Zimbabwean activists urge population to remain non-violent after attack on pro-democracy leaders

By David Coltart | Published November 19, 2016

TheZimbabwedaily.com

By Elsa Buchanan

19 November 2016

LONDON – Zimbabwean pro-democracy activists have urged citizens to commit to nonviolent action after supporters were assaulted and abducted this morning ahead of a planned demonstration dubbed #MunhuWeseMuRoad.

Sources on the ground, who could not be identified for fear for their safety, told IBTimes UK that men abducted and beat half a dozen activists, including prominent political activists Patson Dzamara, Ishmael Kauzani and Sten Zvorwadza, who had been calling for Zimbabweans to gather and protest in the capital Harare on Friday (18 November).

Leaders of #ThisFlag, the National Vendors Union of Zimbabwe (NAVUZ) and #ThisGown are currently holding meetings to decide whether or not to go ahead with the demonstration in the light of the attack.

Protest movement Tajamuka stated it would not participate in the planned march in an official capacity, but IBTimes UK understands several of the movement’s leaders are expected to join the demonstration.

“[The attack] is clearly an act of intimidation to try and thwart the demonstration today,” Doug Coltart, a Zimbabwean lawyer and the son of David Coltart, a prominent Zimbabwean lawyer and founding member of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), told IBTimes UK over the phone.

“The police are out in full-force in Harare’s central business district (CBD) – moving out in groups of 10 all over the city in a clear threat to the demonstrators. It’s a tough dilemma that the movement leaders find themselves in now. Do they back down and submit to the intimidation of the state or do they go ahead and risk people getting beaten up, and potentially killed? Certainly, there is a high risk of more people being assaulted at the end of the day.”

Sande: ‘Zanu-PF has declared war on its citizens’
Having called citizens to join the #MunhuWeseMuRoad demonstration which was planned to start from 09:00 (07:00 GMT), activists urged the population to remain committed to nonviolent action.

“The most important thing for the movement is to come out with a unified front, with the same message, but above all, if the demonstration does go ahead that at least, from the demonstrators’ side, it is essential that it remains non-violent. The risk of demonstrating just after a very highly-emotionally charged morning when two of the movement leaders have been assaulted is that young men go out with an eye for revenge, which can be very damaging for the credibility of the movement, play right into the regime’s hands,” Coltart said.

“By now, word has reached out that [ruling party] Zanu-PF has declared war on its citizens,” activist Promise Sande, said following the attack. Referring to Zvorwadza’s injuries, the activist added: “There is no country [in which] citizens should live in where they are subjected to such butchery and to such torture. It is totally unacceptable. The government has gone to limits they are not supposed to reach at all.”

After almost four decades of quelled frustrations under Robert Mugabe‘s iron-fisted reign, a flurry of citizen and civil activism movements have been rising and spreading in the African nation, calling for social, political and economic change.

Zanu-PF, which has been in power since the country gained independence from the UK in 1980, has repeatedly repressed political opponents and is accused of mass atrocities against civilians to consolidate power.

The Zimbabwean government could not be reached for comment.

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Zimbabwe’s former minister David Coltart warns nation faces perfect storm

By David Coltart | Published November 10, 2016

IB Times

10 November 2016

As the much-anticipated 2018 elections loom, Zimbabwe’s tortured politics face difficult times. IBTimes UK met with David Coltart, Zimbabwe’s former Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, who spoke of his fears of a perfect storm.

After almost four decades of quelled frustrations under Mugabes iron-fisted reign, a flurry of citizen and civil activism movements have been rising and spreading in the African nation, calling for social, political and economic change.

Although it has been a long struggle, its by no means over. In fact in many respects, Zimbabwe faces one of its greatest crises at the moment. It is what I describe as a perfect storm, the former minister and opposition MDC Senator told IBTimes UK in an exclusive interview in London, UK, where he launched his latest book The Struggle Continues: 50 Years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe faces a perfect storm

As Zimbabwe’s economic problems have led to heightened social instability, Coltart warned that the convergence of a number of factors could plunge the country into chaos.

Firstly, the minister described a leadership vacuum left by an ageing Mugabe (now almost 93), a divided ruling party and a fragmented opposition. As a result, the country is headless, we dont have any clear way forward, no clear leadership, Coltart explained.

The nations imploding economy – a very serious shortage of foreign currency, the collapse of what was left of industry, run-on banks and the introduction of bond notes – comes in the context of fears Zimbabwe could be thrown back to the horrors of its 2008 crisis, when peoples savings, and pensions were destroyed.

Theres a lot of anxiety in the country at present, with the proposed introduction of bond notes, the former minister said, adding these worries are aggravated by a crippling drought and famine. Weve had a terrible drought in the last year. That is compounded by the fact that the commercial agriculture sector has almost been destroyed and, despite the drought, there were some dams that were full – but they werent used for crops and so, there is starvation in the country.

Facing distractions, the international community may fail to act fast enough to prevent the storm from erupting. Neighbour South Africa has its own problems with its ruling ANC party going through a turmoil, Mozambique has seen the resurgence of RENAMO , uprisings and violence, and northern neighbour Zambia has had a contested election. The attention of the West, meanwhile, is focused on the war in Syria, Isis and the threat of terrorism in Europe.

So we have the converge of these four factors, which is leading to what I describe as a perfect storm, a very, very worrying short-term scenario, and the real worry that those tensions will develop into violence, he explained.

Because of the rising tensions, Zimbabweans have had very few avenues to vent their anger. They turned to social media – effectively giving birth to #ThisFlag and Tajamuka protest movements that are gaining momentum.

Speaking of #ThisFlags lack of physical leadership – its founder is now in exile in the US – and of other movements that have described themselves as somewhat harder than #ThisFlag, Coltart spoke of a real danger.

One of my beliefs is that violence has got our country into enormous trouble, and a major challenge for leadership, for people like myself and others, is to encourage young people in particular to remain committed to using non-violence to achieve political ends, he explained. The #ThisFlag movement has been committed to non-violence but there are – as is almost inevitable among young people – elements who feel that youve got to meet fire with fire. We hope that they dont gain the ascendancy in our political discourse. But obviously, the more the regime entrenches itself, the more the possibility for that type of violent response grows.

International community needs to work with Zanu-PF and region
When asked about potential avenues to prevent the situation from deteriorating, Coltart, who is a human rights lawyer, said that comply[ing] with the Constitution is a good rallying point. While an overwhelming majority of Zimbabweans agreed to a new Constitution in 2013, the government has so far failed to implement it and Coltart described a need to align our subsidiary laws to that Constitution.

We need to start respecting it in letter and deed. The government, the regime of Robert Mugabe is pushing back against the Constitution, trying to amend it, trying to ignore it, Coltart said, highlighting how he believes that the international community should work multi-laterally with Zanu-PF and regional players including South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique.

Thats where the international community has to come in. There is no doubt that this regime is under enormous pressure and to that extent theyre susceptible to influence from the outside.If Zimbabwe implodes again, it is going to impact the South African economy and the region – so its important that the West work alongside those governments to try and get a regional consensus, which in turn must bring pressure to bear on Robert Mugabes regime to comply with its own Constitution.

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Mugabe decrees introduction of ‘new currency’

By David Coltart | Published November 1, 2016

Africareview.com

By Kitsepile Nyathi

1 November 2016

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has declared bond notes legal tender amid charges by experts that the intervention was unconstitutional.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) announced in May that it would introduce the currency linked to the US dollar.

The announcement at the height of serious shortages of the dollar in the country sparked a flurry of lawsuits challenging the legality of the bond notes.

Measure of doubt

President Mugabe’s decision to use his powers to declare the notes legal tender is seen as an attempt to block court challenges.

“It has been decided that the legality of bond notes as legal tender in Zimbabwe should be put beyond any measure of doubt,” Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said in a statement on Tuesday.

“It is to this effect that the president has today gazetted statutory instrument 133 of 2016 President Powers (Temporary Measures) Amendment of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act in issue of bond notes regulation 2016.

Powers regulations

“The measures that have been gazetted under presidential powers regulations will fortify and underpin the existing legal framework for the issuance of the bond notes.”

However, former Finance minister Tendai Biti immediately dismissed President Mugabe’s intervention as illegal.

“The use of a presidential decree to enact law is unconstitutional, authoritarian and contemptuous of parliament,” Mr Biti, now practising as a lawyer tweeted.

“They are tearing the constitution (sic),” he added.

Call elections

Former Education minister David Coltart suggested Mr Chinamasa avoided using parliament to push through the law because the bond notes were not popular even among ruling Zanu-PF party legislators.

“Zanu-PF knows they cannot not use parliament to force through the bond notes law because it will reveal just how unpopular they will be even within Zanu-PF,” he tweeted.

In 2013, President Mugabe used his powers to call elections without reforms. At that time, Mr Chinamasa was Justice minister.

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Zimbabwe faces ‘a national health crisis’ as lack of drugs worsens spread of cholera and typhoid

By David Coltart | Published October 26, 2016

IB Times

26 October 2016

An acute and growing shortage of medicines in Zimbabwe is aggravating the spread of deadly infections typhoid and cholera across the country, as the ailing economy worsens the nation’s failing public health system.

Zimbabweans are still reeling from the economic and humanitarian crisis of 2008/2009 when more than 4,280 died from cholera – an outbreak Unicef has described as one of the worse ever recorded in sub-Saharan Africa – compounded by poor sanitation and limited access to healthcare.

Just days after the nation’s health authorities issued a cholera and typhoid outbreak alert in the capital Harare, due to severe water shortages, legislators have urged President Robert Mugabe to declare the spread a national health crisis after more than 60 new cases were reported in three provinces this week.

Against a backdrop of alarming poverty levels, a cash-strapped public health system, aid agencies have warned that health institutions have run or are running out of medicine, and clinics and hospitals are struggling to cope with the soaring number of patients.

A student nurse at Harare’s Parirenyatwa Hospital is quoted as saying by Times Live that the number of deaths per week from water-borne diseases was on the increase.

Lack of drugs worsening the situation

According to local press, members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health – which monitors the activities of the Ministry of Health – was this week told that the situation was worsened by budget restrictions, looting and a delay in salary payments for civil servants.

Because of what the World Health Organisation describes as an “unprecedented deterioration of healthcare infrastructure”, the large majority of medicine available in Zimbabwe’s hospitals is supplied by foreign aid agencies and organisations.

Whilst drugs such as pethidine and injectable morphine are expensive, the state has abandoned the cash budgeting principle, as outlined by current finance minister Patrick Chinamasa during his mid-term budget review on 8 September.

“Whilst drugs are expensive, the state won’t cut back on military equipment and vehicles and transfer that money to medication. If it did it could actually go a long way,” Zimbabwe’s former education minister, and human rights lawyer, David Coltart, exclusively told IBTimes UK over the phone from Bulawayo last month.

IBTimes

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‘Key lessons have been learnt’: Shock as ZANU PF candidate loses by-election

By David Coltart | Published October 24, 2016

News24

Correspondent

24th October 2016

Harare – Just what are the “key lessons” that President Robert Mugabe’s party has learnt from its shock loss of a by-election this weekend?

Local Government Minister Saviour Kasukuwere confirmed in a tweet that Zanu-PF had lost the Norton constituency – despite the 5 000 free housing stands handed out to youths on the eve of the election and a number of threats.

“Norton [constituency] has eluded us. Key lessons have been learnt. Thank you to our supporters for coming out and voting for our candidate,” Kasukuwere said.

The seat was taken by independent candidate Temba Mliswa, who won 8 927 votes. Zanu-PF’s Ronald Chidudza won 6 192 votes.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change did not field a candidate.

Analysts and Zimbabweans have been asking just what this loss means to the ruling party and whether it is a litmus test for polls in 2018.

Though physically he appears increasingly doddery, Mugabe, 92, has said he intends to stand for re-election in those polls.

“Gift” for rival faction leader

If he wins, it will be his eighth term in office.

Though a few Zimbabwe watchers wondered if Zanu-PF “allowed” itself to lose the seat to lull the opposition into a false sense of security, many dispute that. Given the stands that were handed out and Kasukuwere’s confident prediction of a “resounding victory” there seems little doubt that Mugabe’s party fully intended to win this seat, which fell vacant when Zanu-PF’s Chris Mutsvangwa was expelled earlier this year.

Lawyer and ex-minister David Coltart went as far as to say that Zanu-PF “threw the kitchen sink” at the vote, so desperate was the party to win.

Significantly many are seeing this loss as a blow particularly for Zanu-PF’s G40 faction, of which Kasukuwere (and under-fire higher education minister Jonathan Moyo) is a member.

UK-based Zimbabwe journalist Lance Guma said Mliswa’s victory should be seen as a “gift” for rival faction leader Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who did not want G40 to gain an advantage by winning another parliamentary seat.

Guma said the victory did not mean Zanu-PF would lose the 2018 elections.

Lessons learnt

He wrote on Facebook: “Mliswa won because Mnangagwa allowed him to, just to spite Kasukuwere and the G40 faction.”

Mliswa, a former personal trainer, is himself a controversial character. He was a member of Zanu-PF until 2015, when he was expelled from the party. A former MP for Hurungwe, northern Zimbabwe, he was accused of violence against the MDC during his time in Zanu-PF. Because of that he’s still viewed with suspicion by some in the party.

However, the opposition does seem to have viewed Mliswa’s victory with relief, with MDC secretary general Douglas Mwonzora tweeting his congratulations to him.

Should Kasukuwere’s acknowledgement of “lessons learnt” be seen in an ominous light, as some feel given the ruling party’s history of intimidation (and worse)?

Exactly what he means remains unclear. But as Mliswa and his supporters celebrated in Norton, one thing is clear: Zanu-PF’s loss in this key constituency will have consequences, both in and outside the ruling party.

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‘THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES’ 50 Years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe’ by David Coltart. A contrarian view.

By David Coltart | Published October 22, 2016

Africa Unauthorised http://africaunauthorised.com/?p=2638

By Hannes Wessels

22nd October 2016

David Coltart is a man who I have long held in high regard. Courageous and principled, he has been at the fore in the dangerous struggle for meaningful change in Zimbabwe and all of us who want better for Zimbabwe are indebted to him. However, reading his account of events in the country and his opinion of what went wrong in Rhodesia I must beg to differ and here are some of the reasons.

The title, ‘THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES, 50 Years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe’ sets the tone of his position immediately in that it signals his view that Ian Smith, like Mugabe was a ‘tyrant’. Incidentally, Smith the ‘tyrant’, be reminded dear reader, fought real tyranny as a fighter pilot in WW II so I assume it’s safe to say he was only later transformed into the noxious individual we learn about in the bookThe Struggle Continues.

In my understanding a tyrant rules with brutality and cruelty, lacks any right to rule and generally craves power for selfish ends which almost always includes the amassing of personal wealth at the expense of the populace. I knew the man well and simply don’t accept Ian Smith was a cruel man or that he ever craved power for his own ends. On the contrary, I believe he cared very sincerely about his people and to his dying day he was anxiously looking for ways to save his countrymen from the hardships of life under true tyranny. Interestingly, one of his early speeches as a young parliamentarian was on behalf of African women who, he believed, were cruelly disposed of by their fathers who sold them into a form of sexual slavery with the highest bidder succeeding under the ‘lobola’ system. He found this repugnant and sought to soften it but was advised the practice was too deep-rooted in African culture to be interfered with.

Tyrants are invariably loathed by the majority of their subjects and this appears true in the case of Robert Mugabe who travels, (on those rare occasions when he travels by road) with a cavalcade that includes armoured vehicles, troop carriers and sometimes air-support. This is because he fears the wrath of the people he has misgoverned. In office, Ian Smith, on occasion went to work unaccompanied on a bicycle. When by car, he liked to drive himself. His security was often little more than a single bodyguard carrying a pistol. This was the lifestyle of a man who held no fear of his people and that was because he knew the majority, while they may not have agreed with him, respected him. One of his last conversations with Mugabe was a challenge to him to walk the streets of Harare with him without protection. He never heard from Mugabe again. In his dotage he told me he was becoming a tad reluctant to visit the shops because he was finding being mobbed by the Africans a little overwhelming and physically daunting.

In the course of the narrative the author speaks justifiably highly of the African policemen with whom he served and refers to their courage, competence and loyalty. These men, unlike the author, were volunteers, not conscripts and they provided roughly 70% of the manpower for the country’s armed forces. Why would all these good Africans have volunteered to serve a tyrant one must ask.

While David and most of the world disapproved of what he stood for Ian Smith did not use power to enrich himself. He was a frugal man who loved the simple pleasures that life offers. He loved his wife, he was a devoted father and step-father, he loved sport and he loved his country. He treated his personal African staff with decency, kindness and respect and most served him with devotion. Not even his most outspoken critics, and that includes Mugabe, have ever accused him of corruption. Nor for that matter, have they accused him of running an incompetent administration. Rhodesia was, most agree, the best governed country in Africa and one of the best governed countries in the world. David alludes to the fact that this excellence in governance was ‘efficient .. for whites at least’. This is not true, the country ran efficiently in the interests of all which explains the massive population growth that occurred under European rule.

Tyrants also don’t relinquish power easily; Ian Smith did. Coltart blames Smith for the failure of the ‘Tiger’ and ‘Fearless’ talks. Harold Wilson, we are led to believe, was the voice of reason, Smith the reckless extremist. We now know Harold Wilson, if not a full Soviet agent, was certainly in the thrall of the Soviets and his Labour Party was in receipt of strong support from the Kremlin so Wilson’s credibility and real intentions, at this juncture is worthy of closer scrutiny. What we are also not told is that Smith’s big problem with the Wilson terms was he did not trust the British leader on his demand that Rhodesia return to legality through an interim transfer of power that would have seen a British governor take temporary power. Smith did not trust the British to honour their commitments in the event they took back direct control of the country. His exact fears were realised fifteen years later when Soames took over from Muzorewa and reneged on virtually everything agreed at Lancaster House leading to Mugabe taking power.

Later, in 1972, Smith was happy to surrender power on terms agreed with Alec Douglas-Home. This process was derailed through no fault of the Rhodesian premier’s despite the writer’s assertion that the ‘RF did much to scupper its acceptance’. David gives us no indication of what the RF did in this regard and in my recollection Smith was very anxious to get the ‘Pearce Commission’ on the ground and running before the agreement was derailed by radicals looking for a more extreme solution.

In 1974 he acceded to John Vorster’s misguided ‘Détente’ initiative aimed at ‘majority rule’ and he agreed to the power transfer foisted on him by Kissinger in 1976. These initiatives came to nought through no fault of Ian Smith’s. He then organised a democratic transfer of power to Bishop Abel Muzorewa in 1979 in probably the only free election ever held in the country. If this is a tyrant in play then David and I have different dictionaries.

David repeatedly lauds former premier Garfield Todd as a visionary who was an early and committed Mugabe supporter. We are reminded that Todd admonished the Europeans for being ‘fear-ridden neurotics’. Well yes he’s right, many Europeans were indeed afraid that power might be transferred to a despot and it looks like they were right and Todd was wrong. Unsurprisingly, David chooses to ignore that. He recalls with a measure of contempt Smith’s reference in his UDI speech to the battle against the ‘forces of evil’. Well again, I must ask the author if Smith was right or wrong when we look at what has transpired. Or would he suggest the incumbents are a ‘force for good’?

We are also repeatedly referred to Ken Flower as another man of ‘moderation’ in contrast to the ‘immoderation’ repeatedly reserved to describe Smith. Well, we now know, almost beyond any doubt, that Ken Flower was a traitor working to undermine the government he swore to serve who was tasked by his Whitehall and Intelligence masters with the tricky task of manipulating events to chart a course that would see Mugabe acquire power. A cunning, capable and convincing operative the British chose their sleuth well and his success in this mission has visited misery on millions.

Covering the war years David leads the reader to believe both sides were equally guilty of egregious misconduct and of committing atrocities. Again, I believe this is a gross distortion of the truth. As an RLI trooper I remember clearly, a corporal being charged for purloining a transistor radio following a contact when a village accommodating the enemy was attacked in the course of a ‘Fire-Force’ operation. The villagers had been providing succour to the enemy but this was not considered an acceptable justification for looting and the man was reduced in rank as punishment. Such were the strictures in play within a fighting battalion that acquired renown for aggression leading to the elimination of many of the enemy but prided itself on professionalism. While I have no doubt there were acts of brutality in the field perpetrated by Rhodesian soldiers I think it is fair to say the security forces of the day conducted themselves with restraint in with regard to the civilians caught in the crunch of war. This was certainly not the case with the enemy which, history clearly shows, attacked far more civilian targets than military ones.

While I was dismayed by what I read in the above regard I know I’m but one of a tiny minority who lived through the same time and in the same place, who also remembers all too clearly what happened. For the vast majority, particularly that legion of liberals around the world who worked so assiduously to end European rule this book will have come as a huge relief. Most of them have gone quiet of late having run out of excuses and any remotely cogent defence of their earlier endeavours. David has given them something to cheer about even if it’s based on distortions and selective reporting but these days, let’s face it nobody cares as long as we can sit back and blame the ‘usual suspects’; that’s the Europeans and their ‘tyrannical’ leaders.

The article was followed by the following exchange between Hannes Wessels and David Coltart:

David Coltart on 25. October 2016 at 9:39 said:
This is an interesting critique Hannes but it does leave me with a sense that you haven’t even read the whole book, just its title. If you were balanced you would have mentioned the positive things I said about Smith, for example that he wanted the Tiger proposals but that he was blocked by the extreme right wing within the RF. Also you dont even allude to my meetings with him. You accuse me of “distortions and selective reporting” but isnt that the very trap you have fallen into yourself? One final thing – even if one doesnt get beyond just the title ,it says “50 years of tyranny”, not 50 years of tyrants. I never accused Smith of being a tyrant but there is no doubt by all objective criteria that for the black majority population RF rule was tyranny. It may have been an efficient tyranny, it may have been a far less corrupt tyranny than what we endure today, but it was still tyranny. Best wishes, David (the self serving prat)

Reply

Managing Editor Hannes Wessels on 25. October 2016 at 11:14 said:
David you are right I did not read the whole book but I read enough to not want to carry on because I could see this was going to be a very unbalanced account and I’m afraid I got quite angry. Your basic premise is that the Europeans are essentially to blame for the Zimbabwean tragedy and that is what upsets me because I think most Europeans who lived in that country, including Ian Smith, tried very hard to make it work for everyone but thanks to the liberal/progressive global media with the BBC at the fore, the other side of the story was never told and you continue in that vein. If we had been given anything like a fair hearing and judged honestly and empirically surely we would not have been attacked and destroyed as we were. We Europeans all wanted to stay and work with our African compatriots and make it the greatest country in Africa which would have brought prosperity to all but we were defeated by people and politicians around the world who believed the big lie. The ‘big lie’ was that the European ‘settlers/colonists’ were avaricious oppressors enriching themselves at the expense of the vanquished Africans. I’m afraid you do fine job of perpetuating that view and I reject it.
You apply the same logic to the debacle in the Congo which saw the Belgians slaughtered and put to flight following their ‘liberation’.The reader is immediately reminded that this was on the back of Belgian brutality so in a nuanced way they (and that includes the missionaries who were murdered) are to blame. No mention of all that the Belgians did to try and develop the country through roads, hospitals and schools. This is exactly what the multitude of liberal apologists want to hear because they don’t know how else to explain that fact that the side they backed so energetically turned out to be such atrocious rulers.
The title says it all David. If a ‘tyranny’ was in place only one man was responsible and that’s Ian Smith and that’s what most of your readers and I suspect your publisher want to hear. And I’m not sure you are right when you say you believe the ‘majority’ believed it was a ‘tyranny’. I too spent much of my life discussing politics with many Africans right across the spectrum and while I clearly recall criticism I do not ever remember the ‘majority’ sentiment as you describe it.
I am sure you have made a useful contribution to our history but I remain convinced you would have done yourself and your countrymen a huge favour by being more forthright about the other side of the story.
Best regards, Hannes

David Coltart on 25. October 2016 at 11:49 said:
Hannes. Thank you for your reply. We will have to agree to disagree on this. In the interests of balance and transparency I have posted your review on my Facebook page and will in due course put it up on my web site. I respect your right to hold the views you do, even though I disagree with many of them. I hope this finds you well. Kind regards, David

David Coltart on 25. October 2016 at 11:53 said:
Hannes – just one final point, not about Zimbabwe but about the Congo. Have you ever read King Leopold’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild ? It is an outstanding book which lays bare everything that the Belgians did in the Congo. The truth is hard to stomach but it is truth.

Managing Editor on 25. October 2016 at 13:16 said:
Yes I did Dave but again I found it unbalanced. The Belgians did wrong but they also did an awful lot right in the Congo but the full story, like ours, was never really told. And of course look what happened after they left. Arguably the richest country on the planet is close to the poorest and millions live a life of misery and fear. I’m not sure that would be the case if the Belgians had hung around?

Reply
Managing Editor on 25. October 2016 at 13:11 said:
Thanks David I appreciate you taking this in the spirit you do. I know this is a tricky subject and I too respect your views. I’m pleased we can have this discussion without rancour and wish you everything of the best.
Regards Hannes

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Cephas Msipa: One of Zimbabwe’s greatest patriots

By David Coltart | Published October 20, 2016

Financial Gazette

By Senator David Coltart

20th October 2016

CEPHAS Msipa’s death this week has robbed Zimbabwe of one of her greatest statesmen and patriots. Although I first only got to meet him in 1994, he became a valued friend, a wise counsellor and an inspirational figure in my life.

Although Msipa has captured the headlines in recent years for his frank public advice he has given to President Robert Mugabe about the machinations which have engulfed ZANU-PF, my own view is that his bravest actions were those when he spoke out against Gukurahundi in the 1980s. These are documented in his outstanding memoir In Pursuit of Freedom and Justice, published last year.

In late April 1983 Msipa (then a ZAPU cabinet minister) was approached by ZANU-PF governor of Matabeleland North Jacob Mudenda, who asked him to arrange a meeting with President Mugabe so that rural district chairmen from the province could appeal to him regarding the “intolerable cruelty people were suffering”. Msipa asked Emmerson Mnangagwa to arrange a meeting, which he did. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the opening of the 1983 International Trade Fair at State House, Bulawayo.

A five-hour session ensued, during which the chairmen of Binga, Hwange, Tsholotsho, Lupane, Nkayi and Bubi districts “spoke in graphic detail of the atrocities”.

According to Msipa, President Mugabe agreed in the meeting to replace the Fifth Brigade with a police support unit. This was the first time that President Mugabe had heard from people within his own Cabinet regarding the atrocities taking place.

At the time, the late Joshua Nkomo, having narrowly escaped assassination himself, was in exile and many ZAPU leaders were in detention.

Msipa would have known that as a ZAPU member he would have been under close scrutiny and threat, but despite this he made sure that President Mugabe heard about what was happening.

Again in late March 1984, some ZAPU central committee members, including Welshman Mabhena, approached Msipa imploring him to arrange a meeting with President Mugabe to draw attention to the “continuing atrocities” taking place in Matabeleland.

As had happened in April 1983 the meeting was held at State House in Bulawayo, but this time it was much larger.

Msipa recorded that it was “as if a rally had been called” with people arriving at State House on bicycles and on foot.

Once again President Mugabe heard chilling evidence for two hours from survivors as many spoke, “some with tears running down their cheeks, saying how many relatives had been lost at the hands of soldiers”, how “friends were detained for no reason, tortured, executed”.

Msipa recorded that after listening to their impassioned pleas, President Mugabe said he “was sorry to hear what was happening” but also implored people to stop “supporting dissidents”.

Whether this meeting influenced the decision to lift the curfew imposed on Matabeleland South, which happened on April 10, 1984, we shall never know, but that is what happened.

Coincidentally, the numbers of people detained at Bhalagwe concentration camp near Kezi started to reduce and by the end of May the mass detentions ended.

Shortly afterwards, in mid 1984, the Fifth Brigade was withdrawn from active duty and underwent five months of “infantry training” at Mbalabala barracks near Esigodini.

Once again it was Msipa who bravely spoke truth to power.

In doing so he placed himself under even greater suspicion, leading to his dismissal from Cabinet at the end of 1984.

President Mugabe used ZANU-PF Senator Ndlovu’s murder in Beitbridge in November 1984 as the reason for dismissing the remaining two ZAPU ministers in his cabinet, Msipa and John Nkomo.

Msipa recounted that shortly before Senator Ndlovu’s murder, President Mugabe had given him the floor in cabinet to speak about people in Matabeleland “being massacred”.

Msipa spoke for an hour, providing Cabinet with “a list of incidents”.

Curiously, although some ministers were provocative, President Mugabe “didn’t enter the discussion”; he just “listened attentively” without getting angry.

When President Mugabe later fired Msipa, he explained that it was because while Msipa and Nkomo gave the impression that they were working with Cabinet, they were “in fact secretly supporting dissidents”, a claim Msipa vehemently denied.

It was a decade after these momentous events when I first got to meet Msipa. In early September 1994 Msipa and I travelled around Germany as a guest of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.

Our hosts were particularly concerned to show our diverse group of Zimbabweans the stark contrast between East and West Germany soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

One of our meetings there was with Hans Herzberg, the chief constable of the Free State of Saxony, who described how the East German police, the Stasi, had destroyed families and sown so much suspicion among people.

In the interests of transparency they had made all Stasi’s files on some 12 million East German citizens available, and many were shocked when they inspected their own files.

One husband discovered his wife had been spying on him for 12 years; a daughter found out her father had been reporting on her for years.

I wrote at the time: “A culture of fear pervaded the entire nation and there was much to be scared about”. The Stasi stories poignantly reflected Zimbabwe, a subject our Zimbabwean group discussed that evening.

A strong bond developed among us, particularly between me and Msipa who, despite his high position in ZANU-PF, remained a good friend ever since.

What is truly remarkable about Msipa is that he has remained consistent throughout his life.

He opposed the brutality and abuse of power of the Rhodesian Front and, although a member of ZANU-PF after the Unity Accord, never allowed his membership of that party to get in the way of speaking out against injustice.

As governor of the Midlands province, during the chaotic years after the turn of the century, he did all in his power to ameliorate the catastrophic consequences of ZANU-PF’s violent land reform programme.

His view was that, despite his deep rooted concern about the manner in which the land reform programme was implemented, he should remain at his post to inject as much sanity he could.

Another outstanding feature of Msipa was his faithfulness towards his wife, family and friends.

His marriage to his late wife Charlotte was an inspiration to many people.

It is no surprise that his dying wish was to be buried next to her in Gweru rather than at Heroes Acre in Harare.

Being a modest, humble man, Msipa always put his family and friends ahead of political status.

I experienced that personally; despite the fact that I have been vilified over the years by ZANU-PF, he never made a secret of our friendship.

That was epitomised by his attendance at the Harare launch of my own book in July this year.

He attended despite the fact that he was already sickly; a mark of the wonderful man he was.

Sadly that was the last time I saw him.

Zimbabwe has lost a great champion of democracy, decency and tolerance.

Our nation, which is at such a treacherous juncture in her history, can sorely afford to lose patriots of his caliber.

We can but pray that his example will inspire us all to emulate him in future.

Rest in peace, Cephas.

David Coltart is a former education minister.

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Why the allegations of sexual assault levelled against Donald Trump should concern us all

By David Coltart | Published October 15, 2016

Senator David Coltart

Blog

15th October 2016

In December 1983 the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace instructed me to record statements from hundreds of women victims of Gukurahundi at St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral in Bulawayo. I record the event at page 151 of my book “The Struggle Continues : 50 years of tyranny in Zimbabwe “.

The following are two excerpts:

“Sitting at a table in the hall one woman after another told me how her husband, father, brother, son, uncle, grandfather, nephew had been gunned down before their very eyes..”

“Independent verification of a story gives it credence and taking scores of statements individually from women hailing from all over Matabeleland North left me in no doubt about the veracity of what they were alleging. The systematic and sustained nature of the abuse, which lasted several months and occurred in different areas hundreds of kilometres apart, removed any doubt ..(in my mind that this was true).”

In other words it was the consistency of the allegations made by many different women from different areas, at different times, that convinced me that what they were saying was true.
It is in this context that I have listened with growing incredulity to Donald Trump’s denials that he is guilty of sexual assault against the several women who have released statements this week alleging that Trump abused them. Whilst obviously sexual assault cannot be compared to genocide, both are crimes, and in both assessments have to be made regarding whether the allegations are likely to be true or not.

Trump argues that there is a conspiracy against him; that somehow the US media and the Clinton campaign have coordinated these revelations to smear his candidacy. However from what I have seen on television the allegations have been made by, so far, some 9 women spread right across America, concerning incidents going back in some instances over 30 years. Some have got their lawyers to assist them deliver their statements, and when they have done so many have been tearful and obviously deeply troubled. It appears that none of the women know each other; the have seemingly spontaneously spoken out, gaining courage from other women who have been bold enough to speak out.

Trump bare denials yesterday are to be expected – he can hardly admit to any of these allegations because his candidacy would end instantly. In other words he has no option but to deny them. Some of the reasons he has advanced however are ridiculous – the one that they are “seeking publicity” is particularly obnoxious. Why would any woman want to reveal such an embarrassing episode in their lives?

Trump and his supporters have however raised one legitimate question regarding why these women have only come forward now, a month away from the US election. It seems to me that there are two possible reasons why they have only come forward now. One is that it was in reaction to his own taped admissions that he groped women, and his subsequent denial in Sunday’s debate that he had ever actually sexually assaulted any women, when he said it was just “locker room banter”. Trump’s oldest accuser, Jennifer Lee, seems to have been the boldest and she clearly spoke out in response to Trump’s denial. The second reason seems to be the courage that other women have derived from Ms Lee’s bravery. It appears that they have kept their secret for years but have realised that they will not be ridiculed now that others have come forward to corroborate.

Some will say that I am wrong to find Trump guilty before he has been proven guilty, and I accept that no court has proved him guilty. However I have seen enough evidence, including Trump’s own statement, to convince me that Trump would have an exceptionally hard time defending himself if charged.

This is not the first time that women have waited years before they have spoken out against sexual abuse perpetrated against them. The two best examples of this concern Bill Cosby and British BBC celebrity the late Jimmy Saville. Both these men got away with their actions for decades; in Saville’s case it took his death to encourage women to come forward and speak about what was done to them. The fact is that women the world over are usually deeply ashamed and/or fearful by sexual assault perpetrated against them and keep quiet. That is reason why many rapes are left unreported, in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in the world. Many women fear that if they speak out in isolation they will be disbelieved and ridiculed. When some are brave enough to speak out the floodgates open.

That is what I saw in St Mary’s Cathedral in December 1983, albeit in entirely different circumstances. Individual women who otherwise would have ben petrified to speak out, took courage from the presence of others.

Why am I taking so much time to write about an election in another country which I will not vote in? The first reason is that in Zimbabwe we have been fighting for democracy and truth to prevail. We have pointed to democracies elsewhere in the world as good examples, and have argued that Zimbabwe needs the same. We have spoken out against our own leaders guilty of criminal conduct and said that they are not fit for office. If we keep silent about obvious flaws in other electoral processes that in turn undermines our ability to criticise our own electoral processes and political leaders.

The second reason is because of the women who have blessed my own life – my beloved late maternal grandmother Ada and mother Nora, my darling wife, my precious daughters and daughters in law, and the numerous amazing women colleagues I work with in politics and law. The thought of any of them being subjected to similar abuse is anathema. Sexual abuse is a worldwide plague – if the leader of the world’s most powerful democracy is a sexual predator how will that influence the way women are treated in the world? If men the world over don’t speak out against this type of conduct what does that say about our own attitude to women?

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The story behind the ‘compensation’ deal between Mujuru & evicted white farmer Guy Watson-Smith

By David Coltart | Published October 11, 2016

The Zimbabwean

By Violet Gonda

11th October 2016

When Guy Watson-Smith lost his family farm at the height of Zimbabwe’s controversial and often violent land grab, he could scarcely have imagined that one day he would be sitting in the same room with the new, powerful owner of the farm he loved so much.

The courts had failed to ensure that he was compensated for the loss of the family farm to General Solomon Mujuru, former commander of the Zimbabwean army.

Watson-Smith also had to watch his community disintegrate in the ongoing violence in most districts where white farmers operated. He comforted Alan Dunn, a neighboring farmer and close friend as he died after a beating from war veterans in 2000.

The courts did tell Mujuru to return all the farm equipment and move-ables on the Watson-Smith farm, in Mashonaland East. Eventually, Mujuru did hand back most, but not all of the household goods, not the equipment or cattle nor wild life, nor the proceeds from the valuable tobacco crop which had been financed by Watson-Smith and was sold on the auctions in Harare in March 2002 for more then US$700 000.
Solomon Mujuru told friends and associates at that time he planned to take over this farm because he believed his ancestors came from the district before whites arrived more than 100 years ago. Mujuru had gone to war against white-ruled Rhodesia. And as Robert Mugabe told the BBC in Mozambique in 1977, thousands of young people went to war against Rhodesia to get the vote and get their land back.

But General Mujuru reportedly believed in property rights in independent Zimbabwe and he bought two farms near Shamva and allegedly paid off bank loans on both of them. Later he also bought a farm in Ruwa, his wife told the media on several occasions.

Watson-Smith lost everything – the farm he had owned for 20 years, the much loved home he developed for his family, his investment in all the farm buildings, the fences, dams, irrigation equipment, workers’ village, piping, fertiliser, etc. Even the family pets, such as the horses did not escape and had to be shot.

Speaking on the Hot Seat programme in London in the last week, Solomon Mujuru’s widow, former Vice President Joice Mujuru insisted she didn’t invade the farm, and said the Watson-Smith’s farm. Alamein, was taken by her husband. Although she revealed both her family’s Shamva farms were taken during the post 2000 land grab.

The 1400 hectare Alamein farm (a.k.a Ruzambo) is situated in the Beatrice district Months before Mujuru ousted him, Watson-Smith had finished paying off all debts he accumulated after 20 years of farming. He also had more then 300 cattle and 600 wild animals which he brought on to the farm in the last few years before he was evicted. He was one of Zimbabwe’s top tobacco farmers.

When challenged if it was fair that her family cashed in hundreds of thousands of dollars from the sale of the tobacco crop they had not grown, Mujuru said it was “not fair” and revealed she had been “looking” for the evicted farmer. She had also reached out to former opposition lawmaker David Coltart to help locate him “because I wanted to give him what is due to him.”

“I am a reputable businessperson. I am a chicken farmer, and it is hard,” she said. “I am ready to work and pay him.”

One of Joice Mujuru’s associates did contact Watson-Smith in 2013 and asked him how much he would sell the farm for. Watson-Smith gave him the sum provided by the Valuation Consortium (VALCON) in Harare, which has professionally valued nearly all the white-owned farms which were taken since 2000.

Watson-Smith heard no more.

Perhaps Mujuru did not know about this approach to Watson-Smith who has used the same legal firm in Harare for the last 15 years and is in contact with the Commercial Farmers’ Union, and VALCON.

Watson-Smith, was forced to leave farming behind in Zimbabwe at the end of 2001 and started a new life near Nice, in the south of France, and has developed a successful real estate business in one of the richest parts of the world.

Hot Seat tracked him down shortly after the interview with Mujuru and set up the symbolic first meeting between the so-called farm invader and the evicted white farmer.

He flew into London, with his son, Lao, the day after Hot Seat interviewed Mujuru. He wanted to meet her, but he was anxious, too. He had taken the legal route since he had to leave the farm but had not even received the damages he was awarded by the High Court, and like the majority of evicted farmers, he had not been paid any compensation, for land or improvements.

The idea, after so many years and after so much bitterness, that these two Zimbabweans who come from such different backgrounds could meet and, in theory sort it out between them, was an irresistible story for any journalist covering the ongoing trauma in Zimbabwe.

The meeting was held at the expensive Millennium Hotel in Mayfair, where Mujuru was staying. She was in the UK, at the invitation of the Royal Society of International Affairs at Chatham House, London, to drum up support for her new political party – the Zimbabwe People First party.

The 61-year-old was thrown out of the ZANU PF party two years ago after she was accused of plotting to topple 92-year-old Mugabe.

Watson-Smith was exhausted after arriving in London, not least because he had travelled through the night from France to meet Mujuru. And he had never met her before and he said memories of his lost home, lost friends, and lost life in Zimbabwe, flooded over him as he arrived in London.

All previous interactions he had were with Solomon Mujuru who died in a mysterious fire in Watson-Smith’s old home, on the farm in 2012.

Mujuru offered him tea, and the three, including Watson-Smith’s son discussed many aspects of Alamein farm, its progress and the welfare of the workers left behind after the invasion.

Watson-Smith said: “It’s been a long 15 years since we left the farm and it’s been hard. My family started again in a new country from nothing. And we have pursued very slowly and very quietly through the courts particularly the moveable assets which we were forced to leave behind.”

Joice Mujuru said her People First party believes this meeting was an important step in establishing precedent, and the re-establishment of the natural rule of law and accountability in Zimbabwe since the land invasions.

“The meeting is to try and solve this issue amicably. I can’t hide my excitement because I have been longing to talk to Watson about this land issue, which I now enjoy very much and I must now do my uttermost best to put the land to good use.”

Mujuru said issues of reconciliation shouldn’t just be rhetorical. “I have a party that has a policy on practical reconciliation and we must show it.”

They agreed to extend the meeting to the following day and to include their lawyers in Harare to work out the draft agreement and to make arrangements to settle the damages awarded Watson-Smith last year.

“What we have achieved at this juncture is a signed ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ detailing & confirming acceptance of the events that led to the occupation of Alamein (a.k.a Ruzambo in some articles), coupled with a commitment to progress towards compensation discussions via our respective legal teams,” Watson-Smith said.

He explained this agreement was not about compensation for the land nor the ‘improvements’ on the farm such as homes and buildings, farming infrastructure, dams, plantations, cleared land, fencing and conservation works.

“It concerned solely the theft of ‘Moveable Assets’ (vehicles, tractors & equipment, livestock, game, the crop in the land, etc). The High Court of Zimbabwe established the legal values of the moveable assets in an order for damages dated late 2015, and that forms the basis of our ‘MOU’ with her,” Watson-Smith explained.

The court rulings dating from 2002 and in 2015, ordering the return of Watson-Smith’s assets and payment of compensation for damages, totals US$1,469,440 plus compound interest.

Questions remain about where Mujuru will find the money, which is estimated now to be more than US$2m, with interest and Mujuru has also accepted to pay Watson-Smith’s legal fees.

Zimbabwe’s land question remains unresolved but Hot Seat listeners should recall that the 2013 constitution says that the UK must pay for the land taken from white farmers, and the government will pay for the “improvements.’

Earlier this year the government’s lands’ department met with members of the Commercial Farmers Union, and VALCON and all sides restated that compensation must be achieved. But the reality is that the government of Zimbabwe says it has no money to even begin to pay out, but has recently established a land commission and is allegedly valuing farms although it has no qualified valuers, nor documentation it needs to assess what was on the farms prior to land invasions.

The statistics are important too. So far, VALCON, using qualified surveyors, has valued 5000 seized farms, or title deeds, owned by 3000 white farmers on seven million hectares.

This is the vast majority of farms taken since 2000. Among those valuations is one for Guy Watson-Smith’s property.

At the end of the discussion with Mujuru, the former farmer pointed out that no agreement for compensation for the land and the ‘improvements’ on Alamein farm has yet been reached and it is not expected any time soon.

Since the constitution was changed in 2005, all land taken from white farmers since 2000 is state owned.

Watson-Smith says he believes the British should pay out evicted white farmers for the land taken from them from 2000. “It would be a small investment by the British and would be of such an advantage to Zimbabwe and future trade in the subcontinent. I wish the British would take a different approach and I believe it would help the process of reconciliation enormously.”

Full Hot Seat Interview with Joice Mujuru can be accessed via this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ko0gIc7z7g

To contact this journalist email violet@violetgonda.com or follow on twitter:@violetgonda – See more at: www.violetgonda.com

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Cyril Ndebele dies

By David Coltart | Published October 8, 2016

Newsday

By Linda Chinobva

8th October 2016

FORMER Speaker of Parliament and PF Zapu stalwart Cyril Ndebele has died.

Ndebele passed on yesterday morning in Bulawayo. The cause of his death could not be ascertained.

Zapu deputy national spokesperson Iphithule Maphosa said Ndebele immensely contributed to the growth of the party, both before and after the 1987 Unity Accord with Zanu PF.

“Zapu joins the Ndebele family and the nation in mourning the passing-on of the great leader and lawyer. We, however, take comfort in the legacy he leaves behind — that of selfless and upright leadership and service to both Zapu and Zimbabwe,” Maphosa said.

“Advocate Ndebele leaves a rich legacy of leadership both in Zapu and the nation, a history we will forever cherish, emulate and safeguard by advancing his long held beliefs of good political and leadership practices as espoused in the mother party, Zapu.”

Former Education minister David Coltart also confirmed Ndebele’s death in a Facebook post.

“I very much regret to report that former Speaker of Parliament and lawyer Cyril Ndebele died in Bulawayo this morning. He was a wise and fair man,” Coltart wrote.

At the time of his death, Ndebele was chairperson of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission that was sworn in by President Robert Mugabe in February this year.

Ndebele became Parliament Speaker in 1995. He fell out of favour with Mugabe when he issued a parliamentary certificate advising Zanu PF that it should not discipline then ruling party Masvingo chairperson Dzikamai Mavhaire for asking Mugabe to step down. Mugabe called Ndebele a traitor and replaced him in 2000 with now Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Ndebele joined the African National Congress in South Africa in 1960 while a student at the University of Natal. He acquired a law degree from Queens University in Belfast, Ireland, in 1970 and on return to Zimbabwe became chairperson of Zapu.

In 1975, he became Zapu’s United Kingdom and European representative. He was involved in the historic Geneva, Malta and Lancaster House negotiations that led to independence.

At independence, Ndebele went into private practice and also became a local councillor in Bulawayo.

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