Denford Magora's Latest Zimbabwe News Blog: 2/1/09 - 3/1/09 Live From Harare, Zimbabwe

George Charamba, aka Nathaniel Manheru, who bade us farewell in the pages of the Mugabe newspaper, The Herald last Saturday, has smuggled himself back into the newsroom under yet another alias, Eagle Eye. No one is fooled

No sooner had we bade farewell to the son of Manheru, Nathaniel Manheru than he replaces himself with.....himself. This time, though, under another name, the Manheru name, soiled by its partisan defence of tyranny, is no longer comfortable in the stench-filled corridors of this new sulphourous concotion called the Coalition Government.

This time, George Charamba, Mugabe's spokesman, now optimistically calls himself "Eagle Eye". (I think "A View From The Gutter" is more appropriate.)

Worse, he is feeling more provocative than ever before, ending his long missives with "Pamberi chete-chete" - the ominous slogan of ZANU PF during that run-off electoral con job in June 2008. Back then, the full slogan was "Mugabe chete-chete" - meaning "Mugabe whether you like it or not."

The leopard has not changed his spots, then. He has just descended from the tree and is trying to blend in with the springboks and the zebras.

He does have high praise for Joram Nyathi of the Zimbabwe Independent, however, in a move he hopes will drive the diaspora constituency, which is implacably vitriolic towards Nyathi, absolutely bonkers with rage. "You see, you see, we told you he was in bed with ZANU PF this Joram Nyathi. Why would George Charamba praise him," is the predictable reponse that you will be seeing very soon on forums and in the comments sections of the minority online papers!

Still, it should be fun. Scribes, bloggers and street kids welcome Eagle Eye and his View From The Gutter.

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Things Fall Apart

85 year old Robert Mugabe, the dictator of Zimbabwe, eats cake during his birthday celebrations in Chinoyi earlier today, where he insisted that his Presidential powers are still "intact" despite the coalition arrangement with Morgan Tsvangirai

Well, that was to be expected.

The SADC Finance Ministers, meeting in the lazy opulence of Cape Town in South Africa, decided not to decide whether or not to commit any funds to the recovery of Zimbabwe's economy and even social fabric. At the end of their meeting, they said they will speak to a few other people and see who can chip in with something.

It is an unenthusiastic response to the much-touted unity between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai.

But this should not surprise anyone. I did point out on this very blog that there was little likelihood of donors wanting to rush in with foreign currency that would only be used to prop up a bloated behemoth of a government, whose focus is worse than that of a drunk.

Seventy ministers and governors! Ambassadors! 210 parliamentarians! Permanent Secretaries in every ministers office, functionaries, spokespersons, drivers, bodyguards! All this is chewing up considerably more than the US$30 million dollars per month budgeted for by Patrick Chinamasa. I bet you we are going to get a mid-term supplementary budget by June/July this year, because this government is going through money like it grows on trees.

There are gleaming Mercedes Benzes already delivered, plus brand new twin-cabs. The MPs are soon to get a couple of cars each for their current term.

I asked a few days ago what donor in their right mind would want to give money to such a bunch of naked mercenaries - yes from both ZANU and MDC.

Zimbabwe is a funeral wake and the leaders and their parties embarrass themselves in the eyes of the mourners by rushing to the buffet table, the trough, to stick their snouts in there with indecent haste.

What Samaritan, I ask you, would give money and such to a "destitute parent" when they can see that every penny the parents gets is spent on clothes, shoes, Chicken Inn and Nandos (fast food), and make-up for themselves? This is exactly what this creature called the Coalition Government is doing.

Don't hold your breath. Until there is some sign that the words accountability, responsibility and transparency mean something to the MDCs and their ZANU PF bedfellows, then the donors will keep their hands in their pockets.

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

Then this: two Zimbabwean policemen who beat a prisoner to death over seven days in the police cells have been remanded in custody to March 9 in the ancient city of Masvingo. The man, Felix Chauromwe, was suspected of stealing a neghbour's goat. I expect he denied the whole thing through all the beatings, and ended up six feet under because the Zimbabwe Republic Police motto appears to be "The Suspect Has A Right Be Beaten Until Proven Guilty".

This was a theft suspect. Now can you imagine if it was a political detainee?

One thing is for certain: they would not have been arrested at all and would still be free. If the victim had lived and been freed, he goes back to his home area with horror stories from the cells, tales of torture and beatings. Then the whole community sees impunity on two legs as the culprits continue to walk amongst them unmolested.

For the ordinary person, this is reason enough to stay clear of all politics, to leave Mugabe and Tsvangirai to do what they please while they themselves concentrate on ensuring their families' survival. And that is how the nation is cowed.

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

And speaking of the law: Roy Bennett, the Deputy Agriculture minister-designate and a close aide to Tsvangirai, had his bail application thrown out by the courts yesterday. Beatrice Mtetwa, the Human Rights lawyer acting for Bennett, sought to have nullified the continued detention of Bennett by the courts despite bail being granted.

This was the same court that granted him the bail in the first place, but now they side with the Attorney General and say that the prosecution is well within its rights to hold him while it makes up its mind whether to appeal the bail ruling or not.

So Bennett remains in jail. And the MDC watches and wonders. The party says it is not sure what it is going to do about all this, but it will not pull out of government.

Tsvangirai was reported to be attending Mugabe's birthday celebrations in Chinhoyi today, but when I watched the live coverage a couple of hours back, I did not see him. I saw Joice Mujuru, the VP, chatting all the way through Mugabe's speech with Themba Mliswa, owner of a few repossesed farms (and a Game Reserve, I think) here in Zimbabwe.

Still, Tsvangirai's approach seems to be to want to embarrass Mugabe with politeness. It might work. And if not, would make a good dossier in six months time when they have to go back to SADC for a progress report and "review".

If Tsvangirai keeps to the proper conduct of the partnership, going out of his way to be accommodating to ZANU PF and Mugabe, even in the face of the provocative arrests of his supporters, then he would have strengthened his hand immensely for that SADC summit in six months time.

The problem is his supporters, who see every tactic of his as a further sign of his weakness. To be certain, we can not be sure of Tsvangirai's strategy and history behoves us not to be generous in our expectations of the man's ability to manoeuvre around ZANU PF and Mugabe.

All in all, a big dog's breakfast then. They sit there looking at each other over the oak Cabinet Table during Cabinet meetings, devoid of any meaningful money with which to run the government, broke, but not so broke as to forego their own luxuries.

Meantime, the unemployed and hungry look upwards, to their leaders for leadership in setting this country on the right path again. Right now, that does not look like it is happening soon.

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The Real Problem With Mugabe/Tsvangirai's GNU

Morgan Tsvangirai visiting cholera victims at a Harare hospital earlier today

I was discussing Morgan Tsvangirai's "null and void" statement with Dr Makoni yesterday afternoon and was struck by a comment he made with regards to the tone of this statement.

"Iyi yangova "ndinogarira vana vangu iyi" - there is no love there anymore, I will just stay on in the marriage for my kids".

As he said, the MDC seem to have decided now that since they are in for a penny, they might as well be in for a pound. There is no withdrawal from the government. They may collect evidence to present to SADC in six months' time, but that is all they can do at the moment as Mugabe and ZANU PF stomp on the spirit and even the letter of the agreement.

Latest news from here in Zimbabwe says the MDC, after their executive council met today in Harare, are not entirely sure how to react to the arrests of their supporters and leaders by "some people". This is supposed to be the government, yet it appears unaware of who is arresting or ordering the arrests of its own senior members?

Just what on earth is going on here?

The answer is simple enough. A mistaken (mis)statement on the eve of joining government is the root of all the troubles bedevilling the MDC in government.

You will recall that Tsvangirai went before the press to announce that their decision to go into government was simply a tactic "to continue the struggle on another front". In other words, fighting from within.

Take that in for a moment.

Now do you realise just how silly that was?

The MDC announced that it was going into government not to govern, but to oppose. Oppose what? The PM is said to be in charge of policy implementation. So has he gone into government to oppose Policy Implementation?

It is a curious state of affairs, don't you think? And how exactly did Tsvangirai and his Executive think ZANU PF would react to this waving of a red rag? "Ah well, in that case, you'd better come in then, make sure you sharpen the knives first."?

Mugabe has bluntly told the Politburo of ZANU PF what he thinks the MDC are up to. He says they came into the agreement only to show SADC that it will not work. Therefore, Mugabe sees no goodwill fron the MDC. Which means he sees no sense in making any effort.

Because he is a plotter, he also minutely dissects the MDC actions and reads the worst into them. For example, he sees the move by Biti to give soldiers US$100 "allowances" as a ploy to buy the lower ranks of the defence forces. He has stated this so openly that his sentiment has since got back to Tsvangirai.

Mugabe thinks Biti will come unstuck on this because there is no money to sustain it. I believe he knows he will behave atrociously all the way through to this GNU's political grave, and will make no effort whatsoever to be conciliatory to the West in any respect. Which will mean no aid or balance of payment support.

The Zimbabwe Impunity Licencing Board, chaired by one Robert Mugabe, operates in a very peculiar way, you see: Survival of the fittest. As long as Mugabe's own power is not threatened, he prefers the Hitlerian sort of leadership, where you let your underlings slug it out and at the end of it all, you then embrace the one still standing.

This is how Mugabe is treating the frustrations that are being visited on the MDC by his own underlings. He will watch, not lifting a finger and see who emerges triumphant. That will be the one he backs.

The odds are stacked in favour of the lawbreakers, the merchants of Zimbabwe's misery, unfortunately, when you carry this thing through to its logical conclusion.

They, within ZANU PF, have usurped the institutions of the state. Not only have they corrupted them, but they have also debased them.This is primarily because Mugabe, as he himself has said, is an avowed apostle of Marxism/Leninism. He wants a one-party state still.

He and ZANU PF are The Borg (for Star Trek Fans): "We will assimilate you, those who do not wish to be assimilated will be destroyed, resistance is futile"

Morgan Tsvangirai and his people were right to go into this thing girded up for battle. But they were wrong in announcing their intentions. Ambush is always the best form of attack.

It is too late now, though. They have been spotted.

So, in essence, then, from the outset, the MDC looked at this as an opportunity to be an opposition from within government, which then made ZANU PF look at the whole thing as an attack on itself, badly disguised.

This is the root of the unnecessary and completely destructive game of "arrest the minister" that is now being played.

They are only just getting started.

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MUGABE AND TSVANGIRAI PLAN TO UNDERMINE DEMOCRACY

By law, Morgan Tsvangirai has to have a portrait of Robert Mugabe in his office, where he is seen in the picture above during his press conference yesterday

Robert Mugabe and his new best friend, Morgan Tsvangirai, are planning on completely ignoring the people of Zimbabwe and implementing their own constitution, drafted in the smoky engine bay of a leisure boat on Lake Kariba.

Mugabe confirmed this last night in his interview with Tazeen Mandizvidza of the the ZBC.

He says a constitution will be put to a referendum in about 24 months, but adds that the constitution is already in place, saying "they" already have one. "They call it the Kariba Draft Constitution," he said, as if this has nothing to do with him at all. Which, in some ways, is true.

Tsvangirai, as has now become the norm since he joined government, is likely to just nod or, at the very worst, mumble some misgivings before diving right in there to swim with Mugabe.

They have no intention of holding a Constitutional Conference and consultations with the people all over Zimbabwe for their input. I wonder what Welshman Ncube thinks about all this, seeing as he will now simply be a The Minister In Charge Of The Rubber Stamp.

Of course, Tsvangirai does not realise that he is playing the dictator's game here if he goes ahead and endorses this travesty.

First and foremost, that so-called Kariba Draft would be defeated at the referendum, no doubt. And that is exactly what Mugabe wants. He likes our current constitution just fine.

Which to me, removes this man immediately from the list of great statesman and visionaries. Presented with the opportunity to bequeath to Zimbabwe a progressive and utterly democratic constitution as the founding president, Mugabe would rather tweak the Lancaster House colonial relic.

You need not wonder why.

The current constitution was tailored specifically for Mugabe's personal needs and person. It even had clause that allowed Mugabe to "declare anything done lawfully to be unlawful and anything done unlawfully to be lawful."

On impeachment, for instance, the constitution said that, should Mugabe be impeached by parliament he has something like 60 days in which, although impeached, he could still dissolve that very same parliament that has impeached him.

He then had to hold elections after that, of course, but we all know how that has turned out for Zimbabweans, and especially the MDC, over the years.

The late Eddison Zvobgo, architect of the current constitution as amended, said that the document was one of the biggest mistakes of his life.

The thing is, Mugabe and Tsvangirai can not get away with this. Like I said, the Kariba Draft stands no chance at the polls, because it is an unimaginative document, one that belongs to the era of the Kings and the Czars and not to a thrusting 21st Century country such as Zimbabwe should seek to become.

The people were not consulted or even asked for their opinion through one of those opinion polls politicans like to trot out during elections.

Obviously, Zimbabweans want a constitution that will reflect the quality of our citizens, our hopes, aspirations and ideals. It should be a constitution that lives in the modern day, where the law is above everybody.

But Mugabe and Tsvangirai and their negotiators seem to think that they can simply plonk it in front of us, effectively holding us hostage as they demand that we say "Yes or No."

They should just try it. Then they'll see.

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Mugabe Confirms Hong Kong House - Daughter Staying There

Robert Mugabe's birthday television interview, a tradition every year since the days of Jonathan Moyo, is being broadcast here in Zimbabwe as I write this.

Notably, Mugabe frankly admitted that his daughter, Bona, is staying at the house in Hong Kong (pictured above), "with a friend."

"It's for our girl," said Mugabe, "and her friend, another girl. Then we had to have enough room for, masecurity people, you know."

Mugabe denies that he bought the house, however. He says he is renting it only "for our girl, while she is studying there. When they finish their degrees, then they come back home."

The house was exposed by the London Sunday Times, whose photographer, Richard Jones, had a run-in with Grace Mugabe at the Shangri-La Hotel in Hong Kong, where the Firt Lady had gone to fetch Bona for her holidays back in Zimbabwe.

She is reported to have puched him repeatedly in the face and head, wit her diamond ring causing bleeding and injuries to the photographer's face and head.

Mugabe says "the Chinese government is looking into the matter" of the expose and the subsequent attention that is now lavished on the house by the media and tourists. He added that he hopes this "invasion of privacy" will then be brought to an end.

Mugabe also spoke about the Attorney General and Gideon Gono, saying they are not going anywhere, he is not going to fire them.

Since it is only he who can fire the two, this is another slap in the Prime Minister's face, who said only yesterday that the issue of the two men and their offices is one of the outstanding issues that would make it "impossible for the transitional government to move forward.

He got his answer tonight.

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The End Of The Unity Government?

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, flanked by Deputy PM Arthur Mutambara at a press conference this afternoon where he announced that he was nullyfying President Mugabe's appointment of Permanent Secretaries.

Morgan Tsvangirai was summoned to State House today by Robert Mugabe about an hour after the Prime Minister issued his statement nullyfying all appointments of Permanent Secretaries announced by Mugabe yesterday.

Tsvangirai, during his press conference at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, said the PermSecs who were in the jobs on September 15 should stay in their posts and also directly challenged Mugabe by declaring the appointments "null and void".

The meeting at the State House is still going on, I am told.

Tsvangirai's statement was particularly noteworthy for the pains it took to avoid Mugabe's name and even the Office of The President. Tsvangirai merely said "no civil servant" has the power to unilaterally appoint Perm Secs. He also stated that the move was in contravention of the Global Political Agreement signed last year.

It is not clear whether Tsvangirai sought clarification from Mugabe before going public, but the fact that he was summoned soon after the Press Conference would suggest that he had not.

It is a grave and delicate time for this government, because Mugabe is likely to refuse to budge. He still lives in the world where his powers are intact and the Presidential Prerogative still in play.

Of course, this is not what we were told by the MDCs as they went into the this government. They said the Agreement had managed to clip Mugabe's wings, hobbling the president for the rest of the life of the coalition government. This move from Mugabe, agreed, certainly is not a move that is within the spirit of the September 15 agreement.

But what is Tsvangirai going to do about it. (Which reminds of that time in 2007 when Tsvangirai was badly beaten by the police. Mugabe, addressing an Independence Day gathering later, said, "Tsvangirai ran off to the British and the Americans and told them, "oh look, I have been beaten". And what are going to do to us? What are they going to do about it?" asked Mugabe back then.)

The question is back and stares Tsvangirai in the face. What are you going to do about it?

If Tsvangirai sticks to his guns, the only option would be for him to pull out of the GNU. But I hasten to say he is very unlikely to do this. The language of his statement today suggests that he will take this on the chin and continue in government.

Betraying this mentality, he announced that he had tasked the two Ministers of Home Affairs to look into the isue of the prisoners and detainees, Jestina Mukoko, Roy Bennett and others.

Another sign of just how powerless Tsvangirai is in this government comes through in his statement on the "former Department of Communications". This was a department in the Ministry of Information and Publicity under the old Mugabe cabinet.

But that Ministry has now been split, with Mugabe retaining the Ministry of Information and Publicity and the MDC picking up the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications.

Apparently, in reference to the meeting held in Harare last week between ZANU PF minister of information, Webster Shamu, and the telephone companies, Tsvangirai said the Telecommunications sector falls under the MDC ministry and not Mugabe's Webster Shamu.

About right, I should think. Because if the Teleohone companies were to remain with Information and Publicity, what would Nelson Chamisa's ministry be in charge of? Right now, Mugabe Information ministry has power over the state broadcasters (and also any other broadcasters that may come into being later, a highly unlikely event seeing as it is still Mugabe's party that is charge of issuing licences), the State newspapers (Herald, Chronicle, Manica Post and so on) as well as all government communications.

This would leave Nelson Chamisa in charge of what exactly? Internet Service providers and computer vendors? You can see how Tsvangirai would not accept this, because it would mean Chamisa's ministry is nothing but a shell, a public expense with no job to do at all.

The heads of the telephone companies recieved calls from the President's Office this week advising them that they will still report to the old ministry. This was after they called for clarification following communication from the MDC that they should take instructions from the new minister, Nelson Chamisa.

So, nice bit of confusion there.

I suppose all these could be called teething problems, testing strengths, seeing how far one can push back the boundaries, but we know from bitter experience in Zimbabwe that this could explode into a full-blown crisis at any time.

Unless Morgan Tsvangirai's outward softening towards Mugabe is real and he accepts to continue being frustrated in the belief that it is Generals doing it without Mugabe's knowledge, then he certainly has no option but to walk away from this insult.

It does not look or sound like the Prime Minister will walk away from his new-found position of some power and comfort.

To answer the question then, despite the gloomy reports I am hearing tonight, I do not think this is the end of the Unity Government.

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There are also other issues cropping up tonight, to test this government. In a demonstration of who is in the driving seat in government, nine MDC supporters were arrested in Mbare this week after the tried to move back in their homes, which were forcibly taken over by ZANU PF supporters during last year's farcical run-off presidential election.

The group of MDC supporters were given short shrift and told to bugger off by the new owners. They took matters into their own hands, as any person trying to reclaim stolen property would, and running batles ensued.

Both ZANU PF and MDC supporters involved in the running battles were arrested, but the ZANU PF supporters (Mugabe's party) were immediately given bail. The MDC supporters have been sent to remand prison until 9 March!

Ponder this: The MDC is in charge of the City Council in Harare. They control the whole thing and have been hiring their supporters for city jobs. They are, indeed, in charge of the council houses taken away from their legal owners/tenants, the MDC's own supporters.

Yet they have not been able to do anything at all to help their supporters. These Mbare supporters (Mbare is a very poor and overcrowded township on the edge of the city centre), are the forgotten footnotes for whom justice has been denied (delayed?) in a world whose eyes are fixed on the Big-name detainees and prisoners.

There are many, who say that they have been forgotten by the MDC. I am sure the Prime Minister is aware of this.

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