term, a legacy. One could interpret this as 'not caring'.
   
   Why plunder billions into European bank accounts then not give yourself time & space to spend the money.!?
   
   Brazen. Shameful. Inhuman. Shameful. Shame on them.
   
   I like some of the quotes above. And i also hope the people in Zimbabwe have adversity removed from them as soon as is possible, the cruelty served them could not stop quick enough.
   
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10. Posted on Tuesday 22 April 2008 09:24

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    Mugadza

    

    Munyaradzi Mugadza
    122 berichten
    Lid sinds February 2008
    Harare, Zimbabwe

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    Zimbabwe's synchronized elections have came and gone but the entire nation is still under a cloud of uncertainty as to who the next President will be? Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is yet to release the Presidential results with three weeks after the harmonized elections. ZEC only released Parliamentary and senatorial results which resulted in the opposition scoring 99 parliamentary seats against Zanu PF's 96 seats while the indecisive Arthur Mutambara had only ten seats.
    
    Accoding to the Electoral Act, ZEC was supposed to release the election results within a period of six days after the polling date. Independent election body, Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) said President Mugabe lost the Presidential polls to his greatest threat of all the times Morgan Tsvangirai who reportedly had a total of 50, 3 percent against President Mugabe who was a few rungs below Morgan Tsvangirai.
    
    Zanu PF however is trying to wipe the egg on the face by alleging that ZEC officers tampered with the results to give MDC Tsvangirai party victory against his nemesis. The ruling Zanu PF has effected a massive crackdown on opposition members for allegedly fabricated the results which analysts and the whole has criticized.
    
    Zanu PF has ordered ZEC to carry out a recount in 23 constituencies which is illegal according to the Electoral Act simply because the Act states that a recount shall be legal within 48 hours. With more than 400 hours Zanu PF still wants a recount. Analysts say the ruling junta has already tampered with the results and a recount would automatically give Zanu PF victory.
    
    In the recent SADC emergency summit in Zambia which President Mugabe snubbed, SADC resolved that the recounting after 48 hours was illegal and ZEC should release the elections results with immediate effect. However, ZEC declined to adhere to the SADC calls saying they would go ahead with the vote recount since nothing was written to them.
    
    The vote recount started on Saturday with reports from some of the 23 constituencies that the entire process was progressing well. Speaking on SABC International news yesterday, MDC Tsvangirai spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said his party was not taking part in the vote recount because they clearly won the elections.
    
    In another shameful incident, ZEC relocated to a secret place though known to the Zanu PF party and the President’s office. On his independence message on April 18 at Gwanzura stadium, President Mugabe said Zimbabweans had opted for the wrong way by voting him out taking into account the his determination during the liberation struggle which ushered Zimbabwe’s independence.
    
    Without the results the fading and unpopular Zanu PF has vowed worldwide to participate in a presidential run off. But the big question lingering in many people’s minds is how they can prepare for a run off before they the official results are announced. Besides that they have been accusing the MDC Tsvangirai for claiming that they won both the Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
    
    Zimbabwe Defence Forces through the Joint Operations Command (JOC) is at the helm of the country. They are now making decisions as well as organizing curfews in the country. National decision making has been consolidated with the JOC a shadowy group consisting of army leaders, air force, intelligence and the prison service. The shift in power is meant to stabilize the country during this volatile and critical moment. Sources said the arrangement is temporary until when Mugabe wins the run off as is the anticipation from the military junta.
    
    The army and Zanu PF youth militia have also launched a violent operation called Operation Makavhoterapapi 'Where did you put your cross?' Which has seen more than ten MDC supporters being killed in the crackdown? The crackdown is aimed at instilling fear ahead of the so called run off and has diversified to many parts of the country especially those believed to be the strongholds of Zanu PF.
    
    Among the affected areas all Mashonaland provinces, Masvingo and Manicaland which also gave had been picked constituencies for vote recounting after the alleged fabricating of results.
    
    The wave of state-sponsored terror sweeps rural Zimbabwe to punish voters for supporting the opposition and to ensure that if there is a run-off presidential election they do not repeat their mistake. Scattered around the same hospital are others who have survived the systematic punishment beatings and burnings but with terrible injuries.
    
    Morgan Tsvangirai said he would participate in a run-off election against Robert Mugabe, only if the poll and count were monitored by international observers. Tsvangirai had previously rejected a second round on the grounds that its own calculations showed Tsvangirai had won outright in the election.
    
    A countrywide stay away failed to yield the desired results though some sections of the country heeded the opposition’s calls.
    
    The Zimbabwean crisis has also set the stage alight despite President Thabo Mbeki’s utterances that there us no crisis in Zimbabwe. His own African National Congress has come out of the shells to declare the situation in Zimbabwe to be "dire". It backed the opposition's call for the election results to be released "without any further delay".
    
    Former United Nations secretary General Koffi Annan said the situation in Zimbabwe needs urgent mediation. Annan said this on Sunday on SABC International that the SAD leaders should address the Zimbabwean issue as a matter of urgent of else bloodshed would be witnessed in Zimbabwe.
    
    Raila Odinga also said Mugabe should be removed from power if he wants to continue holding the people of Zimbabwe at ransom. Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga finally agreed to work together after a government of national unity and Annan feels that the same intervention should be done in Zimbabwe.
    
    Meanwhile the situation in the country continues to be violent with people being subjected to violence with each passing day. To date MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai is out of the country with reports that the Zanu PF militias wants to eliminate.
    
    Apart from that the announcement of the Presidential poll results is likely to be dragged far as new issues are coming into existence with each day. Reports said the Presidential elections might be rerun after one of the Presidential candidates who were denied participation filed his petition to the Supreme Court of Zimbabwe.
    
    Political ;moguls believe this is a hoax by Zanu PF to do away with poll results and restart the process again in an endeavor to give President Mugabe the much needed victory.

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11. Posted on Friday 25 April 2008 00:39

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    clive

    

    
    1 berichten
    Lid sinds April 2008

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    Mbeki and the rest of the SADC leaders (except the Zambian president as far as the Chinese arms shipment is concerned) have shown that African politics at that level is about protecting your fellow leader and nothing at all about providing effective and inspired leadership. They're only concerned with making sure that when their time comes to leave, they leave on their own terms and have a safehouse to retire to in some friendly SADC state. What a rubbish example. The hard working people of Africa deserve better than this bunch of crooks who have nothing to offer other than their timeworn credentials as the liberation movement of yesterday. People cannot eat history. History doesn't give you a job. History doesn't give a country stability. Proper leadership is required for these. It's a pathetic sight.

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    clive modified this message on 25-04-2008 00:49 with 3%: amplification of comments

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12. Posted on Sunday 27 April 2008 13:35

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    Harold

    

    Harold Williams
    135 berichten
    Lid sinds February 2008
    Freetown, Sierra Leone

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    I am a big fan of Mugabe and the African Liberation Struggle he represents. But I am also a big fan of Democracy and the benefits it can bring to oppressed people. For me, Mugabe is stuck between a rock and a hard place.
    
    However, I see in Robert Mugabe a man trained of the Jesuit Order and one who is both a gentleman and a head-bashing fighter. The delay in the pronouncement of of the MDC victory could be a face-saving measure for a man who was really expecting to win. Within his heart, Mugabe still cannot believe that he has been ousted, the former champion of millions in former Rhodesia and the diaspora. But I also see a noble individual who has been welcomed at many international venues prior to his recent term in government.
    
    True, I feel that Britain has a bone to pick with him for his radical land reforms. But Idon't see much coverage on what Britain was willing to do during the economic decline and droughts that have plagued Zimbabwe. The Western world has been known for many a radical leader and Mugabe is the lesser of many evils in today's world.
    
    Could it be that Mugabe just wanted to preside over one last Independence Day March before he stepped down? Could it be that the Electoral Commissioner is cleverly adding one more month's worth to his staff's wages? Or maybe ZANU PF needed some extra time to tidy the house before making a humble exit? These reasons may sound mundane, inane or insane but they are the common bane of leaders who imbibe power and are incredulous that the cup may one day run dry.
    
    I would like to hear more about the Electoral Commissioner of Zimbabwe, who must be feeling quite beleaguered by now. Now there is a human interest story.
    
    As for the MDC, let's suppose that they won and they will soon be awarded their prize. Well-deserved this ascendancy will be after the incarcerations, indignations and brutalities they have suffered. Lest they not forget however that Africans all over the continent have suffered by far worse. Mugabe represents the elixir that had been sought by even the MDC in the 1970's. Let the Old Man step down gracefully. Please don't hound him out of office because his hesitance is quite typical of many a leader at the end of their respective era.
    
    Permit me to say that even the obvious underdog is usually allowed to go when he puts his tail between his legs and bows his head down. Such are the gestures I see coming from ZANU PF, in all their terse bravado.
    
    As for African Leaders like Ghaddafi, Biya, Museveni, Bongo and Zenawi, I am sure they must look on in some pity knowing very well that Mugabe is a good man who just could not find the correct "Staying Formula". Thank Goodness not, for then Morgan Tsvangirai would be dead by now. The smart fellow that he is, Mugabe must have known about the Kenyan crisis, and the Sierra Leonean success. He sees the writing on the wall and, as a true democrat who has allowed his opposition to thrive (somewhat), knows his time is up.
    
    If he has not realized that things have spiraled beyond his viable control, then I do expect a civil war in Zimbabwe.

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    Harold A. Williams

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