ZimLive.com

6th September 2019

Tributes are being paid to former President Robert Mugabe who died aged 95 on Friday.

Mugabe, who ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years before he was overthrown by the military in 2017, died in a hospital in Singapore after being admitted in April this year.

Movement for Democratic Change treasurer David Coltart served as Mugabe’s education minister during a power sharing government between 2009 and 2013.

In an interview with the BBC, Coltart said he remembered a man committed to the education of his people, but also one with a dark side.

Here is what he had to say:

“There is no doubt he was a colossus on the Zimbabwean stage. He is the person who brought the end of white minority rule. He also extended the education system in Zimbabwe, but of course there is a very negative legacy he leaves behind as well.

I don’t think he changed (from the earlier years), I think it’s more a case of him having two sides to his character. He had this public persona particularly at the beginning at independence that spoke about peace, but in reality even at the moment he said those words he was plotting against Joshua Nkomo and ZAPU. He met Kim Jong–il on the sidelines of (Josip Broz) Tito’s funeral in May 1980 and planned the destruction of ZAPU, so there was always two sides to him.

He was a brilliant man but a complex man. I had a chequered history with him. In my student days back in 1980, I thought he was a great man but was drawn into conflict a with him as a result of the crimes against humanity which were perpetrated in the 1980s and then of course when the MDC was set up in 1999 I came into conflict with him.

But ultimately in one sense we came full circle. When I became a minister of education in 2009, I realised another side to him. He was a man with a deep commitment to the education of Zimbabweans and Africans. By the end of my tenure, I had a functional relationship.

There were two sides to him, a complex man, a brilliant man, a man deeply committed to Zimbabwe and Africa, but with a very dark side as well.

Should Mugabe have been held to account, would Zimbabwe would have been able to come to terms with its contemporary history better if he had been?

Not just Mr Mugabe, I think the root of our problems actually lies at the Lancaster House Conference where neither Robert Mugabe nor Ian Smith were held to account (for wartime atrocities). I am afraid we have a deeply rooted legacy of violence in this country and you can’t just blame Robert Mugabe for that one, you also have to blame the intransigence of Ian Smith and the Rhodesian Front in the 1960s and 1970s. Certainly Robert Mugabe perpetuated that culture of violence. It is now deeply rooted in our society and it is going to take probably another generation to rid the country of that legacy.”

Los Angeles Times

6th September 2019

By KRISTA MAHR

Passionate tributes and unapologetic condemnations rocketed across Africa on Friday after the Zimbabwean government confirmed that 95-year-old strongman Robert Mugabe had died, a testament to the complex and controversial footprint of one of Africa’s longest serving leaders

Mugabe, who governed Zimbabwe from its independence from Britain in 1980 until 2017, was affectionately known as “Uncle Bob” by supporters who saw him as a hero and one of the continent’s great freedom fighters who liberated millions from British rule.

But to others he was a tyrant and oppressor who lost his democratic credentials as he clung to power while overseeing unchecked human rights abuses and enacting disastrous policies that drove the country’s economy into the ground.

Emmerson Mnangagwa, who stepped in as Zimbabwe’s president after Mugabe was forced from office in November 2017, hailed his longtime colleague and ally as “an icon of liberation, a pan-Africanist who dedicated his life to the emancipation and empowerment of his people.”

That sentiment was echoed by other African leaders. South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa called Mugabe an “outstanding” and “gallant” leader in the African independence movement who came to South Africa’s aid during its own freedom struggle. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta praised Mugabe for being “a man of courage who was never afraid to fight for what he believed in even when it was not popular.”

But many Zimbabweans expressed a deep sense of conflict over his passing, recognizing his contribution to ending white rule but unwilling to gloss over the devastating and lasting impact that his decades in power had on millions of people.

Though it has been two years since Mugabe left office, unemployment remains rampant and millions have been forced to find work overseas. Those who have stayed face unreliable public services and regular shortages of basics such as fuel and food.

On Friday, many pointed out on social media that as his health declined, Mugabe had sought medical treatment in the well-appointed hospitals of Singapore, where he died, an indictment of the broken health system he left behind in his homeland.

The political culture that he cultivated will be difficult to dislodge, critics argued.

David Coltart, a member of Zimbabwe’s opposition alliance, acknowledged there were positive impacts of Mugabe’s presidency, such as the country’s enduring education system.

But, he wrote on Twitter, “the negative aspects of his legacy — violence, disrespect for the rule of law, corruption and abuse of power — live on in the new regime which overthrew him.”

Nelson Chamisa, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change who challenged Mnangagwa in the 2018 polls, extended his condolences to Mugabe’s family but also said on social media that his party “and the Zimbabwean people had great political differences with the late former President during his tenure in office, and disagreed for decades.”

“It is reality that the death of Mugabe brings mixed feelings to different sections of the Zimbabwe community, the nation, and the world as a whole,” said Bongani Mazwi Mkwananzi, a representative of the Zimbabwe Community South Africa, where more than a million Zimbabweans live. “Some will celebrate his death, and some will mourn.”

Mahr is a special correspondent.

The Standard

1st September 2019

October 15, 1975: Edson Sithole and his secretary Miriam Mhlanga were grabbed by unknown assailants, bundled into a car and were never seen again. A few weeks earlier, Sithole had fallen out with other nationalists leading to a split of the UANC and the reshuffling in the ranks of both Zapu and Zanu — seven months after the assassination in Lusaka — of Herbert
Chitepo. Although still officially missing 44 years later, an empty grave bears his name at national Heroes Acre.

1989: Captain Edwin Nleya disappeared in suspicious circumstances from an Infantry Battalion in Hwange. His body was found on a hillside in Hwange two months later. Nleya had threatened to expose senior army officers who were involved in poaching and smuggling ivory outside the country.

May 1990: Rashiwe Guzha, a secretary in the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), disappeared. At the time of her disappearance, Guzha had just broken off an affair with the then CIO deputy director Edson Shirihuru. Although an inquiry was set up by government, the results were never made public. Because her remains were never found, many believe she was killed and her body might have been dissolved in acid.

Early 90s: Marceline Dzumbira worked for the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and disappeared shortly after she had allegedly kidnapped her husband’s alleged mistress. She has not been found.

June 19 2000: Patrick Nabanyama, who was a polling agent for David Coltart in the violent June 2000 parliamentary election, disappeared after being abducted on June 19, 2000. A gang of up to 10 armed suspected Zanu PF activists, driving a white Mazda truck with no number plates, reportedly descended on Nabanyama’s house and abducted him. He was never seen again.
Bulawayo provincial magistrate Rose Dube officially declared Nabanyama dead on August 11, 2010.

November 5, 2001: Cain Nkala, a Bulawayo war veterans’ leader, was abducted from his home by 10 men armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles. He was taken away in a truck and later strangled to death. His body was found in a shallow grave near Solusi University on November 13. Nkala had been charged in connection with the abduction and “disappearance” on June 19, 2000 of Nabanyama, the election agent for MDC MP David Coltart. Nkala was alleged by several witnesses to be one of the war veterans who beat Nabanyama at his home in Nketa, bundled him into a car and took him to their offices. Nabanyama was never seen alive again.

May 13, 2008: Tonderai Ndira was a prominent activist and member of the MDC who was arrested on 35 occasions, and was reportedly described by his followers as “Zimbabwe’s Steve Biko”. He was abducted from his home by 10 armed men in the morning of May 13, 2008, in the context of campaigning between the two rounds of the 2008 presidential elections. His body was found later in the month. Reports said he had been shot in the heart, had multiple stab wounds, his eyes were gouged, his tongue was cut out and his neck, skull, jaw and knuckles were broken.

July 17, 2008: Abigail Chiroto was kidnapped by armed men who then petrol-bombed the house she shared with her husband, Emmanuel Chiroto, the then recently elected Harare deputy mayor under the MDC. Her blindfolded body was discovered close to the couple’s house the next day.

December 3 2008: Jestina Mukoko, human rights activist, director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project and former ZBC newsreader, was abducted during the night from her home by suspected state agents for allegedly being involved in plans for anti-government demonstrations on December 3, 2008. After three weeks, Mukoko appeared at a police station being charged with recruiting persons to participate in alleged militia training in Botswana. In March 2009, she was released on bail. On September 21, 2009, the Supreme Court ordered a permanent stay of criminal proceedings against Mukoko.

February 8, 2012: Paul Chizuze, a prominent human rights activist, vanished under unclear circumstances. He was last seen around 8pm on that day when he left his home. His whereabouts remain a mystery. It is feared that he was abducted and murdered by political rivals.

March 9, 2015: Freelance journalist and pro-democracy activist Itai Dzamara (35) was taken by five unknown assailants from a barbershop in Glen View, while he was getting a haircut. Four years later, he is still missing.

August 21, 2019: Samantha Kureya (Gonyeti) was abducted in the dead of the night from her house by people who identified themselves as police. She was bundled into an Isuzu truck, which drove to an unknown place where she was beaten up, forced to roll in sewage and to drink it as punishment for “mocking the government”.

Bulawayo 24 News

By Mandla Ndlovu

27th August 2019

The application by jailed Nhlambabaloyi Chief Felix Nhlanhlayamangwe Ndiweni to get his bail pending appeal granted on Tuesday was frustrated by the State prosecutor who asked for time to respond to Chief Ndiweni’s bail application.

Reports from High court say the prosecutor said the Magistrate has still not supplied reasons for sentencing. The presiding Judge Mabhikwa said the state should avail its response to the bail application and heads of arguments by 4.30pm today.

The case for bail hearing will be heard in court tomorrow (Wednesday) at 10AM.

Last week we reported that a member of the dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation told this publication that the full judgement by the magistrate was a sensitive one and an instruction was issued that it must not be provided to the lawyers and the public but be kept under lock and key.

Commenting on the latest developments MDC Treasurer General David Coltart said, “It is appalling that the State isn’t ready to argue the matter resulting in Chief Ndiweni having to spend another night in detention in the disgusting conditions prevailing at Khami Prison.

“I question how often the Minister of Justice, Judges, Magistrates and State Prosecutors visit and inspect conditions in police cells and prisons. The flippant way in which negligence, or worse, malice, is allowed to deny citizen’s fundamental rights to liberty is shocking.”
Ndiweni is being represented by Professor Welshman Ncube and Dumisani Dube of Mathonsi law chambers.

Legal gurus like Josphat Tshuma and David Coltart attended the event.

Newsday

27th August 2019

BY NIZBERT MOYO

Former director of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP), Matabeleland chapter who played a pivotal role in the documentation of the Gukurahundi massacres by CCJP in the 1980s, Joel Buhlalo Silonda has died.

He was 95. The veteran human rights activist and educationist died on Saturday at his home after battling with prostate cancer for a long time.

His second-born daughter, Ntombizodwa told Southern Eye late on Sunday that her father succumbed to prostate cancer on Saturday.

The family is still to decide on the funeral arrangements.

“He was a loving, passionate, a unifier and a brave man who could fight for justice even up to the bitter end. He worked in the education sector for 38 years,
where he started his education at St Patriarch’s Primary School in Bulawayo and later on became the headmaster of that school,” Ntombizodwa.

“He also went to Kutama Mission with the likes of former President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, George Silundika and others. Had an extended family that includes the late general Jevan Maseko, mentored other people such as former Bulawayo mayor Abel Siwela, Swazini Ndlovu and Archbishop Pius Ncube, who later on became his spiritual mentor.”

Ntombizodwa said Silonda fought tirelessly for justice which saw him becoming the CCJP director for the Matabeleland chapter in the 1980s.

“He worked closely with people like Nicholas Ndebele and David Coltart in coming up with the report: Breaking the Silence — a report which chronicled the
disturbances in Matabeleland and Midlands from 1980 to 1987,’’ she added.

Silonda was also a musician who formed the Giypys Jive Band and became Mthwakazi musical director in the 1970s, competing with other groups such as Kings
Golden Choristers directed by Remington Mazabane as well as the Wings Over Jordan.

“We are also thankful for the good work he did, not only to the family, but to the general populace at large since he stood for justice locally and
internationally. He died while we were in the process of finalising a family tree,’’ she said.

Silonda is survived by five children with several great and great grandchildren. Mourners are gathered at his home number S35 Mzilikazi, Bulawayo.

The Standard

25th August 2019

In our previous edition we carried a Q&A with former Education minister David Coltart where he spoke about the culture of political violence in Zimbabwe and how it has also influenced the MDC.

Today we carry the second part of the discussion where Coltart (DC) was speaking in an exclusive interview with Alpha Media Holdings chairman Trevor Ncube (TN) on the platform In Conversation with Trevor. Below are the excerpts from the interview.

TN: I would like to go back to your book and discuss what you call tyranny in Rhodesia and tyranny in Zanu PF and what that has done to our national psyche as a people; where our language is a language of insults and the way we deal with each other is disrespectful because violence is everywhere. I hear you saying that it is a false equivalence, but is there not something wrong with us, David?

DC: Well, that is the tragedy of war. You just have to look at the aftermaths of the Vietnam war in America and the amount of money that America spent on war veterans because of post-traumatic stress syndrome.

When I was minister of Education, I looked at how much money we were spending relating to different sectors for supplementary school fees.

I looked at the amount of money we were paying towards war veterans and I put forward a proposal to cut that a bit so that we could fund some kids who weren’t at school at all.

Joseph Chinotimba got wind of this and they threatened a demonstration against me and so I said I wanted to meet with the war veterans and Chinotimba.

Former deputy prime minister Arthur Mutambara organised the meeting and it was a fascinating meeting. I wrote about it in my book.

The first 15 minutes comprised of Chinotimba haranguing me and recounting my past as a former Rhodesian Selous Scout, which I never was. I eventually had to say, ‘Mr Chinotimba, I am the minister of Education now and I have got a relationship with (then) president Robert Mugabe and he understands that I am trying to act in the best interests — not of white children — but of black children who are out of school and that is what is motivating me.

He eventually relaxed and by the end of about an hour and a half meeting, we had a very good discussion, and since then we have had a very good relationship.
It illustrates to me the problem that we face in our nation.

Although you were not involved in the war, you had to suffer racial discrimination during our generation.

Black people suffered racial discrimination and white people suffered false notions of white superiority — and all of us had to suffer a war, which affected our national psyche.

It has given us a national dose of post-traumatic stress.

TN: How do we deal with that David, how do we get to normalcy because we are not a normal society anymore?

DC: The first step that you have to take with an illness is recognising it and not denying it. I think we need to recognise it in our country that we are still afflicted, and 40 years after independence many people are still fighting the war in one way or another. We need to recognise that it has resulted in some of the crazy policies that we have seen in the last 20 years.

TN: ….and crazy behaviour, David. Moving on to the January protests — I was shocked by two things: the level of violence from the military side and the loss of innocent lives. I was equally shocked by the violence from the protesters — the damage to private property, looting and that kind of stuff. I stopped and said: Who are we and what have we become?

DC: That is a very important point — and using this opportunity and coming back to the issue of dialogue, what Zanu PF and President Emmerson Mnangagwa need to understand is that they have a unique opportunity with the current MDC leadership.

The sentiment out in the streets is a very angry sentiment.

What we are trying to say is that let us stabilise the country — let us take us back into constitutionalism.

The danger is that if that voice is ignored — that this very angry sentiment that we saw in January gets out of hand — Zimbabwe is rather like the bush in October. The bush is dry, it is like a tinder box. You might want to burn a fire using matches. There is a strong wind that can take hundreds and thousands of hectares and burn them. That is the danger that we are in. At present, when you go into the high-density suburbs, which I am sure you do, and you speak to people, many people do not know how they will survive until the end of next week.

It takes responsible leadership right across the political divide to recognise that and to start genuine dialogue.

TN: Do you think you have partners for dialogue within Zanu PF? Are there moderates like you who are prepared to countenance what you are saying?

DC: Well, I have friends but I am not going to name them and compromise them. Yes, I have people that I interact with. This situation is analogous to South Africa in the early 90s. I am not equating Zanu PF rule to apartheid, but what I am saying is that you have two dominant political parties and two leaders that are finding it very difficult to interact with each other.

We need one tier dialogue, which is committed to constitutionalism, committed to dialogue and committed about the country and to take the nation forward and avoid conflagration.

TN: I like the way you describe what our society is like in terms of what it would be like with a matchstick to be responsible. In this kind of environment, how responsible is it to be calling out for street marches and protests, rather than pursuing as much as possible the issue of dialogue?

DC: What you need to understand — and you have seen it on social media in the last couple of months — that Nelson Chamisa has been attacked, and I have been attacked for being too moderate.

There is a groundswell of political opinion coming up saying that this is intolerable and we cannot survive like this. That same opinion is deeply sceptical of what Zanu PF is doing.

Zanu PF needs to understand that when we call for things like these — and we have been very deliberate to say that it is a march — it is not going to the streets one day.

We indicated the route that we wanted to take and encouraging leaders to be there saying that we want discipline, we want to cut down on agent provocateurs to come in.

TN: How confident are you that it is going to go according to plan?

DC: I am absolutely confident that if the MDC can be allowed to conduct a peaceful march….

We have demonstrated before and during the run-up to the elections, there were thousands of people in the streets. You referred to November 2017 — Zimbabweans naturally are peace-loving.

I am confident that if there are no agent provocateurs and the state authorities allow the march to take place along the route designated, there won’t be violence. But the danger is there are agent provocateurs coming from who knows where.

TN: But you also have the Job Sikhalas who have announced a number of times that his mandate — his mission — is to get rid of Mnangagwa even before 2023, those are worrying sentiments from somebody who is high up in the MDC leadership honestly.

DC: First of all, he did not say he wants to get rid of Mnangagwa. The word that he used was overthrow — and even if you look at the Criminal Code you will see that the crime is to overthrow unconstitutionally. One can be overthrown through constitutional means. Ironically, that is what Mnangagwa would say about former president Robert Mugabe, he would say that it was perfectly constitutional and to his rule pressure was put over him and he resigned. That is an overthrow, but it is an overthrow through constitutional means. I have no doubt that when Sikhala talks about this, he talks about it using constitutional means and non-violent means.

TN: But that does not come across, David.

DC: It does come across if you look at a wider context and you will understand Sikhala over the last 20 years as I do. I have been in Parliament with him. But one needs to look beyond that and recognise that Sikhala is reflecting a sentiment that is held at grassroots level. There are many people — not you and I — we have incomes and savings — but if you drive around there are desperate people out there.

That is what Zanu PF needs to understand — not to look so much at the messenger in Sikhala, but understand that actually in many respects, he is speaking on behalf of others.

TN: The MDC controls the majority of urban councils. Is it not a fair thing to say that shouldn’t MDC be doing a lot to ensure that they impress on the electorate by ensuring that those local authorities are properly run and governed to prove to the electorate that it should be happening? Is there something missing?

DC: In the run-up to my own personal election to the MDC, I said we cannot say to the electorate that we are capable of governing the country when we cannot govern the party well and the institutions that the party controls.

There is no doubt in my mind that the MDC has not run the councils as best as it could have. We have a lot of work to do and the recent shenanigans in Bulawayo are very damaging to the party.

TN: What is behind that?

DC: Well, I think part of it is complex, it is multifaceted, it is deeply-rooted and is brought about by corruption, which is also brought about by the wider corruption in our society.

There is an element of tribalism and personality.

Coming back to your question, yes, the MDC has a lot of work to improve delivery in councils. But you cannot look at how council is run in isolation. You have to judge how councils are run in the wider context of the country.

We know that Zanu PF has routinely interfered with the operations of councils.

In the run-up to some elections, we have had ministers of Local Government waiving rates which has seriously undermined the balance sheet of local councils.

So, yes the MDC is responsible, but it is not solely responsible.

TN: Let us go to your programme Reload, which you have just launched. How is it going to ameliorate some of the problems that the country is facing?

DC: Reload is how we stabilise the country and the focus of RELOAD is how we get to dialogue. We believe to get to genuine dialogue we need an independent mediator. We need respect for constitutionalism. we need a return to the rule of law. We need to agree on the process that will follow through to the next elections.

Looking at Zimbabwe with a completely objective perspective — the two political protagonists MDC and Zanu PF, what the MDC needs in the run-up to elections is constitutional compliance. We need food aid, not to be a factor.

We need all Zimbabweans to be registered, a genuinely independent electoral commission, we need a ZBC which is an impartial body and that is what the constitution says.

All those are needs, not just for the MDC, but all opposition parties.

On the other side of the spectrum is what Zanu PF needs.

Zanu PF has the control, but if there is no political and economic stability in the run-up to the elections, it will make its job of winning free and fair elections very difficult. That is the quid pro quo. That is what we need and that is what Reload talks about.

Let us return the country to constitutionalism, respect the rule of law, and then the international community — we hope — will respond to that. Zidera can go, balance of payments support can come in and we can stabilise the economy and we then move towards a new election with an entirely different political and economic climate.

TN: The economy is in a crisis. There are electricity and fuel shortages. What quick solutions will the MDC give if it were to come into power?

DC: You know as a businessman that the problems are so deeply-rooted. There is no silver bullet — no magic wand.

TN: Would you be able to tell that to MDC supporters that there is no quick solution?

DC: As I said during the congress week, I was interviewed and that interview was published when I said just that. But what the MDC would do is two things:

firstly, it has a better chance of restoring business confidence, and, secondly, it will be prepared to completely liberalise, for example, access to finance.
TN: Unpack those two.

DC: On business confidence, we saw Tendai Biti (former Finance minister MDC) restoring business confidence primarily in the business sector and this is objectively ascertained.

Bank deposits during his tenure dramatically increased.

Both businesses and people felt that they could put their money into bank balances rather than under their pillows. That was reversed soon after the elections.

That applies to commercial banks and the central bank. I recently read an article about the Federal Reserve in America and they said actually the most important element in the running of any central bank in the world comes down to one word: ‘trust’, and so you cannot restore trust when you say one thing one day and do another the next day. That applies to marriages and running banks where trust is fundamental.

Secondly, you have to be prepared to release foreign exchange to allow the market to determine how it wishes to spend foreign exchange.

There is a third element and that relates to corruption, which is now endemic in our society and it seems to be growing. You have to root it out deeply.

TN: And this is corruption that we find in MDC run city councils and all across our institutions?

DC: I am being candid with you today that we can see that there has been corruption in the running of some MDC councils but you cannot equate that with the corruption that we have seen in the past few weeks where we have seen US$98 million worth of houses alleged.

There is not even a single councillor in Zimbabwe.

They might have a house in Highlands but they do not have a house in Britain or Canada or Cape Town. It’s a false equivalence.

The deep-rooted corruption is what we see emerging in the past few weeks. We have to root out all corruption.

I come back to my profession of faith. A key element to the Christian faith is that all people have fallen short.

There is nothing such as a perfect politician or a perfect political party.

Anyone who says that they are perfect or that their political party is perfect is simply not telling the truth.

We need to have that national honesty to realise that just as violence which has now become a national disease, violence is also a national disease and those two diseases are affecting our country and everyone has to work to eradicate them.

TN: Let us now get into something that you have extensively written about and that is Gukurahundi. Are you happy with the way that the current government is dealing with this issue?

DC: I think to be fair you have to say that there is progress in that one could not speak about it at all during Mugabe’s rule but now people are speaking about it.

It comes back to genuine-ness. We need to see more of that from government; unfortunately it is going to take action.

When I and the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace and the Legal Resources Foundation did a research for breaking the silence which was published in 1997 — we did five years of research and we interviewed over 2 000 victims during that period and it was very interesting for me on the what the common demands of the people were.

I was expecting, as a lawyer, that the victims would say that we want justice and people prosecuted, but that was not the dominant request. There were three dominant requests. The first was an acknowledgement that what had happened did happen by those responsible for it happening.

Secondly, they wanted an apology from those responsible for what had happened and thirdly, they wanted communal reparations.

You know that if you drive to Kezi or Tsholotsho or Gwanda you will travel on roads that are over 60 years old — they have not changed since the 1950s.
If you travel to Guruve, Bindura or Chipinge, you will travel on roads that were constructed since independence.

That is a hard developmental fact in our country. The roads are just a tip of the iceberg.

If you go to clinics and schools — there are less schools that teach ‘A Level chemistry and biology in the South West of the country than there are elsewhere in the country.

During the first 10 years — during Gukurahundi, there was underdevelopment of those regions.

That is what people called for. They want affirmative action.

It needs to be shown in dollars and cents and in the budget. Those are the three critical things that I think are going to heal and at present we do not have any of those demands. These are not my demands — in fact they were not even demands. They were the requests of the 2 000 victims.

TN: David what a fascinating conversation that we have had and you have been very candid. But I want to ask you — are you optimistic about where this country is going? Are you hopeful? If you are not, what is it that is going to make you hopeful and optimistic about this county?

DC: Trevor, I have a deep passion for this country. I love it to the depths of my bones — and because of that I still retain this faith in our nation.
I was in London in June and I said this is the country which should and can be the jewel of Africa.

It has every possible ingredient to become the best country in Africa, primarily because of our people.

We have the least racist people in the world in my own personal experience. We have highly educated people.

We have an incredible workforce — trustworthy, dedicated, hardworking people.

On top of that, we have this beautiful country, this amazing climate, amazing soils, amazing rains and this diverse resource base, tourist base, our position in Central Africa, our infrastructure — we have got everything, but we are missing only one ingredient, and its democracy, constitutionalism.

I believe that if we tackle our past, recognise the errors of our past and we genuinely respect our constitution and rule of law, we will build a sense of patriotism in this country and it is going to bloom.

So, the short answer to your question is that I still — for all our huge problems — still have faith that it will yet become the jewel of Africa.

Bloomberg

By Godfrey Marawanyika and Brian Latham

23rd August 2019

Zimbabwean police arrested a senior opposition official and will charge him for failing to stop a protest last week in the capital, Harare, his lawyer said. Amos Chibaya, the national organizing secretary of the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change, was arrested on Thursday and “will appear in court today,” lawyer Obey Shava said by phone Friday.

Police also arrested lawyer Doug Coltart during a protest Friday by teachers outside a government office, according to his father, David Coltart, a founding member of the MDC and who sits on its executive committee. Coltart was in attendance as the teachers’ legal representative and was beaten before being detained, he said by phone.

A magistrate’s court later ordered Coltart be remanded in custody until a bail hearing on Monday. The MDC last week called for nationwide protests over the deteriorating economic and political situation in the southern African country. Police, who banned the demonstrations, later used batons and teargas to disperse protesters who gathered in Harare. As many as 128 people were arrested. The renewed protests follow demonstrations earlier this year in which at least 12 people were killed in a violent crackdown by authorities. Calls to national police spokesman Paul Nyathi weren’t immediately answered.

Read more at: https://www.bloombergquint.com/onweb/zimbabwe-police-arrest-opposition-official-over-demonstrations
Copyright © BloombergQuint

Zimeye

23rd August 2019

By Farai Dziva

Overzealous police officers have bashed ARTUZ lawyer Douglas Coltart.

He sustained head injuries after the attack.

“My son Douglas Coltart has been located by his senior partner Beatrice Mtetwa at Harare Central police station.

He has been assaulted by the police as evidenced by these photographs taken by Beatrice Mtetwa.

As I mentioned in an earlier post he was representing ARTUZ in his capacity as a lawyer.

The Mnangagwa regime has sunk to new lows,”said Douglas’ father David Coltart.

Bulawayo 24 News

21st August 2019

Lawyer and MDC top politician David Coltart has taken a dig at President Emmerson Mnangagwa saying his use of brute force to crush dissent was a clear sign that his government is frightened by the new wave ever since the massive January protests, Mnangagwa has resorted to using massive force to threaten and crush dissent.

However, his stance has received widespread condemnation from the international community, including the United Nations, which described his actions as violations of human rights in the country.

Fearful authorities are intensifying their crackdown against the opposition, with police arresting a number of MDC officials – in addition to banning anti-government protests that were slated for Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru and Mutare.

This comes as political analysts also warned that President Mnangagwa’s efforts to end decades of Zimbabwe’s international isolation are now in serious jeopardy following last Friday’s savage attacks by heavily-armed police on peaceful protesters.

The analysts pointed to the “mismatch” between the rising State-sponsored violence and abductions targeting government critics and the escalation in Mnangagwa’s re-engagement efforts with the United States, Britain and other major Western countries.

Police had rounded up several MDC leaders in Bulawayo, including the party’s national chairperson Tabitha Khumalo – on seemingly tenuous allegations of mobilising opposition supporters for protests in the City of Kings.

This came hardly 24 hours after the government had been widely condemned nationally and internationally for Friday’s brutal attacks by police on peaceful protesters.

All this notwithstanding, authorities once again moved to issue a prohibition order against the protests slated for Bulawayo.

The High Court in the country’s second city also stopped indefinitely the planned demo, following an urgent application which was filed by a section of the business community – which claimed that it feared the destruction of its properties.

MDC vice president Tendai Biti said the government clampdown on the party betrayed “fear and desperation” by authorities.

“We have received the ban of the demonstration. It is just a desperate manifestation of a desperate regime that is running out of options. You cannot take away rights that are codified in the Constitution … they are setting themselves up for an implosion,” he said.

Daily Mail

20th August 2019

By SOPHIE TANNO 

• Former auditor for Waltham Forest has been jailed for two years in Zimbabwe 
• He left Britain five years ago to become a chief in the Matabeleland region
• Felix Ndiweni, 53,  was convicted of malicious damage to property on Friday
• However, his supporters say his arrest was politically motivated 
• Ndiweni is vocal critic of Mnangagwa government, supports Western sanctions 

A former council worker who left the UK to become a tribal chief for the Matabeleland region of Zimbabwe has been jailed in the country.

Felix Ndiweni, 53, was sentenced to two years behind bars with six months suspended for malicious damage to property on Friday. 

He used to work as an auditor for Waltham Forest and lived in Essex up until five years ago.  

His supporters say his trial was politically motivated and an attempt to silence Ndiweni, who has been openly critical of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government. 

He sided with white landowners whose property had become overrun by supporters of ruling party, the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF).

Ndiweni’s lawyers have filed an appeal, according to local media. 

Felix Ndiweni, 53, (pictured) was sentenced to two years behind bars with six months suspended for malicious damage to property on Friday

Ndiweni was put on trial alongside 23 others for ordering the hedge of a woman accused of adultery to be destroyed. 

The villagers were each sentenced to 525 hours of community service, while the tribal chief received a jail term. 

Riot police intervened to break up protesters as his sentence was announced.  

Zimbabwean senator and human rights lawyer David Coltart tweeted on Friday: ‘My thoughts this evening are w @ChiefKhayisa Chief Ndiweni unjustly incarcerated today. 

‘I’ve no doubt that this prosecution & sentence of 18 months imprisonment is a direct result of his principled stance against injustice perpetrated by the brutal & corrupt Mnangagwa regime.’ 

His supporters say his trial was politically motivated and an attempt to silence Ndiweni, who has been openly critical of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s (pictured) government

Ndiweni was working as an auditor for Waltham Forest council and lived in Canvey Island, Essex until he quit the job five years ago and moved to Matabeleland where he became a chief. 

The jailed chief has vocally supported Western sanctions on Zimbabwe, and accused Mr Mugabe and Mr Mnangagwa of presiding over human rights abuses during the Gukurahundi massacre in the eighties, The Times reported. 

A day before his arrest, Ndiweni shared a video on Twitter urging people to participate in peaceful anti-government protests. 

Tribal chiefs are the immediate form of government for Zimbabweans who live on communal lands. The institution of traditional leadership continues to operate alongside modern state structures.