Nice find. Thanks.

Mugabe Bid for Another Term Provokes Outrage (AllAfrica.com 18 March 2007)

OPEN QUOTES

Ordinary Zimbabweans last week told The Standard in a snap survey Mugabe must concede he has failed and pass on the baton to more mentally agile people, who can forge new ideas to save the country from total collapse.

Chris Dube of Glen Norah in Harare said Mugabe no longer had Zimbabwe’s interests at heart, though he fought for its independence.

“If he had the country’s interests at heart, he would just leave and let someone else take over. Can’t he see people are living miserable lives because of his actions? Mugabe should be gentleman enough (and retire),” he said.

A man identifying himself only as Dan, for fear of victimisation, said with the current poverty among Zimbabweans, Mugabe would be “shocked to death” when the results of the 2008 election are announced.

He said no amount of intimidation, beating or “politicisation of food” by Zanu PF would force hungry people to vote for Mugabe again.

END OF QUOTES

Do we trust that Mrs Joice? Oh no we do not.

OPEN QUOTE (from the Independent piece)

The ruling Zanu-PF has effectively fractured into three factions: Mr Mugabe’s, Vice President Joice Mujuru’s and that of the former intelligence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa. Mrs Mujuru fought in the 1970s liberation war and is married to Solomon Mujuru, the country’s former army chief, who now has vast business interests here. Mr Mugabe has apparently been playing the two successor camps off against one another.

END OF QUOTE

They’re all going to lie and everyone is going to believe them but mostly they’re going to believe Mrs Joice because she “knows” about business. Neoliberal bidness. I’m going to guess she’s the Iago. Running rings around the old fart. And not all all by herself either.

MEANWHILE

Mugabe is currently trying to amend the constitution in an attempt to stay in power until 2010

AND FINALLY (from the wikie)

As of 2007, the Tsvangirai-led MDC has become the most popular, with crowds as large as 20,000 attending their rallies as compared to between 500–5,000 for the other splinter group. There is wide disagreement in Zimbabwe and neighbouring states as to whether a divided MDC can win presidential elections against a disciplined ruling party. The opposition continues to be weak in rural areas, where a large number of the population of Zimbabwe resides.

END OF QUOTE

So I think we can see how yet another well-attended prayer meet could be dangerous to the outcome of the elections from Mrs Joice’s pov.

OK OK (one more thing)

Why does the Wikie think Mugabe has a disciplined ruling party when The Independent thinks it’s splintered?

FYI Timeline around those 20,000 civilians murdered :

1895. Rhodesia was named after Cecil Rhodes.

1965. White Minority Government declares independence. UK imposes sanctions.

*1970*s. Guerrilla fighting, reputedly funded and armed by the Soviets, intensifies and the white minority government opens up negotiations with ZANU (Zimbabwe African National Union) — Mugabe’s party.

1980s. Zimbabwe gained independence and Mugabe wins a landslide victory. Mugabe hires the Koreans to train special force called the Fifth Brigade. These guys went out and systematically slaughtered an estimated 20,000.

Most of the dead were shot in public executions, often after being forced to dig their own graves in front of family and fellow villagers.

2000. Complaining that 70% of Zimbabwe’s arable land was held by Zimbabwe’s whites (1% of the population) Mugabe decided to redistribute that land and basically parceled it out to his “loyal subjects” who turned out, what do you know, to be BAD FARMERS. Bummer. No more food.

Everyone became very very poor and in

2005. Mugabe decided that the resulting slums (and black markets) made him look bad so he launched Operation Drive Out Trash — which he described as an Urban Renewal program — that left some 700,000 people without homes or jobs. Many people were forced to destroy their own homes, in some cases at gunpoint.

Rumor also has it that the victims were overwhelmingly MDC supporters. Quelle surprise.

There are rumors also that the demolitions were in support of an influx of Chinese business interests.

OPEN QUOTE (wikie)

Demolished buildings include a Roman Catholic orphanage which had been run by a group of nuns, office blocks, a Sunni mosque, a World Bank-funded public lavatory and schools.

MDC spokesman brutally attacked, fighting for his life

OPEN QUOTE

Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) legislator and spokesperson, Nelson Chamisa, was brutally attacked this morning (18 March 2007) on his way to Harare international airport to catch a flight to Brussels where he was scheduled to attend the EU-ACP (Africa-Caribbean-Pacific) regular rounds of meetings.

We have now established that following the early morning attack police have moved into Chamisa’s Kuwadzana constituency, west of Harare, and sealed off the impoverished suburb.

Church services were disrupted; flea markets forced to close ad ordinary people ordered to remain in doors. Several MDC activists in the area are being targeted for routine beatings as has been the case in Glen View in the past few days.

Glen View is home to the slain MDC activist, Gift Tandare, who was killed last Sunday during opposition and police clashes as the latter thwarted efforts by pro-democracy groups to hold a prayer meeting.

The attack on Chamisa comes hard-on-the-heels of yesterday’s actions by the police to stop Grace Kwinjeh and Sekai Holland from travelling to South Africa to seek medical attention. The two MDC women were severely assaulted last Sunday together with Tsvangira, Bango and other colleagues in their party.

hey, at least he got the farms away from those white devils

i hope GNN’s own Zimbabwean is safe…