Zimbabwe State of Emergency, Minister Spills The Beans!





Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights March to Parliament to hand over a demand for the release of Jestina Mukoko, who is being secretly held in the government's efforts to build a case for Mugabe's insurgency conspiracy case


Why do you read this blog? No, it's a serious question. Is just knowing enough? I really don't care what you do with the the information. I have a simple and straightforward belief in the freedom of a people to know what it is that is being done in their name. And when Mugabe speaks of "Zimbabwe" he is not talking about some abstract jagged circle on a map. He means you. And me. Your children, even. Should we then be kept in the dark about things that are being done on "our behalf?" The dangers are not immediately apparent, but they are there.

There are things we now wonder about. Such as, if the talks had not been held under such security and secrecy, would the people not have made their voices heard throughout? Would they have written to newspapers and in blogs that Tsvangirai should not sign that agreement until he knew exactly what he would get in the GNU? Would that not have given him pause for thought? Would that have averted the crisis we now face, the unnecessary deaths we witness, the wanton infliction of pain on innocent and honest people?

It is of course unlikely that it would have, because the State of Emergency issue is older than the genesis of this agreement. Yes, we are still on that topic.
To an astute watcher, the illegal Minister of Information in Zimbabwe, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, let the cat out of the bag with his clumsy hint at the anticipated State of Emergency in Zimbabwe.
The man is quoted by the Herald as saying, amongst other rubbish, "I will not tell you what ... but the Zimbabwe government is taking serious measures to offset any threats and any further sanctions on the people ... We won this country through the barrel of the gun and we will defend it the way we won it."
Who does Sikhanyiso want to fight? Us? The people whose country this is and who demand better government than the joke we have now?

Still, it appears we may be about to maintain our 100% success rate. I bet that State of Emergency does not look so far-fetched anymore.

But one wonders: Is Sikhanyiso Ndlovu an idiot? What government does he work for anyway, even by ZANU PFs own illegitimate standards? What is this nonsense he is spewing?: "When some people are taken by the police for investigations, then their relatives say they have been abducted." I thought his "government's" police just denied that they have Jestina Mukoko in any of their cells? Did he coordinate his lies with Mugabe and that rotund smiling man who are in control of this whole insurgency plot story? Does he know what the word contradiction means?

So, according to illegal Minister Motormouth, these abductees have been taken by the police? What is he putting in his pipe? So can Ndlovu then tell us why his" government" refuses to obey the courts and produce her from those cells where she is being "investigated." While he is at it, perhaps he could also tell us what exactly a peace campaigner is being investigated for? This is what I mean when I speak of people doing things in your name. But not on this. Not in my name, you should all say. The government is clearly in breach and this is what the world means when it talks about the rule of law.

A source within the MDC also confirmed to me today that Gandi Mudzingwa and Dennis Murira were indeed sent by the party to Serbia, but this was to be trained in how to carry out mass action and not any sort of armed insurgency as Mugabe seems to dream. So, yes, it appears we are about to be sold a dummy by the dictator. Mugabe, when cornered, is frighteningly ruthless and relentless.. And can he keep a grudge! Ndabaningi Sithole, the founder of ZANU was ostracised for life, arrested and charged with plotting to knock off Mugabe and, in death, vindictively denied a hero status that the whole nation thought he should have got. So the story below (yesterday's post on Jestina) is only but a peak at how the dummy is being sewn together. Mugabe is determined to pull it off. Minister Motormouth may have been sent to rattle the opposition ranks, or it may well be that he suffered a temporary neurological coordination problem, technically known as speaking before you think.

Mugabe himself was in high spirits at State House today, telling a ZANU PF Politburo member that the MDC is now finished. "Regional stability was under threat, it was going to be bigger than RENAMO and very well funded, you know" At one point, he is said to have simply said of the MDC and the negotiating process, "Oh, it's over."

So it appears it will come to pass. The SoE is the only door open and through it Mugabe will form an essentially minority cabinet or, indeed a civilian-led Junta. Will it last? Probably. And Jess, don't be silly, he is not going to invade Botswana. He knows it will essentially be the end of his rule. The world will come down on him so fast his head will spin. Mugabe supported Bush 41 in the Desert Storm war. At the time, he also commented that there was no way Zimbabwe could ever support the invasion of any country, especially a smaller one. By endorsing that principle, he would have invited it upon himself if he thought of breaching the cattle fence.

I told you we were in the end game.


*****************************************





Dr Simba Makoni toured Budiriro and Gazaland shopping centre today in Harare to commisserate with the victims of the cholera epidemic and also see for himself the extent of this primitive disease's devastation.

At Budiriro Polyclinic, Dr Makoni witnessed scores of people lying on either side of the path leading to the matron's office. He was denied permission to see patients in the clinic itself. However, he did manage to speak to people waiting to see sick relatives.
He also visited two homes where deep wells have been sunk. At the fist house visited, he was shown a deep well dug at the back of the house but, at the front, a sewer pipe had burst and was discharging raw sewage into the the street.
At the second house he visited, he was shown a well that had green slimy water in it and from which residents say they have no choice but to draw water for all needs except drinking. Some of the water was scooped out for him in a tin and, before it was even handed to him, he could smell it. After the tour of the homes, Dr Makoni then visited with a young man in his mid-thirties, who is suffering from cholera.He told the doctor he had been discharged from the clinic with only a salt and water solution and some pills. These had long run out and he was too weak to go fetch some more. Dr Makoni asked him if there was someone he could send but he said the only other person he lives with has also succumbed to the disease. Makoni arranged with neighbours to help by fetching his medication .

In Budiriro, he also spoke to a family of young boys, aged between 9 and 18 who told him both their grandparents, who had been looking after than after their parents died, had also died at the beginning of the cholera epidemic (it is always the old and the very young who are the most vulnerable). Their 21 year old brother has since gone to South Africa and has only managed to send money for food once in that time. Another tragedy created by a government that even as late as last week, was refusing to acknowledge that this disaster was a national emergency.

Dr Makoni was also shown the sewage-infested stream where the residents have dug and claimed waterholes. These are guarded by children who, as a result, have been missing school.

From Budiriro, Dr Makoni went to Gazaland Shopping Centre, where he witnessed a deplorable sight, with the entire Centre basically overflowing with streams of sewage.

"This is a sign that this government does not care about the people it purports to lead," he observed, pointing out that the people had told him there was basically no health education they were receiving apart from some posters put up at the clinic.
"This devastation could have been ended if the authorities had acted quickly to allow help to be given to the people. Yet it took more than 200 dead bodies for them to realise that there was something wrong here."

Comments

  1. Indeed, this is what some of us have always wanted to see Mavambo doing - making visible solidarity visits to some trouble spots in the country. Hopefully, this will not be only in Harare....As the POVO, we need leaders who care!

    Regional Diasporan

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, Makoni is indeed showing the right kind of leadership.

    He is definitely a leader for the future.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi,

    Apparently you are now the guy to watch on things happening on the ground in Zimbabwe and in the background. See this link: http://www.thechiefbaboon.com/forums/showthread.php?p=148370#post148370
    You do make very accurate deductions and analysis, I have looked at some of your previous posts: intelligent, reaonsable and very well informed.
    Keep it, you have a gained new reader for a long time to come. Just make sure you keep us informed.
    Emert

    ReplyDelete
  4. You ask why I read your blog...

    I'm in South Africa and you seem to have a good grasp of what is going in 'on the ground' in Zimbabwe.

    I tell you what, Den, these WOZA girls have big cojones! Not only that, but they are organised! Instead of 20 guys marching with placards getting arrested by 5,000 riot police, theses girls rock up, make their protest and then they're gone.

    Why wait for the cops to get there?

    This is the way to protest.

    You see if the chefs can't see what's going on really for themselves, then they are not going to believe it.

    I read that Mugabe says that the cholera is over, the International community must now give him what is rightfully his, and he cannot see the problem. He does not believe that the people want him to step down because he cannot see them asking.

    Mugabe said before the March election that he did not believe that the people wanted him out. He said "If I believed that, I couldn't sleep at night."

    And he doesn't believe it.

    When he is upstairs in the Rainbow Towers and there is a demo outside in the streets, he says to the other SADC leaders as he points out the window "You see? If the people wanted me out, there would be more than a measily 70 demonstrators outside, wouldn't there?" And Mbeki and Mothlante and the rest nod their heads and agree.

    So the people have to help themselves. South Africa won't help, SADC won't help, the AU won't help.

    They have to make their voices heard. And if they can do so in a way that means that they don't get arrested and beaten up, then that's the way to go.

    ReplyDelete
  5. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article5321378.ece

    ReplyDelete
  6. Iam NOT being silly Denford. I believe this regime lost the plot a long time ago. Mugabe is considering attacking Botswana. My info says he wants to do it through a SADC force, like he did in the DRC.
    Yeah, I know you got a better inside track, but you must look at this. Ask your sources. I am not being silly at all!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I think the best way out of the ZIm economic and humanitarian crisis is for political leaders to identify with the needs and aspirations of the people on a daily basis and not just at election time. This is a good start for Simba although from his past record, I'm not sure this is going to be a sustained effort. Simba needs to network with the people that he wants to lead. Barack Obama exploited technology to good effect, a leaf that Simba could pluck and reinforce with local conditions. Many are quick to dismiss this as impractical as they do any other idea without giving it a shot. Internet Cafe's are full to the brim countrywide, with Zimbabweans who will exploit whatever avenue is at their disposal. The cry in the country, ESPECIALLY rural Zimbabwe, is that there be new elections to rid the country of ZANU PF even if they are threatened by the army. The strategy, in short, is for Simba (and MDC's) to map out the best and quickest way for fresh elections under a new constitution.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Jess, what would Mugabe achieve by invading Botswana? Nothing except maybe the downfall of his government. You make the mistake others make, of wanting to believe their own wishes....specifically that Mugabe suffers from dementia. You heard Tsvangirai clearly after that signing ceremony when he had a private lunch with Mugabe: "He is very alert, mentally". This is one man who is crafty and knows exactly how much he can get away with.
    He is only interested in retaining power right now and the threat to that goal is internal, not external. So whatever he does to shore up his regime is going to be done internally.
    Invade Botswana? Puuulizzzzzz...

    ReplyDelete
  9. I agree Dave, that Zimbos need to ORGANIZE themselves like WOZA have demonstrated how it's done for quite some time now. The crux lies in LEADERSHIP which organizes to succeed and not to be shot or imprisoned. I bet if WOZA / MDC / MAVAMBO etc organize for similar simultaneous demonstrations in 5 - 10 different positions with small groups of 200 - 500 people that are well trained, the battle will be over as the security forces will not only be overwhelmed but also inspired to join in and complete the rout!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Good to here that Simba is running around. He should do a nationwide tour. Mavambo can't just seat and expect things to calm down. In that case the credit will go to MDC. After the tour, he should say his wayforward and not just saying what should have happened. Mavambo can shake the world (I believe SADC regards him highly). If he says publicly Mugabe should go, then the world will really take note. He can credibly say that you think Tsvangirai is dump, but he is right on this. Mavambo should take advantage of the future.

    ReplyDelete
  11. @Anonymous (5.28)
    What about WOZA's leaders, Magodona Malangu and Jenny Williams, arrested and detained this June. Released, but *still* caught...

    ReplyDelete
  12. @Dave,

    Thanks a lot for the compliment.It is only now in the late evening that I have managed to catch up with comments and posts etc. Are you also Emert? Or is Emert Emert? (lol)
    I quite agree with your comments. I do not believe that apart from perhaps Lovemore Madhuku, there is a single guy in the activists' ranks who can match Jenni Williams "conjones"!
    I do not know if you agree that the problem with Zimbabwe is the leadership in the opposition. I believe that leadership means leading at all levels. Tsvangirai is indeed popular and if he was to go into the streets to lead protests like MLK Junior in the 60s in the USA, then people would flock to his side to accompany him.
    And when he gets arrested, as he surely will be, there should be enough depth in the MDC leadership for someone else to take over leading the marches and continue and after him, another one.......
    If you notice, the police always try to disperse the crowd, not to arrest it, so it would easy to run rings around them if people come prepared. (speaking of which, do you think the water problems are related to the crackdown on dissent. We all know that the most effective way to neutralise teargas is to put a wet cloth over your mouth and nose. But with no water coming out of the tap, how are you going to wet that cloth?!)
    So yes, like you say, organise groups, maybe ten or twenty of them all over the city and have these refuse to disperse when they are teargassed. The leaders will be crucial here, if they remain at the front, the followers will not run. They will pick up those teargas canisters and throw them back at the police. We would have running battles in the streets with the police.
    I have always said that the police can not possibly hold half a million people in their cells. So if it is arrests, then the people should all volunteer to be arrested, all 1 million of them. There should be a leader in the MDC outside who says, "guys, morgan has been arrested, lets continue the protests until he is released. If they want to arrest us, let us not resist and when they have got all of us, we should refuse to leave the police cells and the jails without Morgan."
    That, I promise you will have an effect. The protests need to be relentless and to keep the focus on the regimes capitulation.
    Right now, Morgan is being too academic, he does not lead protests, his fellow leaders neither. And when they do organise protest marches, these are like carnivals, with a clear starting point and an ending point. After that, people feel they have done enough and go home. No objective achieved. It is sad and people should not wonder why I am disappointed with Morgan. He has not shown the astuteness that is needed on this to push Mugabe to the wire. Right now he is in Botswana or SA and wont come back, he says, until he gets his passport? Yet his supporters here are dying, being kidnapped, murdered and improsoned. Biti faces charges in the courts yet he has remained to face the music. He is a firebrand but also too much of an academic.
    I tell you Dave, the person who will liberate this country will be a rabble-rouser, a rough character (which most thought Morgan was, until he tasted the good life.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Den,

    No I am not Emert.

    I am in Durban at the moment (actually in PE, but I'll be getting back to Durban in the New Year) where it's reasonably safe, so I can't really say to you how you should take to the streets. It's the guys who are actually in Zim that have to make those decisions. They are the guys who are putting their lives at risk.

    ...and Den, if you do join the protests, be careful. If you don't update your blog every day we will fear the worst.

    Also in defense of Jessica: I do remember some years back, in 2001, maybe or 2002, that there was talk about an invasion of Bots. Some ZANU-PF guys I knew were talking about it and saying that nobody would stop them. But things have changed since.

    Lastly, listening to Bob's speech on SABC TV, he really did sound frightened. Personally I don't think that the British Forces would be prepared to invade Zim and I don't think it would be as easy to do so as some people appear to be saying, but you could tell that Bob wasn't so sure....

    ReplyDelete
  14. bob is used to blaming smith, but look at it-they say budiriro cant get water supplies because the system is unable to pump water or that the pipes need replacement.budiriro came tawana kuzvitonga.improper planning & the fact that people of budiriro vote mdc is the reason why bob is punishing our dear brothers & sisters.

    ReplyDelete
  15. as we fight bob which ever way possible, we have to realise that though this old & tired man has teh army & police on his side, it doesn't mean he's stronger than us, it's only because of the fact that we are not organised. we can win this struggle if we come together not to compete against each other or doubt each other's motives!


    let the real, peaceful struggle begin & let's chase these baldheads out of town for good!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Comments from Anonymous Users will NOT be published

Popular posts from this blog

Who Killed Elliot Manyika?

Another Tsvangirai Family Accidental Death

Zimbabwe: Petition To Free A Two Year Old Toddler From Prison