Is Grace Mugabe Above The Law in Zimbabwe? Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights got a High Court order last year barring anyone evicting Manzou villagers in Mazowe who were evicted this week to pave way for First Lady Grace Mugabe’s private wildlife sanctuary. Litigation officer, David Hofisi, was quoted saying the evictions are a violation of the court order and and ZLHR would be pressing contempt of court charges against the police, not against Grace who asked them to evict. The First Familys orders are carried out without any questions, just like the allegations the First Lady made at rallies which have resulted in police investigatigating VP Mujuru. Dumped with all their belongings by the roadside in the rain Pic Newday Tellingly the Daily News reported that the search warrant which police presented to search its offices did not show who the complainant was, meaning that the police and the judiciary were being abused by the First Family. MDC President Morgan today said that it was high time Grace was put to order, when he was asked about the evicted families. President Tsvangirai also said there was now a glaring failure in national leadership illustrated by the country lurching from one crisis to the other everyday. And to illustrate his insensitivity to the crisis, President Mugabe had gone off to holiday, leaving newly appointed, and therefore inexperienced, lieutenants to manage the crisis. Tsvangirai said it was understandable that President Mugabe would want to take a holiday, but at 91 and after 34 years in power what he really needed to do was to admit his failure of leadership and go and rest. The government is struggling to pay its own workers and with lack of policy direction; GDP is declining by 10-14%, the same rate as during the 2008 collapse; and the budget deficit is up to 22 percent of expenditure, recently funded mainly by short-term borrowing, meaning severe cash flow problems this year and beyond. Foreign direct investment into Zimbabwe was $160 million in 2014. Mozambique had $5,7 billion. There is financial collapse; the Stock Market has declined by 40 percent in the last six months, and unemployment now threatens national stability. The State Enterprise sector is also in peril and reflecting the collapsing government; Grain Marketing Board workers being paid in bags of grain in place of salary arrears. Most of them have debts to pay which they cannot pay in bags of grain. And the majority of people who rely of public health facilities will not be able to access them, also because, the government owes public hospitals in excess of $3 million. What Zimbabwe needed to do urgently, said Tsvangirai, was to re-engage the international community for budgetary support to meet essential social and other targets, because the national budget and the government’s much-vaunted blueprint, ZimAsset, have failed to inspire growth and a positive impetus in the economy. The leadership change at the ruling Zanu PF and in the cabinet have also proved to be cosmetic, without any substantial impact on the direction of the country and not able to get Zimbabwe out of the policy failure that has characterized Zanu PF governance culture in the past 35 years. Token changes in the cockpit ccould not lead to a realignment of the national politics nor spearhead a reform agenda, especially considering that the leaders were not elected, said Tsvangira. As appointees to their positions they have no mandate from the people and will simply do Mugabe’s bidding. Said Tsvangirai, if Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa was sincere about reform, he would have pushed through the implementation of the New Constitution in his capacity as Minister of Justice and leader of government business in Parliament. Instead Mnangagwa blocked implementation of the people’s charter that was endorsed by over three million Zimbabweans in a referendum. He is also tainted by his role in Gukurahundi, repression in the presidential runoff in 2008 when he was Minister of Defence and chairman of JOC, and the electoral theft of 2013, which was highly militarised. The other Mugabe appointees are desperate to brand themselves as different and yet we know that they have little room to manoeuvre outside the dictates of their appointing authority. The MDC now finds itself faced with a national challenge to manage the end-game, and following its very successful Congress, a clear roadmap was adopted which entails a National Convergence Conference, a National and Global Campaign to Liberate the People, a Campaign for National Elections and the Return to Legitimacy, and Economic and Social Transformation. “Economic and social transformation is the fifth and last signpost that should be the responsibility of the legitimate government after the free, fair and credible election,” he said. On the National Convergence Conference, Tsvangirai said, the MDC would initiate the convening of the National Convergence Conference across the political divide, including political parties, civic groups, the church, war veterans and other independent groups and individuals to come together to discuss the national crisis and agree on the way forward. The National and Global Campaign to Liberate the People would affirm the peoples right to mobilize around the national grievances, and the MDC would sensitise the global and regional community to ensure Zimbabwe’s return to legitimacy. Stopping Zanu PF had to be both a national and a global effort, he said, adding that the MDC had already written to SADC Heads of State warning them of a possible implosion in Zimbabwe. SADC and the AU must appreciate that the declining economic situation and the implosion in Zanu PF as the party in government has far-reaching consequences for stability, democratisation and development in the region. Following the national and global campaign, there would be implementation of the genuine reforms, including Constitutional, electoral and other reforms agreed under the auspices of SADC and the AU as key to the conduct of free and fair elections in Zimbabwe. Implementation of agreed key reforms should then be followed by free, fair and credible election that does not breed a contested outcome, and which will be followed by Economic and Social transformation. This, said Tsvangirai, was how the MDC intended to face its historic challenge of completing the post-liberation democratization agenda, and he urged Zimbabweans in their diversity to attend the national convergence conference. He also called for unity of purpose by all democratic forces, saying: “Now is the time for the broader democratic movement to unite and rally together in finding a solution to the crisis we face as a nation. We should not allow egos and petty differences to stand in the way of the noble agenda to bring change in the country and to positively transform the lives of the people.” More from MDC National Executive Member Job Sikhala on his visit to the site.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 00:53:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015