How can citizens monitor government expenditure? What are the best strategies for effecting budgetary change? This guide, by the International Budget Project, looks the work of organisations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It argues that civil society organisations have many opportunities to monitor budget implementation. Strategies include creating new monitoring methodologies and collaborating with the legislative branch on oversight.

The Government of National Unity of Sudan, the Government of Southern Sudan and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), have signed an agreement to support the reintegration of 180,000 ex-combatants and to facilitate their successful transition back to civilian life.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has appealed for $49 million to assist families in Ethiopia where drought has left 75,000 children severely malnourished and 4.6 million people in need of immediate humanitarian aid. After completing a visit to Ethiopia UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Hilde F. Johnson said today that the situation in the hardest-hit areas of the country is extremely serious.

Although the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) does not seem to be recruiting children in Uganda, women and children are still present in its ranks, and the rebel group is allegedly enlisting young people from neighbouring countries, according to a United Nations report.

The Central African Constitutional Court has declared itself 'incompetent' to pass a ruling on the impeachment of General-President Francois Bozize as solicited by the former leader of the Central African bar association, Barrister Zarambaud Assingambi.

Prosecutors on Friday charged two Congolese warlords with killing 200 civilians, taking women as sexual slaves and recruiting child soldiers, as they launched the second case at the International Criminal Court. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo are both accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder, sexual slavery, rape, inhumane acts and using child soldiers.

A Chinese private equity fund set up a year ago for ventures in Africa plans to spend about $300 million on projects in 2008, its vice-president said on Friday. The China-Africa Development Fund (CADFund) was launched in June 2007 with an initial $1 billion provided by the China Development Bank and plans to eventually grow to $5 billion, the fund's vice-president Hu Zhirong said.

A substudy of the randomised controlled trial (RCT) of male circumcision as an HIV prevention method in Kisumu, Kenya has found that there were virtually no differences in risk behaviour or in STI infections between circumcised and uncircumcised men. The trial also found that risk behaviour and STI infection decreased substantially amongst both intervention and control groups during the study.

Amandla interviewed Morgan Tsvangirai MDC president on the current impasse in Zimbabwe and on the future policies an MDC orientated government would like to see implemented. Tsvangirai sheds light on their current strategy of seeking a negotiated settlement with ZANU PF, their dependence on the SA government, on SADC and the AU to get Mugabe to play ball

Every morning soon after sunrise, Fatne Abdaraman walks a short distance across the Iridimi refugee camp in eastern Chad hauling a twenty-litre plastic jug. She lines it up along with other women's containers at the water distribution point, then awaits her turn to draw her daily allotment of one of Central Africa's scarcest resources, one that underpins ongoing conflict in the region.

More than 50 people died and tens of thousands of people were displaced as a result of ‘xenophobic’ violence in South Africa during 2008. A number of urgent questions resulted from these attacks: Why are foreign African migrants the targets of violence in informal settlements? What is the explanation for the timing, location and scale of the outbreaks? Was this sudden and unexpected or was it predictable? And, what are the main drivers behind this violence?

Reporters Without Borders deplores the Niamey public prosecutor’s decision to file an immediate appeal against an investigating judge’s decision today to allow detained journalist Moussa Kaka to be released provisionally. The appeal blocked the release of Kaka, who continues to be held in a Niamey prison.

The recently approved national budget on the Indian Ocean island state Mauritius is seen as unique in an African context. It puts women and gender issues right at its centre of focus. Gender activists are thrilled as money finally follows policy statements.

The High Court has freed MDC secretary-general Tendai Biti on $1 trillion bail. Biti was in detention since his arrest on June 12 at Harare International Airport after returning home from a two-month self-imposed exile in South Africa. He was charged with treason arising from allegations that he authored a document, The Transition Strategy, plotting to overthrow or alternatively subvert the constitutionally elected government of Zimbabwe.

Child abduction, which is already a serious problem in Cote d’Ivoire, may worsen in the run up to presidential elections later this year as political hopefuls using traditional myths of human sacrifice to improve their electoral chances will fuel an already significant market for stolen children, according to the Ivorian police.

the blog of the Zimbabwe civic action support group publishes the complete text of the African National Congress’ statement on Zimbabwe which is radically different in content and tone from the official position of the South African government:

“While the ANC was sceptical of the feasibility of a run-off, we deferred to the judgement of the SADC leadership and that of the political parties in Zimbabwe and lent our support to the process. However, compelling evidence of violence, intimidation and outright terror; the studied harassment of the leadership of the MDC, including its Presidential candidate, by the security organs of the Zimbabwean government; the arrest and detention of the Secretary-General of the MDC; the banning of MDC public meetings; and denial of access to the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, all have convinced us that free and fair elections are not possible in the political environment prevalent in Zimbabwe today
…
The ugly incidents and scenes that have been visited on the people of Zimbabwe persuade us that a run-off Presidential election offers no solution to Zimbabwe’s crisis. In a society that is already highly polarised, a run-off election will only serve to widen the divisions. The very legitimacy of the run-off has already been severely compromised by the actions of both ZANU (PF) militants and those of state officials who do not even conceal their partiality in favour of the governing party.
…
We wish the MDC, ZANU (PF) and all the other parties in Zimbabwe the moral courage, strength and determination to urgently seek a viable solution to the profound problems facing their country.

GEF’s Outlook reports on a recent incident off the coast of Cameroon where local fishermen attacked a Chinese fishing trawler, rough-handled its Chinese occupants, and then made away with about five tons of fish:

“…this event may once again raise questions about Chinese motivation to be friendly with the continent. Analysts say that the new giant Chinese economy needs oil to tick; about 25-30 percent of China’s oil imports are from Africa.

Others also say the Chinese influx is also due to its willingness to trade without asking about people’s democratic and human rights conditions. In addition to that, they are ready to act quickly in areas of direct human interest. Instead of withholding help on the pretext of waiting for governments to come up with Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers while thousands of women are dying during childbirth, China is direct. They build the hospitals for 10 times less, if not for free. Cameroon has tasted of such Chinese largesse.

However, some questions have been troubling Cameroonian if not African thoughts: Is it in exchange of such largesse that Chinese citizens are flooding African countries en masse? Do these acts of goodwill explain why Chinese businessmen are left to do as they please in African countries? The fishermen in the [Cameroon] story seem to think that there is some connivance between authorities and the Chinese industrial fishing companies that are practically sending them out of business.”

Icheoku profiles some of the most notable political murders in Nigeria that have either not been solved or whose perpetrators are walking around free:

“Take it or leave it, until these most heinous political assassinations and murders of the century which took place in Nigeria are finally brought to a conclusive end, there will never be a real peace in that country. All the Truth and Reconciliation Commission notwithstanding! …

Over the years, several personalities have been killed by the powers that be in Nigeria and all the world is told is that their death is a mystery or that armed bandits struck. Among these notable personalities that fell victim to these political assassinations and state-sponsored murders were Dele Giwa, Pa Rewane, Ken Saro Wiwa, Bola Ige, Barnabas Igwe, Harry Marshall, Dikkibo and Funsho Williams to just name a few. To date no one directly responsible or implicated in these criminalities has been brought to book. The reason is not for lack of suspects but that these prospective suspects are deemed untouchables because they are part of the powers that be that have run Nigeria aground and for so long. Nigerians have been silent for so long! Enough is enough and let the shouting begin!”

Clive Simpkins
Reflecting on recent events in Africa such as the attack on African immigrants in South Africa or the state-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe, South African blogger Clive Simpkins argues that the much-vaunted African community spirit might be more of a myth than reality:

“I'm not going to suggest Eurocentric perspectives or solutions to these various scenarios. Rather, I observe with mounting dread, that they're symptomatic of the final death-throes of the once much-vaunted African Humanism, or Ubuntu. Many of the born frees (born post 1994) don't even know what Ubuntu means. Recent surveys indicate they don’t tolerate well, people outside of their own social or other ‘groups’. They're thoroughly entrenched in the conspicuous consumption trap of I, Me and Mine (IMM as I call it). It's all about their latest bling and baubles. They can perhaps be excused, or forgiven for their cultural disenfranchisement.

But for older black South African people, I'm beginning to think that what really prevailed was the dictum of 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'. People were superficially united in their resistance to the common foe of Apartheid. With that tenuous thread gone, what we're seeing is actuality. A complete abandonment of any pretense at being our brother's keeper. Instead we persecute the brother (and sister) and cast him or her out.”

Ghana Blogs
Writing on Ghana Blogs, Michael Akenoo bemoans the unfulfilled potential of the Kente textile industry in Ghana:

“It is unfortunate however, to note that Ghana has never taken into consideration the great economic potential that the Kente industry has for Ghana. The Kente industry has been neglected and not given the necessary attention and development as it deserves to the detriment of the country. Thus, Ghana is losing heavily in terms of her economic potential in the textile industry on the world market today.

It is also unfortunate to note that many Ghanaians have developed a strong taste for wearing European clothes at work places, offices, churches, social gatherings, state functions etc. at the expense of Ghanaian clothing such as the Kente cloth, smock etc.

Opinion leaders and influential Ghanaians, who are in positions to advance the cause of the Kente industry, have failed to do so because they are somehow affected by the European cultural influence by the way they eat, dress and project themselves generally. For instance, one can often see Ghanaian lawyers, doctors, academicians etc. dressed in suit and tie to work, church, parties etc and occasionally putting on the Kente cloth, smock etc. as a way of projecting the Ghanaian culture.”

[email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org/

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is asking Heads of state for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), meeting for the 34th Ordinary Summit in Abuja, particularly its current chairman, President Blaisé Compoare to ensure that the government of President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia releases detained Gambian journalist, Chief Ebrima Manneh, unconditionally.

A Banjul Magistrate court presided over by Buba Jawo on June 23, 2008 dismissed the case of sedition preferred against Dida Halake, detained former Managing Director of the pro-government Daily Observer newspaper. Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) sources reported that it followed a request by Halake’s counsel Lamin Jobarteh. The police prosecutor had earlier sought an adjournment to enable them correct a drafted charge sheet that had been poorly written.

"The June 27 Presidential election is not an election, but a declaration of war against the people of Zimbabwe by the ruling party." (SA Congress of Trade Unions statement 24/6/2008). This is an important call to all Zimbabweans from civil society - you must boycott the forthcoming election.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/384/49051brutality2.jpgSince March, Zimbabwe has had no Parliament, no local government councils, no legitimate executive, and ZANU PF has ruled by decree in response to the orders of the JOC – acronym for the military junta which now controls the nation, along with Mr. Mugabe and Reserve Bank Governor Mr. Gono, who is needed to print money, writes Mary Ndlovu. SADC governments allowed the charade to continue, talked to and dealt with the illegitimate government as if nothing was wrong. If SADC fails in its self-assigned disaster management, if the AU is unable or unwilling to step into the breach - hunger, terror, displacement, and death stare Zimbabweans in the face.
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A collective and audible sigh of relief spread through Zimbabwe on Sunday evening, June 22, as word got around that Morgan Tsvangirai had pulled out of the presidential run-off election. There were, to be sure, also some voices of dismay and anger that we would now be deprived of the opportunity of speaking with our ballots and finishing the task of liberation. Both responses were based on false assumptions – first that the violence could end if there were no contested election and second that voting in a re-run would mean a ZANU PF exit.

Tsvangirai’s reasons for withdrawing were clearly stated and unassailable – under the current circumstances of torture, burning of homes, rape, systematic destruction of MDC structures, killings and arrests, there could be no valid election. What made it possible for him to withdraw at all was the shift in position by the majority of SADC governments.

The MDC and most Zimbabweans believe that Tsvangirai won the first round. He won the contest in spite of it being seriously skewed against him at every stage of the process -from the bias of the Zimbabwe Election Commission, to voter registration, to delimitation of constituencies, to placement of polling stations, to counting and announcement of results. The charade of a run-off has been played out in an increasingly surreal atmosphere, not according to the law, not for democracy or the Zimbabwean people, but for the benefit of reluctant regional leaders who insisted that the MDC accept the deceitful maneuverings of a regime which had lost the support of the people but nevertheless maintained control of the levers of power.

Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF had ceased to enjoy legitimacy to rule Zimbabwe by April 1. The first election was held on March 29, and by the end of March 30 at the latest, all results should have been announced. Instead, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, evidently directed by ZANU PF, prevaricated and delayed and began a lengthy tragi-farce, pretending that they were re-counting, validating, and engaged in every other process they could devise to avoid admitting that they had been defeated at the polls, both in parliamentary and in presidential voting. They ignored all relevant provisions of the Electoral Act, and even proceeded to re-write the Act by statutory instrument. This gave them time to delay any run-off of the presidential vote until they could put in place their evil plan to terrorise the population into submission. Mugabe brazenly re-called the cabinet which was dissolved before the election; and without even a façade of legality, they resumed their positions, and continued to receive their salaries and perks of office in spite of the fact that many had themselves been defeated by the electorate.

Since March, Zimbabwe has had no Parliament, no local government councils, no legitimate executive, and ZANU PF has ruled by decree in response to the orders of the JOC – acronym for the military junta which now controls the nation, along with Mr. Mugabe and Reserve Bank Governor Mr. Gono, who is needed to print money. SADC governments allowed the charade to continue, talked to and dealt with the illegitimate government as if nothing was wrong. Although it is now painfully clear why the delay was orchestrated, it is not so clear why regional presidents supported it.

Through the past two months, the war, which Mugabe now threatens if he is defeated at the polls, has already been raging. The tactics used to terrorise opposition supporters are those, which were used during the liberation war. Militia bases recreate the guerilla bases of the 1970’s, while all-night meetings called “pungwes” claim to be re-educating the population. Those pungwes were and are meetings where people are forced to attend, sing songs and shout slogans while they watch anyone not openly supporting ZANU PF being beaten, tortured, and killed.

In April and May, ZANU PF militia and war vets were mobilized in the rural constituencies to eliminate known MDC supporters. Houses were burned, many people tortured and killed for the political allegiances not just of themselves, but also of their children, grandchildren, parents and neighbours. In June the terror spread to urban areas, especially Harare, and also to smaller cities, with ZANU PF mobs targeting not only opposition party officials but also anyone not displaying their regalia. The police force too has been targeted. It is not to intervene in “political” situations. Hence none of the perpetrators of this violence have been arrested or charged, while the victims have frequently been locked up and accused of inciting violence.

An election in such circumstances would be preposterous, a mockery of a process in which the will of the people is to be determined. The people’s voices are to be silenced and replaced by refrains echoing the slogans of ZANU PF. They are being informed that they voted “wrongly” and force will be used to ensure that the next vote is correct. But still, until two weeks ago the SADC governments sang a chorus of hope that the election would be free and fair, trying to pretend that something resembling an election would provide a “solution” to the Zimbabwean problem.

It was only after Thabo Mbeki sent his military mission to see what was happening, and early bird SADC election observers began witnessing the devastation and horror, that we began to hear noises from Southern African governments calling on Mugabe to restrain himself. One by one they have spoken out about the violence, calling on Mugabe to stop it, and finally in the past ten days sending a clearer message that if it did not stop they would not recognize the election result. Only then did Tsvangirai take the step of withdrawing from what most Zimbabweans had seen as an unnecessary punishment inflicted on them by regional governments. He could only afford to pull out when it was clear that those who had insisted that the charade be played out had understood the true nature of the ZANU PF regime, and its determination not to be removed from office by any electoral process.

Why has Zimbabwe been forced through this hell? Why couldn’t SADC do what should have been done in April – insist that ZANU PF adhere to the electoral law, produce results at the appropriate time, and accept their defeat? Were they too blind to see the truth? Or was it too painful and difficult for them to speak the truth, too complicated to devise a strategy for Mugabe’s removal? Only they can tell us, but the consequences of their blindness, hypocrisy or cowardice are clear for all to see. They gave ZANU PF three months’ leeway to bring Zimbabwe to its terrible fate of thousands more lives destroyed, trillions more worthless banknotes undermining an already dying economy, institutions in ruins, and the fallout strewn through the region.

But those three months have only made the problem more intractable – how to remove Mugabe. SADC governments have expressed the view that the violence must stop and that a Mugabe government after June 27 will not be legitimate. But they still have the task of devising both a solution and the means to achieve it – the same task they faced in April.

What next? In spite of Tsvangirai’s withdrawal, ZANU PF appears intent on proceeding with elections, forcing as many people as possible to vote, and declaring Mugabe the winner. What will the response be? What we have gained so far from the international community, both regional and global, is an agreement that the outcome of Friday’s re-vote will not produce a legitimate government. But beyond that we have nothing.

On Wednesday the Defence and Politics organ of SADC urged Mugabe to postpone the election until a conducive environment can be established. They did not state what should occur between now and the undecided date of such election. They did not indicate any action they might take to deal with Zimbabwe after Friday. On Saturday morning, Sunday and Monday, he will still be in State House, with every probability that his militia will still be terrorizing the population. And then what?

Tsvangirai has called for a transitional authority run by the African Union, and supported by peace-keepers. The most SADC seems to be able to do is to call for further negotiations between ZANU PF and the MDC – talks which have been on-going for over a year and have achieved very little. If Mugabe’s government is illegitimate after Friday, will he still be called “President” by his counterparts, and treated as such? Who will rule Zimbabwe while the “talks” are continuing? The illegitimate non-president and his non-ministers? Will SADC, the AU and the international community in general isolate their former comrade? Will they quickly find a mechanism, a means to remove his illegitimate government and install a transitional authority that can return the country to legitimacy? Can they rise to the occasion and act strongly and urgently enough to avert further catastrophe? The AU heads of state are meeting this weekend. Can they take over where SADC has so far failed? This is the challenge, this is what Zimbabweans wait for, but with more skepticism than hope. By withdrawing, Tsvangirai has effectively handed our fate to others to decide – others who have failed to act up to now.

If SADC fails in its self-assigned disaster management, if the AU is unable or unwilling to step into the breach - hunger, terror, displacement, and death stare Zimbabweans in the face. The economy has long since failed to sustain us; the rule of law was long ago abandoned; control by the military is presently established, but the prospect of total collapse into anarchy, warlord and mob rule looms ever closer. Only four short days later, even the echo of Sunday’s sigh of relief has faded, and Zimbabweans face the future with anxiety and fear.

*Mary Ndlovu is a Zimbabwean human rights activist.

*Also read more of Mary Ndlovu's Zimbabwe analysis by clicking on the following: ; .

*Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

In 2006, Mimi Cherono Ng'ok, a young Kenyan-born photographer chose to document immigrants from different African countries living in Cape Town, South Africa. Her interest in this project was sparked by the attacks of the Somali community who were living in Cape Town in 2006.

The Vice-President of ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Jean de Dieu Somda, has said that the regional body is strategising and working towards attracting a fair share of Chinese aid and investment funds to Africa, according to report carried in This Day.

FLOSSNet is proud to announce a first series of ICT training courses for organisations and individuals which will be conducted in Cape Town at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). FLOSSNet is a social enterprise organisation with the mission to unlock the potential of free/libre and open source software (FLOSS) through education, training and consultancy services for the benefit of NGOs, CBOs, and small businesses in Africa.

The Africa Rice Center (WARDA) to mobilize applications from women scientists and professionals. Application Deadline: July 20 2008 or until the position is filled.

So far, most studies of the Rwandan genocide or the Congo Wars have failed to examine these events in historical depth - under inclusion of a wider theoretical literature on mass violence - and in their broader regional contexts (i.e. including the political and socio-economic situations in Burundi,Uganda and Tanzania as well as the strategic interests of Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia etc.).
In order to fill this gap the editors of the Journal of Genocide Research welcome original and innovative papers involving the transnational and transregional approaches which are crucial for an understanding of the local dynamics that have fed processes of cumulative radicalizations in the whole region.

Zimra has refused to release the consignment of 60,000 copies of the june 19 issue of The Zimbabwe, flown into Harare by a commercial carrier last week for distribution on Thursday. Despite the punitive duty of 40% plus a surcharge of a further 20% levied on "luxury times such as foreign newspapers" having been paid in foreign currency - the authorities in Harare have refused to release the papers.

This podcast examines the promise of new media and which features extracts from the proceedings at the Information for Change workshop held recently in Cape Town, including the keynote address delivered by Firoze Manji of Fahamu.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/384/48994inflationzim.jpgThis is not the first time that America and the West, bankrolled and oversaw a one party dictatorship or military rule for decades only to ditch the regime when it is no longer serving their interests, writes Mphutlane Wa Bofelo. But only after dusting off blood from their hands and clothes, and presenting themselves as the moral voice, urging for war crimes against the very regime that they baby-seated, reared and mentored.
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The political and economic meltdown in Zimbabwe is traceable to the hold on the country’s policy alternatives and developmental possibilities by the restraints of the Lancaster House concessions and the constraints of the Structural Adjustment Programmes. Robert Mugabe and his ZANU (PF) implemented these programmes to the letter from 1981 up to 2000. Mugabe and ZANU’s reward was the blindness, silence and tacit collusion of the western powers in the genocidal attack on the people of Matabeleland in what is called the Gukurahundi.

Despite the fact that Mugabe and Zanu PF continued with the culture of violent clampdown on political dissidence and repression of media freedom and the freedom of association and assembly, the custodians of democracy remained prepared to portray Mugabe as an astute statesman and scrupulous ruler. For as long as he trod the path of the Washington Consensus and cracked his whip against labour and ensured that there was no room for leftists to raise their heads in Zimbabwe, Mugabe could reign on opposition to his rule by any means at his disposal.

Throughout the 1990’s, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank and the G8 gave a standing ovation to the social policy path and political economy trajectory pursued by Zimbabwe, South Africa, Uganda and Ethiopia. As late as 2001 political science textbooks at tertiary institutions celebrated Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Mandela of South Africa, Museveni of Uganda, and Zenawi of Ethiopia as the crème de la crème of African leaders, and hailed them as former guerillas who had woken up to the realism of running a country.

In 2001 popular disenchantment with the failure to meet liberation expectations and pressure from the war veterans forced the land reform project on the agenda of Mugabe and Zanu PF. Mugabe and Zanu PF then failed dismally to come up with a systematically designed land reform project, with clear targets, performance indicators and monitoring and impact assessment mechanisms. Instead of genuine land reform aimed at sustainable development of communities, they opted for a mixture of anarchist, populist, propagandistic theatrics and bureaucratic centralism, elite’ self-enrichment, and the politics of cronyism and patronage aimed at using the land reform project to prop up the power of the establishment.

Suddenly western governments, with the aid of the media and our ‘fuckademics’ started to shift the focus away from the suffering landless, jobless and poor multitudes of Zimbabwe - who continue to live in utter poverty and squalor - to the fate of white farmers. Both the Western governments and the White farmers in Zimbabwe never raised even a murmur of protest against the rule of Mugabe for as long as their bread remained buttered. All of a sudden, everybody forgot that Mugabe built his repressive machinery under the watchful eyes of the super powers and the so-called multilateral institutions. Nobody cared to remember the role played by the restraints of Lancaster House agreement on a legal-constitutional and peaceful land reform process in Zimbabwe and the ravages of the market forces unleashed by the Structural Adjustment Programmes on the people, economy and environment of Zimbabwe.

Whenever the issue of the war crimes against Mugabe is raised, often the focus is not the crime of the Gukurahundi or the genocidal impoverishment of the people through handing them over to the brutality of the market forces for a decade of subservience to the Washington Consensus. The focus is rather the “crime” of taking land from white farmers. When the Gukurahundi is mentioned no one speaks about the need to also charge Mugabe’s main backers throughout this period - the super powers and the Washington institutions - IMF and World Bank.

This is not the first time that America and the West, bankrolled and oversaw a one party dictatorship or military rule for decades only to ditch the regime when it is no longer serving their interests. But only after dusting off blood from their hands and clothes, and presenting themselves as the moral voice, urging for war crimes against the very regime that they baby-seated, reared and mentored. From Mobuto Seso Seko, Saddam Hussain, Charles Taylor and the Taliban to Uncle Bob—the list of rulers utilized and dumped like used condoms by Uncle Sam and his brethren is endless.

There is no prize if you guess what trajectory Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change are most likely to tread if they ascend power. My two year old son, Goitsemodimo, has whispered to me that Zimbabwe will be under the tyranny of the market and remote control by “the empire.”

*Mphutlane Wa Bofelo is a writer, activist, life-skills facilitator and performance poet who has been published in several journals, websites and anthologies and has performed at various events.

*Please send comments to or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/

It is so sad that a leader who came as a new Nkrumah is going down as a Mobutu, writes Tajudeen Abdul Raheem about Mugabe. It is a grave understatement to continue to describe him as an embarrassment to Africa. He is a dangerous autocrat who does not care anymore if the whole nation crashes with him. He needs to be stopped and stopped now.
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It is extremely sad to watch, hear or read about the tragic events happening in Zimbabwe. Not even the proverbial ostrich, notorious for burying its head in the sand no matter what is happening around, it can claim not to notice.

This week's withdrawal of the ppposition presidential candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, is not surprising at all. In conditions such as those orchestrated by the ZANU-PF regime and its ageing revolutionary turned autocrat, holding a credible election is impossible. Mugabe has made it clear, and his security goons and freelance political enforcers have repeated it in words and brutal actions, that on no condition would he hand over power to the MDC and Morgan. So why bother to hold an election at all? Mugabe is willing to accept only one outcome: his continuation in office.

In conditions like these, an election is not an indication of democracy but a conspiracy against the masses. The issues facing Zimbabweans are no longer about electoral disputes but a one-sided civil / political war situation where the state and its agents are persecuting their political opponents and those they believe to be their supporters.

It is not only the coercive instruments and institutions of the state that are extremely and openly partisan. They also allow their supporters to operate with impunity. The army, the police, security and intelligence services, state and government officials, and party officials all operate as outlaws, while militias operate as regular officers. It is a post liberation state gone full circle. The people's state has become the enemy of the people.

The problem is political. Therefore the solution is also political. Our first responsibility is to discourage President Mugabe from his destructive self-succession in going ahead and contesting against himself on the 27th of June. If he insists, as it is likely, the immediate response should be a withdrawal of official observer teams that may have been sent there, recall of ambassadors, travel advice to nationals not to go to the country and possible evacuation of citizens. All these will signal to Mugabe that Africa is serious.

If he goes ahead with the farce, African countries must publicly state that they do not recognise his election. That should invite immediate break in diplomatic relations to demonstrate to President Mugabe that we mean business.

If western pressure alone could have done it, Mugabe could have gone many years before now. He has survived western diplomatic isolation because African states and leaders, even those opposed to him, have refused to accept Western dictates on the matter. He has exploited this to his advantage without giving back any significant concessions even to his closest allies and defenders, like Thabo Mbeki.

Mugabe has become a collective embarrassment to Africa and we need to be rid of him. It is no longer enough to say he is not alone. The fact that there are other thieves is not a plea against prosecution by those caught in the act. Those who continue to focus on Western hypocrisy and multiple standards on the matter are guilty of being accessories to the continuing suffering of the people of Zimbabwe.

As African leaders arrive this weekend in Sham El Sheik for the AU summit, we must campaign in our various countries, lobby foreign ministers, African ambassadors in our countries and our heads of state to take firm stand against Mugabe to ensure a credible political negotiation for a transitional government in which both ZANU-PF and MD and other stakeholders share power for a limited period, with an eye toward a level playing field for democratic elections. This is not possible with Mugabe therefore he needs to be eased out.

Africa has been an experimental laboratory for all kinds of transitions. Zimbabwe itself has historical memory of different transitions that were initially thought to be impossible. Ian Smith died of old age in a free Zimbabwe in spite of his atrocities against Black Zimbabweans. A negotiated settlement may indemnify Mugabe too while the cause of justice and democracy is enhanced by him seeing other people (including those he called traitors) govern the country. The handwriting is on the wall but Mugabe cannot read it; therefore African leaders should spell them out in BOLD letters to him.

It is so sad that a leader who came as a new Nkrumah is going down as a Mobutu. It is a grave understatement to continue to describe him as an embarrassment to Africa. He is a dangerous autocrat who does not care anymore if the whole nation crashes with him. He needs to be stopped and stopped NOW.

*Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem writes this column as a Pan Africanist.

*Please send comments to or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/

[email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/

I welcome the writers’ analysis and assessment in the article, . It provides information, which I believe, is critical in placing the crisis in Zimbabwe in perspective.

It falls short, however, by not offering a viable alternative to anti-imperialists forces which might be masquerading as something else, as he seems to imply about the Mugabe regime. However, the present opposition as far as I can tell does not in any way represent a strong and independent alternative which will uplift the impoverished underclass and protect human rights.

On the contrary, it is clear to me that it is the tool of western imperialism and will carry out its mandates as opposed to the mandates of the people. I believe our job is to educate the people on how to best protect their interest. We must reexamine our definition of democracy very closely making sure it conforms to the needs of the people for universal health care, redistribution of the land, and an economic safety net.

The lack of this kind of examination of political forces in Zimbabwe is tantamount to replacing one despotic regime with another with neither having any true anti-imperialist credentials. Despite the chaos in Zimbabwe and the debate about who or what is mostly responsible, we have an obligation in remaining vigilant in protecting the interest of the most under privileged Zimbabweans. We must help develop and support a government in which progressive, anti-imperialists can place their faith in its authenticity.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/383/48972africanleaders.jpgTo: President Kikwete, Chairperson of the African Union
To: President Yar’Adua, Chairperson of the Peace and Security Council, AU
To: President Mwanawasa, Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community
To: Dr Jean Ping, Chairperson of the African Union Commission
To: Members of the UN Security Council

Your Excellencies,

As you know, Zimbabwe is in the throes of a devastating political, economic, and humanitarian crisis. A presidential run-off election was scheduled for June 27th but the widespread political violence inflicted on the population has overshadowed the poll to the point where the opposition feels it cannot participate. Indeed President Mugabe insists he would remain in office regardless of the results, mocking the courage of those voters still willing to go to the polls. Meanwhile men, women and children are daily bludgeoned, medical care is scarce, homesteads burned, food is exhausted and the thousands displaced are on the move. The depth of the crisis has moved the governments of Tanzania, Angola, Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, Senegal, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Zambia and Botswana to express their concern and to criticise the government of President Robert Mugabe.

African leadership is desperately needed at this time; we urge you to launch an urgent program of action to accomplish the following goals:

- Cessation of the violence and repression through deployment of a protection force and monitors, and containment of perpetrators;

- Restoration of aid flows and urgent increase of humanitarian assistance;

- Convening of a process to secure a political solution establishing effective governance, restoration of the rule of law, independence of the judiciary, along with necessary steps to allow economic recovery and a rapid return to democratic rule.

- Prevention of any further destabilizing spillover into the wider region.

THE DEPTH OF THE CRISIS

ZANU-PF responded to President Mugabe’s loss in the first round of elections on March 29, 2008, with violent retaliation against the population, characterized by brutal beatings, burning of homes and villages, harassment, arrests, and torture. The violence is largely one-sided, perpetrated by agents of the government and ruling party and the impact has been devastating; indeed, what Zimbabwe is now experiencing is more akin to conflict, than an election. In such conditions, while we salute the determination of the voters to be heard, any election result must lack credibility.

The Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights states that it has documented so many cases of systematic violent assault and torture that at times its members have been overwhelmed by the numbers. In May alone ZADHR members saw 1007 patients suffering from extensive injuries sustained during these violent attacks. A hospital in Harare says it has seen almost 2000 victims of violence and torture since the first round poll. The opposition MDC states that at least 70 of its supporters have now been killed and 25,000 forced from their homes as a result of the state’s campaign of violence.

A CONFLICT SITUATION

As observed by President Kagame of Rwanda, there is no reason to hold a vote if you do not intend to abide by the outcome. Yet President Mugabe declared that he would refuse to cede power, regardless of the result. He thereby confirms that an election cannot resolve Zimbabwe’s crisis. President Mugabe even threatened more violence, warning of “war” if the vote goes against him. Continental leaders and regional neighbours can have no clearer indication of the threat to regional peace and security and the impending and increased danger to civilians, a threat that is even greater if the election is not completed. We call on you to find solutions for Zimbabwe that go beyond merely salvaging the election.

NEIGHBOURS AT RISK

Regional governments bear a significant burden as a result of the economic and political crisis. Approximately 25% of the people of Zimbabwe have left. Millions of them are now in neighbouring countries and their needs impose a strain on already stretched domestic social services and intensify tensions between the host population and immigrant communities. This flow of people across borders contributes to active instability and conflict in the region as evidenced by the recent xenophobic attacks against immigrant populations in South Africa. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has recognized the threat that the situation in Zimbabwe poses to peace and security in its region by mandating President Thabo Mbeki’s efforts to mediate a resolution to the crisis between the ruling party and the opposition. It is time to make resolution of Zimbabwe’s problems a priority for the continent.

AFRICA’S RESPONSIBILITY TO ZIMBABWE’S CITIZENS

Although SADC must be commended for its attempts so far to resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe, its effort has not been repaid. The ruling party is effectively refusing to subject itself to a democratic contest, and waging a violent conflict against its citizens, aggravating a humanitarian crisis. As such it has lost legitimacy, triggering a necessary shift in Africa’s stance. Under the Constitutive Act of the African Union, member states are enjoined to “promote and protect human and peoples’ rights in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights” and the African Union has an obligation “to intervene in a Member State pursuant to a decision of the Assembly in respect of grave circumstances, namely war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.” There is extensive documentation in Zimbabwe today of torture and killing of named individuals by agents of the ruling party and government who have been described and/or identified. African Union engagement, particularly by the Peace and Security Council, is fully mandated by conditions on the ground and is urgently needed.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

To SADC: Convene an emergency summit to:

- Recognize the failure of the Government of Zimbabwe towards its citizens and the need for an urgent regional, continental, and international response;

- Request the AU to assume leadership of a mediation process with support from SADC and the UN;

- Authorize and initiate a discussion with international partners about funding humanitarian needs and a recovery plan for Zimbabwe.

To the AU Peace and Security Council: Convene an emergency session to:

- Establish the responsibility of Zimbabwe’s authorities for the situation, confirm AU responsibility to protect civilians and prevent further destabilization of the region;

- Authorize deployment of a protection force and additional monitors;

- Plan discussions with the United Nations about support, resourcing and deployment of a protection force;

- Send a fact-finding mission to determine the level of responsibility of the different branches of the State in the current human rights violations and humanitarian crisis.

To the AU Commission:

- Include, as an urgent matter, the current situation of Zimbabwe in the agenda of the Sharm El Sheikh Summit and ask the Assembly for a mandate to intervene in the crisis and protect citizens;

- Appoint a Special Envoy on Zimbabwe;

- Authorise him/her to initiate dialogue with key players and the international community with the objective of establishing a mediation process aimed at achieving a political settlement and associated plan of work for achieving long lasting peace and timetable for return to democracy.

The UN Security Council: - Urgently adopt the crisis in Zimbabwe as an official item on the UNSC agenda recognizing the threat it poses to international peace and security and requiring regular political and humanitarian briefings to the Council;

- Issue a clear statement indicating GoZ responsibility for the current violence, deploring the tactics used against the population by the GoZ and demanding the facilitation of adequate humanitarian assistance;

- Provide support for an AU-led mediation effort and protection force.

Respectfully,

1. Action des Chrétiens Activistes des Droits de l'Homme à Shabunda (ACADHOSHA), DRC
2. Aids Law Project, South Africa
3. Botswana Civil Society Solidarity Coalition on Zimbabwe (BOCISCOZ), Botswana
4. Centre for Excellent on Aid Effectiveness, Ghana
5. Centre for Peace and Conflict Management (CAFSO), Nigeria
6. Coalition for Peace In Africa (COPA), Southern Africa
7. Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, Zimbabwe
8. East African Law Society (EALS), East Africa
9. Economic Justice Network of FOCCISA, Southern Africa
10. Environnement, Ressources Naturelles et Développement (ERND), DRC
11. Foster National Cohesion (FONACON), Kenya
12. Global Zimbabwean Forum, Switzerland
13. Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF), South Africa
14. Human Rights Institute of South Africa (HURISA), South Africa
15. Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), Kenya
16. le Centre de Recherche sur l'Environnement, la Démocratie et les Droits de l'Homme (CREDDHO), DRC

For full list of signatories, please follow this link:

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