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Letters to the editor - last updated 2007/03
Learnmore Jongwe - Zimbabwe's (unacknowledged and unrecognised)
Stephen Biko...
Note I will be placing here photos of Josiah Tongogara, Herbert Chitepo, Chris Ishewokunze,
Peter Pamire, Border Gezi, Moven Mahachi, Sydney Malunga, Cain Nkala and other victims murdered by the
illegally and fraudulently elected President of Zimbabwe (rubber stamped by external Election Observers)
The subject matter is largely Zimbabwe and dictatorship.
These are letters which I wrote (and still write) mainly to the Zimbabwe Independent, the UK Guardian Weekly,
the UK Economist, the South African Mail and Guardian; also some to International Herald Tribune,
Financial Times, BBC, CNN, Sky and others. I have had a good proportion
published by the Guardian and by the Zimbabwe Independent - probably 75% plus of the letters below
were published somewhere. It is difficult keeping track of what
was published and what wasn't, so I am displaying them here also for the record. Watch this space....
I have been pretty busy between 2004/10 and 2006/03, but also everything here in Zimbabwe has
been really just more of the same - everything I wrote was and is correct, and there is
really little point in repeating the same truth when the person who needs to listen
does not. And furthermore now they bulldoze your house if your mouth is too big...
Petition Mugabe to resign
Letters below are in reverse date sequence....
Letter from Nairobi - 11 March 2007
ICG playing by Mugabe's rules - 2 September 2006
Zimbabwe Electricity Load-Shedding - 2 solutions - 30 August 2006
Zimbabwe Economy - time for Indexation - 27 August 2006
UK's new Commission on Cohesion - to Sky TV - 24 August 2006
amber henshaw is apologist for zenawi regime - to bbc network africa, 23 august 2006
kabila vs bemba - to bbc network africa, 23 august 2006
Aids Conference and UNAIDS astound with complacency, arrogance and lack of cost-effectiveness - 19 August 2006
Zimbabwean Mugabe/Gono economic resucue cannot succeed - 15 August 2006
Global Corruption - World Business Review - bbc radio sunday 13 August 2006
UN Reform is timely and necessary - 27 May 2006
Chinese Harming Africa's Development - 24 April 2006
Githongo and 3rd World Corruption - March 2006
Amnesty Zimbabwe Food Report - October 2004
Visual Check Zimbabwe's Wheat Harvest - 25 October 2004
Zimbabwe is a Society without Competition - 17 October 2004
Developing Africa - 10 October 2004 - to BBC TalkingPoint Program
Hunger now hitting Zimbabwe's rural poor - 4 October 2004
Time for Mugabe to further revitalise Zimbabe Economy - 4 September 2004
IMF and 3rd world development - 4 September 2004 - to Talkingpoint BBC World Service Radio
Miscellanous quotes by Mugabe and by the recently-deceased Eddison Zbovgo (RIP) - 4 September 2004
My comment on New African Magazine Poll - 6 September 2004
New African Magazine - Your 100 Greatest Africans of all time - August 2004
Alex Weir comment on the Afrobar study - 21 August 2004
Afro Barometer poll on Zimbabweans' attitudes - August 2004 - a MS Word doc - 280k
Zimbabwe Economic Mini-Boom is over - 25 July 2004
Tsvangirai attack confirms Mugabe's enduring unsuitability - 3 July 2004
Mugabe's gambit ends in stalemate - 6 June 2004
Mugabe Interview Sky TV - transcript plus my commentary - 24 May 2004
Mugabe - departure delayed (again) - 19 May 2004
Iraq Photos Scandal - 10 May 2004
Zimbabwe - why is government manipulating food production figures? - 10 May 2004
South Africa-going same way as zimbabwe?
Open Letter to the IMF over Zimbabwe - March 2004
Idi Amin and the International Community
Zimbabwe 7 months later - the experiment has made us poor
Sierra Leone International Court
Give us online versions of Zimbabwe Independent newspaper daily
Mugabe's Secret Deal
Resolving zimbabwe's banknote crisis - July 2003
RBZ and Government have no grasp of severity of problem.
Reasons for removing sadaam (zimbabwe perspective)
Mugabe Exit Plan
Mugabe a British Agent?
Zimbabwe - a call to the middle classes
Mugabe sabc tv Interview 1700 hrs GMT sunday 8 June 2003
Zimbabwe - the actions of a Great Leader?
Zimbabwe - street demos broken up
Zimbabwe - Time is of the Essence
SABC Ignorance
Mugabe - time for big shots to reveal secrets
Let Zanu-PF deal with Mugabe
Nigerian election a lesson
NO political polarisation in zimbabwe - April 2003
Zimbabwe - a positive correction
International Community and Mugabe
Mugabe's impending confrontation
Mugabe Succession
Mugabe regime comparable with north korea
Distributing food by political affiliation continues in Zimbabwe
Dealing with Dictators Globally
Mugabe-in-a-Box - February 2003
Iraqis' suffering can be made worse - December 2002
Zimbabwe's misery
Hunger as Political Tool
The Zimbabwean Model
attn tony blair-iraq-from Zimbabwe Africa
Mugabe - crimes worse than genocide
The Beginning of the End
Open Letter to Robert Gabriel Mugabe
Mugabe a Clear and Present Danger
Wheat rotting in fields of zimbabwe? - October 2002
Suicide Marchers
Zimbabwe's impending food crisis
3 important things happened in the last 7 days:
Resignation Required
Zimbabwe 25, Malawi 65
A question of morality
Zimbabwe - massive fraud - March 2002
Window of opportunity for zimbabwe - October 2001
Zimbabwe's People and Economy Trapped - published in Guardian Weekly
newspaper March 29-April 4 2001
Solution for Dubious Elections - published in Guardian Weekly
newspaper June 1-7, 2000
Land Reform in Zimbabwe - a workable plan - published in Guardian Weekly
newspaper April 20-26 2000
Factors which cause and perpetuate global poverty
Iraq - invade to eliminate a dictator
Blair should go after 2 terms
Aids Advice
Pharma Companies promoting AIDS Deaths - published in Guardian Weekly
newspaper August 8-14 2002
Letter from Nairobi - 11 March 2007
Kenya seems a world away from Zimbabwe - for example,
they have a vibrant press - it seems like at least 4 major english-language dailies, none of which seems to pull any punches - e.g. last week one of them had a headline - Who is Lying - Kibaki or Raila? (note that Kibaki is the President - so in the Zimbabwean context it is like having a headline - Who is Lying - Mugabe or Tsvangirai? - that would easily merit a jail sentence or worse in Zimbabwe). They even have 16 FM radio stations in Nairobi, of which probably only 3 are government-run; one of these 16 is the infamous BBC World Service, which broadcasts in Kenya 24 hours per day on FM.
Yes - under Daniel Arap Moi (darling of Margaret Thatcher and succeeding British Governments) the Kenyan economy and infrastructure deterioriated horribly, but since Kibaki got in, the economy has gone in one direction only - upwards. It doesnt mean that Kibaki is 100% clean, it just means that Moi was 100% dirty. It doesn't even mean that the Kenyans have to re-elect Kibaki - just elect anyone (even a baboon, as the late Simon Muzenda once stated) who isn't 100% dirty.
What lesson for Zimbabwe? - Moi seems to have negotiated some kind of amnesty - no-one seems to want to touch or pursue him - he lives comfortably and safely in Kenya and even goes to functions which are also attended by Kibaki. Mugabe should have a chat with Moi and work out the same kind of deal. And Morgan should have a chat with Kibaki and work out how to turn around a declining economy with shattered infrastructure.
Mr Alex Weir
Nairobi
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ICG playing by Mugabe's rules - 2 September 2006
The International Crisis Group's
recent report (Zimbabwe - an Opposition Strategy, 24.08.2006)
regrettably advises that Zimbabweans should risk life and limb
confronting Mugabe's storm-troopers in peaceful demonstrations,
because the International Community is otherwise unable to impose
a real (non-rigged) election on Mugabe and on Zanu-PF in 2008.
ICG in 2006 is recommending a strategy which has been tried and has been found
not to work in the Zimbabwe context, for various reasons which it is not necessary to discuss here.
With modern technology (see http://www.cd3wd.com/SEEV/ ), it is now possible for the International Community to run
the next Zimbabwean election with minimal presence of foreigners and
with a 100% guaranteed non-rigged result. Such an election will
result in less than 20% of the vote for Zanu-PF if Mugabe is still in power, and at best
a 30% result if the most attractive or least-repellent non-Mugabe Zanu-PF
candidate is fielded. Therefore the whole question of whether Mugabe is eased out as Presidential Candidate
or not becomes irrelevant - since with Mugabe in place an even greater overwhelmingly crushing
defeat for Zanu-PF is guaranteed.
Let SADCC, other African countries and leaders, South Africa, Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro,
The People's Republic of China,
the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the International Community ensure that Zimbabwe's next election is tamper-proof.
Since Mugabe is adamant that no Zanu-PF or Government cheating ever goes on in the elections
which underpin his President-for-Life
strategy, then let him prove his critics and detractors wrong by winning a rig-free election and by soundly
beating off the Opposition of all political colours. That will surely be of great advantage to Zimbabwe's
Sovereignity.
In fact, in order to reverse Zimbabwe's present rapid economic decline, let
Mugabe bring forward the 2008 election to 2007, with the caveat that
a massive international Economic Rescue Program will follow that election, regardless of
who wins. This would be truly a great triumph for the Zimbabwean People.
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Zimbabwe Electricity Load-Shedding - 2 solutions - 30 August 2006
It appears that the extremely inconvenient load-shedding -
which affects a large proportion of Harare's connected
twice per day, 7 days per week, 6 hours per day -
is down to peak-demand problems, and NOT to overall
consumption (maybe I am wrong on this, but
getting decent information from ZESA is a difficult task).
If that is the case, then let the Government, the Herald, ZBC and
concerned citizens conduct a campaign to have all or most hot-water
geysers voluntarily switched off by house-holders during the periods 0630-0900 and
1630-1900 hrs. This can be done by exhortations and reminders on radio and TV,
by advertising campaigns in newspapers, radio and TV, and by
word of mouth.
This should decrease peak demand sufficiently for some or even all of the load-
shedding to be stopped, and would be an example of community action which helps everyone -
there are no losers in this scenario - everyone gains.
As any economist worth his or her salt will tell you, the present trend by the rich towards the
buying and running of generators is a serious drain on forex, and one which outweighs by a factor
of at least 50:1 any corresponding savings on electricity imports from DRC, Mozambique, Zambia or
South Africa. But probably there are croney gangsters who
are making lots of money from the generator-importation business.
Since there is apparently forex and Government funds for the importation of fine vehicles for cronies and lackeys,
then why is there no forex for essential services such as the provision of electricity?
The ZESA situation is yet another example that Zimbabwe is governed by an illegitimate cohort of
unethical crooks who are intent on making private profit at the expense of the common good.
The second solution to Zimbabwe's electricity load-shedding problem is a peaceful and
democratic removal of the present illegitimate regime through a non-rigged election in 2008.
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Zimbabwe Economy - time for Indexation - 27 August 2006
Manufacturers (if there are any remaining), wholesalers, and retailers (especially supermarkets)
spend a lot of time and effort constantly re-pricing goods and services. This cost is ultimately
passed onto the consumer, the employee or the shareholder; and sometimes it is gotten wrong, and one
or more of these groups suffer.
How much more sense it would make if prices in Zimbabwe were marked in some relatively stable currency
such as the US Dollar, and when one goes to the till, the US$ total is multiplied by "today's factor rate" (TFR)
(which should be decided by each supermarket or retail outlet, and not by the government,
but which must be prominently displayed above the supermarket entrance and of course also at the tills). The TFR can be changed up to once per day but only at the start or end of business.
This TFR is of course the same as or close to what is commonly called the "parallel market rate" (PMR).
Thus consumers would once again be able to compare prices with what they were last week and last month,
instead of living in perpetual shell-shock and being unable to judge whether they are getting value or not.
The same could be done with wages, and especially with agricultural commodity prices paid to farmers.
Some could argue that this methodology (called indexation) is itself inflationary, but one has to accept that
hyperinflation is here, and in fact was brought in by the present government - they admitted themselves recently
to 'printing money to rescue the economy from extinction'. In fact indexation, if well handled, could
result in the stabilisation or even the decline of inflation. Certainly there are persons out there who
are trying to unjustifiably profit from the present hyperinflation, and this proposed indexation would catch
them out and make them visible.
A recent study showed that Zimbabwe's hyperinflation is remarkably constant at around x 11 (1000%) per year. Therefore
given the current PMR, one could easily produce a table which shows the forecast PMR for every day from now until 12 months ahead. Of course this can be revised (hopefully downwards) as the situation develops, and in the light of political
and economic developments, and news of production, export and import figures. This kind of forecast of PMR or
even of actual forex rate has as far as I know been done in other countries with moderate or extreme inflation.
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UK's new Commission on Cohesion - to Sky TV - 24 August 2006
The UK government has it completely wrong -
the so-called extremists are not racists - nor are they
doing what they are doing to attack non-muslim civilian
populations as such - they are trying to attack
the UK government for the injustices which the FCO
is perpetrating on populations in their ancestral lands,
and/or on other islamic populations overseas (e.g. the Palestinians).
If UK Gov wishes to halt these so-called extremists
then stop the injustices - radically change foreign policy
(the late Robin Cook wished to conduct an ethical foreign policy
but was quickly halted by the power of the FCO and other vested interests).
Alternatively, turn these idealistic (and possibly misguided - depending
on whom you are talking to) young muslims into standard Brits -
with no idealism, no sense of history, no sense of justice, no loyalty and
no wish to help those less fortunate than themselves.....
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amber henshaw is apologist for zenawi regime - to bbc network africa, 23 august 2006
Is (your reporter) amber henshaw being paid by zenawi (of ethiopia), or is she mouthing the official position of DFID or (more likely!) FCO?...(her report network africa 0530 hrs gmt wednesday 22 august 2006)
in either case, she is doing a grave disservice to the people of africa.
I suggest you command her to correct her stance or reassign her to some more junior role
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kabila vs bemba - to bbc network africa, 23 august 2006
please explain to your global audience that
1. the job of head of DRC is worth US$ 1 billion per year in illegal monies
2. the struggle between bemba and kabila is partly because bemba does not trust kabila not cheat the election (first and second elections in fact) through count fraud.
3. even the international advisory organisations onsite in DRC cannot be sure that
count fraud has not taken place in the first election and will not take place in the second election
4. there exists in concept at least a mechanism for conducting third world elections by mobile phone which is tamper-proof (http://www.cd3wd.com/SEEV/)
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Aids Conference and UNAIDS astound with complacency, arrogance and lack of cost-effectiveness - 19 August 2006
Today Saturday 19 August 2006, CNN's Inside Africa's Femi Oki talked to the
Head of UNAIDS.
Of the 25 million+ Africans who are HIV+, he was proud that UNAIDS is now supplying free
ARV's (anti retroviral drugs) for 1 million. He states that the budget for UNAIDS is currently
US$ 9 billion per year, but that they need US$ 16-25 Billion per year to be able to supply
free ARV's to all who need them. But wait a minute, what is the cost of ARV's? - US$ 150 - 500 per
person per year ( 150 for the common ones, which are becoming less effective as the virus mutates, and
500 for the fancy new ones). Therefore the cost of supplying 25 million people is
US$ 3.75 - 12.5 billion (cheap vs. expensive options). Therefore UNAIDS could with their existing 9 billion
supply everyone at least with the cheap ones, and have a pile of money left over.... So where is the money going at
present? - answer - a conference in Canada for 24,000 parasites and blood-suckers, the rich who are
living well on the misery, suffering and death of 20 million poor (allright, the conference itself probably
only cost a mere 50 - 100 million - the wages and benefits of the 24,000 is probably closer to
3 billion).
Just to put everything in perspective, of the 25 million, 4 million are sourcing their ARV's commercially - they or
their relatives are paying for them, 1 million get free ARV's, and 20 million are getting nothing.
As if the indifference, lack of shame, and complacency of the Head of UNAIDS was not enough, take also
the complete ignorance of CNN, BBC, Sky etc in their inability to see, uncover or even care about this scandal
of gigantic proportions....
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Zimbabwean Mugabe/Gono economic resucue cannot succeed - 15 August 2006
There are 3 reasons why the present Zimbabwean Mugabe/Gono project to rescue the economy will not succeed:
1. Hyperinflation is endemic in the economy; no economy in the world has ever experience this level of
hyperinflation and recovered from it without heavy assistance from the IMF. And the IMF will not
assist Zimbabwe until Mugabe goes. And Mugabe will not go (despite his assurances to quit in 2008,
these promises must be rated at about 5% probability, based on Mugabe's past performance at
promise-breaking and avoidance).
2. The level of corruption and looting of the economy - directly by Mugabe and his cohort of gangsters disguised
as wives, nephews, ministers, politicians, military, police, religious leaders etc.. - is such that these agents of destruction are bleeding the economy faster than any positive developments can stabilise or improve the situation.
3. Zimbabwe is running out of international suckers who can be conned by this illegal gangster regime into
'assisting Zimbabwe' (they are only assisting Mugabe and his regime); the Libyans are well out of the
picture and it appears that the gullible (or opportunistic?) Chinese are finally waking up to reality.
Regrettably, the ineffectual 'International Community' has such Mugabe-fatigue that they would probably
gladly exchange even a goat or a baboon for the present incumbent, i.e. they would gladly settle for
any flavour of a Zanu-PF successor who would promise stability, and they would tolerate
yet another rigged election, so long as Mugabe were excluded.
This would be short-changing the Zimbabwean population, who have suffered terribly under Mugabe and under Zanu-PF for
the last 8 years.
The only just solution is to have a REAL election - one where the sitting government has no influence whatsoever
on the voting and on the vote-counting and vote-aggregation processes. Using modern technology, such a scenario
is now possible, and at much less cost than a conventional paper election. Regrettably the 'International
Community' are so useless that they will almost certainly neither consider nor insist on such a
democratic outcome.
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Global Corruption - World Business Review - bbc radio sunday 13 August 2006
Dear BBC,
Your report on corruption was well done and revealing. However, you and your Transparency International delegate did show some naivity:
1. 95% of corruption by volume in the 3rd world originates from the President of the country in question; their command goes down the ladder, and the cash flows back up the same ladder. Someone like Mugabe (Zimbabwe)
or Msuveni (Uganda)
has an illegal income of US$ 200 million/year; Obasanjo (Nigeria), Dos Santos (Angola), and Gloria Arroyo (Philippines) make 1 Billion US$/year... No wonder these people look down on the Tony Blairs and the George Bushes of this world....
2. Corruption seriously handicaps economic development for everyone in the country,
especially it affects the poor - 'When the leader is greedy, the people are poor....'
3. Ironically, in Africa, traditionally thieves are killed, e.g. by being stoned to death; but in the modern age, the leaders, who are the biggest thieves possible, get away with it.
4. The best way to greatly reduce corruption is to change the president every term (4-5 years); in cases where a president does not become corrupt in that time-frame then reward him or her with 2 terms (maximum)
5. The people in the 3rd world are not totally gullible - give them a PROPER vote and they will do this politician- and president-changing without any external prompting.
6. Forget about election observers - it is a waste of time and guarantees nothing - Jimmy Carter and the EU stop wasting public money on ineffectual do-gooding. Count Fraud is practised by almost every 3rd sitting world government.
7. Create one Global Electoral Commission, run by the Swedes and/or the Norwegians (the USA and the UK simply cannot be trusted), which runs the complete elections for all 3rd world countries. By using mobile phone SMS, this can be done with total security and at a fraction of the cost of present paper elections (see
http://www.cd3wd.com/SEEV/) - using modern technology, it is now extremely simple and inexpensive to regularly rotate sitting
presidents and thereby remove dictators - all it takes is some political will on the part of the feeble and ineffectual UN and its masters (and possibly on the part of the feeble and ineffectual European Union and European Commission).
8. Go also for the large global corporations like Shell, KBR (Dick Cheney), de Beers and other oil and commodity companies, who are the donors and the recipients of much corruption. And dont tell me that the global banks and the global intelligence agencies do not know the bank account numbers and illegal amounts and other assets stashed away by dictators throughout Africa, South America, and in Indonesia and the Philippines.
9. Finally, go after friends of the west like Saudi Arabia and China, where elections either do not exist or are a sham.
10. Do not forget that when the west supports illegal and unjust dictators, and also countries (like Israel) which oppress and deny justice to other countries and populations, then guerilla and/or fundamentalist movements are created and nurtured. It is very difficult for the myopic and comfortable populations of the USA and the UK to realise that although their own governments are extremely democratic and kind to their domestic populations, the self-same governments back repression and injustice overseas. Since the victims of this injustice and their allies have no voice in the global media, and cannot exact just revenge on the western leaders who sign off on these injustices
(because they are too well protected), then the oppressed resort to acts of random violence on the general population of the offending western countries. Since these general populations take no interest in the external actions of their own governments
(and vote only on the basis of domestic policies - especially their personal wealth and purchasing power), one could argue that they are guilty of deliberate self-chosen ignorance, and deserve whatever random violence impacts them.
11. Moreover, national and global media, who ARE aware of the issues, deliberately keep the general population
ignorant of the real situation. In doing so, they are complicit with the offending western governments
and with the perpetrators of acts of violence against civilian populations.
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UN Reform is timely and necessary - 27 May 2006
Tony Blair's recent call for UN Reform is timely and necessary.
It is a known fact in Aid and Development circles that more than 80%
of UN field staff (permanent and temporary) are incompetent or
at best semi-competent. And if by mistake a competent person gets into
the UN system, they are quickly levered out by the incumbents.
And this is a judgement by the standards of the Aid and Development Community,
whose own internal standards are abysmal...
Additionally, more than 5% of UN Field Staff are corrupt.
It is highly unlikely that the UN Machine is capable of fixing itself -
best to have a highly focussed and professional team of external
hatchet men, whose priority must be to identify and preserve any
existing useful UN functionality while reducing the wage bill by
at least 80%, and at the same time working out what it is that the UN
should be doing (like for example running the General Elections in every
country in the world, and imposing them on dictatorships like China,
Saudi Arabia and Cuba).
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Chinese Harming Africa's Development - 24 April 2006
It is a little-known fact that around 1950 "Made in Japan" was
synonymous with shoddy low-quality low-durability goods; The
Japanese fixed that problem, as everyone knows.
Nowadays goods produced in Mainland China are very variable - some are
of high quality, but many are not. China is now flooding Africa not
only with consumer goods but also with industrial goods and durable
consumer items. The problem arises when governments and wholesalers
engineer a situation where only Chinese goods are available, for political
and/or financial reasons.
Typically a Chinese soldering iron in Zimbabwe is sold with the caveat
"it will break very soon and there will be no replacement or refund";
a Chinese bicycle in Zimbabwe develops all kinds of mechanical problems
after a few months of modest use.
This situation is taking hard-earned foreign currency out of the hands of
poor Africans in poor African countries and giving it to rich Chinese and
their African and other collaborators, political and commercial. Trade in many Chinese goods
is taking Africa backwards (but it is making lots of money for the few).
What is required is for an independent study of the situation, and with
appropriate measures taken after the results of that study, by the Chinese
Government and by African Governments. But as long as the few are feeding
at the trough, there is little chance of such a sensible solution, and of
course the ineffectual and corrupt UN is of little use.
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Githongo and 3rd World Corruption - March 2006
John Githongo's recent revelations about corruption in Kenya are timely
and welcome. What most people do not realize is that in most 3rd world
countries corruption is top-down-bottom-up i.e. it originates from the
president, and over 95% of acts of corruption (by value) result in a
large (typically 80%) share of the proceeds going back up the ladder
directly to the president. The 20% share stays with the perpetrator of
the corruption; and the 80% guarantees that the perpetrator enjoys
protection at the highest level. The illegal income of the average 3rd
world president is usually composed of many many such scams, some very
large and others comparatively small. I state the above based on
personal experience while working on World Bank and EU Projects in
Uganda and Tunisia in 2005.
As Githongo estimates, 7% of the GNP of Kenya disappears in corruption;
this is probably a typical value throughout the 3rd world. The result
of this is that the functions of government, ministries, police, armed
forces etc are totally diverted from their stated purpose into the
business of ensuring the required cash flow for the top man. No wonder
that most 3rd world governments are ineffective in building their
economies, but are remarkably effective in appearing to destroy these
self-same economies; no wonder that so many important government
functions end up being implemented by aid donors and NGOs. Indeed,
because of a multiplier effect, 7% of GNP disappearing in corruption is
probably equivalent to a 21 - 28% of GNP loss to the economy.
While we in the West are congratulating ourselves, we should consider
the role of our oil companies (especially Shell), our mining companies,
and of course the international diamond monopoly, de Beers. These
people instigate and collaborate with corruption in order to make 3rd
world presidents rich and their people poor; their top management of
course benefit, and in some cases their shareholders.
The solution to these problems? First of all, an exposure of this
reality and an end to denial and cover-ups by western politicians,
western leaders and western media. The populations and voters of
western democracies must not turn their backs on their less fortunate
fellow humans just because they themselves have money in their pockets.
The truth will eventually set free the victims of this
anything-but-victimless crime.
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Visual Check Zimbabwe's Wheat Harvest - 25 October 2004
Sunday 24 October 2004 1200 hours I drove along the main road Mazowe to Bindura - through
a main area of Zimbabwe's winter wheat production. The results of my
visual assessment are as follows:
- only 55% of the wheat-planted area of 2002 was planted
- of the total 2004 planted area, 25% was already harvested,
6% was late-maturing (some even still being irrigated),
23% seemed to have a good yield, 23% a medium yield, and
23% a poor yield.
- the already-harvested areas could not obviously be assessed for
yield
- the late maturing crop is in danger of not maturing in time and/or
of not being harvested before the onset of the rainy season, which is due
to start very soon
- I saw a total of 3 combine harvesters, of which 2 were sitting idle in the fields, and
one was busy harvesting
- I also saw one field where about 20 people were harvesting wheat manually with
sacks
- SeedCo's Smart was the sole labelled variety being grown
From the above, it is possible to extrapolate and to make a guesstimate that
the overall crop will be 38% of typical yields in pre-2002 non-drought
years (which I think were 400 tonnes). This makes my 2004 forecast about 160 tonnes.
Interestingly, ZBC Radio 25 October 2004 announced a MinAg forecast of
280 tonnes of wheat for 2004, which they stated was down from a normal year of
400 tonnes; they blamed late planting and the late provision of finance and inputs.
The collation of some of my estimates above with existing recent deliveries to the Grain
Marketing Board may enable a better forecast, but existing delivery information
is not available to me at this time.
It would appear however that the availability AND THE UTILISATION of combine
harvesters may be a problem, and unless that problem is addressed, then
my forecast of 160 tonnes may well be greatly optimistic. And note that
areas visible from the main road one would expect to have higher yields and
also a higher level of organisation than more remote fields.
While we are at it, it seems that, in addition to the usual Government
and NGO lack of organisation, SeedCo, Pannar and other International Seed
Companies are critically and catastropically jeopardising the 2005 maize
harvest through their own inefficiency, lack of organisation, greed
and extreme overcharging - it will take a miracle for the 2005 Maize crop
to be even 50% of requirement, and that is a year when the sitting government
expects and even demands and insists on being re-elected.... Luckily
for them, in the Zimbabwe context, re-election is not performance-related,
being decided by Count Fraud.
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Zimbabwe is a Society without Competition - 17 October 2004
Zimbabwe is a society where both politics and
commerce abhor competition - just as Mugabe and his
capitalistic clique of lackeys and boot-lickers
cannot withstand the fresh wind of political competition,
then also the industrial, agricultural and commercial sectors
are amazingly still based on 16 years of UDI-induced
monopolies and cartels.
A white acquaintance of mine told me a few months back
'Zimbabwe is still the easiest country I know of in which to make
money!'- there exists capitalism without competition, and with politicians
who farcically call each other comrade; a smaller and less
competitive version of modern-day China.
Business management in this country is a game of
inefficiency, where the objective is to maximise
the exploitation and underpayment of the workers
while simultaneously maximising the exploitation and overcharging of
the customers; so-called successful business managers of every colour
in this country fall far short of any global yardstick -
they survive because they are big fish in a small pool.
Even high-tech businesses survive by paying skilled
personnel US$ 3 per hour and charging their services
out at US$ 30 per hour - by any measure this is extreme
capitalism of the type which existed pre-1939 in the West,
and against which Karl Marx and others (unsuccessfully and inefficiently)
campaigned.
The modernisation of Zimbabwe can occur without the absorbtion
of Western culture and habits, many of which are anyhow incompatible
with all kind of decent values (extending far beyond sexuality);
but it must involve the introduction of competition in both
economics and politics. This is essential to the creation
of an economy which shares some (but not all) of the wealth,
and is also essential to the formation of governments which
can be termed even 40% successful in the effective creation
of a society where the people can make themselves rich or can at least
avoid sinking to even worse levels of poverty than they presently
endure.
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Developing Africa - 10 October 2004 - to BBC TalkingPoint Program
Several factors are required:
1. 3rd world leaders who are interested in the welfare of their people, and
who are willing to be rotated out of power
2. western leaders who have the political will to effect 3rd world development,
despite the possible adverse effects on resource availability
3. western-style capitalism and not 3rd-world-style capitalism
4. Less exploitative prices for minerals and agricultural products
5. aid and development organisations which are motivated and effective - at
UN, World Bank, IMF, National Western Aid Programs, international and local NGO's.
6. net capital inflow or zero outflow
7. greater honesty in Government and in Business
8. Higher status in the 3rd world for productive activities, and also
the will to consider stealing from Government as stealing from the People.
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Hunger now hitting Zimbabwe's rural poor - 4 October 2004
Harare has since February 2004 been experiencing a mini-boom.
Even now you can smell money in the air.
The government a few months ago was crowing about a
non-existent "bumper harvest". The World Food Program and
the NGO's were told to close their feeding programs for the rural poor.
Now what little crop was harvested in May 2004 is largely
finished; the rural poor have no food and they
also have no money with which to buy imported maize meal
and other foodstuffs. In the old days, their urban relatives
would cough up money and supplies to keep their rural family
fed and alive, but nowadays for many urban folk their income
no longer enables them to provide anything for their
rural relatives, and even the cost of travelling there
is for the majority prohibitive.
What is the Government doing and what will they do?
What are the WFP and other NGOs doing and what will they do?
The Government quite honestly does not care, and the NGOs
are similarly complacent until if and when (foreign) TV cameras
unfold the inevitable outcome of this scandal of disinterest.
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Time for Mugabe to further revitalise Zimbabe Economy - 4 September 2004
There has been some economic mini-boom during the period
February 2004 through August 2004, although most if not all
wage-earners have lost ground during that same period against
inflation.
But the mini-boom shows that the Zimbabwe Economy amazingly still
has potentially a lot of life in it.
Now so that the boom does not shrivel and reverse, it is the hour
for the Great Leader to abdicate. It is a well-known fact that
as soon as Mugabe stands down, there will be a tremendous
surge in the economy and also in domestic and foreign investment.
Give that gift to your people. They and the International Community
will reward you with gratitude and with political, financial and
custodial Immunity.
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IMF and 3rd world development - 4 September 2004 - to Talkingpoint BBC World Service Radio
Off and on I have spent the period 1990 thru 2004 in
Zimbabwe Africa.
During 1992 thru 1997 IMF and Zimbabwe government
worked hand in hand on Structural Adjustment Programs.
It seemed to me during that period that:
- imports rocketed
- exports stayed the same
- the country became de-industrialised
- employment in production dived
- the rich got richer and the poor got poorer
- financial services sector boomed
It seems also, like much of other Aid and Development activities,
that young (and some not so young) accountancy and management consultancy types are
experimenting with the lives and livelihoods of citizens of 3rd
world countries; that these types have zero empathy for the
lab-rats on whom they are experimenting; when the experiments
fail (which they seem largely to do), the experts blame
some factor which they failed to anticipate, and these
experts are not castigated or punished in any way, in fact
they are usually promoted.
In general, the World Bank/IMF conventional wisdom is that when every player in our
global economy maximises income and profit for him and herself
and their family, then we arrive at the best of all possible worlds.
Unfortunately, this is not the case - there is a need for some
direction and regulation, otherwise selfish greed creates the
economic equivalent of gridlock, where everyone loses.
-the IMF like pro-western, economically liberalised dictators, at least in africa -
namely jerry rawlings in ghana, daniel arap moi in kenya,
robert mugabe in zimbabwe (but that honeymoon ended 1997 or so)
- I acknowledge that the west did ease out rawlings and moi...
- if/when the west choses a few 'example' countries in africa (as above)
and pumps lots of activities and money into them, then of course the
economies show some benefit. this is meant to encourage the other
non-liberalised economies to follow example; but the west doesnt have
enough funds or personnel to replicate the story across africa and/or the
3rd world..
- there are a few areas where the west and/or the imf could help:
- wipe out existing debt where there are good reasons to do so
- ensure that all 3rd world elections are totally non-rigged, even
when that means anti-western leaders; and forget about election observers -
the damage actually takes place during counting...; this in itself would
rotate 3rd world leaders and minimise the impact of corruption, incompetence
and indifference
- ensure that fair trade becomes fair trade - in minerals and in export crops and in
manufactures; fair trade coffee is really a total sham, when the producer gets less than
18 cents from a US$ 4-00 250 gram bag of coffee bean or ground coffee..
- facilitate the transition from extreme capitalism to western-style capitalism -
where workers get a 80% share of the value added instead of a 10% share or less
- smarten up all the Aid and Development activities, from local NGO's through
international NGO's , National ODA programs, and international bodies like UN,
IMF and World Bank
- ensure that 3rd world countries, government ministries, communities, education establishments and
individuals have access to high-quality free or low cost how-to information
Additional Subject Areas:
- accountants and management consultants are not comfortable with production
- aid+development arena has been hijacked by the sociologists and the media/information people
- does the west really want 3rd world development?? - resource impact of chinese development
on say the demand for oil...
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Miscellanous quotes by Mugabe and by the recently-deceased Eddison Zbovgo (RIP) - 4 September 2004
Zvobgo - Early 2003 - during the run-up to the Iraq war - on ZBC Zimbabwe national state-run
television - "No leader who kills his own people has the right to talk about sovereignity".
He was supposedly talking about Sadaam Husein, but it is almost certain that he was also
or actually referring to Robert Mugabe
Mugabe - 1999 - in London during a series of radio interviews with BBC World Service - "The opposition in Zimbabwe will
never gain power for decades and decades!"
Mugabe - 1999 - in London during a series of radio interviews with BBC World Service - "Do you know that
during Internment, some people became traitors.... But I NEVER EVER did that!"
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My comment on New African Magazine Poll - 6 September 2004
The people polling were acting on the basis that 'My enemy's enemy is my friend' -
Britain, USA and other colonial powers are the enemy of most Africans, and Mugabe is
most certainly the enemy of both...
But they should have considered also the principle - 'My friend's enemy is my enemy' -
the ordinary African People are the friends of most Africans, and Mugabe is most certainly
the enemy of the vast majority of his own population
In the case of Mugabe, his domestic behaviour towards his own people should have outweighed
his widely-publicised emnity towards the Imperial Powers...
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New African Magazine - Your 100 Greatest Africans of all time - August 2004
http://www.africasia.com/newafrican/na.php?ID=385
by Baffour Ankomah
New African asked you, the readers, to nominate your greatest Africans of all time
– both Continental and Diasporan (or people of African descent)
– in all walks of life. The aim was to come up with your
Top 100 Greatest Africans of all time.
You have spoken and we publish here your choice.
Since last December when we first announced the poll, we have had a very exciting time.
Your nominations flooded in. Analysing them has been an eye- opener. The total shows Nelson
Mandela as your No.1 Greatest African of all time, followed closely by Kwame Nkrumah,
and Robert Mugabe in third place. Mugabe’s high score is particularly interesting,
given that in the last four years a high profile campaign in the media has painted him in bad light.
The nominations in the other categories are equally fascinating.
Overall, the results point out certain characteristics about Africans.
Why did politicians dominate the poll? Do people tend to vote for
men as only a few women were nominated? Or is there a paucity of women
to vote for? Over 95% of the nominations were of recent heroes
(mostly from the post-independence era). Have people forgotten
Africa’s history? Must this worry us, as a people?
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Alex Weir comment on the Afrobarometer study - 21 August 2004
Afrobarometer are reading too much and making some (but not all)
wrong conclusions from their
study -
Firstly - the mood in 1999 was much headier than today. And
the chance that people will respond freely with their true thoughts
and feelings is much less today than in 1999. And they do NOT
trust pollsters to keep personal information and responses
secret and confidential...
Secondly - since on or shortly before February 2004, the
Zimbabwe economy HAS been getting better - much better.
Afrobarometer dont seem to know this - strange and not
really confidence-inspiring...
Thirdly - Zimbabweans were promised the moon, they shot
for the moon, but they were let down by the MDC and
especially by the West. They were told to
route Mugabe and ZanuPF by democratic means; they did
so, but the vote count was massively frauded. They were
told to demonstrate - they did, but were beaten and
imprisoned. Zimbabweans have now almost given up -
neither the MDC nor the West have lived up to
promises and expectations. At least now
Mugabe is largely back in his cage and there is some
prospect that he may be forced to retire
(Nathan Shamuyarira, a very senior Party heavyweight
said so). Zimbabweans have been through such a very very
bad economic patch that the present conditions resemble
normality and a normal lifestyle, at least economically
(if not politically).
Zimbabweans are now almost back in the situation they experienced
1980 through 1997 - decent economics with about zero political freedom.
That situation was created and very much liked by Britain, the West,
and the Zimbabwean Whites....
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Zimbabwe Economic Mini-Boom is over - 25 July 2004
Since the economic liberalisation mastered by Central Bank Governor
Gono, which commenced in earnest 28 February 2004,
Zimbabwe has experienced an economic mini-boom; but that boom is now over - for 2 reasons:
- The official exchange rate has through the forex auction system been depreciated at only
200% per annum over the last 5 months, while the official inflation rate has been 400% (and the
actual inflation rate possibly higher); no surprise then that the parallel market rate is now
diverging from the official rate (6800 vs. 5350) , and that the parallel market shows a 370% annual
depreciation rate - almost exactly mirroring inflation. Unless the official rate is kept close to reality then the recent economic miracle will unravel rapidly
- pre-election business paralysis is now on us - almost all investment will now be
deferred until after the election. This is not abnormal in many countries, but the situation
is greatly worsened by the following:
- Mugabe shows less and less signs of retiring or being retired
- Mugabe has announced open season on MDC opposition politicians and supporters, and
on the ordinary voter (who would and probably will vote for MDC in droves if
not harassed, starved, coerced, intimidated, beaten, tortured, killed, and disappeared)
There are 3 scenarios for the election:
- Mugabe is returned - a catastrophe for business, the economy, and all classes of society, including
the rich and ZanuPF
- ZanuPF is returned without Mugabe - a middle course
- MDC is returned - a very positive outcome for business, the economy, and all classes of society, including
the rich
The course of events is very largely but not totally in the hands of the IMF and the International Community.
But the IMF and the International Community must not underestimate the damage to the economy which can result over the next 8 months as a joint result of pre-election paralysis and the antics of the selfish, childish, irresponsible and vindictive
Robert Gabriel Mugabe.
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Tsvangirai attack confirms Mugabe's enduring unsuitability - 3 July 2004
News broke 2 July 2004 of a violent attack and possible assassination attempt
by 100+ militant pro-ruling-party youth
against a Morgan Tsvangirai/MDC opposition party pre-election organisational meeting in northern
Zimbabwe. As War Veterans Leader Andy Mlanga told Radio France International in 2000,
"the Government, the War Veterans, the Police, we are the same"; extend that and we have:
"Mugabe, the Green Bombers, Zanu-PF Youth, party thugs, the CIO, we are the same".
No-one takes this kind of action in Zimbabwe without the personal and express authorisation
of Robert Gabriel Mugabe, the hero of leftist radical-chic white, black and brown
anti-colonialists everywhere; the eloquent and intelligent orator at international
conferences; the enemy of the colonalist oppressor; the puppet who was himself
knowingly and willingly illegally installed by the arch-colonialist Margaret Thatcher in the British-frauded 1980
Independence Election; the man who is a left-wing hero
abroad and simultaneously a fascist dictator at home; an exponent of the end of oppression when abroad
and an instrument of oppression when at home.
So what will the weak-kneed, Iraq-obsessed, freedom-loving Americans do?
What will the guilt-ridden British do?
What will the commercially astute and totally immoral French do?
What will the radical-talking but completely ineffectual Germans, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegians and EU do?
What will the newly-impoverished Zimbabwean middle-classes do?
What will the International Financial Community - which is master-minding and bankrolling the current economic
revival of Zimbabwe - do?
Money Talks. Use International Financial Muscle to end the Rule of this irritating, embarassing
and quite unsuitable Tyrant. And dont stop with Mugabe - there are plenty more like him throughout the
3rd World, whose individual and cumulative effect is to more than negate any beneficial effects of
taxpayer-funded Western Government and Charity Relief, Aid and Development efforts. And dont talk about national sovereignity, when
90 per cent of 3rd world elections are count-rigged by the sitting government (and the West knows this full
well).
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Mugabe's gambit ends in stalemate - 6 June 2004
Rory Carroll's analysis (4 June 2004, Mail & Guardian South Africa and Guardian UK) was interesting but not totally on-target.
The MDC Opposition has been mercilessly harassed, assassinated,
intimidated, framed, tortured and beaten; denied access to any and all
media; opposition media closed down and remaining elements severely
curtailed and forced to practice some self-censorship. And the white-farmer
and Western money which has bankrolled the MDC has severely declined. The
MDC anyhow never really had or has any policies, just as Mugabe's illegitimate
regime never has or had any policies (except self-preservation and electoral
fraud).
But it doesn't matter - even if a baboon is put to stand against Mugabe and
Zanu-PF MPs, then people will vote for that baboon; and with Zimbabwe now
beholden to the IMF, World Bank and other external creditors, there is
no room for manouver - even the most inexperienced new government will
be safely guided to financial rectitude by a small army of international
advisors.
The missing element - electoral fraud is now so entrenched in Zimbabwe, in
Zanu-PF, and in the counting process itself that even 1 million international
electoral observers will not be able to halt once again a subversion of the
wishes of the people and a denial of democracy and freedom. Time for
the International Community, the freedom-loving Americans and the United Nations
to enforce the UN International Declaration of Human Rights, which requires
that the people of every nation be free to elect their rulers in 'genuine elections'
(article 21-3 -
http://www.un.org/rights/50/decla.htm
).
And regarding Mugabe's immunity - the British illegally installed Mugabe, so let them
grant him Asylum.
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Mugabe - departure delayed (again) - 19 May 2004
Yet once again the childish, immature and vindictive president of Zimbabwe
delays his departure from the economy which he has almost destroyed. 15th May 2004 he
informed Kenyan reporters in Zimbabwe that he would not retire until 2008.
Maybe he doesnt realise or has not been informed about the (highly) secret deal
between his government and the International Community - Mugabe is unloaded before
the next Parliamentary Election (due before April 2005); the government follows (and is
indeed already following) conventional IMF remedies and reforms; the International Community
is providing and will provide financial and balance-of-payments assistance; and maybe Zanu-PF will
be allowed to fraud yet another electoral counting process.
The above deal is not even very sweet for the Zimbabwean population, since Zanu-PF
even without Mugabe are excessively incompetent, excessively corrupt,
excessively dictatorial, and excessively politically partisan when in government.
There is a myth that whoever leads a country like Zimbabwe is critical to success;
not true - even a baboon would make a better leadership than the existing. What
the country needs are competent and honest technocrats - there has been too much politics,
which has resulted in more of the population becoming poor and to a greater extent of
poverty. Thus even an inexperienced MDC, NAGG or any other government would be superior
to Zanu-PF. Anyway, the IMF and the World Bank are and will be calling all the shots,
so the room for manouver of any such inexperienced (but honest and well-motivated)
government would be extremely limited.
So - the solution to Mugabe's wish not to depart - the International Community and his
own party must put their foot down - a deal is a deal. And after this week's farcical
electoral fraud (again in the counting process itself) in the Lupane by-election, the International
Community must realise that ZanuPF and the government are incapable of controlling their
undemocratic inclinations, regardless of promises made.
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Iraq Photos Scandal
10 May 2004
The real Iraq scandal is that the US and UK Governments knew about 12 months ago and
all the time after that that there were human rights violations by their
forces in Iraq. And the International Media knew that too, but were complicit in
hiding that news. The whole thing is an issue of Political Will - there was
zero PW by Government and Media until the photos came out and the excrement hit the fan; now everyone is
pleading innocence and blaming everyone else, blaming especially those bigoted and racist
underdogs, societal trash, sadists and psychopaths who did the actual deeds.
The poor will get the blame and the rich will get off scot-free - as usual.
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Zimbabwe - why is government manipulating food production figures?
10 May 2004
Zimbabwe, land of contradictions. The economy is booming,
although the May 2004 food and cash crop harvests are only
35-55% of requirements and 35-55% of normal, and the countryside
is growing mainly grass and weeds (with almost no cattle to eat the grass
which is flourishing). Anyone who travels anywhere in the country will
attest to the extremely low level of crop production.
The IMF and/or the International Community seem to have done some
(highly) secret deal which has brought food back into the shops
and foreign exchange back into the economy; the Government, ZanuPF,
Mugabe and even the infamous Information Minister are largely
keeping quiet and minimising political hysteria; and they are constantly
boot-licking the United Nations and the International Community.
So why is the Government not allowing a UNFAO delegation to inspect
food production and food storage? Why do they insist that Zimbabwe
has almost enough food to feed itself without any assistance from the
WFP (World Food Program)?
The answer as usual may lie in politics. A General Election is Looming
early 2005 (which rumours say may be brought forward even to mid-2004).
Although ZanuPF are expert at frauding the counting operation (they were
taught by the British), they also like to intimidate and coerce their population.
This makes them feel powerful. And the availability or non-availability of
commercial and/or free food supplies are an extremely powerful Weapon of Mass Destruction.
The big question is - what will the International Community and/or the IMF do about it?
Probably nothing.
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South africa-going same way as zimbabwe?
to:BBC Talkingpoint
19 April 2004
Zimbabwe has gone the way it has because:
1. the British tried to delay the movement for land
(and of course they succeeded for many years)
2. the British illegally installed as their man
a person without the necessary character and
qualities to make a good leader; indeed Mugabe's
main qualities were ones which allowed him
to rise to the top of the pile before independence -
and these same and similar qualities have caused the
unnecessary suffering (economic, social, political
and human) which has afflicted his 12 million subjects.
That unnecessary suffering should be laid fairly and squarely
at the door of the British Government and the British Electorate.
If the rich black and white in south africa continue
to emphasis their acquisition and retention of conspicous
wealth, then they leave the door open to Winnie Mandela;
Winnie already has some of Mugabe's characteristics -
a willingness to kill, a love of money, and the ability
to steal; she is also a charismatic orator. And examine the
patrician and aloof Mbeki, who is quite indifferent to the
plight of his poor, and who is indeed the darling of the
whites, the rich blacks, business and the West.
If the ANC ever had any idealism and feeling for their fellow man,
it has fallen by the wayside in the scramble for riches,
both legally and illegally acquired.
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Open Letter to the IMF over Zimbabwe
7 April 2004
Sincere congratulations to the IMF.
You have taken over the economics and some/most of the
politics of Zimbabwe; in doing so, you are saving the
people and the economy from the actions and inactions
of their immature, childish, and vindictive Government.
But be careful - Government of Zimbabwe (GOZ) in implementing
your directive to stablise the exchange rate are making
the business of doing business impossible for many small,
medium and large businesses - they simply cannot get the
forex they require to function without standing serious
risk of going to prison.
There is a real danger that Business Flight and Businessman
Flight is about to take place on a scale which will not be
recoverable in the short or medium term; i.e. it will
doom to failure your plans for the revitalisation and revival of
the Zimbabwean Economy.
Get your experts back in the country; talk to business people.
Examine in detail what is happening. Correct the outlandish
interpretation of your directives by GOZ. Save the Zimbabwe
Economy and the Zimbabwe People.
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Idi Amin and the International Community
31 March 2004
Idi Amin was illegally installed in a coup d'etat by
the British Government. During his reign, Ugandans
not only suffered torture, death, and imprisonment;
their economy was also devastated. And these economic effects
last until today.
This is just another example of the practice of
Power without Responsibility as practised by
the 'International Community'.
It is well recognised by responsible people that
there are certain individuals who make 'good' or effective politicians
but who would never in a million years make a good
President. Amin (although he was never a politician as
such before being installed) was a blatant example of someone
who was simply not the calibre of person who would make
a good President; and the British were completely aware of
Amin's personality and tendancies; but the fate of millions
of Ugandans was not important to them when they were
intent on deposing the leftwards-leaning Milton Obote.
Amin was and is not the only 3rd world President illegally
installed by the British, whether through coup d'etat or
frauded election.
It would be good if legal actions were brought against the British
Government in one of the various International Criminal Courts
for damages wrought on civilian populations by the irresponsible
actions of previous Administrations. And voters in the West generally
must be educated somehow that they are responsible for foreign
policy actions by those whom they vote for and by their Civil Servants
and Secret Services. The West and voters in the West understand only
the religion of Money - so hit them where it hurts using means which they
understand.
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Zimbabwe 7 months later
24 March 2004
Returning to Zimbabwe after 7 months in Rwanda and UK is interesting.
The food and cash availability situations have been transformed for
the better, at least in Harare itself (although food is now more expensive and
undoubtedly beyond the reach of some or many).
Politics appears quieter and less hysterical.
I expected that having emerged from a deep trough,
the people would now be resigned to living with Mugabe and
Zanu-PF. But no. 'If we had known what the experiment would
bring we would never have allowed it to take place; he has made
us poor. If he does not go then God will take him.'
It is the job of politicians to create an enabling environment
in which the people can make themselves rich, or can at least
maintain their better-than-zero level of poverty; if
politicians create an environment which forces all classes
(except of course the Pajero Class) into deeper poverty, absolute or relative,
then these failed politicians must stand aside.
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sierra leone international court
10 March 2004
a few years ago, De Beers secretly gave Charles Taylor US$ 50 million to continue
the wars in liberia and neighbouring countries. yes - prosecute the national
political and military leaders responsible for the atrocities; and also
put in the dock western politicians, industrialists and civil servants
whose decisions and actions make the atrocities probable and even inevitable.
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Give us online versions daily
19 sept 2003
WITH the George W Bush/Thabo Mbeki quiet diplomacy being flouted by President Mugabe in several outrageous ways (WFP interference and the closure of Daily News), and with the quasi-muzzling of the Financial Gazette some time ago through a takeover, it may be time for the Zimbabwe Independent and the Standard to go daily. If printing daily is too costly or risky, then do it on an online basis on the Web.
OK, only the elite will have access, but maybe they can pass on major news to the masses through word of mouth and other methods; and the two weeklies can summarise all the stories covered.
At least then there will be a daily riposte to the insanities of this incompetent dictator and his lackeys who are too cowardly and ineffectual to displace him by whatever means necessary.
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Mugabe's secret deal
15 September 2003 - New Statesman UK
Richard Dowden is misinformed (Books, 1 September). The Shona people did not vote for Robert Mugabe "in huge numbers" in the 1980 election. Mugabe was trailing a very poor third behind Joshua Nkomo and Bishop Abel Muzorewa; but the British frauded the count, with Mugabe's full knowledge.
There was a secret deal. The whites would stay out of politics and be allowed to make money; Mugabe would do nothing on land reform and be allowed to do whatever he wanted to his own people. Mugabe was the darling of the whites until 1997, and he was the darling of the IMF and the World Bank from 1994 to 1997. It was his entry into the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo that upset every apple-cart.
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resolving zimbabwe's banknote crisis
23 July 2003
The current crisis shortage of Zimbabwe Dollar banknotes
threatens to collapse the Zimbabwean economy. Although that may
(and may not) have the beneficial effect of forcing
Mugabe to abdicate, it would also have catastrophic
short-term and middle-term effect on the livelihood
and even the survival (physical not economic) of
millions of Zimbabweans.
There are 2 possible solutions:
either Mugabe Resigns as President with immediate effect
AND/OR
the Government (which is Mugabe) makes legal with
immediate effect the holding of certain specified
foreign currencies (probably US Dollar and Rand, with
maybe also British Pound)
and their open use as legal tender inside Zimbabwe.
There would then be a situation of co-existence
between the Zimbabwe currency and these specified
foreign currencies. There would also have to be
a flexible and free exchange rate market inside
the country between these currencies and the Zimbabwe Dollar,
not subject to any government control (although not the
official position, that is pretty much what happens
in practice already). People could use these foreign
banknotes freely and legally in shops, markets,
filling stations, and with street traders.
It should be noted that since 1995 till now, Cuba
has adopted the US Dollar as alternative legal tender
to the Cuban Peso. The system seems to work, and the
2 currencies co-exist in peace.
Unfortunately Mugabe is a person with no morality
and no feeling of duty to his people - therefore
the chances of him choosing a comfortable retirement
are very slim.
And furthermore, there are immoral
and unscrupulous Cabinet Ministers, Senior Army Personnel,
and even lots of very ordinary people who are making
a lot of money from the present chaos and from other
people's suffering and misfortune. These felons
regrettably have a vested interest in extending
the present untenable situation until the last gasp.
The Meltdown is Here, and it will spare No One....
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RBZ and Government have no grasp of severity of problem.
22 July 2003
The fact that the RBZ and the Government
are apparently fixated with the task of designing and printing
a Z$ 1000-00 note indicates that they have
no grasp whatsoever of the severity of the
hyperinflation which now reigns in Zimbabwe,
resulting in a 'loss of sovereignity' not only
for the government and for Mugabe, but for
the entire population (rich and poor).
They should be designing a Z$ 10,000-00 note now
and getting ready to design a Z$ 100,000-00 note
for mid-2004, because any thinking person can tell you
that prices are doubling every 2 months and multiplying
by 10 every year (and that is 1000% per annum inflation).
Zimbabwean Economists (and especially government economists) seem
incapable of calculating this - maybe they never do any
shopping for themselves.
Brazil in 1989 experienced inflation of this magnitude - they had
to take drastic action, but it worked, and there are
people and documentation available which chart a path
for a return to normality.
Zimbabwe faces very very serious problems, which call
for very professional handling, without any
party political bias and without any election-winning
and/or popularity-winning gimmicks (like taking money
from 90% of the people and giving it to the other 10%).
Mugabe - if your Yes-Men and your Information Ministers are incapable
of solving the gigantic problems which you yourself have (unwittingly)
created, then get off the throne and call in the international rescue team.
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Reasons for removing sadaam (zimbabwe perspective)
20 July 2003
Regardless of any and all WMD,
it is difficult or impossible for anyone who has not
lived under a fully-fledged dictatorship to imagine what it
is like - i.e. no citizen of any western democracy
can comprehend.
Take Zimbabwe- the country is decending the abyss at
high speed, but one demented old man (Mugabe) fails to grasp
that by abdicating, he can relieve 12 million of this own
people from an economic hell into which he has (unwittingly)
cast them.
Yes - I support the removal, by force if necessary, of any
and every dictator throughout the world. If that can be
called treason, then let it so be called.
Back to Top
Mugabe Exit Plan
15 July 2003
So now it is (semi-) official - Mugabe
resigns December 2003 and Presidential
and Parliamentary elections are held in
Zimbabwe March 2004.
There are a few points which must be addressed:
1) The timescale means that the Main Agricultural
Season 2003/2004 will be yet another almost complete
writeoff. In addition to existing factors such as hyperinflation and
shortages of forex, fuel and banknotes, that will mean
another fall in GNP by 10% between now and 2004/03.
Who will reimburse the people of Zimbabwe for that loss?
Which dignitaries such as Powell, Mbeki and Bush will link
their incomes to the GNP of Zimbabwe and take the hit with us?
Who will reopen offices and factories closed between now
and 2004/03? Who will compensate those made jobless?
2) Mugabe is not a man who keeps his word - there is a
good chance that he will renege on any commitment.
And because of this, Business Confidence will not
restart until after he leaves power (and possibly leaves the
country) and maybe until after the election is over. Any foreigners
who pump in private or public money before then are taking a very
large risk.
3) ZanuPF (even without their Dictator) now have degrees in
Election Rigging. Even if the Economy and the People can
stagger through till May 2004, who knows whether the party
which has presided over 4 years of 10% per annum Negative growth
will not fix the result in their favour?
The Solution?
If Mugabe is leaving power, then let him do so NOW. Hold elections
LATEST 3 months after his departure, maybe earlier. Let the UN run
the ENTIRE election process. Try to salvage something of this
coming Main Growing Season - by Farmers of whatever colour -
for the benefit of the economy and the struggling masses.
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Mugabe a British Agent?
18 Jun 2003
There is a lot of evidence to point to the fact
that Mugabe became a British and/or Smith Agent
before 1980, and was installed by the British
in a 1980 Election which was massively frauded.
He presented some of this evidence himself in his
typically vain ramblings in front of a radio
microphone in London with the BBC World Service in 1999.
What else would explain how a relatively unknown
candidate supposedly swept the polls in 1980 over the
well-known and highly popular Joshua Nkomo?
Why did Mugabe do effectively nothing on Land Reform
between 1980 and 1997?
Why was Mugabe the darling of the Whites from 1980
till 1997?
Why did the West turn their back on the Matabeleland
Massacres in which Mugabe and Mnangagwa murdered
5,000 - 15,000 Zimbabweans?
Why did Mugabe put so much effort into intimidating
the population into voting for him and his party
in the elections following 1980? - precisely because
he knew that they had rejected him soundly in that
first frauded 1980 election.
The Cold War has had a lot of victims, and most of
them were neither Americans nor Russians. The whole UDI
charade was allowed by the West to play itself out for 16 years
because of Global Real Politik; the Apartheid State was only
finally dismantled by the West in 1994 because the
Cold War was over; UNITA was a CIA creation, and
the misery which Angola became and is still suffering
from was a US-USSR Proxy War; Mozambique the same;
the cruel and violent dictator Hastings Banda was
kept in power by the West in the name of fighting
communism.
So - it is obvious that the West was not going to
allow the voters to choose Nkomo, who was a
man of principle and a Socialist of some kind -
Mugabe was a power-hungry, cruel, violent, cunning,
dangerous, mercenary man without principle,
who was willing to be used by the West provided
there was power and money in it for him.
The rest, as they say, is history: Mugabe
seized absolute power over the years following
1980, preached socialism but practised a raw 3rd-world
capitalism which kept the whites and the West
very happy; Zimbabwe before and since 1980 has
never had democracy, only varying degrees of
pseudo-democracy and dictatorship.
For some time Mugabe gave his people reasonably good economics
and about zero democracy; like many populations
from many countries around the world,
food in the belly and money in the pocket is
often sufficient to satisfy the majority of
the population - intellectuals are unsatisfied
but the rest tolerate the situation. What
violence there was was largely limited to the routine
'car accident' death of on average one anti-mugabe
politician per year (Sydney Malunga, Chris Ishewokunze,
Moven Mahache, Border Gezi, Peter Pamire etc etc..).
Only since 1997 did everything unravel - Mugabe's
personal decision to enter the DRC War (once again
caused through delayed action by the Cold War
and the USA's support over 25 years for the
tyrant Mobutu) messed up economics badly in Zimbabwe.
The rise of MDC and their widespread popularity
changed the face of Zimbabwe - they won
both the 2000 Parliamentary Election and the 2002
Presidential Election, but Mugabe frauded both
elections.
Now the economy is sliding towards the abyss, 95%+
of the population have become poor, but the rich and the
Mugabe cronies are making money hand over fist.
Mugabe and Shamuyarira maintain that there is
no crisis, and are now advising that 12 million
Zimbabweans should live in the forests and eat wild
berries.
The people voted twice against Mugabe and his party - their
votes were frauded.
The people practised mass stayaways as a political
and economic protest - these have now virtually
been made impossible and illegal.
The people tried to march peacefully to State House -
they were beaten, wounded, intimidated, tear-gassed,
and a few killed; every and any march is declared illegal;
to march without protection by UN Peacekeepers is impossible.
(and the UN is not interested - a few years ago Kofi Annan's
son was doing busines with Mugabe's infamous nephew)
And Shamuyarira advises the people smugly to 'wait for
the next election', knowing that he and Mugabe will
fraud every and any election which takes place.
The conclusion from this sorry tale - Tony Blair and George
Bush are responsible for the sins of their predecessors -
Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan - he who creates a disaster
must rescue the victims. They must use every trick in
the book to get rid of this politically, economically
and socially disasterous President with immediate
effect and to ensure free and fair elections at which the
people can express their own choice.
Blair and Bush's only moral alternative is to immediately accept
12 million economic and political refugees from Zimbabwe for
assisted passage and permanent residence in the USA and UK.
Of course if Mugabe has any shame, then these
accusations/revelations/speculations
that he was an Agent of the West who was installed
knowingly in 1980 in an Illegal and Fraudulent Election may
cause him to stand down. We must sincerely hope so.
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Zimbabwe - a call to the middle classes
11 June 2003
The black middle and upper classes in Zimbabwe
have traditionally since independence stayed out
of politics and tried to get on with getting wealthy.
And especially recently, the brunt of Mugabe's
brutality has fallen on the blue collar, working
classes, and the unemployed.
Those in Zimbabwe who imagine that the economy has reached
an all-time low point will be seriously re-educated as
events unfold in the weeks, months and years ahead -
we are now heading rapidly for the large scale shut-down
of industry, transport, trading, wholesaling, retailing,
water, electricity and sanitation.
The middle and upper class blacks will not be
spared - jobs, company cars, company houses, company school
fees will all evaporate; white collar workers will lose their
jobs in droves; those living in rented premises
will be evicted. Middle class families will be camped
in the street (during winter and during rainy season) outside
their former homes.
Unless the conservative and selfish black middle and
upper classes now join the Mugabe-abdication movement,
then they themselves and their children and dependents will
be cast into dire poverty within weeks from now. Even and
especially people who have always regarded themselves as
Zanu-PF supporters will not be spared from the insanity
of Mugabe's determination to force 12 million people to live
in the forests and eat wild berries.
Mugabe judges his 12 million people to be snivelling cowards,
cowering sheep and imbeciles. Prove him wrong.
Back to Top
Mugabe sabc tv Interview 1700 hrs GMT sunday 8 June 2003
8 June 2003
a summary of the interview (which lasted approx 55 minutes).
Note that the interview seems to have been recorded about
Wednesday 4 June 2003 in Harare.
1. Mugabe will not stand down: "why should I be elected
in 2002 and resign in 2003 - it makes no sense" ...
"I cannot hand over now when there is so much in-fighting
inside Zanu-PF over my succession - better that I stay..."
(at approx 50 minutes)
2. "The economic situation now in zimbabwe is not so bad -
it was much worse during the war of liberation - we were
living in the forest and eating wild berries" (at approx 45 minutes)
3. "I do not want to tear-gas my youth... I do not want to
increase the suffering of my people..... but they have been
misled....." (at approx 47 minutes)
4. A long rambling monologue over why nothing was done
between 1980 and 1997 over the question of Land Reform.
(0-45 minutes)
5. Contradictory comments on the War Veterans and their role in
sparking off farm occupations - in one minute he emphasises that
the WV's were operating totally without any control or encouragement,
in the next moment, using the word "we" meaning Mugabe plus WV's....
6 (Final Comment) "I can still punch!" (at 55 minutes)
Comment:
1. Mbeki and Obasanjo and the International Community
have failed totally - Mugabe refuses point blank to consider
standing down
2. The man is comparing his own personal situation in 1978 with
2003, NOT the situation of his 12 million people; for them
the economic situation now is dramatically failing to deliver
the basic essentials for their lives. Possibly Mugabe's
intention is to reach the point where 12 million people are
in the forests, living off wild berries. But unfortunately
there are not sufficient forests and certainly not sufficient wild
berries...
3. He mentions tear-gassing, but not the intimidation, beating and
wounding of his population by a brutal police, army, war veterans militia,
and Zanu-Pf Youth Militia. And of course he does not mention the
recent assassination by the army of Tichaona Kuguru in Mbare, Harare.
He justifies brutalities against his own population because
"they have been misled"; surely it is the duty of a leader to
explain to his people if and when they are being 'misled' where,
how and why they are being misled and what is the truth and what
is lies and deception?.... A leader who is respected for his
achievements will be able relatively simply to counter any
attempts to mislead the people - after all - he has charge of
all terrestial TV, 99% of radio, and 50% of newspapers. It is not
a privilege of a leader to brutalise his population because someone
is 'misleading' them....
4. The stinginess of the British Government is legendary; but
Mugabe's ramblings about why nothing was done on Land Reform
1980 - 1997 was not convincing. It is obvious that at that time,
he had no interest in land reform. It is well known that
Mugabe has used the issue of Land Reform after 1997 solely as a
means of hanging desperately on to power. (By this I do not mean
that Land Reform is without merit - it most certainly is - but
not in the way in which it has been done - without organisation,
with land going to the rich and connected, with a drastic
and life-threatening drop in food production, with a drastic
and economy-threatening drop in export crop production).
5. The best explanation of the relationship between War Veterans
and Mugabe came from War Veteran's leader Andy Mhlanga during a
Radio France International interview sometime around September 2001:
" the Government, the Police, the War Veterans - we are the Same"
6. Mugabe is well known as a practitioner and advocate of violence:
"Zanu-PF has degrees in violence" is one of his well-known quotes.
The comment "I can still punch!" is an open threat not only to
the Organised Opposition, but also to his 12 million people.
7. In general, the interviewer was never combattive, and mostly
boot-licking. This may be the rules for SABC, but bodes badly for
the future of democracy in South Africa and indeed in the whole of
Africa. Maybe the approach was deliberate - give Mugabe enough
rope and he will hang himself - certainly Mugabe probably exposed
more of his real self and his real thinkings and intentions with
this kind of interview (and he has made that mistake also before).
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Zimbabwe - the actions of a Great Leader?
3 Jun 2003
3 June 2003 - one day into the current 5-day Stayaway and Marches.
The Country and the Mugabe Dictatorship have
multiple crises - shortages of food (especially basic
foods as consumed by the poor - who are now 90% of
the population), forex, fuel, blood, and most recently
of banknotes. Agricultural production is severely
curtailed, as are industrial and mining production.
The basic building blocks of the economy are
damaged to the extent that it will take years
even under the best scenario to get back to the
level of relative affluence which existed in 1996.
And the way Mugabe is solving these problems? -
beating, tear-gassing, intimidating, and ordering a
shoot-to-kill policy using live bullets (there are
unconfirmed reports of 2 martyrs/National Heroes
killed by Mugabe's puppet security forces). So the
what is foremost in his mind is NOT
solving the problems which face his Nation and
His People - it is perpetuating his own Rule.
Any Great Leader worth his salt would look
objectively at the situation, without panic,
discuss with a wide range of friends and enemies,
and conclude that the best path for the Nation would
be for him to fall on his sword (figuratively or
even literally).
It is a little-known fact that the West
installed their puppet Mugabe in 1980;
should the events of this week NOT result
in Mugabe's immediate abdication, then
it is an imperative for the West to
surgically remove him - he who creates a
disaster must rescue the victims.
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Zimbabwe - street demos broken up
2 June 2003
Today 2 June 2003 has seen the brutal and highly efficient
breaking up of democratic and peaceful street
demonstrations against the hated dictator and
presidential imposter, Robert Mugabe. There are also
as yet unconfirmed reports that there are 2 deaths from
police or army shootings. One can well imagine that
these 2 deaths or attempted killings are a result
of direct orders from the cruel and insane dictator Mugabe.
The International Declaration of Human Rights
includes a right that:
Everyone has the right to choose
by whom they are governed.
This means that any government which cheats the
election process has denied its own people one of
the basic UN rights. (Equally countries which
do not hold even phoney elections at all are
more blatantly denying the human rights of their
citizens. Strange that often such countries
have natural resources such as oil, and are good
friends of the so-called liberal and democratic West).
The West installed their puppet Mugabe in the 1980
Independence Election, rather than the socialistic Joshua Nkomo.
For the sake of the long-suffering 12 Million Zimbabweans,
who are becoming poorer by the day, and whose economy is
now in serious danger of collapse, the West must
now remove their Puppet, whose pursuit of
insanity and dictatorship has made it impossible
for the population to remove him by 'Democratic' means
or even by extra-Parliamentary (but non-violent) means.
Back to Top
Zimbabwe - Time is of the Essence
19 May 2003
Now that the International Community has
sealed the fate of the cruel right-wing dictator
Mugabe, let them concentrate their minds on
the timescale - Zimbabwe is bleeding to death
economically and agriculturally - prompt action
will make a large difference to the state of
the patient when Recovery starts.
Pay no attention to the injured pride of the failed
dictator and his mercenary band of crooks, criminals
and failed politicians - just get them out of office
with immediate effect.
An example - winter wheat planting deadline was 15 May 2003 -
let is guess how much has been planted - take a drive (if you
can source fuel) from Banket to Bindura early in June
and look for cultivated fields with new wheat sprouting....
And wheat and bread are foods of the masses in this country.
In order to have any meaningful agricultural
season starting October 2003, large scale mobilisation
and organisation will be required starting about NOW;
and that cannot and will not be done by the cruel,
selfish, indifferent and highly unpopular Mugabe dictatorship -
they know their days are numbered, and they
do not care about Food Production, the Economy or the People.
So - International Community - cast aside your usual
public sector inefficiency - deal with the rapid removal
of Mugabe et alia like you were a privatised organisation -
make Speed and Efficiency your keynote. And a more efficient
operation will mean less Aid and Development Donor Funds which
you will be asked to pump in. The Zimbabwean People depend
on your Actions.
Back to Top
SABC Ignorance
12 May 2003
dear interface (South Africa)
sabc in general show a tremendous ignorance of the real situation
in zimbabwe:
1. the contest is not between Mugabe and Tsvangirai, nor between
Zanu-PF and MDC - it is between Mugabe and his 12 million Subjects
(one should call them Abjects). 90+% of Zanu-PF at all levels do NOT
want Mugabe to be in charge of Zimbabwe for one day longer.
2. If and when Mugabe goes, abdicates, resigns or dies, there will be a massive
party throughout Zimbabwe - 95% + of people will be overjoyed, including the
majority of people who vote Zanu-PF.
3. It takes the removal of one man only - his cronies will fall by the
wayside - there will be NO civil war - that is an invention of Mugabe and
his media experts (and one which has been swallowed wholesale like so many
other Mugabe myths by the South African media in its naivity and innocence and
in its search for Political Correctness).
4. There is a pile of private capital waiting for the downfall of Mugabe to invest
massively in Zimbabwe; there is also a similar pile of Donor Money. This will make a
great positive difference to the economic lot of the average (black) citizen in Zimbabwe.
All it takes is for one bitter vengeful selfish old man to hand over power for the good of his
own people.
5. One solution to the Zimbabwe problem is for EFFECTIVE external intervention. Once cannot
describe the efforts of Mbeki, Obasanjo and Muluzi as in anyway effective. Do it right or
dont get involved - the only result of ineffective intervention is time delay - and time is one
commodity the Zimbabwean economy and people do NOT have.....
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Mugabe - time for big shots to reveal secrets
12 May 2003
Several well-known public figures in Zimbabwe each have
lodged with foreign lawyers documents and depositions about
Mugabe and especially about his past which, if made public, could
and would result in him having to abdicate.
These public figures include among others Edison Zvobgo, Edward Tekere,
and Margaret Dongo.
For these people at this point in politics not to reveal the contents
of their documents and depositions is to actively support the continuation
of the rule of a cruel and economically disasterous Dictator.
The creation and continuation of Poverty and the Miscontrol of Food Resources
is a Weapon of Mass Destruction. It is time for anyone and everyone with
any power to dislodge this Cruel and Unusual Dictator to use that power for
the benefit of the people, regardless of any Personal Danger. The People
will reward You.
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Let Zanu-PF deal with Mugabe
6 May 2003
Mugabe has (on 5th May) stone-walled yet another attempt
by the impotent African Leaders Obasanjo, Mbeki and
Muluzi to effect a Transition in Zimbabwe which
would have saved (at the last minute) the economy and the livelihoods of
12 million oppressed Zimbabweans.
Since his own Party know that he is a Liability
of the Greatest Magnitude, let them Terminate
his Presidency with immediate effect. If they do
not do this then they will have lost even
more Credibility with a population whose Patience
is now at a complete end.
There is a Precedent - Thatcher was dragged kicking and
screaming from power by her own Party in 1992 after
13 years of Dictatorship - the Conservatives
did it to save the Economy for the sake of the whole
population, not only for the sake of their voters.
If Mugabe's Termination has to be conducted with Extreme
Prejudice, then so be it.
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nigerian election a lesson
22 April 2003
the recent election in nigeria teaches us a few lessons:
- all elections in the 3rd world should be run (NOT just observed)
by a neutral International Election Commission, which organises
and conducts all aspects of the election, especially the
polling, transportation, counting, collating and announcement of results.
- when the favourite candidate of the West wins, the fraudulent nature of an election
is downplayed by the intenational media, and the result is allowed to stand.
- politics should have the same rules as sport - those found cheating or even
trying to cheat should be disqualified, banned and eliminated. If possible
they should also be jailed.
- those who imagine that people like Obasanjo and Mbeki are god-like elder
statesmen who are eminently qualified to adjudicate in the internal affairs
of countries like Zimbabwe should now see that Obasanjo at least is just another
corrupt and crooked politician who cannot be trusted by his own people or by the
people of any other nation. Unfortunately these corrupt and crooked
rulers have a great deal of solidarity with others of their kind,
and are willing to subject the populations of 3rd
world countries to unspeakable hardships, abuse, and despair for the
sake of political correctness and hard cash.
The West must wake up and see that, although NEPAD and similar
programs look nice in theory, they cannot leave the fate of Africans to
corrupt and crooked dictators, even those who chum up to the West.
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NO political polarisation in zimbabwe
28 April 2003
dear ambassadors (SABC South Africa)
you are mistaken - there is NO political polarisation in zimbabwe - all
zimbabweans (including zanupf members) are united in wishing the
immediate and final departure of the dictator mugabe.
and pls in future get some experts who know something about the situation -
stop getting a hold of amateurs who know nothing.
Back to Top
zimbabwe - a positive correction
15 April 2003
To: BBC world service radio - network africa
good stuff from louis machipisa this morning - thank you!
but the International Community and the BBC have a situation
misappraised - negotiation between Zanu-PF and MDC is
irrelevent at this point in time - the struggle is not
between these 2 parties but between the Dictator Mugabe
and ALL his people, including 90% of high-ranking, middle- and
low-ranking Zanu-PF.
Only 2 weeks ago, in the context of Iraq, on live Zimbabwe State Television,
Edison Zvobo, a very high-ranking Zanu-PF, stated that "any dictator who
kills his own people has no right to talk about sovereignity".
Edison was talking about Mugabe as well as Sadaam Husein.
Back to Top
International Community and Mugabe
15 April 2003
The International Community have the Zimbabwe situation
misappraised - negotiation between Zanu-PF and MDC is
irrelevent at this point in time - the struggle is not
between these 2 parties but between the Dictator Mugabe
and ALL his people, including 90%+ of high-ranking, middle- and
low-ranking Zanu-PF.
There is no point in anyone negotiating with Zanu-PF while Mugabe is
in place - it would be just like "negotiating" with the Baathist
Party in Iraq while Sadaam Husein was in power - a pointless
exercise. Mugabe's Cabinet and Politburo are like cowering sheep
and imbeciles - incapable of saying boo to a goose.
After their success in Iraq, the International Community (including
moderates like Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway and Germany) must
simply insist that Mugabe vacates, without conditions. If they make
it clear to Mugabe that he has no alternative to immediate exile,
then he will do what he is at present too fearful and cowardly to do.
The only alternative to an immediate forced exile is some kind of
medical emergency, which may require evacuation to some friendly
country which has a functioning Healthcare System.
Back to Top
Mugabe's impending confrontation
25 March 2003
Since a better situation a few weeks ago,
when Mugabe was in his box, the Robert Mugabe
who incites, encourages, and orders
intimidations, beatings, torture, rapes,
and unlawful killings is once again on the
loose and out of his box.
Usually when he is out of his box, the
placid and patient (black) population of
Zimbabwe are firmly inside THEIR box,
bowed into submission by the State Terrorism
which makes Donors rate Zimbabwe as the 2nd most
repressive country in the world after North Korea;
but strangely or not so strangely, that is at this
point in time NOT the case - the population
are NOT back in their box.
A Confrontation is brewing, and that Confrontation
is not between ZanuPF and MDC, not between Robert Mugabe
and Morgan Tsvangirai, but between one man and the
12 million people who happen to be his kith and kin.
Some advice to Mugabe - you cannot win against your own
people when you are on your own like you now are, and
when your own people have finally had enough (as they have had).
No matter what your Advisers and Yes-Men tell you, you will NOT
win the impending Confrontation. Better to slip
away quietly and with some dignity to a foreign location
from which you can count your money and plan your
future. It is neither cowardly nor stupid to avoid a
Confrontation which you will lose - it is both brave and wise.
And be aware of the following - the economic mess which your
country now finds itself is such that whatever Government
follows you will find itself highly unpopular, since it cannot
wave a magic wand and unweave the economic and social destruction
which is now in place. A Mugabe and a ZanuPF which are using their
brains will hand over power to whoever the People really voted for
in March 2002 and let the People become very rapidly disillusioned and
dissatisfied with the lack of rapid economic progress in the
months and years to come.
Back to Top
Mugabe Succession
12 March 2003
If the impending post-Mugabe Election in Zimbabwe is allowed by
the weak-kneed and gullible International Community to be
rigged (yet again), then indeed (disasterously)
Mugabe's ZanuPF Party will win; however if the Election is
WHOLLY run by an External International Election Commission,
then ZanuPF is a dead Party, and the current political wars
between factions inside ZanuPF are as futile as they are pathetic.
Politicians are struggling for Power and Wealth while their kith and
kin are starving to death and while major economic forces are
threatening the economic survival of the mass of ordinary people.
Whichever faction of ZanuPF has a major influence in the
Elite-Pacted Transition (EPT) is academic, since the party has
exhausted the patience and credibility of black
Zimbabweans rich, poor and all degrees in between.
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Mugabe regime comparable with north korea
4 March 2003
It is a well known opinion in donor circles that
the Zimbabwean Government is second-worst in the
world (after North Korea) in terms of cruelty to
its own (black) population and indifference to their
plight. Unfortunately, that opinion (which many
will call fact) is hardly known outside donor circles
and is un-propagated by the international media.
For the Foreign Minister of a country respected in
international circles to back and openly to support
the cruel and indifferent Head-of-State Robert Mugabe
is quite surprising. It appears that the ANC has become
an Uncle Tom party which loves only business and rich people
and condones black-on-black cruelty and indifference in
Africa.
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Distributing food by political affiliation continues in Zimbabwe
18 February 2003
Despite avowals to the contrary by Mugabe,
Mbeki, Obasanjo, George Shire and other such people,
the distribution of food by a major Zimbabwean
Supermarket Chain (the Stock Exchange-quoted TM Group)
is carried on in collusion and collaboration with
Zanu-PF and the Zimbabwe Police to ensure that Zanu-PF
members in Harare urban area get food while non-Zanu-PF
members go without. This happened in front of me
Friday 14 February 2003 at Chadcombe TM Supermarket in Harare;
the item in question was sugar - which is in desperately short
supply nationwide.
Back to Top
Dealing with Dictators Globally
10 February 2003
Few people in the cosy comfortable West appreciate
firstly what proportion of the world's population lives under
dictatorship and secondly how greatly that experience
impacts negatively on their Quality of Life and on their Economic Prospects.
Now is the time for the civilised and the uncivilised world
to rid this planet of dictators. The method is simple - all
it requires is Political Will:
Insist that all national elections worldwide (including in the USA)
are conducted by a highly professional UN-associated International
Electoral Commission (IEC) - this will involve all stages of the election
process including everything to do with ballot boxes (or the
electronic equivalent) and with the actual counting of votes. And No
nationals of the voting country will be allowed to be involved in any
way in the mechanics of the electoral process of that country.
Any and all nations which refuse to hold regular National Elections
under the IEC will automatically be designed by the UN as
Dictatorships.
Every 6 months the UN will list all Countries in the world,
designating each one as a non-dictatorship, a dictatorship,
or some gray area in between (note that even governments elected fairly under
the IEC can be capable of turning themselves into dictatorships during
their 5 year reign - such is the corrupting influence of power and money).
The UN will declare it legal for any individual or organisation
to collect money with the sole purpose of deposing dictators and
dictatorships by whatever means necessary, including abduction,
indefinite detention, and assassination. These acts may be carried out
by professional hit-men or by close associates of the Dictator. There
will be no limit to the amounts of money offerable. And the perpetrators
will also of course have international legal immunity.
The result will be the running for cover by dictatorships and dictators
everywhere, even and especially those who love the West,
were installed by the West, and are loved by the West.
Sadaam Husein will be only one of many many casualties in this struggle
by the people of the world against their inadequate, cynical and greedy rulers.
And those who complain that my proposal above will increase world instability,
please answer - how stable at the moment is the world, with the present level
of injustice to such a large proportion of the global population of
men, women and children?
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Mugabe-in-a-Box
3 February 2003
The Political Scene in Zimbabwe has changed almost beyond recognition
in the last 8 weeks - the average citizen is no longer scared to
discuss and to insist upon the end of the Dictatorship of Robert Mugabe.
But the fact that Mugabe is now in his box is not a situation
which is adequate for the People and the Nation of Zimbabwe -
the Country is facing multiple crises of Food, Fuel, Forex,
Unemployment, Poverty and Liberty. It is necessary to have in power
a government which is honest and competent, and which works
hard to rescue the People and the Economy from an Economic
Abyss. That New Government must also control the excessive and
unpleasant face of Capitalism which is so rampant in
Zimbabwe, even and especially under the auspices of the
nominally-socialist Zanu-PF.
The fact that Mugabe's is (temporarily) de-fanged and that the
Rich in Zimbabwe are comfortable and complacent is not enough -
and let us not imagine that Mnangwa and Zvinivashe are our
Saviours - certainly our enemy's enemy is our (temporary) friend -
but no more than that. And neither are the White Farmers and the
ex-White Farmers our friends.
Every day and week which passes is a further slide into Oblivion;
and dont think that the International Community will save our
souls or our pockets - they will be much too busy reconstructing Iraq and
Afghanistan after their wars.
So - Robert Mugabe - do the right thing - go now before your
Protege and your Chief-of-Staff decide that you have outlived your
usefulness. And forget about Immunity from Prosecution -
there is no Immunity from the Wrath of God and the Companionship of
the Devil.
And while we are at it - let Mbeki and Obasanjo - 2 presidents who
are so useless to their own people - also be exposed as leaders who
are useless to the people of Zimbabwe. And let the New Government
of Zimbabwe punish those 2 countries economically so as to teach
their citizens a lesson for letting their leaders urinate on the
citizens of other countries.
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Iraqis' suffering can be made worse
Barbara Stocking International Herald Tribune
27 december 2002
dear editor
Barbara Stocking of Oxfam's viewpoint is that brutal dictatorships should get away with it as long as international donors and NGO's are allowed to operate in these dictatorships to lessen the suffering of the downtrodden masses. No, Barbara - try living under a dictatorship as a local national, with no prospect of escape or home leave, and with no freedom of speech or action. An end to all dictatorships, whether friends or enemies of the West. And if it takes war to end the dictatorship, then it is a very inefficient way of doing it - better to put a Price on the Head of the Dictator - amend UN Rules to define dictatorship and make it legal for individuals or organisations to put a price on the head of any dictator.
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Zimbabwe's misery
to: Financial Times UK
17 December 2002
dear editor
Mugabe has a secret plan to utilise his Weapon of Mass Destruction
(WMD) to eliminate 100,000 to 200,000 of his own population; this WMD is
food shortage, hunger, restriction of food supply, and starvation.
The crime of these 150,000 people? - that they and millions of others
tried to remove Mugabe from power by democratic means in the March 2002
Election, when they voted massively against him but were frauded
by the sitting government.
When the scale of the tragedy is finally known in a few months time then
Mugabe will simply plead disorganisation and incompetence, a plea
which is relatively easy to make in the African context; but that will
be untrue. And the FT's plea to Mbeki is useless, and a measure of
how seriously the West takes the Zimbabwe situation - appealing to
Mbeki to do something which you know he will not do is washing your
hands of the problem; Mbeki is failing to meet his own people's
aspirations - so how can he meet the aspirations of the struggling
black Zimbabwean peasants, workers and middle-classes?
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Hunger as Political Tool
to: International Herald Tribune, Paris France
17 December 2002
Dear IHT
Your correspondent was duped by Mugabe's slick PR machine.
Mugabe has a secret plan to utilise his Weapon of Mass Destruction
(WMD) to eliminate 100,000 to 200,000 of his own population; this WMD is
food shortage, hunger, restriction of food supply, and starvation.
The crime of these 150,000 people? - that they and millions of others
tried to remove Mugabe from power by democratic means in the March 2002
Election, when they voted massively against him but were frauded
by the sitting government.
When the scale of the tragedy is finally known in a few months time then
Mugabe will simply plead disorganisation and incompetence, a plea
which is relatively easy to make in the African context; but that will
be untrue. International Media and the International Community have
a responsibility to the suffering classes of Zimbabwe, if only because
Margaret Thatcher installed Mugabe illegitimately in Power (with Mugabe's full knowledge and complicity) against the 1980
Independence Election Result. Fence-sitting and inaction will only ensure
the effective conclusion of Mugabe's scheme of insane revenge.
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The Zimbabwean Model
4 december 2002
Dear Economist (London UK international Magazine)
Please get your facts right - inflation is currently around 1000% per year;
and the parallel market rate end of November 2002 reached Z$ 1700 per US$,
compared with an official rate of Z$ 55 per US$.
The parallel market rate was Z$ 100 per US$ in May 2001, and prices
have remained relatively constant in US$ terms - therefore an AVERAGE rate of inflation
of 17% per month or 661% per annum has been effective May 2001 through November 2002.
And be aware that inflation has recently accelerated to a level which is
frightening to the average person, who has no access to foreign currency - hence
the current inflation rate of approximately 1000% per annum which I quote above.
There is a race on between what will kill off the population first - the
absolute lack of foods of all kinds (especially maize, wheat and bread) - in both rural areas
and in the towns and capital city - and the inability to pay for any available food which may exist.
Note that John Morris, Head of World Food Program, was quoted today 4 December 2002 as saying
that a major problem they are facing in trying to avert starvation and catastrophe in Africa
is a Lack of Political Will both from African Governments and from Western Donors. In the case
of Zimbabwe, the inaction and non-cooperation of Government is deliberate - the Zimbabwe people are being
punished by starvation and death for having dared to try to remove Robert Mugabe from power
by democratic means.
In any normal country there would have been a change of government and/or a revolution before now.
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attn tony blair-iraq-from Zimbabwe Africa
To: Talkingpoint BBC World Service Radio
3 December 2002
By living under a dictatorship here in Zimbabwe,
one sees the economic, social, physical and psychological
damage which dictatorship wreaks on people.
Since it is a well known fact that Sadaam Husein is
one of the most brutal and barbaric dictators in recent
world history, then my sympathies go out to the
Iraqi People.
Regardless of finding partial or completed WMD, then
my personal feeling is that Sadaam Husein should be removed
from power by whatever means; and replaced by a non-dictatorial
regime. If that can be done without war, then so much the better,
but if it does take war then so be it.
The only flaw in the Grand Plan is that there is no justice for
the Palestians inside and outside the West Bank and Gaza; and there
is no plan to bring even a semblance of democracy to any one
of the many other Arabic dictatorships throughout the world
(including some like Saudi Arabia who are strong friends of America
and the West).
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Mugabe - crimes worse than genocide
28 November 2002
What do you call someone who deliberately kills large numbers of his
own people?
The term Genocide is used against someone who orchestrates the killing
of large numbers of a different ethnic group - as in Hitler's Germany or
in Rwanda in 1994. But Mugabe is in the process of orchestrating the
deaths en masse of hundreds of thousands of his own people, for the reason that
they dared to try to remove him from power by democratic means. If he thinks
that the international community will stand idly by while his insane scheme
winds its way towards its inevitable conclusion, he had better think again.
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The Beginning of the End
20 November 2002
The President and the Zimbabwe People should check out what happens when a
country suffers economic bankruptcy and implosion. Look no further than
Argentina. It is not very pretty, and it makes the present
misery of 95% of Zimbabweans and the inconvenience of another 4%
look like small beer in comparison.
Does the President really think he can get out of the corner
he is in by toughing it out and bringing all the ZNA troops
in Zimbabwe and DRC into Harare? By banning gestures and swear words
directed at his fine Motorcade?
It is all only a question of time. The End will come when
the International Bankers close down all credit lines
(and maybe even all cash lines); or it will come when
the People in desperation riot or take part in peaceful
demonstrations (which are banned in this phoney democracy) -
will the troops pull the trigger on their kith and kin or will
they down tools in protest?
Despite idiocies (like 150%) put out by home-grown economists, inflation
is at 1000% per year or greater, and forex rates are tumbling like
a stone.
And although the concept of freezing all prices seems like a great idea,
if it worked it would have been used in Brazil in 1989, in Turkey in 2001,
and in Argentina more recently.
The End is on its way - it can be postponed or hastened, but
it cannot be avoided. The Mills of God grind slow, but they
grind exceeding small.
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Open Letter to Robert Gabriel Mugabe
5 November 2002
It is obvious now, with the recent statement by the IMF, and
by the decision to request oil companies to import fuel
directly, that the Zimbabwe Economy is very close to meltdown.
The honeymoons with the Malaysians and the Libyans are now over,
and there are no more suitors in the wings.
The only factor which can rescue the Zimbabwe Economy from the
impending implosion is political change.
Better to hand over with dignity before the edge is reached than
to have unstoppable economic and financial forces make staying
in power impossible.
Everyone knows that we will then be effectively ruled by the IMF -
Zimbabwe will be back in the age of ESAP (by whatever name). Noone
likes that idea but it is a fact of life that there is no alternative.
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Mugabe a Clear and Present Danger
22 October 2002
Learnmore Jongwe - Zimbabwe's (unacknowledged and unrecognised) Stephen Biko...
There comes a time when the antics of comedians and clowns becomes no
longer amusing. With the death by poisoning of Learnmore Jongwe,
a leading MDC Opposition politician (and a Shona), in prison in Zimbabwe on 22 October 2002
that time has come. Mugabe has not only become a Nuisance, he is now
a Clear and Present Danger to his own people. The time for regime change is now.
Let black Zimbabweans, and especially Shona, prove finally that they are Men and not Mice.
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wheat rotting in fields of zimbabwe?
10 October 2002
sunday 06 october 2002 i drove between Mazowe and Bindura, about 80 km
north of harare. this is a prime area for winter wheat. there were
probably 20+ km of unharvested but ripe wheat on both sides of the road.
the only harvesting activity we saw was 5-10 people harvesting by hand;
and there was no sign that any mechanised or manual harvesting had already
taken place. wednesday 09 october 2002 there was rainfall in harare - a sign that
the rains are starting. and the onset of proper rains will ruin any
unharvested crop.
it may already be too late to harvest the wheat which i saw on sunday,
or it may be possible if there is say a 14 day dry spell and if
machinery and labour is well organised. but it looks like the
situation will be that in the region of 12,000+ tonnes of wheat will
rot in the fields. If that does happen, it will be another
failure of organisation, management and politics in a country which
is set to import 1 million tonnes of grains (mainly maize but also some wheat)
during 2002; and most of these imports are funded by the international
community and the international taxpayer.
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Suicide Marchers
10 July 2002
Time marches on after the Zimbabwe March 10 Election.
Everyone in Zimbabwe knows that the election was
a fraud and that Morgan is the rightful President.
Mugabe appears determined to muddle through the
impending food and economic crises, and his
puppets show no sign of resigning.
MDC know that if they openly call for a mass march
to demand the resignation of Mugabe then they will
be locked up under any one of the draconian laws
which now guarantee Zimbabweans their freedom.
Mugabe and his puppets have openly promised to shoot dead
tens and hundreds of protestors if necessary to
preserve their "legitimate" rule. The young, able-bodied
and the middle-class are unwilling to risk their lives for
the overthrow of a one-man dictatorship.
A solution - let those who are near death - the old
and the terminally-ill (of whom we all know there are
many) become Suicide Marchers for the liberation
of their country and their fellow-citizens.
One does not know how many human lives Mugabe and his
puppets will demand before they step down - but
eventually after enough bloodshed they will go.
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zimbabwe's impending food crisis
26 June 2002
Living in zimbabwe in 2002 is like being in Disneyland or
Wonderland - an impending food crisis is looming, but everyone
seems to be carrying on as usual. People do not discuss the food
crisis because to do so is to be "unpatriotic" (read one who
questions the supreme wisdom and quasi-papal infallibility
of the politician robert mugabe).
Maybe the population, and especially the educated black
middle and upper classes (of whom there are many) think that
they will somehow magically avoid this crisis.
But even the rich must eat food - they cannot eat cash, coins,
investments, gold or diamonds.
The scale of the shortage is incredible - 75% of the country's
calorific requirement is missing - during or shortly after August 2002
there will be no food in the country. Imports of 7000 (seven thousand) tonnes per day
of grain (maize, wheat and/or rice) will be required - this is 200 35-tonne
trucks crossing the border every 24 hours, or one every 8 minutes. The cost
of this is at least US$ 1 million per day, excluding transport cost; that is about
5 % of Zimbabwe's normal GNP and 20% of its historical foreign exchange earnings.
It is not logistically possible and it is certainly not economic to
airlift that volume of grain into Zimbabwe. There are not sufficient stocks in the
Region. Therefore advance planning is required to move grain by sea, rail and/or road.
The government has no plan to import the required amount of grain, they
have no budget for it, and they have no forex for it.
The Donors have no plan either, and they have no budget