Scandinavians keen on rescuing Zimbabwe
- Posted on Wednesday 23 April 2008 - 09:05AfricaNewsNordic countries are willing to grant Zimbabwe an aid package to help its declining economy if the country shows democratic credentials, Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has said. Zimbabwe is in a deadlock due to the non-release of vote results.
Update 23-04: 09.05 by Sam Banda Junior, Blantyre, Malawi
Nordic countries are willing to grant Zimbabwe an aid package to help its declining economy if the country shows democratic credentials, Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg has said. Zimbabwe is in a deadlock due to the non-release of vote results.
Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Finland and Denmark are ready to help ease economic hardships, which also include mass unemployment and food shortages, if Zimbabwe makes the election outcome public, Stoltenberg said.
"The Nordic countries have said that we are ready to present an economic stabilisation package if there's a true democratic election and a responsible financial and fiscal policy," Stoltenberg told Reuters.
"I think that the world opinion is very clear on the issue of democracy, respecting the voice of the people of Zimbabwe and insisting on the release of the election results."
The Prime minister said it was still too early to say how much money such a package could involve.
Norway, the world's fifth largest oil exporter, has currently committed 0.98 percent of its gross domestic product to international development aid, a figure Stoltenberg said the country aimed to raise to 1 percent next year.
He added that while the African Union had come out strongly against Zimbabwe's election deadlock, more African nations needed to exert pressure. African leaders have come under criticism for their muted approach to Zimbabwe.
"We have urged African countries to be very clear and put as much pressure as possible on the authorities, government of Zimbabwe to release and to respect election results," Stoltenberg said.
Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says its leader Morgan Tsvangirai defeated incumbent Robert Mugabe and the veteran president's 28-year rule is over.
There has also been a delay to a partial recount of votes from the parallel parliamentary election, in which Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party lost its majority for the first time. The recount could overturn the MDC victory in that poll.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC)has also asked Zimbabwe to release the election results promptly and respect the will of the people.
The opposition and Western governments including former colonial power Britain have accused Mugabe of trying to rig both the parliamentary and presidential elections and of instigating violence to scare opposition supporters.
Stoltenberg is on a two-day visit to Tanzania.
On Monday, Norway signed a $100 million deal for a five-year forest expansion project with Tanzania that would also try to cut carbon dioxide emissions in the east African economy.
He added that Norway, which last year said it was ready to allocate $500 million annually to forests, was looking at establishing similar projects in Brazil, Indonesia and in the Congo Forest basin along with British help.
The Prime minister will later launch a Tanzanian project aimed at reducing the number of mothers who die while giving birth, as well as those of infants and children under five.UK in mutual accusation game with Mugabe
Update 22-04: 09.11 by Sam Banda Junior, Blantyre, Malawi
Days after a strong speech by president Robert Mugabe against Zimbabwe's former colonial master, Britain senior officials responded by launching accusations that Mugabe was willing to steal the election. They also called African leaders to take action.
Mugabe blasted Britain during the country’s Independence Day saying London was paying the population to turn against him.
“Down with the British. Down with thieves who want to steal our country”, said Mugabe.
Reacting to that in a statement to parliament, UK’s Foreign Secretary David Miliband said: "The constitutional crisis in Zimbabwe continues as President Mugabe persists in his ambition to steal the election". It was Britain's most outspoken criticism since the March 29 poll.
Zimbabwe announced a delay on Sunday in the partial recount of the votes, extending a deadlock in which the opposition says 10 of its members have been killed and hundreds arrested.
The recount could overturn the results of the parliamentary election, which showed Mugabe's ZANU-PF losing its majority to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for the first time.
Results of the parallel presidential election have not been released, but MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai says he has won.
"President Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party have unleashed a campaign of violence against those ordinary Zimbabweans, 60 percent of them, who in spite of everything voted against him," Miliband said.
No one could have any faith in the partial recount of the votes, he said, adding that the count was proceeding at a "ludicrously slow rate".
"This only serves to fuel suspicion that President Mugabe is seeking to reverse the results that have been published ... If that is the case, then what we are witnessing is a charade of democracy," he said.
He said it was important that African leaders did more to engage directly in the crisis. "Democratic legitimacy throughout Africa is at stake," he said.
In Malawi the government is of the position that results of March 29 elections be published so that a government should be constituted to steer it to the future.
In another development Tsvangirai met U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday to discuss the country's post-election crisis on the sidelines of a U.N. conference in Ghana, a U.N. official said.
"He met with Ban Ki-moon for half an hour," the official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters at the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Ghana's capital, Accra.Zimbabwe: AU finally demands poll result
Update 21-04: 08.55 by Sam Banda Junior, Blantyre, Malawi
After fierce criticisms from the international community, the African Union on Sunday urged Zimbabwe to release results of its disputed March 29 elections immediately, to ease tensions that many fear may trigger bloodshed and deepen economic despair.
The 53-member panafricanist body also called on all the parties to show restraint pending the announcement of the results in a statement issued a day after the authorities began a partial recount of the votes, despite opposition efforts to block it.
International pressure has been mounting on African leaders to take more decisive action to help end the political stalemate in Zimbabwe. African reaction has been muted overall.
"The African Union wishes to express its concern over the delay observed in the announcement of Zimbabwe election, which creates an atmosphere of tension," the AU said.
"The African Union therefore urges competent authorities of the Republic of Zimbabwe to announce the results without any further delay, in transparency, thus contributing, inter alia, to reducing the prevailing tension."
Opposition supporters fear a recount in 23 of 210 constituencies that started on Saturday could overturn the results of the parliamentary election, which showed President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF losing its majority to the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for the first time.
The West and MDC have raised concerns that Mugabe, who has been in power since independence in 1980, is trying to rig the results. The MDC says it will not accept the recount.
In Mauritius, where the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) is holding a summit on poverty and development, a SADC official said the bloc was unlikely to make a statement on Zimbabwe, saying the meeting was not convened to discuss political issues.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told the summit Nordic nations were ready to launch a "major stabilisation and reconstruction package when democracy is fully restored and a credible national economic policy is in place."
Opponents accuse Mugabe of ruining his country, which was once the envy of the region, where economic collapse and inflation of about 165,000 percent have led to water, food and fuel shortages, as well as 80 percent unemployment.
Meanwhile Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai says he fears being attacked or imprisoned if he returns to his country.
"It is no use going back to Zimbabwe and become captive. Then you are not effective. What can you do?", he said in an interview in the Saturday's edition of the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail.
"Do you want a dead hero?", Tsvangirai added.
He left Zimbabwe on April 8, 10 days after an election he is widely believed to have won, although the government's electoral commission has yet to release the results.
Tsvangirai said in the interview on Friday in Johannesburg that he would return to Zimbabwe, but first he must continue the shuttle diplomacy that he views as the most likely strategy to unseat President Robert Mugabe, who has ruled since independence in 1980.
"I'm mobilising international support, I'm being effective in making sure that the issue of Zimbabwe remains on the international radar," Tsvangirai said.
Since he left Zimbabwe, he has faced increasing calls to return.
"It's like a father, when the father is away, children always ask, 'Where is the father,' but father may make an assessment that it is not opportune at that particular time to do certain things," he said.
In another development Zambian president Levi Mwanawasa has no intentions of taking over as mediator in Zimbabwe crisis, Information and Broadcasting Services Minister, Mike Mulongoti, has said.
Mulongoti said at a Press briefing in reaction to calls by MDC leader that Mwanawasa should take over mediation efforts from South African President, Thabo Mbeki.
The minister said Tsvangirai had already asked Mwanawasa who told him that it was not possible for him to be mediator because it was the SADC heads that had appointed Mbeki to be the mediator in the southern African country’s issues.
"President Mwanawasa has been in contact with President Mbeki and he had also told him that he had no intentions of being the mediator because he had other duties as Zambia's President and SADC chairman which was enough," he said.
US attacks Africa over Zimbabwe
Update 18-04: 09.38 by Sam Banda Junior, Blantyre, Malawi
US authorities on Thursday criticised Africa for its lack of action on Zimbabwe where the results of the March 29 presidential election have not yet been released. State Secretary Condoleezza Rice expressed this criticism in a news conference in Washington.
"It is time for Africa to step up," Rice said, asking: “Where is the concern from the African Union and from Zimbabwe's neighbours about what is going on in Zimbabwe?"
African reaction has been subdued to events in the southern African country, where a 19-day delay in issuing results of a presidential poll has fuelled fears of violence, although regional leaders called last weekend for the outcome to be announced quickly.
The continent has largely taken its cue from South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki, who has insisted on a softly diplomatic approach to President Robert Mugabe, despite the catastrophic collapse of Zimbabwe's economy.
However for the first time the powerful neighbour on Thursday called for the rapid release of delayed results from Zimbabwe's presidential election.
"The Zimbabweans need to be informed about those reasons for holding the results. But the most important thing is that the results need to be verified and released as soon as possible," SA’s spokesman Themba Maseko told Reuters.
The government of Mbeki has previously hesitated to join international expressions of concern about the delay in issuing the result of the March 29 vote, in which the opposition says President Mugabe was defeated.
Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Thursday that Mbeki was no longer fit to mediate in the Zimbabwe crisis and he had asked for a completely new regional initiative by the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
"President Mbeki needs to be relieved from his duty," he told a news conference in Johannesburg, adding that Mugabe had "unleashed an orgy of violence against the people" after the election.
Mbeki led failed SADC mediation last year and has played down the gravity of the post-election deadlock.
Tsvangirai suggested that there may need to be a special United Nations tribunal to judge crimes committed in Zimbabwe.
"I think the current wave of violence against the people must stop and the only way to stop is that those who are committing those crimes must know that they must be answerable one day," he said.
Although Mugabe's ZANU-PF party lost control of parliament for the first time in the vote, no results have been released from a presidential poll.
But ruling party African National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma, who toppled Mbeki from the head of the party last December, has made several statements calling for release of the results.
Mbeki is under criticism at home for his insistence on quiet diplomacy in dealing with the crisis in Zimbabwe, where the economy has collapsed, bringing hyper-inflation, shortages of food and fuel and 80 percent unemployment. Millions of people have fled to South Africa.
The election outcome has now become embroiled in several legal cases that are further delaying a result. A court in Harare adjourned until Friday its hearing on an MDC challenge to a recount ordered in 23 parliamentary and presidential election constituencies.Harare court acquits foreign journalists
Update 17-04: 08.41 by Sam Banda Junior, Blantyre, Malawi
A court in Zimbabwe acquitted on Wednesday an American and a British reporters who had been charged with covering the March 29 election without official accreditation. The journalists' lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa said the state failed to evidence their crime.
Pulitzer prize winner Barry Bearak, an American working for the New York Times, and British freelance reporter Stephen Bevan were arrested on April 3 and released on bail of 300 million Zimbabwean dollars ($7.50).
The New York Times said that while in custody, Bearak had suffered injuries as a result of falling from the bunk in his cell to the concrete floor, 7 feet (2 metres) below. It made no suggestion that foul play was involved.
Authorities have limited the international media's access to Zimbabwe.
Two South African technicians working for a satellite television service company were also arrested by Zimbabwean police, but were later released and have since returned home.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, a press freedom watchdog, had voiced concern over the arrests and called for the immediate release of all journalists in detention .
Meanwhile UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the BBC that world leaders "no one thinks" President Robert Mugabe won last month's presidential election in Zimbabwe.
At a UN Security Council meeting, he said voters had "shown their commitment to democracy", adding that a "stolen election is no election at all".
Brown warned that the UK and others "stand ready to support Zimbabweans".
Earlier, Brown had talks with UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon, as his three-day US visit gets under way.
The two men discussed the elections crisis in Zimbabwe, as well as Darfur and Kosovo, an aide said.Zimbabwean journalist arrested in Harare
Update 17-04: 09.52 by Peter Vlam, AfricaNews
Zimbabwean freelance journalist Frank Chikowore has been arrested in Zimbabwe. Chikowore is part of the network of AfricaNews.com reporters. Frank was arrested in Harare's Warren Park west, together with 14 opposition activists.
The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) stated last Tuesday: " The arrest is baseless and illegal and we believe it is intended to harass and intimidate journalists out to cover the presidential election re-run. The profession is also alarmed by the deliberate effort of one political party to smoke out journalists from this re-run so that flaws in the election are not dictated and brought into the public glare, " ZUJ president Matthew Takaona said.
Africa Interactive, the publisher of africanews.com is worried about the arrest of Frank Chikowore and condemned this action by Zimbabwean police.'Re-run only with international observers'
Update 16-04: 07.38 by Sam Banda Junior, Blantyre, Malawi
Zimbabwean opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said that he would take part in a presidential election run-off only if international electoral monitors are allowed in to supervise both voting and counting processes.
The party further said that the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) would help oversee every stage of the count.
Tsvangirai's party, MDC believes it won last month's election against President Robert Mugabe outright.
Earlier, a national strike called by the MDC to demand that results from the 29 March election be published immediately received little apparent support.
Media reports from the capital, Harare, said most banks, shops and offices opened as usual.
However, Zimbabwe's election commission says it cannot release the results of the presidential election until a partial recount is completed at the weekend.
Independent counts suggested that Tsvangirai won the election but took less than 50% of the vote, meaning he would face a run-off.
The opposition had previously said it would not take part in a run-off because it might lead to violence and the intimidation of the party's supporters around the country.
MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti told the BBC on Tuesday that two of its activists had been killed and 200 hospitalised after being assaulted by ruling party militias.
The party has said its supporters have been beaten up in rural areas where the MDC won.
On Monday, Zimbabwe's High Court dismissed an opposition petition for the results to be released immediately, saying reported anomalies should first be investigated.
In last month's elections Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF lost its parliamentary majority for the first time during his 28-year rule.
But the party could recover that majority if it is awarded just nine of the 23 seats subject to a recount.High court dismisses MDC's demand
Update 15-04: 09.40 by Mugadza Munyaradzi, Harare, Zimbabwe
The Movement for Democratic Change was left in a sombre mood on Monday after the High Court rejected a petition by the party to order immediate release of results. "The matter has been dismissed with costs," Justice Tendai Uchena said in his judgement.
The judge said that he would make the full details of his judgement available through the court registrar later in the day.
Alec Muchadehama, MDC lawyer refused to comment until he see the original document of the full judgement.
"I have not seen the judgement but the application has been dismissed. I have to first of all find the reasons and then I can comment," Alec Muchadehama told reporters.
MDC filed an urgent application to force the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to release the Presidential results since the March 29 harmonised elections.No crisis in Zimbabwe –SADC
Update 14-04: 09.18 by Mazuba Mwiinga, Lusaka, Zambia
After a "deafening" muteness over the Zimbabwe election results, the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC), body has finally spoken out but with reservations. In their meeting in the weekend SADC leaders said there was no crisis in Zimbabwe.
Opening the extra ordinary Summit on Saturday in Capital Lusaka, SADC Chairman Levy Mwanawasa said that withholding of presidential election results in Zimbabwe “will make the Zimbabweans and International community in the dark as to who won the elections”, emphasizing that the Summit “is not to put our comrade Robert Mugabe in the dock”.
By close of business on Sunday morning the Summit concluded that Zimbabwe Elections Commission (ZEC) should release the presidential results according to the Zimbabwean law. SADC Secretary General Thomas Salamao told journalists that “ZEC should conduct a verification exercise of the Presidential vote and release the results according to the law, in presence of candidates or their agents”.
Dr. Salamao further called upon the candidates “to accept the results when they are released”, adding that “SADC offers to send observers”, for the same.
Zambia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Kabinga Mpande told journalists that according to the SADC deliberations and observations there is no crisis in Zimbabwe but just a delay in the announcement of the presidential vote results.
Meanwhile Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) Spokesperson Tendai Biti has called upon South African president Thabo Mbeki to be open in his mediation over Zimbabwe. “He (Mbeki) should stop his quite diplomacy he has been having and be open because it has not achieved anything”, Biti said.
More pressure has been exerted on the Robert Mugabe regime from the International Community to release the Presidential vote results as ZEC has ordered for a recount on 23 constituencies even when the results are not yet known. But the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has since gone to court persuading it to order an immediate release of the Presidential results and refusing a recount until the results are known. The Zimbabwe High Court is yet to give a rulling today.
Speaking to International media last week, MDC spokesman Tendai Biti claimed that the MDC has won the Presidential vote and cannot go for a re-run as other Zanu-PF officials are demanding.
As the delay for releasing the Presidential election results 14 days after voting persists, Zimbabweans have been off the balance, as there are fears that violence may finally erupt as people become more and more impatient.
Currently information coming out of Zimbabwe say that Robert Mugabe is frightening white farmers with renewed evictions from their farms. There are 400 of the original 4, 0000 white commercial farmers who survived the year 2000 evictions.
The Zanu-PF got 53 seats in the Lower House of Parliament in the just ended Harmonized Elections against 56 seats which went to the MDC and 10 to a break away faction of MDC.
The SADC Summit over Zimbabwe in Lusaka came at a time when Kenya was also facing a power sharing struggle which came out after an alleged election rigging that resulted into street fighting and ethnic killings that left more than 1 500 people dead. Incumbent Mwai Kibaki has since announced a new coaliton Cabinet with his arch-rival Raila Odinga appointed as Prime Minister.
MDC President Morgan TShavangirai has in the past four days meeting influential African leaders among them Thobo Mbeki of South Africa, Jacob Zuma leader of South Africa’s African National Congress Party (ANC) and Ian Khama of Botswana to intervene in the on goings in Zimbabwe.
As the Southern African heads of State left Lusaka on Sunday morning, it was clear that everything was left in Harare to solve its problems for the Summit never saw any crisis in the whole matter.
Zimbabwe's poll commission relocated
Update 11-04: 12.18 by Mugadza Munyaradzi, Harare, Zimbabwe
As pressure continue to mount on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to release the final results, the election body has relocated to a surreptitious place fuelling further speculation that the ruling Zanu PF wants to influence the outcome of the elections.
The opposition MDC said the move is meant to thwart its victory and force a presidential election run-off.
MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, said he will not be part of an election run-off, claiming that he won the election with over 50 percent of the votes. Yesterday the Herald reported no presidential candidate had managed to get the required 50 plus one vote needed to be declared winner.
The relocation comes after the electoral body dismantled its command centre at the Harare International Conference Centre. ZEC said they were bankrupt and could not continue their stay at the afore said place. ZEC in a statement yesterday said its hands are tied and cannot release the results.
"The commission wishes to advise the public that the question of the results of the presidential election is now the subject of legal proceedings in the High Court. Pending determination by the court and in line with established rules of court, the commission is unable to comment on this subject. "We urge all; stakeholders to remain patient and allow the due process of the law to run its course", said the commission.
High Court judge Justice Uchena will on Monday deliver the judgment. However analysts said the MDC should not be lured into participating in a run off because if they do, they are allowing ZANU-PF to use its violent gimmicks of brutalizing people and of rigging elections for them to get an opportunity to propel themselves into victory.
Update 11-04 : 08.14
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai are set to attend an emergency summit of regional leaders to discuss the country's March 29 election to take place in Zambia on Saturday.Neighbours break silence
Update 10-04: 09.42 by Sam Banda Junior, Blantyre, Malawi
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, who chairs the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) grouping, has called the weekend's emergency meeting.
The emergency summit has been called amid the failure of the southern African country’s electoral commission to publish results of the presidential election held 12 days ago.
However Zambian Information Minister Mike Mulongoti told BBC that Mugabe's presence would not necessarily be helpful.
"I think the SADC heads would rather meet to consult on their own without the presence of the people involved in Zimbabwe itself," said Mulongoti.
Zimbabwe was prepared to brief SADC on political developments on the ground however Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu is quoted to have told the media that he felt Saturday's meeting was not necessary.
"There is no crisis in Zimbabwe that warrants a special meeting on Zimbabwe," he said.
MDC's spokesman in London, Hebson Makuvise, said he believed SADC would ask Mugabe to give up any claim to the presidency "and allow the country to move on".
But South Africa's Deputy Foreign Minister said: "We are not a government who can ask other presidents to step down."
MDC leader is said to be in Botswana, where a minister quoted him as saying he had left a tense Zimbabwe to ask for help.
Tsvangirai wants other southern Africa leaders to put pressure on the Zimbabwean government to announce the results of the presidential election.
He accuses Mugabe of delaying tactics in releasing the poll results.
The opposition MDC claims the government is trying to engineer victory for Mugabe at a second-round vote.
However at a news conference on Thursday, MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti said:
"We won the presidential election hands down, without the need for a run-off, so we will not participate in a run-off."
He labelled Mugabe a "black mamba [snake]" and said the delay in releasing the results amounted to "a constitutional coup d'etat".
The Secretary General said ruling Zanu-PF-backed militias had unleashed a campaign of violence across the country to intimidate rural voters ahead of a possible run-off.
Mugabe was a "caretaker president... to the extent that he is waiting for the next president to be appointed," he said.
"So we are therefore concerned that an illegitimate government is now in place in Zimbabwe and that is clearly unconstitutional and that is clearly unacceptable," he added.
Meanwhile, media reports indicate that the ruling Zanu-PF has increased the number of constituency results it is contesting from 16 to 21.
In the House of Assembly, Zanu-PF has lost its majority for the first time since independence, with 97 seats against the MDC's 99 in the 210-seat chamber. A smaller MDC faction has 10 seats.
The opposition is still hoping that legal action in the High Court will lead to the immediate release of the presidential results. A ruling is due on Monday.
Independent and ruling party projections say Tsvangirai gained most votes but not the 50% needed to win outright.
MDC says he gained 50.3% of the vote, but Zanu-PF has demanded a recount.
Independent presidential candidate Simba Makoni, placed third by the official results, said he was "puzzled" by the poll results delay.
Speaking for the first time since the poll, he said: "The reason I offered to run for president is because I didn't believe President Mugabe was still suitable for that office."
Meanwhile, the Food and Agriculture Organisation warned food security in Zimbabwe was "critical" and drought was threatening this year's maize harvest.Zimbabwe neighbours break silence
Update 10-04: 10.51 by Harry Mangulenje, Blantyre, Malawi
Zimbabwe neighbours have started speaking out on the electoral deadlock. After Malawi president Bingu wa Mutharika who praised the world for maintaining neutrality on the matter, Mozambique leader Armando Guebuza has made almost a similar statement.
The only difference among the two leaders is that while Malawi President was all neutral, Mozambique leader significantly attacked Zimbabwe opposition when he expressed worries at the pace at which the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) agitates the results, going to court and claiming outright win.
Speaking during commemoration of Women’s day in Maputo where the state reckons the death of Mozambique’s founding First lady, late President Samora Machel’s first wife, which falls in April 7, Guebuza assured Zimbabwe people living in Mozambique that there will be no harm in their country despite the deadlock.
He assured the people that Court will over see the whole process of releasing electoral results and at the end of the country will remain peaceful, people will get back to work regardless of who wins.
He said he was not satisfied with the opposition’s agitation of rushing to court claiming they won the polls because he said in normal circumstances it is a third party that was supposed to have done that.
“May be there is a difference between procedures here (Mozambique) and those in Zimbabwe, on who is supposed to go to court, otherwise, it could not have been them(Opposition), because they are an interested party.
“It could have been a third party and independent friends of the court who could have pursued the case, only if we can avoid jumping a gun, we would be able to do things much much better, ” said Guebuza reflecting a normal practice.
Guebuza has also praised the international community for keeping an eye on the activities in Harare while leaving it in the hands of Zimbabwe people themselves to exhaust their choices on the sort of government they want.
“There is not need to panic, Zimbabwe Courts will oversee the whole process of releasing the results, the country will remain at peace,” he assured.
During the commemoration, Mozambique reflected on the lives and soul which perished in the war, fighting for independence. The soul of Mozambieque’s first President Samora Machel who died in a plane crash was given special honour.
Results from unofficial sources say opposition Morgan Tsvangirai has won the polls with 50.4 percent but the opposition leader has rubbished this figure as too low, claiming he has scooped over 60 percent, according to various correspondents.
Zuma criticises election results delay
Update 09-04: 09.38
Jacob Zuma, the front-runner to become the next president of South Africa, condemned the delay in publishing the results of presidential elections held in Zimbabwe 11 days ago. His comments are in stark contrast to those of his political rival in South Africa, President Thabo Mbeki.
Zumba indicated that "keeping the nation in suspense ... keeping the international community in suspense" was wrong. South Africa's governing ANC leader criticised
Last weekend, Mr Mbeki called the situation "manageable", and said it was time to wait.
Zimbabwe's main opposition party has accused the government of Robert Mugabe of waging a campaign of violence against its supporters as the country continues to wait for official election results, Al Jazeera reports.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) accused the ruling Zanu-PF on Tuesday of unleashing attacks and trying to provoke a backlash so that it could declare a state of emergency to prolong Mugabe's 28-year reign as president. It called on neighbouring African states to intervene to prevent bloodshed.
"I say to my brothers and sisters across the continent – don't wait for dead bodies in the streets of Harare," Tendai Biti, the MDC secretary-general, said to Al Jazeera.
Tension even higher in Zimbabwe
Update 08 04. 9:50
Zimbabwean police said on Monday they had arrested seven election officials for undercounting votes cast for President Robert Mugabe. On the same day opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai met South African ruling party leader Jacob Zuma after appealing for help from outside powers to end the 28-year rule of Mugabe.
Results from the March 29 presidential election are yet to be released. A high court in the capital is expected to announce today whether or not it will order the country's electoral commission to announce the results. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon joined international calls for the urgent release of the results.
The arrested election officials, who were working for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in four provinces, would be charged with fraud. They are accused of taking nearly 5,000 votes away from Mr Mugabe. The arrests came after the ZANU-PF party called for a recount of the election results, which have not been released.Zimbabweans brace for tough times
Update. 07 - 08: 9.50
Although the people of Zimbabwe anxiously wait for the presidential poll results to be announced, Zimbabweans feel that a volatile environment lies as Zanu PF prepares for a rerun. This weekend, war veterans marched through the streets of Harare and accused the MDC of defying the law.
Zanu PF which for the first time declared that the election results were stolen has ordered Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has to recount ion some of the constituencies.
Surprisingly, Zanu PF politburo came with a resolution last Friday that they are prepared for a run off signaling that they were trounced by the opposition MDC Tsvangirai faction. Former deputy minister of information, Bright Matonga, said last week predicted a resounding victory in the second round of the elections.
“We only applied 25% of our energy in the first round. That the runoff when we are going to unleash the other 75%.”
However the electorate views the 75 percent as violence intimidation torture and abductions which they did not employ due to stringent principles under the SADC mediated talks.
Besides that, political pundits in the country have described the political situation as not free and fair.
At a press briefing on Saturday, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai warned Zanu PF that by so doing unconstitutional acts, Mugabe was preparing for a war against the people of Zimbabwe despite his utterances that the Kenyan scenario will not happen here.
Tsvangirai said Mugabe should accept defeat and ensure that the country regain its status.On Friday, war veterans marched through the streets of Harare in protest and accused the MDC of defying the law by putting out results before the official electoral commission.
The former liberation war heroes said they would block any attempt by white farmers to force blacks out of the commercial repossessed after the controversial land reform programme.
“The election has been seen as a way to reopen the invasion of our people by whites,” said Jabulani Sibanda, their leader. “We cannot just sit back when there are all these provocations.”
We won the elections and we are not interested in a run off.
Kuwadzana House of Assembly member and MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa revealed yesterday that MDC won the recent harmonised elections and would not be interested in a rerun.
Speaking to studio 7 yesterday, Chamisa said the MDC preparing for a government of national unity even though their efforts were being turned away by the Zanu PF party.
Chamisa said they had filed an urgent application to the High Court in order to force the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to release results quickly thereby keeping Zimbabwe on the wheels of rebuilding the torn and bleeding country.
“The judgment we need is to have an urgent effect within four hours upon judgment haven being handed down to release the results so that people will know how the various candidates performed. This is what the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and Zanu PF is reluctant to do because they know that they were defeated “said Chamisa.
“As far as we are concerned the so-called run-off is a non-starter for us. We know that we won the election” he said
Chamisa also said that if the High Court fails to deliver the intended result, MDC would use other alternatives to emancipate the people of Zimbabwe.
If it is not effective enough, we are going to use our most important weapon; that is the people tool. It is what is going to achieve the results for us,” Chamisa said.
Chamisa before the harmonized elections refuted allegations that they would resort to violence if President Mugabe continue to cling on power as the people can not afford five years more years suffering.
Tsvangirai, last week indicated, that his party was prepared for a run-off. It is now not clear what the party position is after Chamisa has indicated that they have won outright, a claim also echoed by Tendai Biti, the MDC secretary general.Mugabe still considers to step down
Update 04-04: 17:50Robert Mugabe's aides have told Zimbabwe's opposition leaders that he is prepared to give up power in return for immunity from prosecution, South African newspaper Mail and Guardian reports. The aides have warned that if the opposition not agree then Mugabe is threatening to declare emergency rule.
Yesterday evening authorities searched offices of the main opposition party and detained foreign journalists, fueling fears that ruling party hard-liners were trying to block a deal to end President Robert Mugabe's 28 years in power.
Five days after weekend balloting, the country's election commission still had not released results of the presidential voting.
Opposition sources close to negotiations with the ruling party said there appeared to be divisions between those who wanted to fight to maintain power and those who were willing to negotiate a deal that would allow them to protect the property and other benefits they have accumulated in nearly three decades in power.Mugabe not giving up
Update 03-04: 14:40
Robert Mugabe is ready for a second round of the presidential election, a spokesman for his ruling Zanu-PF party said on Thursday. The opposition won the constituency-based parliamentary poll but no results have yet been released for the vital presidential vote.
Brushing off signs that Mugabe is in retreat for the first time in 28 years of power, Matonga told Reuters results from an election in which the ruling ZANU-PF lost control of parliament for the first time showed it won the majority of votes cast.
"From ZANU-PF's perspective, we are very confident that we've got the numbers, when it comes to a re-run, we're ready for that second round, and we are confident that President Robert Mugabe will win this time," Matonga said.
Matonga's words seemed the clearest indication so far that Mugabe, widely blamed for the economic collapse of his once prosperous nation, was preparing to contest an April 19 runoff against Tsvangirai.
In his first public appearance since the March 29 election, Mugabe met the head of an African Union election observer team at his residence in Harare, state television reported.MDC wins House of Assembly contest
Update 03-04: 08.45 by Mugadza Munyaradzi, Harare, Zimbabwe
The announcement of the tightly contested House of Assembly elections ended this morning with the opposition MDC-Tsvangirai winning 99 seats against 97 for the ruling Zanu-PFf. This historic victory signals the exit door for veteran president Robert Mugabe.
The Movement for Democratic Change faction led by Mutambara secured 10 seats. Former Information minister professor Jonathan Moyo was the only independent to have snatched a seat, a reminiscent of the 2005 parliamentary election after he won the Tsholothso seat.
However the final House of Assembly results mirrors a colossal task that Mugabe has to face in the presidential even though his allies are quashing rumours that Morgan Tsvangirai has won the by 50,3 percent.
The MDC said they will accept a run off but under protest and warned that president Mugabe would be defeated if not humiliated as the people of Zimbabwe wants a government of change.
Some diplomatic sources said there was a concerted effort to persuade president Mugabe to stand down. Also Mugabe has not appeared in public since casting his vote on Saturday.
Meanwhile the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission will start announcing the senate results today while the collation and verification of presidential results is still underway.
Zimbabwe at dawn of new era?
Update 02-04: 14.38 by Mugadza Munyaradzi, Harare, Zimbabwe
A senior opposition official has revealed that Morgan Tsvangirai had won the tightly contested presidential race by 50,3 percent with Robert Mugabe having 42,9 and Simba Makoni 6 percent. This unilateral announcement has not yet been commented by officials.MDC Party Secretary General Tendai Biti announcement comes amid an atmosphere of uncertainty and hesitation as to who won the election. In the meantime, Zimbabweans across the country have expressed optimism over these latest reports about MDC victory.
At a conference last night, Tsvangirai though diplomatic said he had won the elections and said he would wait for the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to accomplish its duty.
The source said Zimbabweans have to prepare themselves for a run off because all the presidential candidates had not garnered the required fifty one percent to be legally crowned winner. Members of the Zanu PF politburo (The decision making process) met yesterday to discuss the way forward.
According to the former finance minister and politburo member Dr Simba Makoni and Arthur Mutambara have said in the event of a run off they would support Morgan Tsvangirai and give him the required victory. If this happens, the whole of Matabeleland would vote for Tsvangirai while in other constituencies Mugabe would be embarrassed especially taking on board the economic mess currently gripping the country.'Tsvangirai in touch with Zimbabwe army'
Update 01-04: 17:55- by AfricaNews editorial team
The opposition in Zimbabwe is supposed to be in touch with senior officers of the army, which shows that support for Mugabe within the ruling Zanu-PF is beginning to erode in the army, South African newspaper Mail and Guardian reports.
Advisers of President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai are discussing the possibility of Zimbabwe's longtime leader relinquishing power, a businessman close to the electoral commission and a lawyer close to the opposition told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Both men want to remain anonymous.
The businessman said Mugabe has been told he is far behind Tsvangirai in preliminary results of Saturday's presidential elections and that there could be an uprising if Mugabe were declared the winner. The lawyer said advisers to both men were discussing a "transitional arrangement."
Zimbabwe's ruling party nevertheless edged ahead of the main opposition with over half of parliamentary election results released Tuesday late afternoon.
Concerns grew that President Robert Mugabe is trying to rig the vote. Riot police in armored carriers patrolled two of Harare's opposition strongholds overnight and residents were told to stay off the normally bustling streets.
Three days after the most important vote since independence, only 109 out of 210 parliamentary constituencies had been declared, showing the ruling ZANU-PF two seats ahead of the main opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC).MDC leads with 5 seats in 1/3 of votes
Update 01-04: 08.15- by SK, journalist in Harare, Zimbabwe
The opposition in Zimbabwe is supposed to be in touch with senior officers of the army, which shows that support for Mugabe within the ruling Zanu-PF is beginning to erode in the army, South African newspaper Mail and Guardian reports.
Zanu-PF heavyweight Mohadi Kembo won the Beitbridge East seat while another top ruling party official Shuvai Mahofa lost in Gutu South. Kembo is Home Affairs Minister while Mahofa is former Youth and Women’s Affairs Minister.
Education, Sports and Culture deputy minister Lazarus Dokora also won the Rushinga seat.ZEC said more results were expected in due course.
Tension keeps rising in Zimbabwe
Update 31-03: 17.15-by AfricaNews
President Mugabe is set to steal the elections in Zimbabwe and is about to announce victory. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) will announce Mugabe as a winner. Sources within the ZEC centre said to South African newspaper Mail and Guardian Mugabe clearly lost the election. The opposition claims victory as well.
According to Zanu-PF sources at the collation centre as well as government sources, the ZEC was to announce that the ruling party had won by 111 seats, or 52%, with some rural constituencies recording huge victories for Mugabe.
The opposition claims it won the election by 60 (MDC) versus 30 (ZANU PF) and 10 (MAkoni) percent.
Mail and Guardian reports that according to a report by the United Kingdom-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), sources within the ZEC centre said Mugabe had clearly lost the election to his opposition rival Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), polling only 20% of the vote. Mugabe was also said to trail Simba Makoni, a former Zanu-PF finance minister, who had garnered 28%.Ecstasy as MDC continues to win
Update 31-03: 13.01 by Mugadza Munyaradzi, Harare, Zimbabwe
Many Zimbabwe's urban surburbs broke into song and dance as the piecemeal results of the recent harmonised elections started filtering through late yesterday. The latest results show that the MDC is cruising in the presidential and parliamentary polls.
And it remains to be seen whether president Robert Mugabe and his allies will react to what looks like end of an era.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has continued warning the opposition for claiming victory while the whole process is still underway.
SADC observer mission and other respected moguls expressed mounting concern that Zanu-PF was trying to rig the election as the state-appointed Zimbabwe Election Commission had not released any results more than 24 hours after the polls closed. But Judge George Chiweshe, ZEC chairman, told state television that all results would be released by the end of Monday.
After reports that the MDC was celebrating their earlier lead Chiweshe said “The commission would like to reiterate that it and it alone is the sole legitimate source of all results”.
In Glen View constituency, some riot police patrolled the streets and warned residents that blood reprisals would labelled against those trying to cause alarm and violence.
Despite his campaigns throughout the country, President Mugabe might lose the polls.
Tendai Biti secretary general of the MDC said if that is the case we will work vigorously with the international community to make sure the people’s will prevails. Zimbabwe's independent election group ,Zimbabwe Election Support Network chairman Noel Kututwa advised ZEC to announce the results to avoid speculation.
“The delay is fuelling speculation that there is something going on”, he said.Zanu - MDC evenly tied in first results
Update 31-03: 10.21 by Daniel Sibanda, Harare, Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission started announcing poll results early this morning. So far, the commission has announced results for six house of assembly seats. President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF and opposition MDC are evenly tied, each with three seats.
On Sunday morning, the MDC had announced that it had won the most seats and was sure of winning the election. Mugabe and the Electoral Commission warns against any early victory claim.Mugabe warns of premature victory claims
Update 31-03: 07.41 by Sam Banda Junior, Blantyre, Malawi
The Zimbabwe government on Sunday warned the opposition against premature victory claims saying this would be seen as an attempted coup. The main Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) opposition party announced the same day that they had won the election.
Tendai Biti, MDC’s secretary general, told diplomats and observers overnight that early results showed it was victorious. "We have won this election," he said.
The Southern African country’s security forces, which have thrown their backing firmly behind Mugabe, said before the election they would not allow a victory declaration before counting was complete.
Government spokesman George Charamba also warned the opposition against such claims.
"It is called a coup d'etat and we all know how coups are handled," he told Reuters.
Officials said they would begin announcing results of the presidential, parliamentary and local polls later on Sunday. Voting ended at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Biti said later MDC was concerned at delays in announcing results, which traditionally begin emerging soon after polls close.
"We're aware the results are final in most constituencies but they are deliberately taking their time to announce. ... The whole idea of having an election is so you can have a result."
He however said early results, based on 12 percent of the vote, showed MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai was projected to win 67 percent nationally.
Biti said the MDC leader had made significant inroads in Mugabe's rural strongholds by leading in the southern province of Masvingo and Mashonaland Central Province, north of Harare, where the MDC has not won a parliamentary seat since 2000.
George Chiweshe, chairman of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), had to be rescued by security men in a Harare hotel when he was confronted by journalists and opposition supporters demanding results be published.
Residents in the eastern opposition stronghold of Manicaland said riot police stopped a victory demonstration by about 200 MDC supporters. There was no violence, they said.
Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, faced his most formidable challenge in the election against Tsvangirai and ruling ZANU-PF party defector Simba Makoni, who campaigned on the collapse of Zimbabwe's economy.
Although the odds seem stacked against Mugabe, 84, analysts believe he will be declared the winner and the opposition accused him of widespread vote-rigging.
Observers from the Pan-African parliament told the electoral commission they had found more than 8,000 non-existent voters registered on empty land in a Harare constituency.
The United States said it was worried by the conduct of the election and the absence of most international observers.
"The Mugabe regime is a disgrace to the people of Zimbabwe and a disgrace to southern Africa and to the continent of Africa as a whole," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters during a visit to Jerusalem.
Mugabe, who accuses the West of sabotaging Zimbabwe's economy, expressed confidence on Saturday he would be returned to office. "We will succeed. We will conquer," he said.
He rejected vote-rigging allegations.
If no candidate wins more than 51 percent of the vote, the election will go into a second round.Early figures give lead to Tsvangirai
Update 30-03: 13.41 by Mugadza Munyaradzi, Harare, Zimbabwe
The already counted votes at various constituencies are putting opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai above his rivals Robert Mugabe and Simba Makoni. Tsvangirai who incessantly piled pressure on President Mugabe since 2000 has promised victory to his fans.
Speaking at a news conference, Tsvangirai’s Secretary General Tendai Biti said the situation on the current figures was a sign that the populace of Zimbabwe was behind him. “We have won this election," he said.
Biti said the MDC's election agents had reported that early results posted at polling stations showed Tsvangirai was projected to win 66 percent of the votes in the capital Harare, an opposition stronghold.
Surprisingly, in Marondera, Tsvangirai faction prevailed over the ruling party Zanu-PF in council elections. Marondera which falls under Mashonaland province was one of Mugabe’s strongholds in previous years but the difficulties in the country have compelled some to turn their support against the incumbent leader.
Tsvangirai's winning trend had also extended to Mugabe's home province of Mashonaland West, where the MDC had taken a rural parliamentary seat, said Biti.
He said that in Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo, another opposition power
base, Tsvangirai had a slight edge over former Finance Minister and ruling ZANU-PF official Simba Makoni - also standing against Mugabe.
In contrast, Makoni was leading in Zimbabwe's south-western Matabeleland South Province because of their grievances against Zanu-PF. The people in this province are also solidly behind former politburo0 member who joined Simba Makoni’s project Dumiso Dabengwa.Polling stations close
Update 29-03: 22.14:
Polling stations are closed in Zimbabwe. Voting was conducted quite smoothly countrywide Noel Kututwa, spokesman for the Zimbabwe Election Support Network told international media. South Africa' s Mail & Guardian reported that African observers discovered fraudulent voters rolls in the Zimbabwe election, listing more than 8 000 apparently non-existent people.
Marwick Khumalo, head of the Pan-African Parliament, said that in one Harare constituency, "8 450 [voters] have been registered under block 081083 ... which is a deserted land with a few scattered wooden sheds".
Kututwa expressed concerns about the state of the voters' roll which, he said, "was fraught with many problems of duplicate names, of ghost voters, and of people who have long since died but are still on the voters roll."
BBC quoted Morgan Tsvangirai who said just after voting: "I want to assure you that the people's victory is assured, in spite of the regime's attempt to subvert the people's will through other fraudulent activities that have been unearthed, a million votes in Marambapfungwe, 33 ghost polling stations in Mashona central, and others. In spite of all that, I can tell you that we are absolutely confident that the outcome will be for the people."
Robert Mugabe: “We have that sense of honesty. I cannot sleep with my conscience if I have cheated in elections.”Election more peaceful than expected
Update 29-03: 14.30:
Zimbabweans have been calmly casting their votes contradicting the pessimistic predictions that poll would run out of hand. Speaking on phone to AfricaNews from Harare at 14:00 GMT, reporter Charles Moyo said that the election was more peaceful than expected.
Zimbabweans have been calmly casting their votes contradicting the pessimistic predictions that poll would run out of hand. Speaking on phone to AfricaNews from Harare at 14:00 GMT, reporter Charles Moyo said that the election was more peaceful than expected.
“Every thing is calm in the street and no incident has been noticed so far”, Moyo says, adding that police are calling people to proceed home soon after casting their ballots.
In light of a rather police-controlled electoral campaign, many observers had feared that Zimbabwe would plunge into chaos in the first hours of the poll. Opposition candidates Morgan Tsvangirai and Simba Makoni have all expressed high risks of state-organised fraud by veteran president Robert Mugabe.
“I have a sense of honesty. I cannot sleep with conscience if I have cheated”, Mugabe said after casting his ballot in Highfield Suburb in Harare.
The first results of the poll are expected starting from Sunday.
Voting underway in Zimbabwe
People in line today as the voting for the presiency started this morning at 5.00 am. So far there have been no irregularities reported.Zimbabweans can choose between Robert Mugabe, in power since 1980 and his challengers Morgan Tsvangirai of the MDC party and ex-finance minister Simba Makoni.
On power for 28 years, 84-year old president Robert Mugabe is running for another term but this time with less confidence as his own former ally and finance minister Simba Makoni stands among his challengers.
Although Mugabe has announced that he would accept defeat, his rivals accuse his regime of having printed out much more ballots than needed.
In his last attempts to get more votes in, Mugabe gave on Thursday 400 brand new cars to the country’s medical doctors and promises housing within two years.
At the same time, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of Morgan Tsvangirai was holding an imposing rally in Bulawayo. Hoping to go the second round, opposition party have pledged to join their forces to prevent the re-election of the aging president.
The electoral process has been marked by some scenes of violence and arrests of oppositions supporters. Mugabe’s government has also banned Western poll observers, preferring those from China, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba and Africa.
It should be noted that African leaders, especially those from the southern part, have been critical to the western stand towards their Zimbabwean peer.
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Keywords: zimbabwe_elections
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Reactions
- Posted on Monday 31 March 2008 12:37I am glad again to hear that another African country is going to the poll where the old and young are standing in the sun,keeping themselves hungry only to excercise their voting rights,their rights to choose their leader and live in a free democratized country.I am glad. My only fear is if thier rights will not be abused. My memory takes me back to the situation in Kenya,who won Kenya election of all the foreign interventions? was the questionable results in the then Nigerian changed? May i caution against electorial fraud and wish Zambabwe a free and fair election.
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