Demand the release of Jestina Mukoko

Zambian Daily Post -Do not engage in politics that you are not well versed in:

Please allow me space to respond to the editors of the Zambian Daily Post. I am a member of the MDC so let us make that position very clear. Your commentary about Thabo Mbeki and Robert Mugabe is misguided. We will not stop you from supporting the corrupt regime of Robert Mugabe or the bias Mbeki has shown when mediating between MDC and ZANU PF. Your claim about trying to bring in Nelson Mandel, Samora Machel and Agostinho Neto into this has no basis. President Morgan Tsvangirai or MDC have no control as to who the western countries should like or dislike. It must be known to you that Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo did enjoy support from Britain and the USA, namely through Tiny Rowland and most of the leaders like Ignatius Chombo got educated in the US. It might be you are ignorant of these facts or you did not do research before you went to publicize an all out attack on MDC and its President.

Now I will be very happy for you Mr. Editor to provide me with; a time, date and place where you saw President Tsvangirai campaigning for sanctions against Zimbabwe. I would also challenge you to show me which country in this world where you have seen a ministry being shared and tell me how successful it has been. It is so easy for someone to sit down and criticize something which they have never even experienced. We are not in a game where we are supposed to experiment issues when our people are suffering. If SADC makes a ruling like they did, it should be drawn from somewhere where they have seen it work. It is not being disrespectful if you feel the decision made is wrong. It does not follow that you are a puppet of the west. When that resolution was made they failed to remove Mugabe from the room where they were debating, he refused to leave and you tell me that an honest, objective and thorough debate was held in a room where an interested party is seated watching the proceedings? The facts here indicate an act of cowardice. If SADC has the power and authority that it should possess this should not have happened, but it did.

Mbeki is no saint either, because the language he was using and which you copied is ZANU PF propaganda. MDC was formed in Zimbabwe by Zimbabweans and has never being a puppet of anyone. MDC has members in United Kingdom, South Africa, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and even there in Zambia and I am talking Zimbabweans. Senator Bill Frist from Tennessee is the one who introduced the bill that gave birth to smart sanctions against ZANU PF cronies and their families and President Tsvangirai or members of MDC here in America do not even sit in that senate. It has become so sad that most people who worship Robert Mugabe always want to blame the west and MDC as the enemies of Zimbabwe. If you do not know the history I urge you o take time to learn it before pedaling in- factual lies like you did. Mbeki is and will always be Mugabe’s right hand man and the letter you are quoting only cements where his loyalty lies. SADC did make an error and we shall disagree not because we do not respect them, to the contrary, we have a right to contest their decision and that is what we did. Also the decision is a nullity because the agreement itself talks about sharing in proportion to what is written in the agreement. There is no sharing one ministry and achieving an equitable distribution of ministries, in fact MDC will be losing out. If ZANU has 15 portfolios, MDC has 13 portfolios and we share one MDC portfolio the balance is ZANU PF=15.5 and MDC=12.5 now tell me how this becomes President Tsvangirai is not compromising? I hope this simple math will show you SADC altered the agreement thus we call it a nullity!!!

James Charlie MDC-USA secretary writing in my personal capacity

Our cry and challenge to the rest of the world

We, in MDC are at a time when we appreciate those that have given the MDC support both morally and deed. Botswana government has stood up and would rather be viewed as an island than support or rubber stamp the organ known as SADC. By boycotting the SADC summit in South Africa as a protest to the presence of a non-democratic regime in Zimbabwe and Swaziland they have now shown that, they mean what they preach.
It is sad that another leader, Levy Mwanawasa, the Zambian leader, fell sick and we now mourn his loss. May Your Soul, rest in peace Mr. President. To the newly elected Zambian leader, Rupiah Banda we look forward to your support and MDC USA wish you well in your role to lead Zambia. Most of us in MDC have fallen silent. Instead, we chose to watch from the sidelines as others keep fighting on our behalf. We need to acknowledge solidarity shown to us by the great nation of Botswana. This is no small matter because it gives us a genuine ally for the future.
As a government in waiting one thing that makes it easy when we get to govern, is to have friendly neighbors. Our focus now is the need to work in getting the same from Mozambique. We know that, as South Africa changes leadership we already have another ally. On the same note we need to salute Cosatu for their brave show of solidarity with ZCTU and Zimbabweans at large. MDC USA also acknowledges the support of civic organizations as well as NGO’s to make sure very voice is heard. We would be grateful if our leaders especially the regional SADC body, to start viewing our situation with impartiality.
We are in great shape right now; our biggest problem is keeping quiet even though we are the beneficiaries. How long shall these governments and gallant workers like COSATU continue to fight for us, as we watch in silence? We should be ashamed of our approach as of right now. Now as we relook at this, we have challenged our approach and want those supporting us to know we appreciate that support. We also need the rest of the world to know that political tortures have not stopped in Zimbabwe. We still have people disappearing arrested and tortured by an impartial police force.
Kenya has shown support for the MDC which means our stature in the region is growing. The UN and some Western powers are also sympathetic to our cause and we need to maintain that support. The challenge here is, to us especially in the Diaspora who access news readily, to keep up on who our friends and enemies are. Our task lies ahead and we have to be able to defend our positions and repel the enemies. We acknowledge that President elect Barrack Obama has added his voice to call for an immediate solution to the suffering people of Zimbabwe.
We applaud the efforts of Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations and hope that the pressure from the Security Council shall soon compel the military junta in Zimbabwe to allow NGO's to distribute humanitarian assistance to the needy immediately. We also applaud the efforts by the group of Elders namely former President, Jimmy Carter, Kofi Annan and Graca Machel for their effort to have first hand information and willing to help the people of Zimbabwe. Time has come for us to be in the forefront fighting our own battles. Time has also come that the rest of the world now know what the MDC was advocating for all along. Peace to a nation that deserves better for its citizens. We should not stop condemning being shortchanged by Mbeki and SADC insofar as the GNU is concerned. Mbeki should stop insulting us as puppets of the west. We are first and foremost Zimbabweans and proud Africans with sound minds and better judgments for what concerns us. We take issue with the fact that Mbeki can speak on our behalf on such a sensitive matter. If he wants to be a mediator he should play that role and stop being a partisan participant. The failure by SADC to remove Mugabe from the meeting so that the issue should be discussed fairly is a clear sign of weakness. Who can honestly say they spoke freely when he is sitting there with you and obviously influencing the decision? In light of this how else could you not reach a conclusion that this was and is a cowardice act?
MDC is still in a fight; the only weapons we have are support from grassroots against guns, militia, police and the army. The only other weapon at our disposal is the intervention of the world community supplying food, shelter, medicines etc as well hearing and acknowledging our cry from the wilderness. We need support from fellow African governments, which are SADC and AU as well as the UN.

History has been made before our very own eyes

Barack Obama, the President elect, after defeating senator, John McCain has made history in the world, for being elected as first black President in the US. It happened before my very own eyes.What an honor to see history unfold and bear witness to it.

MDC USA external assembly will soon have an historic occasion in Washington DC-the birth of a province scheduled for month end. The stage has been set as we watched not only democracy at play but also history being made. Who would imagine the world working up on 11-05-08 and being greeted by headlines like "The first black President in USA history"? Thank you Mr. President, Barack Obama, because this victory goes well beyond the borders of the USA, into Europe, Asia and the heart of Africa. Congratulations to the American people for having vision that transcend beyond color. On behalf of the MDC USA I would like to extend our congratulatory message not only to the President but to the Democrats who also increased their stake in the senate. It is not an exaggeration to say the world now awaits with hope. It is the hope that America shall come and show true leadership to the rest of the world and the trust is in the President, Barack Obama. His message of hope resonates from sea to shining sea. We now all believe, "Yes we can". As MDC we feel this too is our victory as we had one stolen from us by the Mugabe regime. For now we will be singing "Long Live Mr. President" Congratulations, Makorokoto, Amhlope!!!!!!

SADC admit power sharing document was fraudulently altered

"SADC Secretary General Tomaz Salomao has finally admitted the power sharing
deal signed on the 15th September was fraudulently altered before the
signing ceremony and different from the one agreed to by the parties on the
11th September 2008.

“The Tsvangirai MDC accused Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, Secretary
General of the MDC Mutambara group Welshman Ncube, and Thabo Mbeki's
representative at the talks Mujanku Gumbi, of making the changes to the
document, without Tsvangirai's knowledge. The party claimed Chinamasa, Ncube
and Gumbi changed clauses relating to - an increase to the number of
non-constituent senators issued to the Mutambara faction, a clause stating
that a replacement for vice prime minister cannot be a non-constituent MP
and that parties would jointly consult each other on the appointment of
ambassadors and other key government officials,” writes Lawrence Guma."

The people of Zimbabwe are so trusting; when the GNU agreement was signed we applauded both Thabo Mbeki and SADC for a job well done. Some of us were always suspicious of Thabo Mbeki and the Mutambara factor in these negotiations. We were made to understand a word called “quiet diplomacy” so who were we to judge? We pinned our hopes betting on a dead horse. The SADC Secretary General, Thabo Mbeki, Arthur Mutambara and Robert Mugabe were all ganging up on President of the people, Morgan Tsvangirai. The proof is what is shown above in italics. As for Mbeki he went a step further by endorsing Mugabe’s grabbing of all key ministries and leave MDC to junior portfolios. I now know what they meant by an African solution to the Zimbabwe problem. Imagine our parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents etc all languishing in poverty but hoping for a breakthrough in these talks which we can now safely say, never were.

We cannot trust people who do not deserve the trust. Thabo Mbeki should quietly remove himself from the GNU talks. I am sure he has embarrassed himself enough to know that he is not dealing with children. To the SADC Secretary General we demand an apology for you withholding crucial evidence to a document that has repercussions for Zimbabweans in their quest for freedom. As for Welshman Ncube this only affirms that you have always been working in cohorts with ZANU PF. I wonder what Chinamasa would call this, altering a document that had been agreed on without all parties? Is it fraud? If it is, are you indicting yourself?

On the other hand SADC leaders are not getting the real meaning of power sharing. The MDC has given a clear agenda that certain ministries, because of their importance should be shared equally. Thus the ministries have been paired like this and please stop talking of rotation:
Defense (Army) =Home Affairs (Police)
National Security =Finance
Foreign Affairs =Information
Intelligence =Justice
Lands =Agriculture

This appears like a sharing deal which satisfies checks and balances. I hope the SADC leadership takes this analysis seriously because they seem to dwell on the wrong information provided by Mbeki and Mugabe about only the ministry of Home Affairs remains undecided. We have suffered enough. This deal needs to be completed as soon as possible but with honest brokers. It is time SADC delivers something tangible. The important thing is to make sure the people of Zimbabwe are released from bondage. We do not belong to the laughing stock of the world. Time is money so we expect results in the next regional meeting. Please do not take sides like Mbeki who single handedly put us in this crisis. This is call challenging the regional grouping to have teeth to deal with our GNU agreement.

James Charlie-MDC activist based in the US.

Rule of law should apply to all

Zimbabwe war veterans threaten Tsvangirai over deal

http://africa.reuters.com

Wed 22 Oct 2008, 7:48 GMT

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's militant war veterans threatened on Wednesday to take action against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and urged President Robert Mugabe to form a government without him.

Jabulani Sibanda, who chairs the militant grouping of the veterans of
Zimbabwe's war of independence, said the Movement for Democratic Change
leader was stalling a power-sharing deal, which has hit deadlock over
cabinet posts.

"He is leaving the people of Zimbabwe with one option: to take action," he
told the official Herald newspaper. "If he behaves the way he is behaving,
this nation will take action to defend itself from him."

After reading this piece I was expecting police commissioner Augustine Chihuri to come out swinging and arrest this Jabulani Sibanda since he had made a threat to a member of the Presidium. I have read articles where people have been arrested for just pointing a finger at the President’s motorcade or saying anything derogatory but not threatening his life. If we have this the kind of selective justice, I believe without a shadow of doubt that ZANU PF cannot and should not hold the ministry of Home Affairs as it requires justice for all, MDC and ZANU PF alike. I rest my case.

Chinotimba is still walking the streets a free man after killing our supporters in Buhera. Likewise Jabulani Sibanda threatens our President and he walks the streets a free man. Imagine if Nelson Chamisa or Tendai Biti were to make a threat against Mugabe, I am sure the police will swarm their homes and MDC offices calling for their heads. Cry my beloved country. We have had enough injustices from the police and it is time that we move this important ministry to MDC so we can use it for the rule of law, which is what it is meant for. This is a non-partisan organ of government that ensures everyone who is Zimbabwean is protected with equal protection regardless of political affiliation, race or creed.

By the way that is what President Tsvangirai is fighting for, but to people like Jabulani Sibanda, who is ill-advised he thinks he is stalling negotiations. We are in this situation not because of MDC or its leadership but ZANU PF and its leadership that has failed us badly with Gono in the mix. That is a fact and as such, it is stubbornly true. Even now I still say arrest Jabulani Sibanda, for threatening the life of a national leader!!!!!! If that is the law, then it shall be the law.No one is above the law.

The Snake-Jonathan Moyo

We should have known all along that a leopard does not change its spots and I am only glad that this snake did not get into the inner circles in MDC otherwise we might be crying for what might have been.This is a clear explanation as to the articles in New Zimbabwe.com which seems to have elevated this mentally retarded professor as an expert in Zimbabwean politics especially when it came to critic MDC.I am glad he has been exposed and lets never forgive this devil who created POSA and AAIPA which has plunged our country into an intolerable state when it comes to freedom of expression and media independence at large.Shame on you Jonathan you truelly deserve to rot in HELL.Thank you MDC leadership for having enough wisdom to keep him at bay when he thought he could infiltrate and destroy MDC from within. For those in our leadership who were associating with this political prostitute I hope you have learnt a lesson and stop and desist from feeding him any
information about MDC.I hope Thsolotsho will teach him a lesson about betrayal in the next election.

Africa's Loss

R.I.P. HIS EXCELLENCY DR. LEVY PATRICK MWANAWASE

Movement for Democratic Change, North America Province (M.D.C.-N.A.P.) learns with profound sorrow the loss of a truly dedicated ally in our struggle for democracy in Zimbabwe. To the people of the Republic of Zambia our neighbor, you must know that your loss is ours too. To the widow and children we pray that you will have the courage to go through what we all know is a tough time. Losing a loved one is the most trying time in life and we can offer words of comfort and remain with lots of questions and a few answers. We pray for the family and ask God to give you as much comfort during this period. The late President, Mwanawase was the first to acknowledge our plight in fighting against the regime of Robert Mugabe going against the rubber stamping S.A.D.C. organ which has never seen anything wrong with how Mugabe has ruined the bread basket of Africa. For now we mourn the great leader who was and always will be endeared in our hearts for standing up to remind the world that we had a crisis in Zimbabwe. It is so true that good people do not last long. For the next seven days we will be there in mourning him and we also hope that whoever comes to fill in his shoes shall not forget our fight for Democracy in Zimbabwe.

When do we start to appreciate?

When do we start to appreciate?

We, in MDC are at a time when we should appreciate those that have given the MDC support both morally and deed. Botswana government has stood up and rather be viewed as an island than support or rubber stamp the organ known as SADC. By boycotting the SADC summit in South Africa as a protest for the presence of a non-democratic regime in Zimbabwe and Swaziland they have now shown that they mean what they preach.

It is sad that another upcoming leader, Levy Mwanawasa, the Zambian leader, fell sick and we wish him a speedy recovery. We in MDC have fallen silent instead, chose to watch from the sidelines as they keep fighting on our behalf. We must learn to show solidarity and always acknowledge this great nation of Botswana for this is no small a matter because it gives us a genuine ally for the future.

We are a government in waiting and one thing that makes it easy is, when we get to govern, is to have friendly neighbors. Our focus now is the need to work in getting the same from Mozambique as we know that, as South Africa changes leadership we already have another ally. On the same note we need to salute Cosatu for their brave show of solidarity.

As I see it we are in great shape right now but the biggest problem we have is to keep quiet even though we are the beneficiaries. How long shall these governments and workers continue to fight for us and we watch in silence? We should be ashamed of our approach as of right now. I hope we relook at this so seriously and change our approach.

Kenya has also shown support for the MDC which means our stature in the region is growing. The UN and some Western powers are also sympathetic to our cause and we need to maintain that support. The challenge here is to us especially in the Diaspora who have access to news readily to keep up on who our friends and enemies are.

We applaud the efforts of Ban ki Moon and the United Nations and hope that the pressure from the Security Council shall soon compel the military junta in Zimbabwe to allow NGO's to distribute humanitarian assistance to the needy immediately.

Arthur Mutambara and his sellout breakaway faction

I write to you as the Secretary General of NAP to express disappointment at the silence our Publicity Dept. is functioning as of now.To actually go and placate information from the different tabloids is not the issue.Some of these articles need rebuttal and some need corrections which means some kind of commentary not just post an article already posted.This brings me to a matter which should have and still can be a hot topic...Arthur Mutambara and his sellout breakaway faction.We have watched in horror as the true colors for the Mutambara faction really stand for.Gabriel Chaibva was suspended for attending a function to recognize the inauguration of Mugabe after his one man election and applauded this man for doing the right thing as then he claimed he was now working together with the real MDC and as I look at it he was positioning himself closer to President Tsvangirai to be given something in return when he gets in power.Now Mugabe dangled a carrot at this political chancer he made a U-turn and now sings ZANU-PF songs better than Cde,Chinx Chingaira,now recognizing the sham election eating from the same table and sitting at Mugabe's right hand.Is this not a political joker. Gabriel Chaibva knew exactly which side his boss' bread was buttered and he was punished for rushing before the master which might have meant he was to eat crumbs while his junior would have been recognized ahead of him.It is time to ask real questions about this guy.First he knew hw had no chance in the Presidential elections and had to hide behind Simba Makoni, that failed.He personally failed in the bid to win a seat in Chitungwiza.A re-run of the elections was looming and he made the President promises that he was behind him but clearly events on the ground suggested he was in the middle,so when the President withdrew from the race he again had betted wrong. Now one man election of Mugabe gives him another opportunity and he takes it.Do we not see confusion in this man? Where does he fit to be made the deciding factor in these talks? He might lead the MDC faction but might not control the MP's he is betting on who really knows? I wish those MP's rise up and say they just used MDC to ascend ZANU-PF into power or why do we not provoke them to say out their minds? We can end this Mutambara nonsense if we start to pay attention. I think we are keeping being passive on all these issues as if we have someone to do it for us or do we?

What about the 21 day period?

The dust is yet to settle and although the people have spoken we remain under the dictatorship of Robert Mugabe and Thabo Mbeki, the inseparable brothers that fail to see reality.A SADC meeting was convened and ended like all is normal in Zimbabwe.I am not as learned but I think I have some grasp of knowledge and hence I have an issue that is considered a legal matter. Our constitution states that "In the event that no one candidate secures an outright majority a run-off election must be held within 21 days after the election to determine the ultimate winner."Now it is 16 days after the election which means there are 5 days left before a run-off , if it is warranted,but the initial result has yet to be announced and a learned High Court Judge feels he can throw away a case to announce these results immediately with costs, making us all fools to say the process should take its course.What in the world is this process that does not recognize that it is NOT a cat and mouse game here?These people ZEC command center, were to add numbers that had already been compiled and completed, then cross check, not stuff ballots and recount,which is verifying, which certainly does not require 2 weeks and announce a winner.The command center was to collate the results and announce the winner and loser in the Presidential election.We are fed up with people like George Chiweshe whom we can now believe is working with ZANU PF until he proves otherwise and Tendai Uchena will no longer be a Justice in my eyes the best thing for him to do is retire or look for a job within ZANU PF,or go to a farm which his masters have already allocated him.For those that have more knowledge on this issue I ask you to contribute and enlighten some of us who might be getting it right but wrong.

Arise Zimbabwe

The people of Zimbabwe have spoken and what a relief it has been.I could hear in the distance the great Martin Luther King's slogan,"Free at last".Given the uneven playing field in politics in Zimbabwe I salute the resolve by the MDC secretary general to preempt the results because that made it very difficult for the ruling party to manipulate the results as they have done in the past.For those that might not be familiar with how this machinery works they always claim that most of the support for Zanu PF is from the rural areas ans they give themselves votes far more than in urban areas.Here is is the irony,queues were a talk of town in most urban centers with people working up as early as 4 am but where there was low voter turnout-rural areas, there were more votes counted. If you apply logic you are likely to have more than one family with voters in one house in Highfields where there is one house after another.In a rural set up you might have one voter in one homestead and these homesteads are so much spread out that it takes a while to get to the next house and worse still some of these do not even have people of voting age.There were 120 seats and they increased these to 210 by cutting down urban areas and increasing rural areas which means the number of voters should actually decrease but instead it remains the same or even increased.It has been how Zimbabwe continued to be drawn into anarchy but no man can fool all the people all the time.Time has come and I urge Zimbabweans to give the President,Morgan Tsvangirai all the support to rebuild Zimbabwe. Lets not forget to lock up all thieves including Gono , Mudede,Kangai, Chinotimba being in the fore.Mugabe must give back all the wealth he has stolen and pardoned for the role he played in gaining independence. All multiple farm owners must surrender them immediately we need to get back on trail as soon as possible. For all those that can invest lets do it or lets encourage investors to sow in in our rich Zimbabwe. Lets not forget the 2010 world cup is around the corner lets make enough preparations to benefit from that venture. Arise Zimbabwe-lets all do our part