The Standard

7th August 2016

POLICE yesterday arrested at least 10 people during the Zimbabwe cricket team’s high-profile second Test match against New Zealand at Bulawayo’s Queens Sports Club as spectators sang the national anthem and waved flags in protest against the political and economic situation in the country.

There were anti-government protests inside and outside the ground, which saw prominent human rights activist Jenni Williams being arrested during the first session of the day.

Williams was denied entry into the ground in the morning and was bundled into a police truck. After a struggle, female police officers managed to handcuff her and took her to a police station in the city.

Inside the ground, fans waved the national flag and sang the national anthem during the 36th over to follow a video message posted by exiled Harare pastor Evan Mawarire encouraging Zimbabweans to join the protest.

Mawarire said the 36th over symbolised the number of lost years under President Robert Mugabe’s rule.

One of the coordinators of the unemployed graduates that took part in the protest, Samuel Meso said they were detained by police for several hours and only released following the intervention of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR).

“We went to Bulawayo with our gowns so that we would watch the cricket match. The place was so militarised and at 36 overs, we stood to sing the national anthem in our gowns as one of our creative protests,” he said.

“At that time ZRP officers came and shoved us out and took us to Bulawayo Central Police Station,” Meso said, adding they were released after about five hours.

ZLHR said Williams and other Woza members had been charged with criminal nuisance.

Meanwhile, former Education minister David Coltart said there were attempts to block him from entering Queens Sports Club.

“Sadly, a whole lot of unemployed graduates and Woza women did not make it as they were arrested for wanting to sing the national anthem,” he tweeted yesterday.

“Ironic that having persuaded New Zealand to play Test cricket against Zimbabwe again in 2010 as Minister of Sport, today a ZC [Zimbabwe Cricket] official and the police did their best to hinder me from entering the ground.”

Zimbabwe Star

Thursday 4th August, 2016

Harare, Aug 4 (IANS) Zimbabwe’s all-time record Olympic medallist and swimming sensation Kirsty Coventry is out to make history once again.

Having won seven of Zimbabwe’s eight Olympic medals since Independence in 1980, 32-year-old Coventry has once again set her eyes on winning medals at the forthcoming Rio Olympic Games, reports Xinhua.

The Olympic swimming champion has qualified for her 5th and final Olympic Games which begin in Rio de Janeiro on Friday to cap her incredible sporting journey that has inspired many young athletes in Africa and beyond.

Coventry was born and bred in Zimbabwe where she attended high school before moving to the US where she furthered her education while honing her swimming skills at the same time.

It has been said that the swimming career of Coventry benefited immensely from the state-of-the-art facilities provided at Auburn University in Alabama where she studied.
With a strong passion for the sport, Coventry made Olympic Games debut in Sydney in 2000 when she was just 17. In 2004, she won her first Olympic gold medal in Athens as well as silver and bronze. The moment marked the beginning of a record-breaking athletic career which has seen her ultimately becoming one of the world’s highest achieving female swimmers.

Coventry went on to win four more medals in the Beijing Olympics in 2008, including retaining the gold medal in her specialty event, the 200m backstroke.
After the 2008 Olympics performance, she was hailed as one of Zimbabwe’s greatest heroes, and called a national treasure by the head of the country’s Olympic Committee.
President Robert Mugabe also awarded her $100,000 cash for her Olympic medal wins, and called her a “golden girl”.
Coventry’s extraordinary performance has been acknowledged by many the world over, but more importantly in Africa and her native Zimbabwe where swimming as a sport still faces many hurdles.

Twice crowned Olympic champion, and with seven Olympic medals, Coventry has won more individual Olympic medals than any female swimmer in history.
She is also, without doubt, Africa’s most successful Olympic athlete,” reads a statement on the website of her “Kirsty Coventry Academy” that she established in 2015 to address drowning problems and empower individuals through sports training programs.

The now married Coventry has already made history but still aspires to break a new record at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
She shares the record of seven individual medals with Hungarian swimmer Krisztina Egerszegi and she could possibly become one of the first female swimmers to win eight individual medals.

She is carrying the nation’s hopes at Rio de Janeiro, where she is billed to compete in the women’s 200m backstroke, women’s 100m backstroke and women’s 200m individual medley.

Coventry has been chosen as Zimbabwe’s flag bearer at the Olympics opening ceremony at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro this Friday.

Zimbabwe Aquatic Union president Mary Kloppers told Xinhua they hoped Coventry would do well despite the disadvantage of age. “We know her preparations have been tailor made for her because of the age and she has been working very hard and whatever the performance, it will be the best of what she can do,” she said.
Fans are also rallying behind her and hope she will once again lift Zimbabwe’s flag high.

“I so enjoyed being able to watch you swim in the 2012 Olympics; I was absolutely inspired by your dedication to Zimbabwe and your sport. All the very best — do Zimbabwe proud as I know you will,” said former education Minister David Coltart.

“Go be an icon of hope for our beloved country. My prayers are with you. You inspire our young people to work hard and succeed in all they do in life,” commented yet another fan on Facebook.

Border Telegraph

By David Knox

THE line-up for the seventh international festival of literature and thought at Traquair House has been announced.

This year’s Beyond Borders Festival, which is titled The World in Scotland, and Scotland in the World, features a host of local and international writers, artists, politicians, and diplomats.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, United Nations Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, historians and writers Alison Weir and Peter Frankopan, and emerging talents such as Isabel Buchanan will all appear at the weekend of discussions and talks.

Mark Muller Stuart, executive director of Beyond Borders told the Peeblesshire News: “Now more than ever, Scotland holds enormous potential to make a significant contribution in the realm of both domestic international affairs.

“In this year’s programme of panel discussions, visual and performing arts pieces, walks, and cycle rides, we are proud to harness the cultural heritage of Scotland and the Scottish Borders and to harness Scotland’s cultural heritage as a means to encourage local, international, and intercultural exchange.”

BBC Chief International Correspondent Lyce Doucet will chair a discussion between the First Minister and Staffan de Mistura as they explore the increasing role played by women in peace-making and politics.

They will also discuss Scotland’s support of initiatives such as a recent partnership between the Scottish Government and the United Nations, which brought ten members of the Syrian Women’s Advisory Board to Scotland.

The Special Envoy will also take to the stage with Scottish broadcaster Allan Little in a discussion of his life and work in some of the most volatile places on earth, including Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Syria.

Little, who is a BBC Special Correspondent, admits he enjoys Beyond Borders. He said: “[You’re] surrounded by people from all walks of life, but who have something in common, and they bring with them, from all the four corners of the earth, their own wisdom.”

Looking at the war in Iraq from a different angle, former CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson tells the story of how she was outed as an agent, and veteran diplomat Sir Kieran Prendergast recounts the personal impact within the UN of Blair’s decision to go to war.

Exploring other international themes, Zimbabwean lawyer David Coltart and author Petina Gappah discuss their experiences of Mugabe’s Zimbabwe; President Clinton’s former advisor Tim Phillips examines Cuba- US relations; and the British Museum’s Jonathan Tubb, biographer of buildings James Crawford, Roger Michel from the Institute for Digital Archaeology explore the protection of cultural heritage.

On a more literary and historical note, author Alison Weir gives a talk on Mary, Queen of Scots and the murder of Lord Darnley – in the 450th Anniversary year of Mary, Queen of Scots’ visit to Traquair House – Jerry Brotton explains the connection between Elizabethan England and the Islamic World; Peter Frankopan tells tales of the Silk Roads; and William Dalrymple and Isabel Buchanan recount stories of their travels and experiences in Pakistan, India, and China.

Beyond Borders is staged at Traquair House on the weekend of August 27 & 28.

Weekend tickets, priced at £45, and day passes, which cost £24, are available from the festival website at www.beyondbordersscotland.com

Financial Gazette

21st July 2016

A nation that is up to its nose in economic collapse demands that President Robert Mugabe’s government should act to the many voices that are speaking out against its failures; but can the voice of reason finally prevail; asks Ray Ndlovu.

A FORTNIGHT ago President Robert Mugabe’s government came face-to-face with an unusual enemy: Simmering anger of an entire nation.

For the first time in the country’s 36-year history, the majority of the country’s citizenry took a stand, after being called upon, through social media messages, to rally together and shut down the country.

That there was no direct involvement of political parties and that there was no clear leader should be giving the ruling elite sleepless nights.

Without the use of posters, radio or television to mobilise support #Tajamuka/Sesijikile and #ThisFlag outfits successfully convinced millions of people to boycott both formal and informal work through social media.

The punch line of their #ZimShutDown campaign was to try and compel President Mugabe’s administration to fix the broken economy it presides over.

The success of the campaign shook government and the ruling ZANU-PF to their foundations.

Officials from ZANU-PF and government have been all over the show, trying to frustrate a repeat of the same. All along, the ruling party has been brandishing the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset) blueprint as the panacea to the country’s problems.

Through Zim-Asset, government has been promising 2,2 million jobs, among other things.

None of the promises have materialised.

Naturally, Zimbabweans have become angry with their government.

And the advent of social media has provided a platform for the voiceless through which they can mobilise and voice their concerns against those who lead them without necessarily looking up to media personnel, Members of Parliament or councillors to do it for them.

One thing most fascinating about President Mugabe’s latest challengers is that they drape the same national flag, which had been monopolised by ZANU-PF faithful.

Also, they pledge unwavering commitment to defending the very same national sovereignty that the ruling party passionately talks about at every opportune moment.

That alone, has meant that they cannot be faulted on account of being less patriotic to their country. It has also elevated them to some sort of vanguards of the new revolution.

The apprehension from government is understandable.

In power since 1980, ZANU-PF has remained in power by shrewdly routing political opponents that attempt to wrest the crown from it.

But this time, the ruling party is facing a new form of resistance — the ordinary people.

The power of the ordinary citizens has effectively reduced political parties, both the ruling party and opposition parties, to spectators.

Opposition political parties are currently playing second fiddle in latest pressure on the Zimbabwe government.

At the time of the shut down, Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) party, was receiving treatment from colon cancer in South Africa.

Tendai Biti of the People’s Democratic Party was also in London.

Even for those parties whose leaders were around at the time, they had no choice, but to join the bandwagon.

Joice Mujuru and her Zimbabwe People First party threw their weight behind the movement at the eleventh hour and so did many other political outfits.

Lawyer and member of the smaller MDC party led by Welshman Ncube, David Coltart, said in the absence of opposition political party mobilisation, “people power” had won.

The country’s opposition parties have remained deeply fragmented.

In the absence of a strong opposition, President Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party has simply enjoyed total political domination.

That political domination, however, has not extended over to the economy which is in disarray.

In fact, the current administration’s list of economic challenges keeps growing.

This is despite the post-election promises it made of economic prosperity and growth.

Government is currently grappling with persistent cash shortages, a struggle to service its wage bill for close to 500 000 civil servants, dwindling tax revenues, power outages, a hunger crisis, unemployment of over 90 percent and widespread company closures. The country is also indebted to the tune of US$10 billion.

Agreements made last October in Lima, Peru to pay US$1,8 billion of that amount by June, in order to access new funding from the West, have been pushed to September for fulfillment — a sign of the growing difficulties the country is facing in trying to raise the cash.

Finance Minister, Patrick Chinamasa was in Paris and London recently to seek new lines of credit.

He said the country had “nothing” in its coffers to navigate the maze of problems confronting it. Against that background, public anger is rising.

In the thick of things is a cleric called Evan Mawarire with his #ThisFlag campaign.

Just before his arrest last week Mawarire told the Financial Gazette that what he had started off as a way of highlighting his personal struggles could be the foundation for a citizen-led movement.

“It has taken a life of its own,” he said.

Political observers said this new phenomenon seems to have found resonance with the country’s youths, now fed up with being used and pushed around by politicians while they wallowed in poverty.

And the authorities’ spine-chilling warnings against the use of social media for subversive messages, as they attempt to cut the wind in the sails of the citizen’s movement, may only serve to brew more anger in the youths and general public.

Although the stay-away left a lasting impression on the country’s history, independent economist, John Robertson, said the level of economic activity was currently so low in the country that losses to businesses were most likely very minimal.

“The level of economic activity is so low, such that it was like an extra Sunday in the week. It is not going to be a very high cost (protest) to country; it would have if we had lots of factories, but we don’t… ,” Robertson observed.

Nevertheless, the toll on tourism could last long after images of violence in some places were splashed across the world by media outlets, blemishing the country’s already dented image. As the country continues to drift into even more uncertainty, the question is: Is Zimbabwe coming of age?

Will President Mugabe’s government even act on the people’s demands when denial of the evident rumblings seems to be completely blinding it at the moment?

News24

12th July 2016

Harare – “These charges are baseless.”

That was the reaction of one of Zimbabwe’s best-known human rights lawyers, David Coltart, on hearing that Evan Mawarire, the pastor who has led calls for peaceful stayaways in the troubled southern African country, had been charged on Tuesday with inciting public violence.

Though he had said he hoped he was reporting to the police for routine questioning, Mawarire, 39, knew all too well what was likely to happen.

In a video the father of two had prepared for release in the event of his arrest, Mawarire said: “No matter what has happened to me, you and I have done well… Hold this government to account.” The video was posted to his #ThisFlag organisation’s social media platforms after the charges against him were confirmed by state media.

Watch the video below.

Mawarire and others have called for another stay away across Zimbabwe on Wednesday and Thursday, following the success of a nationwide strike against government corruption and an import ban last week.

Pictures of the pastor in handcuffs were posted to Twitter by lunchtime, following reports that police had searched his home and office. The pictures show Mawarire with a flag and with a photo of his wife and children in the background.

A church mug with a cross on it is in the foreground.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights confirmed police had taken the pastor’s phone.

News of the charges against Mawarire sparked outrage online, fuelled no doubt by memories of what had happened to other critics of President Robert Mugabe’s government in the past 16 years.

Itai Dzamara, a former journalist who mounted lonely protests in central Harare calling on Mugabe, now 92, to step down, was abducted in March 2015 and has never been seen again.

Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, was beaten by police in 2007 when his party tried to circumvent a ban on demonstrations by holding a “prayer rally.”

Coltart, who served as education minister during Zimbabwe’s 2009-13 coalition government, said in tweets: “Everything Pastor Evan has said has been compliant with section 58 of the Constitution – these charges are baseless.”

“He has had a consistent message of non-violence.”

Shingi Munyeza, a prominent businessman and church leader who has also led efforts to try to engage Mugabe’s government amid mounting frustration in Zimbabwe said in a tweet: “As a fellow pastor I plead with the authorities to #freepastorevan.” Mawarire’s sister, Teldah Mawarire, retweeted calls for him to be freed.

Curfew

In other developments on Tuesday, pressure group Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) claimed police had imposed an unofficial 18:00 to 06:00 curfew in Bulawayo and were moving around with megaphones to inform residents of this.

Police spokesperson Charity Charamba told state media that there was a possibility that a leaked video showing Zimbabwe riot police hitting people on the soles of their feet might have been “manufactured by perpetrators of violence”.

The covertly-filmed clip, thought to date from recent protests, has sparked disgust on social media and Charamba’s comments were greeted with outrage on Tuesday. Media watchdog @ZimMediaReview said the claim was “incredible”.

Bulawayo 24 News

13th July 2016

Former Education minister, David Coltart has said the the government has shot itself on the foot by arresting #ThisFlag Pastor.

Coltart said its no longer a stay away but “#FreePastorEvan.”

Coltart also said: “Whoever digs a hole and scoops it out, falls into the pit they have made. The trouble they cause recoils on them,” quoting the Bible (Psalm 7:15).

News 24

28th June 2016

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai shocked the nation on Monday with the announcement that he has colon cancer

“Get well soon, Save”, “We love you so much” and “I suggest you visit TB Joshua again” – these were some of the online reactions from Zimbabweans to news that Tsvangirai has cancer of the colon.

Save (pronounced Sav-eh) is one of the names Tsvangirai’s supporters call him. Save is a large river in the area that the burly 64-year-old politician comes from in eastern Zimbabwe.

Rumours of Tsvangirai’s ill-health have been growing for a while, fuelled by his no-show at recent MDC events and by confirmation he went for an operation in SA last month.

Officials at the time downplayed the seriousness of his complaint, perhaps because the cancer was only diagnosed when he got to hospital in SA.

The announcement of cancer is “absolutely huge”, according to Zimbabwean journalist @nqabamatshazi.

It’s already inviting comparisons with Mugabe, who’s nearly three decades older than the man who came close to unseating him during elections in 2008. Tsvangirai himself made a barely-disguised dig at the president in his statement, saying – as did former Education Minister David Coltart, who disclosed his own prostate cancer fears last month – that “the health of national leaders, including politicians, should not be a subject of national speculation and uncertainty”.

“Get well soon, true son of the soil”

Mugabe makes frequent trips to Singapore for medical attention, but has never disclosed the true nature of his complaint. Given the frequency and the length of his trips to Singapore, it is hard to believe that he is still suffering from the after-effects of what was said to be a cataract operation in 2014.

While Tsvangirai is being praised for his bravery in disclosing the exact nature of his complaint, he will also inevitably face questions about his ability to maintain the momentum needed to mount what will be a punishing campaign ahead of presidential elections in 2018.

Tsvangirai’s party has always said he will stand again against Mugabe, who at 92 shows no sign of wanting to let another candidate fight the battle.

Tweeted @RangaMberi: “Chemotherapy will slow down even the toughest among us. More power to him.”

Tsvangirai has already begun chemo, according to his statement.

The MDC posted a picture of Tsvangirai with his wife Elizabeth in what looked like a clinic.

For now, though, most Zimbabweans showed their concern for a man who has spent the past 17 years at the helm of the MDC.

As good wishes began to flood the opposition’s Facebook page minutes after the announcement, Tawanda Mudhliwa posted: “Get well soon, true son of the soil.”

Simba Mudzudza wrote: “My prayer is for you to get well soon. The nation at large, their hope is on you. Their happiness is on you. May the Almighty bless you to lead the Zimbabwe republic. l salute you since you started this journey. We are almost there. Don’t give up, Save. Good day, my President.”

Tozivashe Chiweshe said: “Warriors don’t cry. Soldier on, Mr MDC. Zimbos are with you.”

There has been no reaction from Zimbabwean authorities.

Colo-rectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the world. Tsvangirai’s deputy, Thokozani Khuphe, is a cancer survivor herself: she fought breast cancer in 2011 and 2012, receiving treatment in SA. Tsvangirai paid a visit to Nigerian televangelist TB Joshua in 2013.

News24

25th June 2016

Harare – Riot police advance across the tiled foyer of a luxury Harare hotel to where a man in a red shirt is waiting. He has dared them to come.

With a group of brave – some might say foolhardy protesters – he is speaking out against the profligacy of Zimbabwe’s vice president Phelekezela Mphoko, who has stayed in the top-class Rainbow Towers Hotel for more than 550 nights, clocking up a reported bill of at least $300 000 as Zimbabwe sinks further into economic crisis.

“I urge the police officers coming over there to behave like human beings. We have a right to demonstrate, we have a right to petition. We actually are protected by our constitution,” the man says in a video uploaded to YouTube by Alpha Media Holdings.

You cannot watch these scenes because you know exactly what will happen next to this man, unarmed but fierce in his anger.

In a Zimbabwe politically-divided as never before, it is still not okay to criticise one of long-time president Robert Mugabe’s top lieutenants. Especially one rumoured to be close to first lady Grace.

As journalists film on Friday, the riot police, truncheons at the ready, drag the red-shirted man out of the foyer, along the tiled path past the neat green lawns to where a truck is waiting.

He grabs onto an officer’s legs. You cannot bear to look at his face.

The police turn on another protester: A man in a white shirt. They take him by one leg so that he is left uncomfortably hopping along. Behind their desks, hotel staff watch, presumably the same hotel staff who see Mphoko clock in every night with the grandson who shares his $460 per night luxury suite.

He and his wife have turned down several extremely roomy Harare homes on the basis they are not “fitting” for a man of his stature.

Outside, the police truck is idling. The man in the red shirt struggles. Officers try to pin him down. And then – somehow – he falls out of the truck, knocking his head on the ground. With no visible sympathy the police bend over, pick him up by the back of his trousers and put him back on the truck.

There was no clear word on Saturday as to what had happened to the two men or whether they had been released. The red-shirted man has been identified as Stern Zvorwadza, the chair of the National Vendors’ Union of Zimbabwe. The Tajamuka/Sesjikile Campaign said it organised the demonstration.

Five activists were arrested in December during an earlier protest against Mphoko’s stay at the Rainbow Towers. They were released after two nights in custody. But journalist-turned-activist Itai Dzamara, who bravely protested Mugabe’s continued stay in power in early 2015, was abducted 15 months ago. He has not been seen since.

Former education minister David Coltart commented on Twitter: “Remarkable bravery demonstrated by some young people demanding immediate evacuation of VP Mphoko from Rainbow hotel”.

Said Facebook user Kishon Chisahwira on the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition’s page, which has also shared a video of the incident: “Where are we heading to as a nation? God help us?”

News 24

22nd June 2016

Harare – Did overzealous police officers at a checkpoint in Zimbabwe really handcuff a woman in front of her crying children because she objected to being fined over a third number plate sticker?

Apparently they did, if a post by popular Zimbabwe Facebook community WhatsApp Harare is to be believed.

Zimbabwe’s roadblock police, and the fines they extort for a myriad of tiny infractions, are the topic of angry conversations both on and offline every day in the southern African country.

Tourism industry officials are worried the roadblocks will put off self-drive visitors. Even the official Herald newspaper – normally loyal to President Robert Mugabe’s government – publishes articles critical of the roadblocks.

This time traffic cops really appear to have gone over the top.

“OK, enough is enough,” says the post, by a driver who claims a weekend trip from Harare to the popular resort of Kariba was “totally ruined” by the roadblocks.

Angry reactions

“I am incensed by the injustice dealt to this one young woman at a Chinhoyi roadblock,” he continues. “[She and her family] were told that their 3rd number plate on their trailer was ‘defaced’.

“When they argued, the woman police officer became rude and abusive. So much so that their three young daughters in the car began to cry with genuine fear. The mother decided to video the ranting policewoman.”

“Next thing she is handcuffed in front of her screaming children and placed under a tree, while her husband and children are escorted to Chinhoyi police station,” reads the post. The driver says he managed to persuade the police to let him transport the unnamed woman (plus a cop) to the police station. The post has a photo of a young woman in handcuffs outside a car.

Likely because Zimbabweans have had enough of daily extortion by traffic police, the story has been widely-shared, including by former education minister David Coltart.

The post is provoking angry reactions, both on the WhatsApp Harare page it was first posted to on Tuesday, and on other pages.

Wrote FB user Mildred Nyasha Mugauri Chigorimbo: “That officer should be answerable, if she can be identified from the video. This is inhumane, cruel and disgusting. No wonder the community has no respect for them, because they haven’t earned it and DO NOT deserve it.”

Fine for a dirty car

User Micky Beverley wrote: “I think they will not be paid their wages this month – that’s why they are desperately trying to get money for any reason possible.”

Fidelis Tawanda Moyo said: “I was stopped exactly 20 times from Harare to Byo [Bulawayo]. 20 roadblocks or should I say fund raising booths.”

According to a state media report in November, the police do not hand over all the fine money to treasury, “but retain some of it for internal use”.

Last month, a driver from the southern city of Masvingo was sentenced to 10 years in jail after he sped off from a roadblock. A traffic cop hung onto his bonnet, but fell off and was injured.

The state-owned Chronicle reported on Wednesday that a Beitbridge police officer had been arrested for stealing R1.1m over a six-month period by only pretending to deposit “his employer’s money” in the bank. It was not immediately clear if the money had been collected at roadblocks.

Police may try to fine you for having a “dirty car”, having the wrong kind of honeycomb reflective tape and for not having proof your portable fire extinguisher has been recently serviced.