Gbabgo seeks Mugabe’s support
by Staff Reporter
07/01/2011 00:00:00
AN envoy of embattled Cote d’Ivoire leader Laurent Gbabgo was in Zimbabwe on Thursday to meet government officials, sparking rumours that the strongman is seeking President Robert Mugabe’s support to hold on to power.
The Ivorian ambassador to South Africa Zogue Abie met acting President John Nkomo to brief him on the situation in his country. The envoy flew back to South Africa soon after the meeting that was also attended by Zimbabwe’s acting minister for Foreign Affairs Hebert Murerwa.
An official said Zogue was told that Zimbabwe would stand guided by the African Union (AU) position on Cote d’Ivoire. Nkomo is the acting president because President Mugabe is on his annual vacation.
Presidential spokesperson George Charamba said Cote d’Ivoire “was asking for an international commission to come in and evaluate the whole process on voting and where to get the truth on what happened.”
“He said there must be a recount of votes and a peaceful resolution to the crisis.”
The Ivorian leader who has ruled the world’s biggest cocoa producer for close to a decade has refused to hand over power to his bitter rival Alasane Ouattara despite losing in the November 28 elections.
Gbabgo has previously likened his plight to Mugabe who accuses former colonial power, Britain and the United States of leading efforts to get him out of office.
The Ivorian leader says former colonial ruler, France is out to get him.
“When you go through what I’ve been through, you tell yourself: ‘Perhaps Mugabe wasn’t completely wrong after all,” he said last month.
Labels: GEORGE CHARAMBA, IVORY COAST
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COMMENT -
if you have an estate agent who cannot collect rent, what do you do with them? You fire them,” Dr Mpande said. - I couldn't have said it better. Also, the estate agent should be prosecuted for collusion and fraud.
Dr Mpande urges removal of MMD over windfall tax
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Fri 07 Jan. 2011, 04:00 CAT
DR Mathias Mpande says there is need for Zambians to remove the current regime over its failure to properly tax the mining sector. And Dr Mpande says the closure of Bwana Mkubwa mine after the unit exhausted mineral deposits is a clear warning of the potential fate most areas could face as the government continues to prioritise mining growth over economic development.
The international copper price has continued to surge to all-time high of within sight of the US$10,000 per tonne with analysts predicting the metal which is the country’s chief foreign exchange earner would touch beyond US$12,000 per tonne mark on the backdrop of increased global demand.
In an interview, Dr Mpande, the country’s prominent mineral economist, said there was no need for the government to continue disregarding calls for a taxation policy to enable the Zambian people benefit from the current high metal prices, which he warned would not last forever.
Dr Mpande said mineral resources belonged to the people and the government had a duty to collect rent on their behalf.
He wondered why Zambian workers were paying Zambia Revenue Authority higher taxes of about 18 per cent of their total income basket while the mining companies were contributing nothing.
“The government is like an estate agent and if you have an estate agent who cannot collect rent, what do you do with them? You fire them,” Dr Mpande said.
“And that is the attitude the Zambian people should have because the current government is not collecting rent on their behalf.”
And Dr Mpande said Bwana Mkubwa had closed with nothing to benefit the Zambian people who will be paying heavily for the environmental degradation left by mining operations in Ndola.
Bwana Mkubwa mine, owned by First Quantum Minerals (FQM) officially closed after it “exhausted" mineral deposits and had naturally come to the end of its life.
"That is the potential problem. Every mine will come to an end and the government doesn't even know when the mines would close," he said. "If you have a government that doesn't tax the mines, if the ore get exhausted, all you will have are big holes filled with water and mosquitoes breeding in them."
Dr Mpande's said the government's insistence on maintaining the variable profit tax at the expense of windfall tax was only abating cheating by mining companies and encouraging inside trading.
"How do you have a system that depends on the production cost of the mines when these same mines are also determining the price?" said Dr Mpande.
"Glencore buys the copper from its mine - Mopani Copper Mines, the Chinese parastatals own some mines here and they are they are the major suppliers of the mining equipment and capital and also buy the copper. That is inside trading."
Labels: MATHIAS MPANDE, WINDFALL TAX
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What are the conditions for peaceful, free and fair elections?
By The Post
Fri 07 Jan. 2011, 04:00 CAT
IF electoral violence is to be curbed, the primary requisite is to eradicate the cause of animosity, conflict, dissension and violence among our political parties, their members, cadres and supporters.
The calls for peaceful elections, and politics in general, should not remain mere words; they have to be visible in concrete actions where those in government and in the ruling party have to show the way.
And in this regard, Tilyenji Kaunda, the president of opposition UNIP, has a point when he says: “If people are cheated out of victory in an election, they get violent…all this points to those in authority who are not putting things in order. So, the MMD leadership should not blame those expressing concern over violence, but blame themselves for not acting accordingly.”
If this is so, then the only potent cure of electoral violence is the holding of truly free and fair elections.
The principal mechanism for translating our desire for peace during and after elections is the holding of free and fair elections. Simply permitting the opposition access to the ballot is not enough.
Elections in which the opposition has its rallies harassed or its activities not being fairly covered by the state-owned and government-controlled news media organisations; elections in which state-owned news media organisations have been turned into mouthpieces for the ruling party to the exclusion of the opposition cannot be said to be free and fair or to promote peace.
The ruling party may enjoy the advantages of incumbency, but the rules and conduct of the election contest must be fair for peace to be guaranteed.
If this is not so, the elections will not be able to produce results that those in the opposition and their supporters will accept as being accurate and a true reflection of the will of the people. Peace can only be guaranteed if we are able to hold elections whose results the losers accept as reflecting the true judgement of the voters.
The unwarranted use of vast public resources, including the state-owned media, by the ruling party for its own benefit to the exclusion of rival political parties is tantamount to corruption.
This tendency is increasing in magnitude and so eroding the democratic processes of political development in Zambia. The MMD’s victories in all the elections held after 1991 are marred by these abuses, as well as by the use of violence against political opponents.
The top MMD leadership has not attempted to discipline some of their members and cadres who have resorted to violence against the opposition. In fact, they have pledged the party’s support for their violent members and cadres.
The implications for democracy of all this violence and abuse can be summed up by pointing out that the normal democratic processes are likely to be constrained considerably if the violence and abuses of last year are anything to go by.
Political intolerance is fast growing, and efforts at instituting for tyrannical rule are evident in various forms.
Another worrying thing is the state machinery’s open support for the ruling MMD.
The police, the Drug Enforcement Commission, the Anti Corruption Commission, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Attorney General’s chambers, and all other law enforcement agencies, including our courts of law, all appear to be on the side of the MMD and its leaders.
This is not a recipe for peaceful, free and fair elections.
We cannot have peaceful elections under such a political environment because peace is the fruit of that right ordering of things in a manner that is fair and just.
It is therefore very important to maintain and strengthen our democratic and electoral structures if we are to witness peaceful politics.
And for this reason, we should value the democratic system in as much as it ensures the participation of all our people in making political choices and in guaranteeing them the possibility of electing and holding accountable those who govern them, and of replacing them through peaceful means during elections.
As Tilyenji has correctly observed, there’s bound to be violence if people feel cheated out of victory in an election. Peace is the fruit of honesty and truth in the way we conduct the affairs, political or otherwise, of our country.
And since the peace we are all talking about, we are all yearning for depends on the way we conduct our politics and our elections, there’s need for us to do things the right way even if it calls for maximum effort.
There will not be peace in our country if we continue to hold elections whose results are always hotly disputed because the process is not seen to be free and fair.
Free, fair and constructive elections will only become a reality when our politicians, especially those in government and in the ruling party, take their responsibilities seriously.
Our politicians would make a positive contribution to peaceful, fair and free elections if they addressed themselves to the real issues, to their manifestos, so that voters could judge what ideas the parties and their leaders had on problems that really matter: cost of living, unemployment, corruption, poor services in education, health, government and also on the constitution reviews or amendments they intend to make.
They would also do so by rejecting violence in the strongest terms.
They should respect truth and their political opponents.
They should learn to be tolerant with people who have different political opinions. In this connection, we deplore the fact that violence is still going on at an alarming level despite growing public opposition to political violence.
There can be no talk of free and fair elections whilst the present situation of violence and abuses persists; and we join other citizens of goodwill in challenging the government and the ruling MMD to rectify this threat to our future, immediately and with all its moral and physical powers.
There’s need also for all our political parties to educate their members, cadres and followers to be tolerant.
It is only in that way that, after the elections, Zambia will remain stable, united and peaceful.
Let us set an example in this year’s elections that will win us the respect of the whole world.
Let everyone involved have in their hearts the desire that all will benefit and not just the leaders, members, cadres and supporters of the political party that wins this year’s elections.
And as we have stated before, and we will continue to do so, for us to have peaceful, free and fair elections this year, certain conditions have to prevail in our country and in our hearts.
There ought to be conducive atmosphere. The major players have to agree on the conditions under which this year’s elections would be held.
The contestants have to conduct themselves in a manner that does not put others at an unfair disadvantage. There ought to be transparency in the organisation of this year’s elections.
We also need to ensure that political parties keep to pertinent issues, for example, service to the poor, social welfare, agricultural issues or economic recovery, issues of corruption and good governance, during their campaigns.
Those who campaign outside these issues – politicians only interested in lies, calumny, deceit, manipulation, mudslinging their opponents – are not promoting peaceful elections and should not be voted for.
We should continue to demand that all political parties publicly denounce violence of any sort.
And constructive dialogue should be encouraged at all times on key electoral issues, such as the Constitution, the electoral Act, and voter registration.
All parties should have equal access to the state-owned media, and the state-owned media have a duty to report political campaigns fairly and accurately.
Only in this way can we reasonably harbour any hope of avoiding violence and of holding peaceful, free and fair elections this year.
Labels: MMD, POLITICAL VIOLENCE, TILYENJI KAUNDA
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Take blame for violence, Tilyenji tells MMD, govt
By Ernest Chanda
Fri 07 Jan. 2011, 04:01 CAT
MMD should blame itself for failing to control violence instead of attacking those who express concern over the matter, says UNIP president Tilyenji Kaunda. Responding to MMD spokesperson Dora Siliya's statement that violence ended with the UNIP era, Tilyenji said the MMD leadership should put things in order to promote peace.
“When man fell from the Grace of God, man became violent. So, violence is part of us if we don't handle ourselves correctly. If people are cheated out of victory in an election, they get violent. And when food prices go up, people become violent. All this points to those in authority who are not putting things in order,” Tilyenji said.
“So, the MMD leadership should not blame those expressing concern over violence, but blame themselves for not acting accordingly. The Mufumbwe situation is another example that Zambians are not immune to violence when things go bad. What I'm saying is that MMD should accept that they are in the right position to control the situation.”
Tilyenji said the country should have strong institutions that could curb violence.
He said the spirit of One Zambia, One Nation should be promoted the way the UNIP government promoted it.
“If we allow ourselves to preach tribalism, to be partisan all the time, then we are not going anywhere.
Those condemning violence are not the ones calling for it, but it is the MMD government which is not reacting to people's needs. We have been peaceful since independence and those in charge should ensure that the peace prevails,” said Tilyenji.
And Citizens Forum executive director Simon Kabanda said the government should heed Tilyenji’s warning instead of demonising him.
Kabanda said the ruling party should have acknowledged Tilyenji's concerns and taken measures.
“Dora Siliya is in short saying they are interested in violence. MMD leaders claim that they don't want violence but they do the opposite. Recently, we saw violence at their own provincial party conference in Lusaka. It was all an MMD affair; there was no other political party, so why should Dora refer to the UNIP era when we have seen so much violence under MMD?” Kabanda wondered.
He said for the MMD leadership to be seen to denounce violence, they should discipline culprits.
Recently, Tilyenji asked the government to address the flaws in the electoral Act to guarantee free and fair elections this year.
Colonel Panji Kaunda also said this year’s elections would be the bloodiest if the problem of violence was not controlled by the government.
But Siliya said violence ended in the UNIP era.
“Zambians are not interested in the politicians of doom. Why are they talking about the violence they have not seen? Zambians are only interested in politicians who have a positive vision for the country,” said Siliya.
Labels: DORA SILIYA, MMD, POLITICAL VIOLENCE, TILYENJI KAUNDA
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Govt retires Times news editor Sakala
By Ernest Chanda
Fri 07 Jan. 2011, 04:00 CAT
PRESS Association of Zambia president Andrew Sakala has been retired from the Times of Zambia. Sakala, 45, who served as News Editor in Lusaka for over two years, was retired on Wednesday in ‘public interest’.
Well-placed sources within the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services said there was a scheme by the government to weaken PAZA, which had been part of the media bodies fighting for self-regulation.
The sources said the government had been hunting down individual editors in the public media who had been opposing statutory media regulation.
The sources disclosed that there was a scheme by the government to weaken the Media Liaison Committee by targeting and influencing its members like the Zambia Union of Journalists and the Zambia Union for Broadcasters and other Information Disseminators (ZUBID) to pull out of the consortium.
“We know that some of the individuals in these unions are principled, but they may be forced to choose between their jobs or principles,” a source said.
When contacted, Sakala, who had served Times of Zambia for 20 years in several positions, confirmed having been retired but declined to comment further on this retirement.
However, Sakala said the government should this year allow freedom of expression even to those who appeared to be a nuisance to them.
Sakala said the government should also stop intimidating media practitioners, especially those in the public media.
“As a media we are still battling and the signals from government are bad. We have to press on for media freedom. Government has an obligation to ensure that people have access to information, and that people express themselves freely," Sakala said. "This is 2011 and I appeal to the government to accommodate even those views they don't like. Even media houses that seem to be critical of government should be allowed to exist because that's the essence of media freedom. Government should not intimidate the public media by retiring editors they seem not to like. Let the media operate freely."
He said the Zambia Media Council (ZAMEC) was not about an individual person or organisation.
Sakala said the proposed media body's origin was very clear; it was about promotion of professionalism and protection of the public.
Labels: ANDREW SAKALA, PAZA, THE TIMES
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Barotse royals express their feelings to Kunda
By Mwala Kalaluka and Agness Changala
Fri 07 Jan. 2011, 04:01 CAT
THE Barotse Royal Establishment says feelings of anger over the exclusion of the Barotseland Agreement 1964 from the new constitution will make dialogue with the government on the issue difficult.
But Vice-President George Kunda says the government will clamp-down on anybody intending to hold a public meeting in Limulunga next week over issues arising from the Barotseland Agreement. Meanwhile, home affairs minister Mkhondo Lungu, says anyone agitating for the secession of Western Province is committing treason.
Sources that attended the close to five hours closed-door meeting held between Vice-President Kunda and the Barotse traditional leadership at the Litunga’s palace in Limulunga on Wednesday, said the BRE leadership demanded that Vice-President Kunda immediately states the government’s position on the matter.
The sources said two separate meetings were held within the Litunga’s palace.
They said the first meeting with Vice-President Kunda attended by the Litunga, his younger brother Anang’anga Imwiko (chief for Lukulu district), the Ngambela prime minister and some indunas including Professor Oliver Saasa Induna Kaluwe was held in the Litunga’s house Kwandu.
They said the second meeting, which was more open, was held in the conference room Kashandi within the Litunga’s palace. The sources said the meetings took place from 11:00 hours to 15:00 hours.
The sources said Vice-President Kunda was accompanied to the meeting by home affairs minister Mkhondo Lungu, provincial minister Richard Mwapela, the president’s legal advisor Joseph Jalasi and a Mr. Kaumba from Office of the President (OP).
“Some of the issues that were raised by the BRE were that of leaving out the Barotseland Agreement in the NCC National Constitutional Conference. They said the exclusion was hurting and had angered their children in the area,” the source said. “They said there might be no hope that there will be dialogue with the government.”
The sources said Vice-President Kunda replied that the government was of the idea that the issue of the Barotseland Agreement is discussed between it and the royal establishment.
They said Vice-President Kunda explained that taking the Barotseland Agreement issue to the NCC constitution route would lead to it being shot down because other people did not understand it.
“The Ngambela didn’t seem to understand the explanation from the Vice-President because what he wanted was for the government to immediately agree that the Barotseland Agreement would get into the Constitution,” the source said. “But the Vice-President said that is not how things were done. He said he has been sent by his boss President Rupiah Banda to find out what the tension was all about and to report back.”
The sources said Vice-President Kunda told the meeting that the government was ready to discuss the matter and they were surprised that people in the province had been fighting and calling for secession.
“There was no agreement. He just came to find out what the problem was and if there was something the government had not done right,” the sources said.
And on the intentions by Barotse activists to hold a public meeting at Limulunga next week, where the Litunga’s palace is located, Vice-President Kunda urged for the cancellation of the meeting.
“He said the government would charge those people with treason if they hold the meeting. He said those that were released on a nolle prosequi last time were lucky because the Litunga intervened,” the sources said.
The sources said in response the Ngambela said in as much as they were willing to discuss the Barotseland Agreement issue with the government, their children were agitated and they were causing problems.
“On January 14, 2011, the Ngambela said the issue of the meeting would cause problems for the BRE. He said ‘those children Barotse activists will come and beat us. If you (government) allow them, they will come and harass us and force us to secede’,” the source said.
Meanwhile, Lungu at a press briefing yesterday warned that anyone agitating for the secession of Western Province was committing an act of treason.
He has warned that the government would not allow the January 14 meeting being mooted by Barosteland activists to discuss issues surrounding the Baroste Agreement as it would only cause probems in the country.
And a former Ngambela for Western Province during the reign of the late Litunga Ilute Yeta IV says the Barotse activists’ meeting will go ahead next week.
Maxwell Mututwa said in an interview from Mongu yesterday that the Barotse activists could not talk to the government over the Barotseland Agreement 1964 without getting the people’s feelings over the matter.
“The government should not in any way try to block this public meeting because we want to get the people’s views,” Mututwa said. “That is when we shall call for a meeting with the President or his representatives. We don’t want to preach our own views but the views of the people of Western Province. The meeting will take place whether the government like it or not.”
However, Lungu said that government would not allow the meeting the Barostseland activists had mooted for January 14 called to discuss issues surrounding the Baroste Agreement of 1964.
He said the police command in Western Province took the right course of action by telling them not to proceed.
“Doing so is actually breaking the law and constitutes a treasonable offence,” Lungu said.
He said the government was aware of the meeting as it had received information through its security agencies.
Lungu said the discussions between the Litunga, Vice-President George Kunda and the rest of the people who attended went well.
However, he was unable to go into details of the meeting because Vice-President Kunda was yet to report to President Rupiah Banda.
President Banda sent Vice-President Kunda to meet the Litunga to find out abo\ut the recent disturbances that had occurred in the province.
Lungu said the government was determined and resolved as always not to allow any person or group of persons to disturb the peace and security which the country had enjoyed from 1964 to date.
He also said circulating of seditious material was an offence and that the law shall take its course on all persons involved in such activities.
And Lungu said his ministry was ready to provide an enabling environment to all political parties to market themselves to the electorate.
He said the year 2011 presented an opportunity for the citizens to exercise their democratic right of voting for leaders of their choice at all the three levels.
Lungu said political gatherings are expected to be free of any form of violence so that the right to assemble is not abused.
He said political leaders must also ensure that they conduct their campaigns and package their messages in a manner that will not be suggestive of any form of anarchy.
Lungu called on the media to ensure the information disseminated does not cause panic and anxiety among the general citizenry.
He said those aggrieved were encouraged to seek amicable means to resolve matters.
The minister also called on all Zambian citizens to abide by the law irrespective of political, social or security diversity.
Commenting on Colonel Panji Kaunda who stood by his statement that 2010 elections would be the bloodiest if the government does not put in place measures to stop violence, Lungu said it was wrong for anyone to predict violence in the forthcoming general elections because it may scare away voters from taking part in the electoral process.
Lungu said leaders should stop making statements that would incite people to be violent and discourage others from going to the polls.
Labels: BAROTSELAND AGREEMENT, GEORGE KUNDA
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what's left
Leftist overthrow advisor Lester Kurtz: “I talked with the CIA”
January 6, 2011
By Stephen Gowans
Lester Kurtz is a professor of sociology who sits on the academic advisory board of the International Center for Non-violent Conflict, an organization that trains activists in the use of mass civil disobedience to take power from foreign governments.
The ICNC was founded by former Freedom House head, Peter Ackerman, Michael Milken’s right-hand man at the Wall Street investment banking firm Drexel Burnham Lambert. Ackerman became ridiculously wealthy organizing the KKR leveraged buy-out of RJR Nabisco. [1]
These days Ackerman is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, along with former US secretaries of state, defense, and treasury, and CEOs, investment bankers and highly placed media people. When he’s not helping formulate foreign policy recommendations at the CFR, he’s lending a hand on the Advisory Council of the United States Institute for Peace, a phoney U.S. government peace outfit headed absurdly by the U.S. secretaries of defense and state.
As you might expect of a wealthy investor who hobnobs with the US foreign policy establishment, Ackerman defines protection of private property rights as an integral part of democracy and believes the United States has a lot of teach the world. [2]
After learning investment banking at the knee of Milken, Ackerman turned his energies to training foreign activists in the use of the nonviolent resistance techniques of Gene Sharp, probably the first person to situate mass civil disobedience in the context of military strategy. [3] This earned Sharp the sobriquet the Clausewitz of nonviolence, after the Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz. [4]
An interviewer working for a Canadian nonviolent resistance magazine once pointed out to Sharp — with some incredulity — that people say a government cannot fund or sponsor the overthrow of another government.
Sharp replied, “Why not?” adding, “What do they prefer that the U.S. spend money on?” [5]
Gene Sharp, the Clausewitz of nonviolence, who sees no trouble with the U.S. government spending money on overthrowing foreign governments. When Sharp was accused of advising right-wing Venezuelans on how to topple Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, the head of the ICNC academic advisory board, Stephen Zunes, sprang to his defense. Sharp is old and sick, Zunes explained. Besides, he has adopted a “transpartisan’ position that cuts across political boundaries and conceptions and (talks) to essentially anyone”. It used to be that leftist peaceniks were against the US government and other rightist forces. Now they advise them.
Nonviolent resistance – also more aptly called nonviolent warfare – is about taking power, not making a point. It’s not pacifism or a principled religious or ethical position based on abhorrence of violence. It’s power politics. Ackerman and other nonviolent warriors believe that mass civil disobedience – the shrewd use of strikes, boycotts, demonstrations, and nonviolent sabotage backed by sanctions and demonization of target governments – can be more effective in taking political power than military intervention. [6] That makes them instrumental nonviolence advocates. They advocate nonviolence, not because they hate violence, but because they think nonviolence works better than armed revolt or military intervention.
With the help of people like Lester Kurtz, the ICNC trains a modern cadre of mercenaries, who travel the world in the pay of NGOs, Western governments, wealthy individuals and corporate foundations, in order to train local groups in regime change through nonviolent warfare. [7] Ackerman, Kurtz and company, sit at the head of a kind of imperialist International, whose aim is to spread the US system, US influence and ultimately US capital around the world, under the guise of “promoting democracy.” It calls to mind a line from Phil Ochs’ condemnation of US imperialism, “We’re the Cops of The World”. Ochs sang, “The name for our profits is democracy.” Of course, the ICNC isn’t admitting to any of this. ICNC members say they’re just handing out information on nonviolence to anyone who will listen.
Last April, Kurtz posted a comment to my blog, calling my linking of Ackerman and his ICNC to US imperialism a “non sequitur.”
Lester Kurtz, another academic pony in Peter Ackerman’s ICNC stable. Kurtz talked to the CIA because they asked him to.
I replied. In my reply I pointed out that Kurtz discloses on his CV that he gave workshops to the CIA and the U.S. government- and corporate- funded think-tank, the RAND Corporation. Nine months later, Kurtz replied, with a bombshell. Sure, he talked with the CIA and RAND, he said, because they asked him to.
Albert Szymanski, also a professor of sociology, would never have received an invitation from the CIA to conduct a workshop on anything, and if he had, we can be pretty sure he would have turned them down. So why Kurtz (an academic advisor to an outfit founded by a wealthy CFR member who celebrates the overthrow of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, an act which cleared the way for a US-backed pro-capitalist government to come to power to sell off state and socially-owned assets to investors like Ackerman) and not Szymanski (a Marxist-Leninist who deplored imperialism)? If ever there was a sign you’re part of the problem, it’s being asked by the CIA for advice. Giving it erases all doubts.
Here’s the exchange. It begins with Kurtz’s comments on my article, “Washington Post: North Korean, Iranian nuclear capability threatens US imperialism”, on April 5, 2010.
It’s no surprise that US foreign policy is somehow linked to the economics of things is not a shock – what is surprising is Stephen Gowans’ effort to link “pro-democracy nonviolence activists,” and Peter Ackerman, with US imperialism! What a non-sequitur! Those activists (with the aid of only educational resources from the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict that Ackerman funds) have taken on oppressors of all political stripes, many of them (like Marcos, Pinochet, etc., etc.) part of the US orb. While Washington no doubt has a hit list, it has nothing to do with providing information and resources to people who would organize for their rights regardless of who is thwarting them. The kind of imprecise thinking that links these activities through some leap of logic simply distracts from other aspects of the argument and leaves me puzzled as to the point of the article.
I replied the same day.
I’m assuming the above was written by Lester Kurtz, Professor of Sociology at George Mason University, and a member of the academic advisory board of Peter Ackerman’s organization, the ICNC. In March, 2005, Kurtz ran a workshop on religion and violence for the CIA and RAND.
I wonder whether Kurtz sees the connection between RAND and the CIA on the one hand and US imperialism on the other. Probably not.
While it may come as no surprise to Kurtz that US foreign policy is somehow linked to the economics of things, showing that this is so is much more difficult than showing that Peter Ackerman is linked to US imperialism. The latter is easily demonstrated.
(1) US foreign policy is imperialist,
(2) The Council on Foreign Relations plays a major role in shaping US foreign policy, and
(3) Peter Ackerman is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
We could add other observations (e.g., Ackerman’s previous role as head of the CIA-interlocked Freedom House, hardly what you would call a non-imperialist organization, and his privileged position atop the economic order of things) but the points above should suffice.
What comes as a surprise to me is that while Kurtz can grasp the nexus between the economics of things and the imperialist nature of US foreign policy, he can’t see the much more obvious connection between Ackerman and US imperialism, but perhaps that is so because to see it, would mean acknowledging his own connection to it.
Nine months later Kurtz responded.
Of course there’s a connection between RAND, the CIA, and US imperialism – that’s why I talked with them when asked to do so. What good does it do to sit in a corner and talk to ourselves? I used to complain to my students that nobody ever asked me about important policy questions – do they ask you? I’d ask. So, when they asked me to speak, I did. I’d not work for them, but will talk with them, with you, with the devil, with anyone who will listen. The whole system is rotten, but won’t be replaced or transformed until people stand up and speak out.
Interestingly, Kurtz used the same defense that the head of the ICNC academic advisory board Stephen Zunes used on behalf of the Clausewitz of nonviolence, Gene Sharp, when it was revealed that Sharp had advised right-wing Venezuelans on how to bring down Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Sharp, explained Zunes, had “taken a ‘transpartisan’ position that cuts across political boundaries and conceptions and (talks) to essentially anyone” [8], apparently just as Kurtz does. If that’s a defense, the world dodged a bullet when Zunes turned down a career in law.
Here’s more of Zunes defending Sharp:
Unfortunately, Sharp – who is now well into his 80s and whose health is failing – appears to show little discernment as to who he meets with and his audience has sometimes included some right-wing Cubans or Venezuelans who have sought him out to see if any of his research would be of relevance in their efforts to organize some kind of popular mobilization against the Castro or Chavez governments. Some of those may have indeed been later found to have engaged in assassination plots. [9]
Since Kurtz isn’t well into his 80s, how do we explain his lack of discernment in who he meets with? Or does age have anything to do with it? Meeting with right-wing Venezuelans, right-wing Cubans [10], followers of Reza Pahlavi, the son of the deposed Shah of Iran [11], and the CIA seems to be standard operating procedure for nonviolent warriors. The New Republic’s Franklin Foer pointed out that “When some of State’s desk officers don’t want to create international incidents by advising activists on how to overthrow governments, they gently suggest visiting Ackerman, who has fewer qualms about lending a helping hand.” It seems that if there’s a nationalist or socialist government to be overthrown, the nonviolent warriors are always willing to step up to the plate. They’ll talk to anyone: right-wing assassins, followers of a former US-backed Iranian dictator, the CIA. Adopting a position that “cuts across political boundaries and conceptions” means that where leftist peaceniks once were against the US government and other rightist forces, not they advise them.
On January 5, I responded to Kurtz’s latest comment.
Good work Les. Maybe after you deliver a few more seminars, the CIA will see the light, and decide that taking down foreign governments that refuse to subordinate themselves to Washington’s dictates isn’t such a good thing after all… Oh, but I forgot, that’s no longer a CIA function, is it? It’s now your job, and that of your ICNC colleagues.
Exactly what is it you’re standing up and speaking out about to the CIA anyway: that organizing nonviolent warfare campaigns against foreign governments is more effective in achieving US foreign policy goals than taking out wedding parties with predator drones?
You are, indeed, making the world a better place, Les. Keep accepting those CIA invitations.
Kurtz and some other ICNC academic advisors seem bewildered that they should be so vigorously criticized for trying to show the powerful that nonviolent overthrow movements are a better alternative to armed intervention. After all, what could be wrong with trying to persuade Washington that there’s a nonviolent way to achieve its foreign policy objectives? What they fail to grasp is that the tools the US government uses to prosecute its foreign policy aren’t the problem. The problem is US foreign policy.
1. Franklin Foer, “Regime Change Inc. Peter Ackerman’s quest to topple tyranny,” The New Republic, April 16, 2005.
2. Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, “Interview with Peter Ackerman, founding chair of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict,” October 19, 2006. http://www.international.gc.ca/cip-pic/discussions/democracy-democratie/video/ackerman.aspx?lang=eng .
3. Eli Lake, “Iran launches a crackdown on democracy activists,” The New York Sun, March 14, 2006.
4. Peace.Ca, “Gene Sharp: A Biographical Profile.” http://www.peace.ca/genesharp.htm
5. Spencer, Metta, “Gene Sharp 101,” Peace Magazine, July-Septmeber, 2003.
6. Peter Ackerman, “Paths to peace: How Serbian students brought dictator down without a shot fired,” National Catholic Reporter, April 26, 2002; Peter Ackerman and Jack DuVall, “The nonviolent script for Iran,” Christian Science Monitor, July 22, 2003; Peter Ackerman and Jack DuVall, “With weapons of the will: How to topple Saddam Hussein – nonviolently,” Sojourners Magazine, September-October 2002 (Vol 31, No. 5, pp.20-23.)
7. Mark R. Beissinger, “Promoting democracy: Is exporting revolution a constructive strategy?” Dissent, Winter 2006. http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=155
8. Foer.
9. Foer.
10. Stephen Zunes, George Cicariello-Maher and Eva Golinger, “Debate on the Albert Einstein Institution and its Involvement in Venezuela”, venezuelanalysis.com, August 5, 2008. http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3690
Labels: NEOCOLONIALISM, PETER ACKERMAN, STEPHEN GOWANS
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Officials jostle for positions following Tsvangirai's declaration
Wednesday, 05 January 2011 20:21 Top Stories
A PRESS conference called by Mr Gorden Moyo, to do damage control on factionalism that is tearing MDC-T apart in Matabeleland was much ado about nothing as the former civic society activist failed to articulate himself well.
Mr Moyo, the Minister of State Enterprises and Parastatals, called a Press conference at his house Number 14, 19th Avenue in Famona in an attempt to clear the smoke surrounding his involvement in the alleged plot to unseat, MDC-T deputy president, Ms Thokozani Khupe.
Our sister paper, Sunday News revealed at the weekend that some senior MDC-T national executive members among them, Mr Moyo, Speaker of House of Assembly, Mr Lovemore Moyo, Mr Norman Mabhena, who is in the national council and Mrs Theresa Makone, the women’s wing chairperson, were positioning themselves for Ms Khupe’s post at the next congress scheduled for 10 May. Yesterday Mr Moyo was at pains to try and mend his party’s battered image.
When journalists fired questions about his political ambitions and appraisal of his deputy president’s capabilities, Mr Moyo tried to be slippery and continuously said he was not interested in the post.
“I want to set the record straight, I am not stampeding, I am not part of the pack if ever it is there, that is jostling for the deputy presidency in my party,” said Mr Moyo.
“I am only available to land a post when deployed by the party and the people even at the lowest post. Let everyone learn from me that I am not and I am not in that contest and there is no division or animosity in my party.”
When pinned down by journalists on alleged tensions and leadership crisis in his party and what he would do should people choose him as vice-president, Mr Moyo referred questions to the party spokesperson, Mr Nelson Chamisa.
The battle for the second top post is said to have fomented after the party leader, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai declared during a national council meeting “anyone who is my vice will take over my post when I leave power.”
According to party insiders, Ms Khupe’s main fault has allegedly been her “lack of strength and capacity” to face President Mugabe, Vice-Presidents Joice Mujuru and John Nkomo as well as Professor Welshman Ncube of MDC.
Serious campaigning is said to be taking place among the structures, a development that has given birth to divisions in Matabeleland as party supporters are torn apart between Mr Gorden Moyo and Mr Lovemore Moyo.-Chronicle
Labels: GORDEN MOYO, LOVEMORE MOYO, MDC, MDC FACTIONS
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COMMENT - This is a very confused article from Ann Talbot of the
World Socialist Wesite, because she has bought into the corporatist propaganda about Zimbabwe. She doesn't even acknowledge the existence of economic sanctions or their effect, nor does she mention the land redistribution program. So much for her 'socialism'.
WikLeaks expose Western plot to plunder Zim resources
by Ann Talbot
06/01/2011 00:00:00
THE US diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks contain revealing details of how the United States and Britain sought to further their commercial interests in Zimbabwe.
WikiLeaks has released 12 cables, which originate from the American embassy in Harare in addition to others from the South African capital Pretoria, London and the State Department commenting on the situation in Zimbabwe. They range in date from September 2000 to February 2010.
This was a decade in which President Robert Mugabe’s regime came into increasing conflict with the Western-backed Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by white agribusinesses and headed by former trade union leader Morgan Tsvangirai. The present power-sharing government was ultimately established in 2008, with Robert Mugabe as president and Tsvangirai as prime minister.
Inflation in Zimbabwe had by then reached the figure of 40 million percent. The infrastructure was breaking down, and the country had been devastated by a cholera epidemic. Thousands were fleeing across the border into South Africa every day to escape unemployment, poverty and hunger. Approximately 1.5 million Zimbabweans are now thought to live in South Africa.
Collapse
A country that had once been among the richest in Africa, with an effective health service and educational system, had slipped to the lowest point in the UN Human Development Report for 2010.
In 2006, life expectancy was the lowest in the world at only 34 years for women and 37 for men, according to the World Health Organisation. Since then, there has been some improvement, and life expectancy now averages 47 years. But in 2010, UNICEF estimated that one third of Zimbabwe children were at risk of dying as a result of malnutrition.
The cables track this human tragedy through the indifferent eyes of American diplomats, whose main concern was always for the potential profits to be made from Zimbabwe’s natural resources.
They chart the efforts of US, British and European diplomats, often working through the UN, to establish a regime that will open up the country to international investment.
In reality, this was a tragedy largely manufactured by the international financial institutions that Washington sponsors.
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When the International Monetary Fund attempted to impose a structural adjustment programme in Zimbabwe at the end of the 1990s, Mugabe broke from it because he realised that it would mean dismantling the system of patronage on which he depended to remain in power. “Let that monstrous creature get out of our way,” he declared, and attempted to find other sources of international finance.
He has succeeded in remaining in power by enriching the clique around him at the expense of the majority of the population.
Finally, after 10 years the IMF is back in town—insisting on a programme of structural reforms that will address what they refer to as “labour market rigidities” and establish secure property rights for foreign investors. Mugabe’s bid to go it alone has failed, under circumstances that can only be described as disastrous for working people.
The cables that WikiLeaks has published reveal that throughout this decade the US was quite prepared to come to an accommodation with Mugabe and ensure him a lucrative retirement.
Regime Change
They note the human rights abuses that his regime has committed, but show no desire to pursue justice in Mugabe’s case. They treat, matter of factly, the process of engineering regime change without reference to the popular will. Creating a new strong man in Africa is all in a day’s work for the US diplomatic corps.
Britain appears to play a minor role in the story told by the US cables, because they represent the American point of view. Yet, the relationship between the two powers is ever present.
All of the cables are copied to Joint Analytical Command at RAF Molesworth in Cambridgeshire, England, where AFRICOM is based—demonstrating the close military and intelligence links between the US and UK. British companies, too, clearly look to the US as a friendly power that will protect their interests.
In 2000, the US embassy in Harare reported that elements in the ruling ZANU-PF were interested in a deal with the MDC that would involve Mugabe’s departure.
The board of Lever Brothers (Unilever) had informed the MDC that Kofi Annan, then head of the UN, had offered Mugabe a deal if he would step down. It included a financial package and safe passage to Libya.
It seemed that “a shady white businessman,” thought to be John Bredenkamp, had also offered Mugabe a retirement deal. It was not known whether Bredenkamp had sufficient resources to finance the package himself, but it was believed that he worked for MI6 and might become a conduit through which the British could channel money to Mugabe.
The cable noted that shortly afterwards, they were informed, probably by Bredenkamp, that “key members of the private sector here could prevent a political and economic train wreck.”
The businessman claimed that Britain had £36 million available for land reform, but would probably not be able to act as an honest broker in securing a settlement. He appealed to the US to find someone to play this role, so that businessmen could set up negotiations between the MDC and Mugabe.
The US embassy interpreted the businessman’s discussion with them as a ruling party back-channel approach and believed it was probably genuine because elements of ZANU-PF had become convinced that Mugabe had become a liability.
Unity pact
In November 2000, the embassy reported a discussion with Tsvangirai, in which he stressed the need for a unity government with ZANU-PF remaining in power but with some MDC ministers brought into office.
Mugabe would be removed by a convergence of ZANU-PF, the military and regional leaders such as President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. Tsvangirai agreed that mass action would be dangerous and said that if it became necessary the MDC would organise a general strike for the Christmas holiday when schools and most businesses were closed anyway. In the event, the MDC cancelled such plans.
In July 2007, US Ambassador Christopher Dell made his final report before leaving the country. According to the cable, the task for American foreign policy was to “stay the course and prepare for change. Our policy is working and it’s helping to drive change here. What is required is simply the grit, determination and focus to see this through. Then, when the changes finally come we must be ready to move quickly to help consolidate the new dispensation.”
Dell paid tribute to Mugabe’s tactical ability. “To give the devil his due, he is a brilliant tactician and has long thrived on his ability to abruptly change the rules of the game, radicalise the political dynamic and force everyone else to react to his agenda.”
He traced Mugabe’s increasingly desperate measures to stay in power and the damage they had done to the economy, predicting that the collapse of the Zimbabwean dollar as a unit of trade would ultimately bring about his downfall. The cable is headed “The end is nigh”.
Events were to prove that Mugabe had not, as Dell supposed, entirely run out of options. A cable from 2008 describes how the ZANU-PF regime elite were looting the Marange diamond fields.
Andrew Cranswick, the CEO of the British-based African Consolidated Resources, told the US embassy that leading figures in the regime were engaged in illegal diamond trading.
First Lady Grace Mugabe is currently suing a number of media outlets for suggesting that she was involved in this activity. According to geological study carried out for de Beers, the field has a carats per hundred tons ratio (CPHT) of 1,000 compared to Rio Tinto’s Zimbabwean diamond mine at Murowa, which has a CPHT ratio of only 120.
Cranswick’s motive for informing the American embassy was that the government had taken away his company’s concession in Marange, but a specialist sent to this restricted area found his report generally credible.
Another cable the following year reported that the army had moved into the Marange diamond field, taking control of the trade, and that Mugabe was planning to visit Russia in an attempt to get hold of foreign exchange in a diamond deal.
Whipping boy
By then, a power-sharing agreement had been signed along the lines envisaged earlier by the US ambassador. The military remained powerful, and by October 2009 Tsvangirai was asking the Americans to contribute to a trust fund that would “buy off securocrats and move them into retirement”. Tsvangirai said that he would approach the Germans and the British with the same request.
In another cable, Tsvangirai appealed for the easing of Western sanctions against Zimbabwe. That view was echoed by a member of ZANU-PF, who told the embassy that sanctions only provided a convenient “whipping boy” for Mugabe. ZANU-PF, he said, was like “a troop of baboons incessantly fighting among themselves, but coming together to face an external threat.”
The cables demonstrate how a form of neo-colonial domination continued to exist in this nominally independent country.
Events did not always go according to Washington’s plans, but the power-sharing agreement that is now in place is essentially in line with the ideas mapped out by successive US ambassadors over the last decade.
Tsvangirai emerges from the cables as a creature of Washington, who is useful to US interests because his background as a trade union leader provided the means of averting an independent political movement among urban workers that might provide leadership to the rural poor.
Washington was prepared to offer Mugabe a peaceful retirement, since it was better to let the old liberation fighter leave the scene with honour than to antagonise the mass of population by making too public a demonstration of US power. Tsvangirai was entirely in agreement and was prepared to extend the same consideration to other members of the elite.
Mugabe has used every possibility open to him to remain in power, but he is still ultimately subordinate to the dictates of the world market and international financial institutions that were designed with American interests in mind.
Competition for Zimbabwe’s natural resources has given him very limited room for manoeuvre—by turning to Libya, Russia and China. But hyperinflation brought his regime to the point where he has had to make a deal with Washington.
The analysis that the World Socialist Web Site has made of Zimbabwe over the past decade has been entirely vindicated.
We refused to back the MDC opposition and have consistently pointed to its reliance on Washington.
Nor did we endorse the nationalist agenda of ZANU-PF or identify it with socialism, insisting that only an independent working class movement based on an international socialist programme can defend the interests of the mass of the population throughout Southern Africa.
This article was published by the World Socialist Web Site.
Labels: NEOCOLONIALISM, WIKILEAKS
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Zambia may over shoot tax collection target for 2010 on mining bonanza
Sunday, 02 Jan 2011
Zambia envisions realizing more than 9% of the total revenue projected in 2010 because of increased tax collections from mining companies and other domestic taxes, which it may plough into other commitments including ensuring food security.
Finance minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane, in his letter of intent to global lender International Monetary Fund managing Director Mr Dominique Strauss Khan said that it was government’s projection that revenue collection this year would exceed nine percent projected because the country has performed well, given the fiscal and monetary policies implemented by government to grow the economy.
The performance is attributed to higher collections under income and value added taxes arising from tax arrears and an increase in tax collections from mining companies. Following the maize output of 2.7 million tones during the 2009/10 season, the highest in more than two decades, the government has set aside more than USD 250 million (ZMK 1.3 trillion) to purchase the grain.
The expenditure which was not budgeted for and accounted for about 1.7% of the country’s economic growth is said to have put pressure on the national budget for this year. The Food Reserve Agency, the grain storage and purchase wing of the government, intends to sell the bulk of the grain, particularly maize to deficit countries in the region and beyond in 2011 and thereafter, repay the government.
He said the government decided to increase its expenditure outside the planned fiscal year 2010 to prevent the grain from going to waste by remaining unsheltered in the fields with the onset of the rains in the country.
Dr Musokotwane added that government would secure more than USD 100 million from the mine tax arrears to finance the purchase of the maize and borrow a further USD 100 million from lending institutions through government securities including treasury bills and bonds.
Foreign mining companies, he said agreed to pay USD 1.3 million (ZMK1.4 trillion) in tax arrears arising from the 2008 mining tax regime as the signed 1 year mine stabilization tax agreements. The government reiterated its unwillingness to re introduce the windfall tax regime, waived in 2009, adding that the current taxes at play were adequate to ensure that enough revenue was generated from the mines to compliment the economic growth program.
The Lusaka-based Bank of Zambia, the country’s reserve bank, was currently working out modalities of mopping excess liquidity from the market so that the high fiscal expenditure on maize purchases does not fuel inflation, from the current single digit of about 7.1% at the end of November this year and the projected economic growth of more than six percent of Gross Domestic Product during the fiscal year, 2010.
(Filed by Mr Kapembwa Sinkamba SteelGuru Correspondent Zambia)
Labels: COPPER, FRA, MAIZE, SITUMBEKO MUSOKOTWANE, TAXATION, WINDFALL TAX
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COMMENT - The US is using Kenya and Uganda to send T-72 tanks to the SPLA in Southern Sudan. Just as they are using Uganda and Rwanda to haul Coltan out of the DRC.
SUBJECT:
GOK/GOSS AGREE ON TIMETABLE FOR SECOND TANK 7/29/2009 14:42
Subject: gok/goss agree on timetable for second tank shipment
Classified By: CDA Robert Whitehead for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d)
¶1. (C) GOSS xxxxxxxxxxxx has admitted that, on the margins of the Washington "Forum for CPA Partners," he pressed Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula on the need to expedite delivery to South Sudan of tanks off-loaded from the MV Faina. Three months had passed since Nairobi initially agreed -- albeit in a staggered fashion and only under cover of darkness -- to ship the SPLA its second order of tanks (REFTEL Khartoum 00378). According to xxxxxxxxxxxx upon xxxxxxxxxxxx instruction he told the Kenyan ForMin that if the tanks did not start moving by Juli's end, the GOSS would be forced to "reevaluate its relationship with Nairobi. Despite such threats, xxxxxxxxxxxx maintained that the meeting was largely positive. "The Kenyans are relieved that we will be routing them through Uganda -- keeping them out of the spotlight."
¶2. (C) Asked whether he was any more confident of actual delivery, given how earlier promises from the Kenyans had vaporized, xxxxxxxxxxxx responded in the affirmative. xxxxxxxxxxxx and newly-appointed xxxxxxxxxxxx had met in Nairobi as xxxxxxxxxxxx returned from Washington to again discuss the transfer with Kenyan Department of Defense counterparts. "We are certain that this time they will move." xxxxxxxxxxxx further confirmed that weapons, armaments, and the spare parts and support packages for the T-72 tanks had already been moved out of Nairobi into Sudan's South, although he would not divulge their location. xxxxxxxxxxxx
¶3. (C) xxxxxxxxxxxx optimism appears to be merited. xxxxxxxxxxxx travelled to Kampala xxxxxxxxxxxx in order to meet with Ugandan counterparts on unspecified business. xxxxxxxxxxxx remains an integral member of the SPLA's tank procurement team, despite the SPLA's May reshuffle which pushed him into the xxxxxxxxxxxx. SPLA Affairs Minister Nhial Deng Nhial admitted to A/CG xxxxxxxxxxxx had been granted extraordinary authorities to handle the totality of the SPLA's outstanding contracts in order to ensure the circle of those involved in the tank procurement remained small "for obvious security reasons." xxxxxxxxxxxx The decision to extend such authorities xxxxxxxxxxxx would appear to indicate the entire "adminstrative chain" of the SPLA has been shielded from the decision. END COMMENT). At a July 23 farewell dinner, xxxxxxxxxxxx confirmed the Kenyans had begun trans-shipment of tanks to Uganda, but could not speak to when they would arrive in the South.
¶4. (C) Per reftel, the SPLA is dependent on Nairobi concurrence to authorize the third and final shipment of Juba's 2006 tanks purchase. xxxxxxxxxxxx maintained in mid-July that Nairobi, facing increasing pressure from Khartoum, continued to resist green-lighting the shipment. Notwithstanding xxxxxxxxxxxx contention that the Juba/Nairobi bilateral relationship was weathering the tank-shipment "stand-off," there is growing vidence to the contrary.
¶5. (C) xxxxxxxxxxxx that she had access to documents pertaining to a pending bank transfer linked to an unspecified SPLA procurement initiative worth $34 million. According to the contractor, past SPLA contracts consistently included routing information for banks to Kenya. This contract did not -- a first in this individual's tenure with the Finance Ministry. (NOTE: The contractor further advised that the contract would drive SPLA finances into the red; unless the SPLA saw a budget increase next fiscal year, the SPLA would be without financing until April 2010 if this contract moved forward. END NOTE.) As of July 24, the contractor did not believe this SPLA contract had gone forward in the Finance Ministry's internal approval process.
Khartoum 00000881 002 of 002
(COMMENT: We are not sure that the contractor would be privy to information regarding this contract's approval, however, and think it possible that, given Finance Minister David Deng Athorbei's failed attempts to purchase attack helicopters for the SPLA out of Ministry of Roads and Transport monies in November 2008, he might be sympathetic to other SPLA procurement requests despite current GOSS budgeting woes. END comment).
¶6. (C) Comment. Despite extensive coverage of the tank purchases and delivery in local and internationl media, the SPLM continues to treat the matter as a secret matter, perhaps as a concession to Kenyan sensitivities. The existence of the tanks, however, is one of the least secret secrets in Khartoum.
Whitehead
...
Labels: KENYA, NEOCOLONIALISM, SUDAN, UGANDA, USA
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SUBJECT:
SUDAN COMPLAINS OF “PROBABLY AMERICAN” BOMBING
ATTACKS IN EASTERN SUDANO 241054Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3064
S E C R E T KHARTOUM 000249
EO 12958 DECL: 02/24/2019
REF: A. KHARTOUM 120 B. KHARTOUM 107 C. KHARTOUM 82 D. KHARTOUM 59
Classified By: CDA Alberto M. Fernandez for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).
¶1. (S) CDA Fernandez was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on the morning of February 24 by Americas Department head Ambassador Nasreddin Wali. Wali said that he had sensitive and worrisome information to relate to the Charge. Reading from hand-written notes in Arabic and referring to a large dog-eared map brought in for the occasion, Wali said that there had been two air attacks on Eastern Sudan in January and February.
In the January attack, 43 people were killed and 17 vehicles destroyed. This occurred near Magd, in the Gebeit region of Red Sea state, “the Northern part of an area known as Oku” (phonetic). It is roughly at the latitude of 17 degrees and longitude of 33.5, according to Wali.
¶2. (S) The second attack occurred on February 20 at Bir al-Mansurab (latitude of 17 degrees and longitude of 34, according to Wali). The second attack was 15 kilometers from the site of the January attack. In the February attack, 45 Sudanese were kalled and 14 vehicles destroyed. Both attacks occurred 150 kilometers deep inside Sudan, not near any international border.
¶3. (S) Wali said that “we assume that the planes that attacked us are your planes.” He said that Sudan has had “tight cooperation” with the United States on security matters and any concerns that the USG has about security related issues can be raised within the context of bilateral diplomatic and intelligence relations between the two countries. He added that “Sudan would like to have clarification about this matter. We protest this act and we condemn it. Sudan reserves the right to respond appropriately, at the right time, in a legal manner consistent with protecting its sovereignty.”
¶4. (S) Comment: This complaint by Sudan comes on the heels of the Embassy being tasked by Washington to demarche Khartoum on weapons smuggling issues possibly involving Iran and Hamas (reftels a-c). So it is easy for the regime to assume that the demarches and these kinetic incidents are somehow connected. The initial attack is already the object of gossip by elements of Sudan’s political elite, even outside the tight confines of the regime’s inner circle (reftel d). CDA had already scheduled an Emergency Action Committee meeting on February 24 to discuss the Embassy’s security posture in the runup to the March 4 ICC announcement and this latest news is an additional concern in a very volatile political environment. Embassy requests Washington guidance on what - if any - formal response should be given to the Sudanese. And should this potentially explosive story somehow leak to the sensationalistic Sudanese press, it could very well turn our security situation here from bad to worse. End comment.
FERNANDEZ
Labels: IRAN, NEOCOLONIALISM, SUDAN, TERRORISM
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SUBJECT:
NORTHEAST BRAZIL: LANDLESS MOVEMENT TRIES TO RE-INVENT ITSELF SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Just as in southern Brazil (reftel), the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), and their fellow travelers in the always-disadvantaged northeast region, seem to be changing tactics; with confrontation less appealing, they appear to be re-positioning themselves and trying to get on the government "gravy train." Membership has been affected by President Lula's "Bolsa Familia" program of cash transfers to the poor. Unable to seize any more "unproductive" farms, as agro-industry increases production, the land reform activists opt for reinventing themselves as advocates for small-scale rural development and alternative energy, according to sources in the Catholic Church. End Summary
¶2. (SBU) Father Herminio Canova, who heads the northeast region's Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) for the Catholic Church's National Conference of Brazilian Bishops (CNBB), met with the principal officer in Recife May 21. He and one of the CPT lawyers gave an overview of how the land reform movement was changing. Father Herminio had recently been on a march to Brasilia, then visited the conflict area along the Brazil-Venezuela border in Roraima, where clashes took place between indigenous people and rice farmers. The priest said the CPT was launching a national campaign to limit the size of large land-holdings "to defend agrarian reform, territorial and food sovereignty." He explained that the long-standing campaign to seize and divide up "unproductive" farms had reached a dead end; in the current economy, agro-industry was using most land that could increase production. So, according to Father Herminio, the landless movement is now going to focus on consolidation of the lands already seized, demanding faster loans for the members and encouraging them to get involved with alternative forms of energy, mainly bio-fuels.
¶3. (U) The ethanol boom has caught the attention of the settlers in the agrarian reform farms. They are now looking for crops that can be turned into fuel or other ways to produce energy with small-scale technologies. For the CPT, which opposes large scale hydro-electric dams, as well as the "near servitude" conditions of migrant workers on the sugar plantations, only renewable energy from small-scale projects should be pursued in order to preserve the environment and the Amazon region. Father Herminio said settlers in the land along the Sao Francisco River were interested in working with Petrobras to experiment on bio-fuel production. This irrigated area of agro-industry near Petrolina also has large concentrations of the landless movement settlements.
¶4. (SBU) The CPT leader explained that in the northeast region, there are five main land reform groups - the MST, a splinter group known as the MLST, two federations of rural workers - FETRAPE and FETRAF-plus the "Central Syndicate" and nine smaller groups involved in pressuring the government to redistribute land. During this year's "Red April" land invasions, groups from this coalition invaded 14 farms across Pernambuco state. But according to the CPT, the number of invasions and the number of families taking part is declining, partly as a result of President Lula's "Bolsa Familia - which provides cash payments to mothers who vaccinate their children and keep them in school. Father Herminio said the key was giving the money to women, instead of men, thus ensuring it was spent on food. He said, "One woman told me, `I struggle at odd jobs, anything to earn the money that feeds my three children for 15 days, but it's President Lula who pays for the next 15.' That's how people see Bolsa Familia."
¶5. (SBU) The priest said that women in the landless movement are receiving the Bolsa Familia payments even as they are squatting on land, waiting for the legal ownership that may take years to obtain. But families already receiving "Bolsa Familia" have little incentive to take the risks involved in joining a new occupation of land with no immediate hope for better living conditions.
¶6. (SBU) Critics of the landless movement, including one school administrator who met with the consular staff and state law enforcement officers, say the occupations are a shake-down scheme. They say that the occupations in Red April get publicity, then the squatters negotiate certain sums or program concessions to go elsewhere. These critics point to the fact that those occupying contested land rarely plant any crops --not even subsistence beans or manioc which grows everywhere-around their hovels.
RECIFE
¶7. (SBU) Father Herminio's view of the political situation reflects frustration with the slow pace of legalizing land claims and obtaining credit for farmers. He says the Lula government and Pernambuco Governor Eduardo Campos, a Lula ally, may talk about supporting the rural poor, but they don't "have control." He believes that, despite the lack of resources and credit, the settlers must become more productive. Violence in response to the land invaders may have lessened, the priest said, but the CPT reported murders resulting from land conflicts in 14 states last year, instead of just eight the previous year.
¶8. (SBU) "Slave labor" --or entrapment into conditions of near servitude on remote ranches-- is still a major concern for the CPT. Father Herminio was particularly adamant about conditions for sugar cane workers on ethanol plantations in the south and west. He has heard complaints from Pernambuco cane cutters, rounded up when the harvest season ends here and taken south, that they work in inhumane conditions. This is the dark side of ethanol for the priest, who would still like to see the small farmers and squatters producing their own bio-fuel in a program sponsored by the government.
¶9. (SBU) Comment: Brazil's agro-industry continues to expand, and the disparities between the rich and poor remain. While the MST and its offspring operate on the edges of the economy, denouncing large landowners in the name of oppressed, they have lost steam. They expected more support from President Lula, but they can't criticize him because he's too popular with their constituency thanks to his Bolsa Familia program. So the game is played behind the scenes; there are invasions to gain bargaining chips, then some credits or grants to partners of the movement that ensure the peace. Having reached this stalemate, the movement seems to be consolidating their holdings and looking for more popular causes to champion -such as defending the environment. This cable was coordinated with Embassy Brasilia.
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Labels: BRAZIL, LAND REFORM, LULA DA SILVA
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Herd mentality kills Zimbabwe’s economy
RECENTLY I noticed a trend among fishermen. If one fisherman says a certain dam is biting well, most fisherman would abandon their usual dams and go and fish at the new dam.
The fascinating aspect is that only the first fisherman to reach the new dam will catch a lot of fish. Those who join the rush later will not catch as much.
Once the catches are limited most fishermen will abandon the dam and look for another one.
This behaviour continues forever. These fly-by-night fishermen hop from one dam
to the other. The extent of the benefits they derive is determined by how early they get the information.
Generally, most fishermen follow this cycle. However, very few fishermen resist the temptation to follow where everyone else is going. The only inhibiting factor can be the number of dams available for such activities. The major driving force is the need to maximise catch. Most fishermen are tempted by the need to catch a lot of fish using as little effort as possible.
On the other hand, there are fishermen who are loyal to certain dams. They catch more by understanding the structure of the dam. Their concentration levels are so high such that when the speculators are moving out they are not disturbed by their moves.
They are in the dam for the long haul. They are interested in overcoming any obstacles, which might be encountered while fishing. They may visit other dams but they still have one permanent dam. In areas where there are very few dams, migrating from one dam to another might not be possible.
If there is only one or two big dams the issue of attractive spots becomes topical. Most fishermen will rush to fish at the so-called attractive sports. You will notice certain spots of the dam will be overcrowded while most spots will be very free. This points to the fact that very few fishermen are courageous enough to try new hunting grounds. Usually the people who start fishing at the super spot benefit and those who follow later lose out. Also people would like to go where other people are going.
People like to do what other people are doing. This happens in every facet of life. People would like to put on the type of clothes that other people are wearing.
Similarly, some people would like to send their children to schools where their peers are sending their children to.
This behaviour is similar to herd mentality. The term herd mentality is derived from the word “herd” meaning group of animals, and “mentality” implying a certain frame of mind (Wikipedia).
Therefore, herd mentality describes how people are influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviours, follow trends, and/or purchase items. The examples of herd mentality include the early adopters of high technology products such as cellphones and iPods, as well as stock market bubbles and crashes, sporting events, trends, fashion in apparel, cars, etc. The idea of a “group mind” or “mob behaviour” was first put forward by 19th century French psychologists Gabriel Tarde and Gustave Le Bon.
Herd behaviour in human societies has also been studied by Sigmund Freud and Wilfred Trotter whose book “Herd Instincts in Peace and War” is a classic in the field of social psychology. Worldwide investors lost money in the junk bonds in the 1990s. Investors lost their money in the telecoms bubble in the 2000s.
According to Gailbraith and Hale (2004) the Dot .com bubble (sometimes referred to as the IT bubble ) was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995-2000 (with a climax on March 10, 2000 with Nasdaq peaking at 5 132,52 in the intraday trading before closing at 5 048,62 )during which the stock markets in industrialised nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more recent internet sector and related fields.
Maznick (2003) says the period was marked by the founding (and in many cases, spectacular failure) of a group of new internet-based companies commonly referred to as dot.coms.
Companies were seeing their stock prices shoot up if they simply add “e” prefix to their name and or a “com” at the end. Below are the examples of some of companies that went bust around the year 2000.
Boo.Com went bankrupt in May 2000. Start ups.Com — the ultimate dot.com start-up — went one way in 2002.
Freeinternet.com filed for bankruptcy in October 2000. After the telecoms bubble, the world almost came to a standstill due to the property bubble which caused the worst recession ever.
Leonhardt (2005) says real estate bubbles are inevitably followed by severe price decreases (also known as house price crash) that can result in house owners holding negative equity (mortgage debt higher than the current value of the property).
The financial crisis of 2007-2010 was related to the collapse of real estate bubbles, notably in the United States.
Some of the major economies which were affected by this bubble were Australia, United Kingdom, China, Denmark, India, Japan, Spain and Canada, to name but a few.
Same story always repeats itself in these bubbles, the first investors cream it out and the last investors lose out.
Allow me to give a chronology of “the businesses” in Zimbabwe dating back from the early 1980s. They might not be in the actual chronological order.
The first business that most indigenous business people were running successfully was that of running bus companies. There was a time nearly every businessmen wanted to own a fleet of buses. Immediately afterwards, there was an emergency taxi boom.
There came a very popular business of import and export where economic rent (1983 to 1990) was extracted from the ability to get certain licences for importing certain goods into the country.
This was followed by ostrich farming. Everyone wanted to go into ostrich farming where there was a guaranteed market for ostrich and its eggs overseas. This was closely followed by mushroom growing wave, flower growing wave, tomatoes (greenhouse tomatoes) and pig farming waves.
There was also a lucrative trade in electronics imported from South Africa and Botswana. There was a shift in local football ownership with quite a number of black businessman owning their own football clubs.
What immediately comes to mind are teams like Fire Batteries (Mr Lovemore Gijima Msindo), Amazulu (Mr Delma Lupepe), Blackpool “the Ndochi Boys” (Mr B. Muchedzi & Company).
Few have survived like Motor Action and Caps United. Only those with lasting financial power and passion for the game are still around.
The period between 1992-2003 was the boom in financial services in Zimbabwe. It started with the opening of merchant banks followed by commercial banks then micro finance institutions. The last one was a boom in asset management firms.
The period between 1995 and 1996 saw Harare almost come to a standstill due to a lucrative money making schemes known as pyramids. Most people were rushing to the banks hoping to become instant millionaires.
Offices were abandoned as employees and managers joined queues to deposit money at the bank. As usual, pyramids collapsed leaving people holding nothing.
Imported second-hand clothes made a huge impact around 1995. These were imported mainly from Mozambique. The years 1998-2005 experienced an unprecedented business in the importation of second-hand Japanese vehicles for resale here in Zimbabwe. Car dealers were all over the shore. The period after 2000 saw traders flying to China to bring in clothes for resale back home.
At one time, most shops were only stocking clothes brought in from China. The only suits available for men were Armani and Boss from China. Between 1999 and 2008 foreign currency trading was on everyone’s mouth. Money transfer companies and Roadport were churning out fabulously rich young traders overnight.
Most people were on the cellphones quoting foreign currency rates. The bubble burst with the introduction of the multi-currency regime. Due to the acute shortage of fuel around 2005 to 2008 most houses became instant service stations. Fuel dealers were ranging from two-litre dealers to 10 000-litre dealers. Around 2007 diamond trading was the buzzword. All roads led to Chiadzwa until the authorities sought to control this trade.
Between 2008 and 2009 people were talking about chicken farming. During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa the only business worth talking about was taxis. Harare was flooded with taxis in anticipation of the thousands of tourists who were supposed to visit Zimbabwe during this showcase.
In 2009 everyone was talking about mining. Today most businessmen are going into mining ventures.
The Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Dr Gideon Gono, once described Zimbabwe as a casino economy. It is suffering from excessive herd mentality.
Some say Zimbabweans are basically copycats. Once someone starts a venture in a particular area everybody else rushes to cash in on the idea. Most copy cats collapse while strong companies survive. Those who survive are those which offer better and quality service in that area. This is the beauty of capitalism.
These short-term hypes have helped fewer entrepreneurs to get capital to establish bigger ventures. The challenges which emanate from herd mentality are that all resources will be targeting one sector while other sectors will be left to suffer. Herd mentality is normally synonymous with short-term gains. This has the effect of redistributing income from productive long-term activities such as manufacturing and farming to short-term speculative ventures with very quick turnaround times. This can result in consumer economies where everything on the country’s supermarket is imported.
The get-quick-rich schemes killed the savings culture in Zimbabwe as the beneficiaries increased their consumption thinking that the money-making stream would perpetually flow. But money that comes easily goes away easily as well. To be continued next week
l Ben Chiganze is a Managing Consultant at CLC Training International. He can be contacted via e-mail: chiganze@mweb.co.zw
Labels: ECONOMY
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COMMENT - Government is not a remote control issue - but try telling that to the neoliberals, who want the markets to take care of everything, even when it blatantly isn't doing so. They need to start taxing the mines and start to do their job.
Lufwanyama farmers demand refund over undelivered inputs
By Mwila Chansa in Kitwe
Wed 05 Jan. 2011, 03:59 CAT
FARMERS in Lufwanyama district on the Copperbelt say the government should pay them back the money they used to purchase farming inputs that they have not collected to date.
The visibly annoyed farmers in a walk-in interview at The Post office in Kitwe complained that there had been delays in giving inputs to most cooperatives in the district despite having paid for them about two months ago.
“So I think government should immediately ensure that we are given our inputs or if they fail, then they should refund us our money with interest because time is fast running out for us to use those inputs,” said Howard Chipaya, one of the affected farmers.
Chipaya said he and other members of the cooperative he belongs to deposited the money for the farming inputs on November 2, 2010 and were given authority to collect the inputs on November 11 but that to date inputs had not been collected.
He said whenever farmers went to Nyiombo Investments to follow up the matter, they were given excuses and told to check later.
“We have made 15 trips from Lufwanyama to Kitwe; we don’t know what’s happening. These people are really wasting our time. They should realise that we are not just farmers, we are family men who have other responsibilities,” Chipaya added.
He said other farmers that had not had the opportunity to travel to Kitwe were running out of patience and suspecting their colleagues that were always travelling to Kitwe of squandering the money.
Chipaya urged the government to learn to fulfil its promises, adding that farmers were not interested in hearing whether or not the government would renew the contract with Nyiombo and that all they were interested in was getting their inputs.
And another farmer, Abison Makwalo, observed that the farmer input support programme was failing because the government lacked inspection skills.
He said the government should not expect things to operate on a ‘remote control’ basis.
Makwalo added that because of lack of monitoring and evaluation, it was unlikely that the bumper harvest recorded during last season’s farming season would be sustained.
Labels: FARMERS, FISP
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The Argument for A Windfall Tax (Guest Blog)
According to the Minister of Finance and National Planning Situmbeko Musokotwane, copper production is expected to exceed 720, 000 metric tonnes, a level of production that was last seen in 1973. This places the country within reach of the medium-term target of one million metric tonnes per annum. And as we all know, the prices of copper have re-bounded on the London Metal Exchange (LME). But most shockingly, the government refuses to re-introduce the mineral windfall tax.
In the words of President Rupiah Banda, government will not re-introduce the windfall tax for mining companies because it has the potential to stifle the growth of the mining sector : “The abolition of the windfall tax will remain intact and as government, we shall not listen to those calling for the bringing back of this tax, let them just watch and see what government is doing to attract investors to the mining sector,” he was quoted recently as having said in the media.
Listening to this kind of talk, one wonders whether we all live in the same country. What investors is the President talking about? What is the essence of attracting many investors to exploit our natural resources if our people can not get the benefits? Or maybe the benefits are the shootings, low wages, poor safety and the like? It is common knowledge that when the mines were under the control of the government through the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM), Zambians, not just miners, were able to access the full benefits from the revenues.
For a fact, Zambia is rich in mineral resources, which the multi-national companies have been exploiting. For the country though, it only enjoys a tiny fraction of the benefits. A report by the Tax Justice Network for Africa (TJN-A), Action Aid, Southern Africa Resource Watch, Third World Network Africa and Christian Aid titled "Breaking the Curse: How Transparent Taxation and Fair Taxes can Turn Africa’s Mineral Wealth into Development" released in 2007, clearly shows this. The report says legislation that has set low royalty rates, combined with development agreements grants companies further tax concessions and holidays of up to 25 years, deprives countries of the much-needed revenues.
On top of this, Africa loses vast sums each year to corruption and illegal tax evasion by multinational corporations (MNCs). The document draws on evidence from seven mineral-rich countries including Ghana,
Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone. It reveals questionable accounting practices by multinational companies that conceal the true value of their operations while a mixture of secrecy and flawed laws passed by parliaments across the continent further deprive African people of revenue.
When presenting the 2011 National Budget to Parliament last month, the minister of finance and national planning said he expected revenue from the mines to increase because of an increase in production. However, the minister in-charge of national planning could not tell how much he was expecting. How then can he plan? But for all we know, the mining sector’s contribution towards the treasury in Zambia is still very low. If anything, there is no voluntary compliance of tax payments by the mines. This is so despite the fact that taxes are not economical, political or moral issues but a constitutional matter, and a foundation of any state. Our objective therefore as a country is to maximize our revenue base, and the mines present an opportunity to do so. After all, they are making huge profits, thanks to very high copper production levels and high prices on the London Metal Exchange.
According to estimates, Zambia is able to collect as much as US$400 million annually if it was to re-introduce the windfall tax. With this kind of money, why should we continue to borrow or ask donors for money to enable us finance our various projects including the building and maintenance of roads, schools, hospitals as well as the improvement of our water and sanitation situation? Indeed why should we struggle to provide basic social services to our people when we have that kind of money which we have voluntarily refused to collect? Is this not a way of embracing poverty? Certainly, our leaders can do better on the issue of windfall taxes.
Daimone Siulapwa
(Guest Author)
Labels: MMD, NEOCOLONIALISM, NEOLIBERALISM, WINDFALL TAX
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MMD refusal to re-introduce windfall tax warrants their removal - PF
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Wed 05 Jan. 2011, 03:59 CAT
THE PF says the government’s refusal to re-introduce the windfall tax is enough justification for the party to be removed from power this year. Latest projections for key commodity traders and markets analysts indicate that prices would reach US$10,000 per tonne this year while others are talking about copper possibly reaching US$11,000.
PF national treasurer Emmanuel Chenda said it was irresponsible for the current regime to continue ignoring calls to introduce a mechanism to help the country tap into the current surge in copper prices.
Chenda said the current regime needed to heed to calls for the introduction of the windfall tax to help the country benefit from record high copper prices.
He reminded President Rupiah Banda that he were in the government to serve the interest of Zambians who were demanding for the reintroduction of the windfall tax in view of the current high copper prices.
“Granted they are in power today, they should make sure they do according to the will of the Zambian people who put them there,” Chenda said.
“In fact, the Zambian people are the owners of the land and the copper. If they make a decision which is not in favour of Zambians, then this should be justification to kick them out this year when the election comes because they have failed to do the will of the electorate.”
Chenda said the foreign mining firms were laughing all the way as the current high metal prices rendered their tax obligation according to the current mining fiscal regime a mere “petty cash” expenditure.
“It is sad that this irresponsible government of the MMD must continue to argue that we will benefit through the corporate tax and not the windfall tax,” Chenda said. “We in the PF are saying posterity will judge these people harshly and those who will not survive will be hiding in shame.”
Chenda said it was difficult to understand the current regime’s position on the role of the mining sector in the country’s development.
Chenda said whereas the mining sector built major Copperbelt towns amidst a very modest copper price during the colonial era, the opposite was happening when Zambia is independent.
Chenda called for increased citizenry pressure on the government to allow the country benefit from the current high international metal prices.
“No responsible citizen would fail to ask as ‘what is in for us?’ right now there is nothing for the Zambia people except the lack of infrastructure and development in the key Copperbelt towns,” said Chenda.
Labels: NEOLIBERALISM, PF, WINDFALL TAX
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Let Barotse Agreement activists hold their rallies
By The Post
Wed 05 Jan. 2011, 04:00 CAT
PROTEST rallies, demonstrations and other similar assemblies are a testing ground for any democracy. The ideals of free expression and citizen participation are easy to defend when everyone remains polite and in agreement on basic issues.
But protesters and other dissenters – and their targets – do not agree on basic issues, and such disagreements may be passionate and angry.
The challenge then is one of balance: to defend the right to freedom of speech and assembly, while maintaining public order and countering attempts at intimidation of violence.
To suppress peaceful protests or assemblies in the name of order is to invite repression; to permit uncontrolled violent protest or assembly is to invite anarchy.
There is no magic formula for achieving this balance.
In the end, it depends on the commitment of the majority to maintaining the institutions of democracy and the precepts of individual rights.
Democratic societies are capable of enduring the bitterest disagreement among its citizens – except for the disagreement about the legitimacy of democracy itself.
This is the situation we find ourselves in as far as the situation in Western Province, especially in Mongu, is concerned.
There’s growing tension in Mongu over the issue of the Barotse Agreement and its advocates or activists.
Over the last few weeks, we have seen the worst forms of intimidation over this issue.
First from the police refusing the activists of the Barotse Agreement the enjoyment of their inalienable rights of speech and assembly.
They have not been allowed to meet and express themselves.
Second, the activists of the Barotse Agreement themselves have been intolerant of other people’s enjoyment of their rights to freedom of speech and assembly.
They stoned and disrupted Charles Milupi’s political rally in Mongu simply because they didn’t agree with his message.
Charles was not speaking their language and for that reason, they resorted to violence and intimidation against him and those who were with him.
Things did not end here. This led to the disturbance of peace and destruction of property in Mongu town.
Marketeers lost their money and merchandise, fleeing from the chaos.
Motor vehicles were damaged, leaving their owners frightened, angry and injured.
It is said that those who seek equity, fairness should come with clean hands.
The activists of the Barotse Agreement have the right to express themselves and hold rallies to propagate their views to others.
Those who are opposed to what they are doing also have the right to accordingly express their views against them.
None of them should be suppressed.
We say this because a suppression of the speech that we find offensive today is potentially a threat to our exercise of free speech tomorrow – which perhaps we or others might find offensive or unacceptable.
All people are harmed when speech is repressed.
If what is being said or what they want to say is right, we are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth.
If it is wrong, we lose the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth produced by its collision with error.
The corollary of freedom of speech is the right of the people to assemble and peacefully demand that the government hear their grievances.
Without this right to gather and be heard, freedom of speech would be devalued.
For this reason, freedom of speech is considered closely linked to, if not inseparable from, the right to gather, protest and demand change.
Democratic governments can legitimately regulate the time and place for political rallies and matches to maintain the peace, but they cannot use that authority to suppress protest or to prevent dissident groups from making their voices heard.
There’s really no need to continue denying activists of the Barotse Agreement the right to hold rallies.
Let them hold their rallies while we all patiently and calmly watch and listen to what they are doing and saying.
In this way, we will understand them better.
And the better we understand them, the better we will be able to deal with them.
Human beings possess a variety of sometimes contradictory desires. People want safety, yet relish adventure; they aspire to individual freedom, yet demand social equality.
Democracy is no different, and it is important to recognise that many of these tensions, even paradoxes, are present in every democratic society.
A central paradox exists between conflict and consensus. Democracy is in many ways nothing more than a set of rules for managing conflict.
At the same time, this conflict must be managed within certain limits and result in compromises, consensus or other agreements that all sides accept as legitimate.
An overemphasis on one side of the equation can threaten the entire undertaking.
If groups perceive democracy as nothing more than a forum in which they can press their demands, the society can shatter from within.
If the government exerts excessive pressure to achieve consensus, stifling the voices of the people, the society can be crushed from above.
Again the answer is that there is no single or easy answer.
Democracy is not a machine that runs by itself once the proper principles and procedures are inserted.
A democratic society needs the commitment of citizens who accept the inevitability of conflict as well as the necessity of tolerance.
It is for this reason that the culture of democracy is so important to develop. Individuals and groups must be willing, at a minimum, to tolerate each other’s differences, recognising that the other side has valid rights and a legitimate point of view.
The various sides to a dispute can then meet in a spirit of compromise and seek a specific solution that builds on the general principle of majority rule and minority rights.
Coalition-building is the essence of democratic action.
It teaches interest groups to negotiate with others, to compromise and work within the constitutional system.
By working to establish coalition, groups with differences learn how to argue peaceably, how to pursue their goals in a democratic manner and ultimately how to live in a world of diversity.
As to those of the Barotse Agreement activists who are pushing for the right to self-determination based on a tribalistic or ethnic ideology, we can only urge them to rethink their position and deeply meditate over this issue.
We say this because tribalism or ethnocentrism is a deformed form of nationalism.
The claim to the right to self-determination based on tribalistic or ethnic ideology is destructive. A sense of nationalism that is built upon ethnic intolerance is destructive.
We say this because this is the competitive and excessive exaltation of one’s own tribe. It seeks to assert its superiority over the others.
The Christian vision is universal, with all human beings seen as brothers and sisters within one family.
It is not necessary that our tribe should be superior to others’ tribes in anything.
It is enough that it be faithful to its own identity and purposes, that it contributes what it can to the common cause and receive the contributions of others in a mutual collaboration and exchange.
All through history, tribalism has been the cause of innumerable wars.
Among the tribes, as among individuals, dignity is a virtue and pride is a vice.
Tribes, like countries, are not closed groups.
They are but a small part of wider society: that of the human race. It is not by segregating ourselves from those who are different that we shall preserve our own particular achievements.
It is by sharing them that we become richer.
Refusing to share our achievements is one form of under-development; refusing to learn from others is another.
We should open our minds and hearts to the human values to be found in the language, customs and culture of the people who are round about us.
Nationalism is a true and well thought-out love of one’s country, an expression of fraternal love, of solidarity and of service to the common good.
There are indications in the Gospel that Jesus loved his own small country, so little thought of and maltreated at his time.
He shared its destiny, its sufferings, its humiliations.
He was completely an Israelite: his physical appearance, his clothes, his language, his customs, the examples which he gave, the stories which he told, his style of speaking, his whole way of life showed that he was a Jew, faithful to his race and to his people.
As our Lord loved his country, so we love ours and wish it to have peace, prosperity and a fully representative government in which everyone shares.
Nationalism, like many other good things, can be deformed or distorted.
This fact should put us on guard against those dangers which weaken national unity.
The first deformation is to be found in the narrowing of the scope of true nationalism, when it is reduced to fostering the interests of only one section or group of the inhabitants of our country.
Some have wished to identify nationalism with unrestricted adherence to a particular type of government, or even to a specific ruling party.
Others consider true nationalism to be the perpetuation of the spirit and form of a particular historical epoch.
There are those who attribute a monopoly of nationalism to a single sector of the community, an influential sector, without doubt, but one which cannot pretend to exhaust the human reality of our country.
No single sector has a monopoly of deciding what true national interests are.
Nationalism should be expressed in actions, in daily works and tasks, in justice and in solidarity.
We should cultivate a loyal spirit of patriotism, but without narrow-mindedness, so that we keep in mind the welfare of all our people.
Good leaders must be interested in the welfare of those in distress.
We expect them to feel the distress of many who have a big problem about the cost of goods, education, medicine, with tragedy of unemployment, of youth, and so many other important concerns.
All these are difficult problems for any government to face but to solve them, we need hard-working and public-spirited politicians, especially those in government; we need people of courage who will defend the truth and demand justice for the poor and others.
This is the situation in Western Province.
There’s distress in this province. It is a province that ranks the lowest in almost every economic or development indicator. This needs to be addressed.
This is what is leading to and fuelling the tension that we are today witnessing in Mongu and other parts of the Western Province of our country.
These problems need to be addressed urgently; the people whose emotions are running highest and who are losing patience in the current constitutional order of our country and are seeking to break with it need to be engaged, need to be talked to respectfully.
Cheap denunciations of these people, harassment of these people, arrests, detentions and prosecutions of these people won’t do because these measures, by themselves, will not clear away the problems that have given birth to these emotions, to this tension. Leadership – both at the political and traditional level – is urgently needed.
And judging by the record of the past, it is clear that the two most decisive factors affecting the future unity of our country, consolidation and expansion of democracy in our country will be economic development and political leadership.
We say this because economic development makes national unity and democracy possible; political leadership makes them real.
Labels: BAROTSELAND AGREEMENT, CHARLES MILUPI
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