The one hundred and fifty seventh weekly 'No shit, Sherlock' award

I seem to have missed a few weeks of awards, for which I apologise!


This one is a doozy though.

The BBC report that 'Zimbabwe's presidential election was a "huge farce", PM Morgan Tsvangirai has said, alleging vote-rigging by rival President Robert Mugabe's camp.'

Vote-rigging by Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF thugocracy? 'No shit, Sherlock'

Zimbabwe update

It's been a while since I last blogged about the ongoing crisis in Zimbabwe, wher the story has been one of Robert Mugabe speaking the language of cooperation with the opposition but practicing something else entirely. Today I read in The Telegraph that:

"A secret airstrip is being built in a diamond field illegally seized by the Zimbabwean army 14 months ago which would enable clandestine weapons shipments. "

Robert Mugabe is a tyrant but until South Africa takes action his people will continue to live in poverty; the breadbasket of Africa is now just another African basket-case.

Mugabe has built up a 10,000-acre farm of seized land

I am not surprised to read in The Telegraph that: "Robert Mugabe has built up a secret farming empire from land seized from at least five white-owned businesses". The man is a crook and deserves the opprobrium of the world but whilst South Africa support his regime he will stay in power, whilst much of his population starves.

The thirty-third weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award

This week's award goes to The Telegraph for this headline and sun-header:

"Morgan Tsvangirai crash 'was designed to eliminate leader' - Senior lieutenants of Zimbabwe's prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Sunday privately disputed claims that a traffic incident that killed his wife last week was an accident. "

"No shit, Sherlock"

This is not going to end well in Zimbabwe

This news does not bode well: "Zimbabwe's MDC party says it will carry out its own independent investigation into the cause of Friday's crash in Morgan Tsvangirai's wife Susan died."

An "accident"

The news that Morgan Tsvangirai's wife, Susan, has been killed in a car crash which left the Zimbabwean prime minister injured has left me wondering who caused the "accident". I wonder what odds I would get on it being caused by a Mugabe supporter?

Robert Mugabe will not give up power and Zimbabwe knows this.

Zimbabwe update

The telegraph reports on the arrest and silencing of Jestina Mukoko. What caught my eye was the list of the 20,143 incidents between January and September 2008 including:

- 202 murders

- 463 abductions

- 41 rapes

- 411 cases of torture

- 3,942 assaults

- 907 cases of malicious damage to property

- 444 cases of unlawful detention

- 10,795 cases of harassment/intimidation


How many UN Resolutions have been passed condemning Zimbabwe this year? How many have been passed condemning Israel?

Robert Mugabe goes back on his word - shock, horror

The BBC report that:

"Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has allocated key ministries to his own party - in defiance of a power-sharing deal, reports say.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said the move had put the deal "in jeopardy".

The MDC had signed the power-sharing agreement with Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party on 15 September.

But the parties have been deadlocked in allocating ministries and have called back South African mediators.

South Africa's former President Thabo Mbeki was invited back after a meeting on Friday between Mr Mugabe, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai and MDC splinter group head Arthur Mutambara.

But state media on Saturday reported that Mr Mugabe had allocated the ministries responsible for the army, police and other state security to Zanu-PF."

Hmmm, on 16 September I blogged that:

"I wouldn't trust Robert Mugabe to stick to his power-sharing agreement for more than a few weeks. This is a time-wasting move, nothing more. Before Morgan Tsvangirai gets too comfortable he would do remember the name of someone else who shared power with Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo."

Maybe I should apply for a journalism job at the BBC since I seem to be capable of independent thought and analysis rather then regurgitating whatever news release I have just been handed.

Zimbabwe

I wouldn't trust Robert Mugabe to stick to his power-sharing agreement for more than a few weeks. This is a time-wasting move, nothing more. Before Morgan Tsvangirai gets too comfortable he would do remember the name of someone else who shared power with Robert Mugabe, Joshua Nkomo.

The Zimbabwe power-sharing talks

I'll make this clear for the hard of thinking - ROBERT MUGABE WILL NOT GIVE UP EXECUTIVE POWER. The news that

"The passport of Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was briefly seized today as he tried to fly to talks to end the leadership dispute with president Robert Mugabe."

should come as no surprise.

Robert Mugabe has form

A seriously good article about the Zimbabwean election of 1980 and its oft-forgotten predecessor of 1979. Some excellent history and maybe future echoes of the past in its coverage of Abel Muzorewa's victory in 1979 despite intimidation and violence and the interference of President Carter's man in Africa, Andrew Young. The article also covers the murderous response of Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo's Patriotic Front (incorporating ZANU & ZAPU) and the aftermath of the 1980 election.

Maybe the Weekly Standard article should be required reading by all Western politicians.

Shock horror news

The Telegraph seem surprised that at least one non-democratically elected African leader refused to denounce Robert Mugabe for stealing an election, I am not. The Telegraph report that:

"President Omar Bongo of Gabon, who has held power for 41 years and won a series of widely criticised elections, gave his public backing for Mr Mugabe as leaders met in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

"He was elected, he took an oath, and he is here with us, so he is President and we cannot ask him more," said Mr Bongo. "He conducted elections and I think he won."

Mr Bongo added that African leaders would not allow Western governments to dictate their view of Zimbabwe. "We have even received Mugabe as a hero," he said. "We understand the attacks but this is not the way they should react. What they've done is, in our opinion, a little clumsy, and we think they could have consulted us first."

The Zimbabwe crisis could be solved by South Africa in about 3 months, but Thabo Mbeki is not interested in helping the people of Zimbabwe at the expense of the great hero of the anti-colonialist movement, Robert Mugabe. You can ignore the "leaked paper" referred to in the same article, it is one thing for Mbeki to criticise Mugabe in private, you will not see it happen in public and that is where it counts.

Ooh Mama

Eddy Grant at Glastonbury, a great set although I would have preferred "Living on the Frontline" to ""Gimme Hope Jo'anna". The only thing that has irritated me about Eddy Grant recently has been his refusal to criticise Robert Mugabe or even express support for the benighted Zimbabwean people.

What caught my eye tonight though were Eddy's backing singers, especially the lady in the yellow top and the lady in the green top - ooh Mama!

"Let’s kill the baby"

No, not the cry of NotaSheep on a long-haul flight but the reality of life in Zimbabwe in 2008. The Times reports that:

"A baby boy had both legs broken by supporters of President Robert Mugabe to punish his father for being an opposition councillor in Zimbabwe.

Blessing Mabhena, aged 11 months, was seized from a bed and flung down with force as his mother, Agnes, hid from the thugs, convinced that they were about to murder her.

She heard one of them say, “Let’s kill the baby”, before Blessing was hurled on to a bare concrete floor.

Blessing, who may never be able to walk properly, was one of the youngest victims of atrocities against the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change in the run-up to last Friday’s sham presidential election."

And we cancel a cricket tour, wow!

"The horrors of being a white farmer in Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe"

Another dreadful story about life in Zimbabwe in The Telegraph, do read it and the earlier pieces that I have blogged about here.

What is happening in Zimbabwe is a terrible crime and we are just watching it happen. As for South Africa's lack of action, words all but fail me, Thabo Mbeki is complicit in every beating, every torture, every murder in Zimbabwe.

Censorship in Zimbabwe

This is the MDC's Party Political Broadcast that has been banned by the ever more dictatorial Robert Mugagbe. The broadcast is a creditable 30+ seconds long, if only UK PPBs were as short. I am a trifle worried by the number of different typefaces used in the on screen slogan - multiple sizes and colours in just nine words...

More on Zimbabwe

The story just gets worse and worse and nothing is ever done...

Today I read that:

"President Robert Mugabe's onslaught against his opponents widened to include their families when the wife and child of the mayor of Harare were abducted.

Armed men raided the house of Emmanuel Chiroto, a senior member of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and recently elected mayor.

They burned down the house with petrol bombs and kidnapped his wife, Abigail, 27, and their four-year-old son, Ashley. The boy was released a few hours later, but Mrs Chiroto is still missing.

The incident bore all the hallmarks of a state-organised operation designed to break the MDC's organisation by targeting its key figures. Five of the MDC's local organisers have been murdered."

And what do we do in the West? Nothing, have you heard a peep from our Foreign Secretary, no he's too busy trying to help the EU override the Ireland NO vote. How about Thabo Mbeki? Don't be daft, he still thinks that Mugabe is a heroic freedom fighter.

Zimbabwe - Robert Mugabe is not really hiding his policies now is he?

The Times reports that :

"Robert Mugabe gave warning yesterday that he would not cede power if he loses next week’s election to the Opposition in his most explicit statement yet of his refusal to respect the result.

State-controlled media reported his comments to supporters at an election rally, the latest in a series of increasingly menacing threats as Zimbabwe counts down to the June 27 presidential run-off poll. Mr Mugabe’s military-backed regime has been carrying out a campaign of violence aimed at wiping out the opposition vote.

“We fought for this country, and a lot of blood was shed,” Mr Mugabe told his supporters. “We are not going to give up our country because of a mere X. How can a ballpoint fight with a gun?”

The warning came a day after he declared: “We are ready to go to war.” Evidence, say observers, of mounting concerns that he may not have done enough to secure the vote. "

And what do we do in the West? Nothing, have you heard a peep from our Foreign Secretary, no he's too busy trying to help the EU override the Ireland NO vote. How about Thabo Mbeki? Don't be daft, he still thinks that Mugabe is a heroic freedom fighter.

Zimbabwe brutality update

The Times reports that:

"For a wad of worthless Zimbabwean banknotes President Mugabe’s militias burnt six-year-old Nyasha Mashoko to death.

The target of the Zanu (PF) thugs had been the boy’s father, Brian Mamhova. They came for him on Friday night — three truckloads of them, plus a Mercedes Benz from which alighted three armed men in suits, Mr Mamhova said. The militiamen had been promised Z$25 trillion (£12,500) to kill him, which seems a high price on the head of a district councillor but which is no problem for a Government that sees printing money as the best way out of a crisis.

Mr Mamhova was elected a councillor for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in elections on March 29 for the Harare South district council, an area of farms and rundown houses on the outskirts of the capital, close to Harare airport.

At 8pm on Friday Mr Mamhova was asleep. His wife, Pamela Pasvani, 21, his son, Nyasha, his younger brother and a nephew were in an adjoining room.

“They [the militiamen] got in the room where I was and they were searching me against the wall,” he said. He managed to break free from the men holding them and slipped past the others in the darkness. He stopped running when he was 100 metres away, and hid behind a bush. “They were running past me,” he said, and he heard them muttering that they were about to lose their bounty.

“They locked the door where my wife was. They smashed the windows and threw petrol inside. Then they lit it,” he said. “Inside the house, my young brother broke the door. I thank God, otherwise they would be burnt, all of them. He took my nephew out of the room. Then he went back into the room and he took my wife, but it was late. She got 80 per cent burnt. My son was burnt to pieces.”

“Then they beat everybody there, my neighbours, everyone. Many of them are in Chitungwiza hospital [the nearest state hospital] now.” His brother and his nephew escaped with minor burns. “I am in a hidden place now. They are hunting me. They are saying they want to kill me. It is terrible.” The perpetrators of such crimes act with impunity, he said.

“When they did this, they were led by their local Zanu (PF) chairman. He lives close to our place. All of them are still there, now.” Mr Mamhova was left with only the shorts he was wearing. “Everything was burnt. There is nothing left. The clothes, the blankets, the food, all burnt. Somebody gave me some clothes.” His wife died on Saturday in ward C6 of the burns unit of Harare hospital. “No one survives more than 50 per cent burns,” a doctor there said. She was 18 weeks pregnant.

The terror tactic of burning people alive has been little used by Zanu (PF) in recent years but seems to be being revived. Last Wednesday, in the village of Jerera in Zaka district in the southeast of the country, a group of gunmen described as being in riot police uniform broke into an MDC office and fired on six people. Then they poured petrol over them and set them ablaze. Two died in the fire.

A photograph of one of them, published in a local independent newspaper, was remarkably like the picture of one of the charred victims of the xenophobic violence in Johannesburg two weeks ago. Two others are in Harare hospital with 30 and 40 per cent burns respectively. The remaining two have disappeared.

In 1963, when the black nationalist movement fighting against the white minority Rhodesian Government split, youths on either side of the divide locked people in their houses in urban townships and threw petrol bombs inside. The leader of the youth wing of one faction — the newly formed Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu), forerunner to Zanu (PF) — was a young school teacher named Robert Mugabe.

“If you look back at the methods of Zanu (PF) since it was formed, the only one who was there from that time is the President,” Willas Madzimure, a Harare MP, said. “Which means he knows exactly how to do it.” "

And we stand by doing nothing. More importantly the regional power, South Africa, is doing nothing either; Thabo Mbeki could end Robert Mugagbe's reign of terror but he does nothing, in many people's eyes that makes him complicit in the deaths and beatings.

Democracy update from Zimbabwe

The BBC are reporting that:

"Zimbabwe's authorities have stopped the opposition presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai from campaigning ahead of the 27 June elections.

The order banning "several future rallies" came after police briefly detained Mr Tsvangirai ahead of a rally in the second largest city of Bulawayo.

The length or extent of the ban, which cites security fears, is not yet clear.

...

It is not clear how many rallies are affected by the ban, or whether it signals the end of official campaigning by Mr Tsvangirai ahead of the polls.

His party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), says the ban is "rank madness" as the meetings are its only way to communicate with supporters because it is denied access to public media.

In a statement, the party quoted a letter from the police saying that "because the MDC had complained that its leaders were targets for assassination the authorities could not guarantee their safety and were therefore banning several future public rallies". "

I would assume that the rallies will be banned until after the election at which point all opposition to Robert Mugabe will be made illegal. Robert Mugabe is power crazed and unless he is stopped even more of the citizens of the country he is illegally ruling will die. Will the West do anything about it? No. Will South Africa do anything about it? No. The people of Zimbabwe are unfortunately alone.