(NEWZIMBABWE) Goodbye Deborah, Goodbye Bruce!
27/01/2014 00:00:00
by Amai Jukwa
I AM reliably informed that the eager British Ambassador, Deborah Bronnert, will soon be leaving us. I am inconsolable. The same is rumoured of her American colleague, Ambassador Bruce Wharton.
These two have worked especially hard to take us for a ride, insisting that their hatred for President Robert Mugabe is motivated by nothing more than their love for Zimbabwe’s blacks. This is patronising nonsense.
I have always said that Britain cannot claim to sanction Zimbabwe for supposed democratic failings whilst their Queen enjoys tea and biscuits with the Saudi despot, King Abdullah, under whose despotic rule women are denied basic human rights (they can’t even drive a car), religious freedom is violated by statute and democracy is not even enshrined in the constitution.
It takes a special kind of hypocrisy to sustain such a glaringly contradictory foreign policy dance. Surely what is good for the goose is good for the gander? No?
Bruce Wharton is another shameless hypocrite. The United States sends billions of dollars in aid to Egypt. That country has suffered a violent coup in which a democratically elected leader was deposed and imprisoned. A few days ago at least four-dozen pro-democracy demonstrators were shot dead by that military junta. Aljazeera’s journalists are currently being held on trumped-up charges of “joining a terrorist organization”. Shall I speak of that sham of a referendum in which the opposition was not even allowed to put up posters?
I can’t hear you ambassadors. I call Bruce’s name. Where is your democratic sting? What has calmed the democratic fury with which you penned ZIDERA? I call Deborah’s name. Summon your human rights convictions oh fair lady. Egyptians are in need of your white bosom and the love you have so generously showered on us Zimbabweans.
The logical mind must ask why there is no talk of sanctions from those who eagerly prescribed them for Zimbabwe’s democratic illness? Where is the lofty talk of democracy and human rights? Surely what is good for the goose is good for the gander? No?
This shameful duplicity is born of nothing but white supremacy in which Bruce and company feel they have the right to define and change the rules of international relations as they go, and as they see fit, because their discretion is somehow inspired and can be trusted. Who is Amai Jukwa to ask these civilised white ambassadors to explain these contradictions? We don’t explain our actions to little people. We are white and we dine with whomsoever we please.
This is the attitude of white supremacy, a feeling of superiority and entitlement in which one need not explain their actions, they need not justify such violent contradictions. They are white and they are powerful. The rules of accountability do not apply to them.
It is against this intolerable background of white arrogance that I have rejected British and American intervention in Zimbabwe. It is clear their motives are unrighteous and self-serving. As the professor once said, their hands are dirty, their mouths are dirty and they must shut up. We see their dirty hands offering weapons to Egypt. They have no moral authority whatsoever to lecture us on matters of democracy and human rights.
Are we really to believe that Bruce and Deborah love Zimbabwe’s blacks more than they do the people of Egypt? How is it that they are so concerned about us that they are willing to draft sanctions to protect us from this despotic ogre called Mugabe but have no such love for the people of Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia?
It is clear that the British and the Americans, despite their democratic pretensions, are merely operating as part of a vengeful white clique that wants to make an example of the land-grabbing Mugabe. The only sanctions that have been imposed against him are white sanctions by white countries. Why are there no Africans, South Americans, Asians or Arabs who have imposed sanctions? It surely cannot be that these white countries, our former colonisers and enslavers, love us more than the rest of the world.
As we bid farewell to these two ambassadors let it be made clear that their failure will equally befall those who will come after them. This is because Africans are not as stupid as white people believe. We see your duplicity. We see your hypocrisy. We see you self-interest.
In fact, this meddling by Western nations has actually served Zanu PF well as it has discredited otherwise valid complaints by the MDC. As long Britain and America continue to fund, support or sympathise with the MDC, that party will continue to lose elections. They will always be viewed as puppets. This is no different to the disposition Americans and Britons would have to a Chinese or Russian funded party.
Farewell good ambassadors.
Ndatenda, ndini muchembere wenyu Amai Jukwa.
Labels: AMAI JUKWA, AMBASSADORS, BRUCE WHARTON, DEBORAH BRONNERT
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(HERALD ZW) An open letter to Bruce and Deborah
October 7, 2013
by Mai Jukwa
My Government alleges that sanctions imposed by your governments have destroyed the Zimbabwean economy. You reject this argument, insisting that you have simply put in place “restrictive measures” on Mugabe and his rowdies. Your view is that these actions have no bearing on the generality of the people. Zanu-PF in turn accuses you of dishonesty.
In response, you issue predictably synthetic statements clarifying your position. It has become a tedious squabble spanning over a decade and with no seeming end in sight. In all this back-and-forth one essential point of principle escapes our conversation.
We have not examined the legitimacy of your actions against Zimbabwe or, as you claim, its oppressive leaders. For the purposes of this conversation, let us assume that Robert Mugabe is indeed guilty of all the democratic transgressions for which he stands accused in your eyes.
The question is whether such culpability gives Britain and the United States the moral (ignore legal) right to impose sanctions?
Examined in isolation, one would answer a speedy yes. However, when one considers the contradictory actions of your governments in relation to other regimes of proven doubtful democratic credentials the answer is perhaps a bit more hesitant.
Naturally, this leads the observer to conclude that your stated reasons (democratic passion) for imposing sanctions against Robert Mugabe are not entirely sincere. It cannot be the case that you sanction Mugabe on grounds of democratic impurity but at the same time enjoy tea and biscuits with the hand-chopping-women-can’t-drive Saudi despot, King Abdulla.
Such a position is an assault on reason itself.
I will not exhaust you by exploring your surprisingly cordial relations with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Turkmenistan and a host of other nations condemned by Human Rights Watch and other democratic barometers.
It would be equally tedious to list nations like Nigeria, Afghanistan and the many others that have held disputed elections but suffer no sanctions, targeted or otherwise.
There is a worrying duplicity to your actions.
By failing to act (sometimes actually congratulating offenders) in other cases of democratic transgression, much doubt is cast on your sincerity when you claim your interference in Zimbabwe’s affairs is motivated by benevolent democratic purism.
It is significant to note that the African Union has called for the lifting of the sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.
You have ignored these calls.
Sadc has also made similar calls. You have equally ignored Sadc’s concerns.
Thabo Mbeki recently described your attitude as “contempt” for Africa and its institutions.
Unsurprisingly, you do not care what he thinks either.
One wonders whose opinion matters to you.
Belgium?
Of course you are mindful of Belgian economic interests.
This is why you very quickly lifted sanctions on ZMDC at the insistence of Belgium in the hope of protecting Antwerp.
But you refuse to heed the calls of the African Union.
Your greed and brazen hypocrisy is breathtaking.
In all this you continue to claim that you are doing all these things because you care for Zimbabwe’s blacks.
It has nothing to do with white anger over Mugabe’s humiliation of the white farmers, your kith and kin.
The observer wonders why you have this special love for Zimbabwe’s blacks but not for the people of Saudi Arabia? What lucky niggers we are.
Another peculiarity is the whiteness of the sanctions against Zimbabwe. You will note that no South American nation has imposed sanctions on us.
The Arabs have not interfered in our domestic affairs.
The same is true of the peaceful people of Asia and the wider African continent.
The only sanctions against Mugabe are from white nations. This is indeed quite peculiar.
It raises uncomfortable questions about your motives as white nations especially against the background of Mugabe’s humiliation of your white farmer kith and kin. One could be forgiven for entertaining the thought of racial retaliation clothed in the regal apparel of democracy and human rights.
There is a clear racial motive for wishing to teach him a lesson. Perhaps even more damning are the obvious contradictions of your sanctions policy.
A few examples are worth noting.
Jonathan Moyo has been removed from the sanctions list, this without explanation.
He remains part of the beating heart of Zanu-PF strategy and is widely credited with crafting the manifesto whose prescribed policies are of grave concern to your governments.
He certainly has not repented of his past ‘misdeeds’ and, if his rhetoric is anything to go by, he seems very much determined to carry on as he did in past times.
So why has he been removed from the sanctions list?
What good has he done or what evil has he forsaken?
One gets the feeling that your sanctions policy is whimsical and there was never a justifiable reason for him being included on that list in the first place.
Caesar Zvayi’s case makes for equally interesting analysis.
At one time he was also slapped with sanctions, charged with undermining democracy.
I suspect it had something to do with his unabashed and perhaps overly enthusiastic role in delivering state propaganda.
One can find Caesar Zvayi’s editorial methods objectionable but at worst he should be the victim of a damning academic paper not sanctions.
It is not a crime to support Mugabe in the same way it is not a crime to cheer on the bombing of Libya.
I am informed that the said gentleman is now of cheerful persuasion after also finding his name suddenly removed from the sanctions list.
But why should he enjoy such generosity?
He has not repented.
He has not forsaken his past misdeeds if one can call them that.
If anything he is all the more eager and can be found on social networks taunting opposition supporters. He makes no pretense of political impartiality.
There is no objective reason that can be given to explain his removal from the sanctions list.
Again, it becomes clear that he should never have been sanctioned in the first place.
Placing him on the sanctions list was as outrageous as sanctioning the obnoxious Rush Limbaugh for cheering on the invasion of Iraq. It is not as though Zvayi has been calling for and cheering on genocide.
He simply supports an ideology, a political party.
Perhaps the most obscene example of your duplicity as white nations is regarding the Marange diamonds and ZMDC.
In past times, when you foolishly thought you could economically strangle Mugabe from power, you imposed sanctions on ZMDC in the hope of negating the economic benefits of the Marange find.
You condemned the Marange diamonds.
They do not benefit the ordinary people, you bellowed in righteous anger.
The military, which supports Mugabe, is using those diamonds to undermine democracy, you cried.
These are actually blood diamonds, your NGO’s screamed. Blood diamonds? Oh please.
It was just a matter of time before that insatiable white greed overtook your democratic pretensions.
The question is what has changed?
Is the military no longer involved?
Are those diamonds somehow less bloody now?
Not at all, they were never bloody in the first place.
You justified your sanctions using flimsy arguments to give cover to your real objectives.
Now that Sadc and the AU have endorsed Mugabe’s re-election it is becoming increasingly clear that Zanu PF is here to stay. Being the greedy whites that you are, you now want a share of those same ‘bloody’ diamonds you previously condemned.
elgium has thrown away all restraint and made it clear they want to enjoy the benefits that flow from Marange. All this betrays your nature as a dishonest people. I could speak of the now-suspended sanctions against Agribank and IDBZ.
Why were those banks sanctioned in the first place?
We were told they were rotten to the core and were being used to finance Zanu-PF’s subversion of democratic will. Well what has changed?
Again it is yet another example of an incoherent sanctions policy justified based on flimsy arguments.
But even if those arguments are flimsy and without merit, who cares?
You are accountable to nobody.
Such is the nauseous arrogance of white supremacy.
In all this one thing is clear.
Your motives are self-serving and largely racial.
The cheap rhetoric about how much you love our blacks and are trying to protect them from a beastly Mugabe just does not sell anymore.
What we want is to be left alone.
We mean your nations no harm and have no ambition to interfere in your domestic affairs.
We just want to be left alone. Leave Mugabe to us.
If we decide to overthrow his government we will do so of our own initiative. We are quite experienced in that regard, as the Rhodesians will tell you.
Your white club masquerading as benevolent guardians of democracy in Zimbabwe has been discredited.
Our African brothers, as expressed through Sadc and the African Union, do not share your views.
Ndatenda
Ndini muchembere wenyu, Amai Jukwa
Labels: AMBASSADORS, BRUCE DIXON, DEBORAH BRONNERT, SANCTIONS
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MDC-T in no-show, handlers pitch up
September 18, 2013
Tendai Mugabe Senior Reporter—
BRITISH, American, Australian and Canadian ambassadors whose countries have refused to endorse the harmonised elections yesterday attended the Official Opening of the First Session of the Eighth Parliament of Zimbabwe deriving from the same election they lampoon.
Their presence mirrored the double standards shown by their charges in the MDC-T who actively participated in the election of mayors and chairpersons of local authorities held countrywide on Monday only to boycott the official opening of Parliament 24 hours later ostensibly to protest the outcome of the harmonised elections whose outcome they endorsed by taking the oaths in Parliament.
While the MDC-T was counting its losses in the wake of a nationwide revolt that saw its councillors elect Zanu-PF mayors in several towns and cities, the party’s western handlers were at Parliament listening to President Mugabe lay out the legislative agenda for the next 12 months.
The Western diplomats hailed President Mugabe’s speech and promised to work with Team Zanu-PF in a number of areas.
They, however, said their governments would maintain the illegal sanctions regimes until such a time they were satisfied with the developments in the country.
British ambassador to Zimbabwe Ms Deborah Bronnert, described Parliament as an important institution the world over.
“Parliament throughout the world is a very important institution. Those are institutions that we support. Obviously we want to work in order to help the people of Zimbabwe so that they have the peaceful and prosperous future they aspire for.”
US ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Bruce David Wharton described President Mugabe’s speech as very ambitious, saying Washington would work with Zimbabwe in some of the areas spelt out by the President.
“I think the President has done a very fine job bringing out a very ambitious and important legislative agenda to the House (National) of Assembly,” he said.
“I think there are a number of areas that I hope my government can be supportive. I think agriculture development is one of the things we have been working on for the last several years. It is very important.
“Trafficking of persons, I was delighted to hear the President speaking about the importance of that so I hope we can help on that as well.”
Australian Ambassador Mr Matthew Neuhaus said he was impressed by President Mugabe’s address on how the new Government would tackle the economy.
“That was a good address by the President,” he said.
“I like the focus on economic development and I think a lot of work needs to be done there and I hope the Parliament will see the Government and the opposition working together very well on these issues.”
Mr Neuhaus said Canberra wanted a sound relationship with Harare and he looked forward to seeing policies that encouraged foreign direct investment in Zimbabwe.
“We would like to see policies that encourage foreign investment so there would be some re-examination on these.
“It was good to see peaceful elections, but we have some concerns with the elections; we will be reviewing these issues later.
“We have a new government in Australia and cabinet was announced only yesterday but so we will be looking on all these issues. But we do want to continue building good relations with Zimbabwe.”
South African ambassador to Zimbabwe Professor Vusi Mavimbela said: “For Sadc this is great progress going forward and we have always worked towards this.
“Now that the elections are behind us the new Government has been inaugurated, we have opened the First Session of the Eighth Parliament of Zimbabwe and the President has outlined the programme of action going forward and that is what we want to see in Sadc. We want to see the economy coming back, we want to see integration in the region.”
Zambian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mrs Ndiyoi Mutiti said her country would continue working with Zimbabwe. “I wish to congratulate the people of Zimbabwe for the great work that they did. This is a combination of a process that began with the constitution-making and then we have peaceful elections and now we have the opening of Parliament and the President has set out a course about the issues that need to be tackled.
“There is a lot that is waiting out there for Zimbabweans to do and I commend them and I wish them well and we are behind them and we are working together with them.
Botswana Ambassador to Zimbabwe Ms Gladys Kokorwe said she was hopeful that the economy would go back to what it used to be before the imposition of sanctions.
“This was a powerful speech. I have really enjoyed the President’s speech. I was very happy when he talked about the civil servants that their salaries are going to be reviewed because that will raise their morale and will work hard for this country.
“I am hoping that this country is going back where it used to be.”
Mozambican Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Pedro Davane said the illegal sanctions imposed should be removed unconditionally.
“We are of the view that sanctions must go to allow the people of Zimbabwe to fully benefit from what God had given them.
“The election has taken place, the people of Zimbabwe have spoken loudly and clear and it is not fair for anybody to create any type of hindrances,” he said.
Mr Davane said policies outlined by President Mugabe were in sync with Zanu-PF’s election manifesto.
Labels: DEBORAH BRONNERT, MDC
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(HERALD ZW) MDC-T in no-show, handlers pitch up
September 18, 2013
Tendai Mugabe Senior Reporter—
BRITISH, American, Australian and Canadian ambassadors whose countries have refused to endorse the harmonised elections yesterday attended the Official Opening of the First Session of the Eighth Parliament of Zimbabwe deriving from the same election they lampoon.
Their presence mirrored the double standards shown by their charges in the MDC-T who actively participated in the election of mayors and chairpersons of local authorities held countrywide on Monday only to boycott the official opening of Parliament 24 hours later ostensibly to protest the outcome of the harmonised elections whose outcome they endorsed by taking the oaths in Parliament.
While the MDC-T was counting its losses in the wake of a nationwide revolt that saw its councillors elect Zanu-PF mayors in several towns and cities, the party’s western handlers were at Parliament listening to President Mugabe lay out the legislative agenda for the next 12 months.
The Western diplomats hailed President Mugabe’s speech and promised to work with Team Zanu-PF in a number of areas.
They, however, said their governments would maintain the illegal sanctions regimes until such a time they were satisfied with the developments in the country.
British ambassador to Zimbabwe Ms Deborah Bronnert, described Parliament as an important institution the world over.
“Parliament throughout the world is a very important institution. Those are institutions that we support. Obviously we want to work in order to help the people of Zimbabwe so that they have the peaceful and prosperous future they aspire for.”
US ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Bruce David Wharton described President Mugabe’s speech as very ambitious, saying Washington would work with Zimbabwe in some of the areas spelt out by the President.
“I think the President has done a very fine job bringing out a very ambitious and important legislative agenda to the House (National) of Assembly,” he said.
“I think there are a number of areas that I hope my government can be supportive. I think agriculture development is one of the things we have been working on for the last several years. It is very important.
“Trafficking of persons, I was delighted to hear the President speaking about the importance of that so I hope we can help on that as well.”
Australian Ambassador Mr Matthew Neuhaus said he was impressed by President Mugabe’s address on how the new Government would tackle the economy.
“That was a good address by the President,” he said.
“I like the focus on economic development and I think a lot of work needs to be done there and I hope the Parliament will see the Government and the opposition working together very well on these issues.”
Mr Neuhaus said Canberra wanted a sound relationship with Harare and he looked forward to seeing policies that encouraged foreign direct investment in Zimbabwe.
“We would like to see policies that encourage foreign investment so there would be some re-examination on these.
“It was good to see peaceful elections, but we have some concerns with the elections; we will be reviewing these issues later.
“We have a new government in Australia and cabinet was announced only yesterday but so we will be looking on all these issues. But we do want to continue building good relations with Zimbabwe.”
South African ambassador to Zimbabwe Professor Vusi Mavimbela said: “For Sadc this is great progress going forward and we have always worked towards this.
“Now that the elections are behind us the new Government has been inaugurated, we have opened the First Session of the Eighth Parliament of Zimbabwe and the President has outlined the programme of action going forward and that is what we want to see in Sadc. We want to see the economy coming back, we want to see integration in the region.”
Zambian Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mrs Ndiyoi Mutiti said her country would continue working with Zimbabwe. “I wish to congratulate the people of Zimbabwe for the great work that they did. This is a combination of a process that began with the constitution-making and then we have peaceful elections and now we have the opening of Parliament and the President has set out a course about the issues that need to be tackled.
“There is a lot that is waiting out there for Zimbabweans to do and I commend them and I wish them well and we are behind them and we are working together with them.
Botswana Ambassador to Zimbabwe Ms Gladys Kokorwe said she was hopeful that the economy would go back to what it used to be before the imposition of sanctions.
“This was a powerful speech. I have really enjoyed the President’s speech. I was very happy when he talked about the civil servants that their salaries are going to be reviewed because that will raise their morale and will work hard for this country.
“I am hoping that this country is going back where it used to be.”
Mozambican Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Pedro Davane said the illegal sanctions imposed should be removed unconditionally.
“We are of the view that sanctions must go to allow the people of Zimbabwe to fully benefit from what God had given them.
“The election has taken place, the people of Zimbabwe have spoken loudly and clear and it is not fair for anybody to create any type of hindrances,” he said.
Mr Davane said policies outlined by President Mugabe were in sync with Zanu-PF’s election manifesto.
Labels: DEBORAH BRONNERT, MDC
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(HERALD ZW) Bronnert fails to justify rigging claims
August 16, 2013
Farirai Machivenyika
Senior Reporter
BRITISH ambassador to Zimbabwe Ms Deborah Bronnert has failed to justify her claim that 10 000 voters were assisted to vote in a constituency where 17 000 voters cast their ballots, drawing brickbats from Zimbabweans who called on Government to ask London to recall her. Contacted yesterday to identify the constituency she talked about in her interview on Sky News on the fourth of this month after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission dismissed her assertions, Ms Bronnert became evasive before asking for e-mailed questions which she was duly given yesterday.
And in a brief statement sent through Ms Sibusisiwe Ndlovu, a communications officer at the British Embassy, Ms Bronnert failed to justify her claims apart from regurgitating pronouncements made by British foreign secretary William Hague soon after the results of the harmonised elections showed a heavy drubbing for MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai and his party.
“As outlined by Foreign Secretary William Hague, the UK has grave concerns over the conduct of the elections.
“The Sadc and AU preliminary statements outlined many of these. They include the voters’ roll that should, by law, have been made available to all political parties, the high incidence of voters turned away and the high numbers of assisted voters.
“These and other irregularities call into serious question the credibility of the election and it is important that all allegations of electoral violations are thoroughly investigated.
“We will consider further reports from regional and local observer missions when they issue. The UK will continue to support Zimbabwe and its people in their aspirations for a democratic, peaceful and prosperous future.”
Ms Bronnert’s failure to justify her assertions comes as a major embarrassment to MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai who incorporated the envoy’s assertions in the court application he lodged with the Constitutional Court seeking annulment of the elections results.
The harmonised elections have since been endorsed by the AU, Sadc, Comesa, African Caribbean and Pacific as well as over 40 countries on five continents.
ZEC chief elections officer Mr Lovemore Sekeramayi on Wednesday dismissed Ms Bronnert’s claims, with outgoing Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa saying the British envoy’s mysterious constituency would have required at least 30 days to complete the voting process if 10 000 people were to be assisted to vote as claimed by Ms Bronnert.
Former Zimbabwe Union of Democrats leader Mrs Margaret Dongo said the fabrications proved Ms Bronnert was not ambassadorial material and should be recalled because an ambassador is supposed to report objectively to his country about developments in the host country.
“There is no doubt that all the decisions the British are taking on Zimbabwe are based on wrong information because London is being fed with wrong information by its ambassadors.
“I think Ms Bronnert should just be a mere secretary in the British government not an ambassador. She is letting her country down. Those who do not live in Zimbabwe depend on their embassies for information about other countries.
“I do not think the British hate Zimbabwe, they have just put Mugabe’s face on Zimbabwe because he has called their leaders names before. I think the most reasonable thing for Ms Bronnert to do is to retract that statement. She is supposed to be an eye for her country, but she is blind,’ Mrs Dongo said.
Zanu-PF Politburo member and political scientist Professor Jonathan Moyo accused Ms Bronnert of deliberate mischief, saying she should face the consequences arising from peddling falsehoods.
“Zimbabwe has grave concerns about the conduct of the British ambassador. She made inflammatory and inciteful allegations using a high-profile platform like Sky TV. It was deliberately calculated mischief by the former colonial power to smear a national process and to smear a national result without any factual basis,” he said.
Prof Moyo said Ms Bronnert had deliberately lied because the British and their allies wanted another coalition government in Zimbabwe, but had failed.
“The problem with Britain and its allies, the US and Australia, is that they have a large Rhodesian population which controls the media and they have been telling themselves that the people of Zimbabwe are against their independence.
“So the result of the harmonised elections shocked them because they showed that the people of Zimbabwe and their liberation movement are together, they are a team under Team Zanu-PF.
“They wanted another GNU but the people of Zimbabwe came with an expression of their sovereignty that shocked them,” he said.
Prof Moyo said it was no coincidence that the allegation about the mysterious constituency were also repeated by Mr Tsvangirai in his court application seeking annulment of the election results.
Ms Bronnert’s behaviour, Prof Moyo said, vindicated Government’s decision to bar Western observers.
“This is why we don’t want these people to observe our elections, they are liars. She did not have the capacity to observe the elections but made this lie. You can imagine the amount of lies they would have made if they had been invited to observe the elections,” he said.
Prof Moyo said it was important that the ambassador Bronnert face the consequences of her actions.
“If what they have said that 10 000 people were assisted to vote in a constituency with 17 000 people there would be something wrong and serious consequences would have to fall on those responsible for that, conversely if this is a false allegation, those who have made it like Deborah Bronnert have to be visited by the same consequences as well,” he said.
University of Zimbabwe political scientist Dr Charity Manyeruke said ambassador Bronnert had behaved like an activist.
“The ambassador acted like she is a civil society activist. She does not know that when you are an ambassador there is a code of conduct that you must follow and not engage in civic activism like she did.
“There was no need for her to make those unsubstantiated allegations that had no factual basis at all, she simply repeated what has been said by the NGOs most of which they fund.”
Dr Manyeruke said it was surprising that the allegations she made were also raised by MDC-T in its application that is before the Constitutional Court.
“What is surprising is that the allegations she made are also currently before the courts. We then wonder if she does not have a hand in all that is before the courts,” Dr Manyeruke said.
Another analyst Goodwine Mureriwa said statements by ambassador Bronnert were simply a repeat of the statement made by the Zimbabwe Elections Support Network.
“What she said was simply repeating what ZESN said and we all know that that organisation received over US$5 million to castigate the harmonised elections.
“She can’t identify that constituency because she knows it does not exist. What is however, important is that it shows how low these countries can sink in their attempts to effect regime change in Zimbabwe, they are resorting to peddling lies and falsehoods and this lie has exposed them for what they are,” Mr Mureriwa said.
Labels: AMBASSADOR, DEBORAH BRONNERT
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(NEWZIMBABWE) Zimbabwe has 'grave concerns' over UK envoy
15/08/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
ZIMBABWE has “grave concerns” about the British ambassador Deborah Bronnert, a senior official in President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party said on Friday after the envoy was caught apparently “lying” about assisted voters in the July 31 elections.
Bronnert told Sky News on August 4 that in an unnamed constituency, 10,000 voters out of 17,000 had been assisted, adding: “That means somebody else went in with them into the voting booth raising some big questions around the secrecy and security of the vote.”
The same claim was repeated by MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai in an affidavit filed with the Constitutional Court on Friday last week challenging the election results showing President Robert Mugabe winning by a landslide.
But just like Bronnert, the outgoing Prime Minister did not name the constituency where this took place – drawing fire from Mugabe who, in his replying affidavit to Tsvangirai’s petition, accused him of “bringing before the court an unsworn founding affidavit to parrot a false British claim without a factual basis.”
Bronnert was challenged on her claim on Thursday but would not answer the specific question about which constituency she was referring to, instead releasing a statement referencing the British Foreign Secretary.
She said: “As outlined by Foreign Secretary William Hague, the UK has grave concerns over the conduct of the elections. The SADC and AU preliminary statements outlined many of these. They include the voters’ roll that should, by law, have been made available to all political parties, the high incidence of voters turned away and the high numbers of assisted voters.
“These and other irregularities call into serious question the credibility of the election and it is important that all allegations of electoral violations are thoroughly investigated.”
Her response appears to have angered Mugabe’s Zanu PF party which says her actions justify the country’s refusal to invite western countries to observe elections.
Playing on Hague’s own judgement of Zimbabwe’s elections, Zanu PF politburo member and former Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said: “Zimbabwe has grave concerns about the conduct of the British ambassador.
“She made inflammatory and inciteful allegations using a high-profile platform like Sky News. It was deliberate, calculated mischief by the former colonial power to smear a national process and to smear a national result without any factual basis.”
“If what they have said that 10,000 people were assisted to vote in a constituency where 17,000 ballots were cast is true, there would clearly be something wrong and serious consequences would have to fall on those responsible. Conversely, if this is a false allegation, those who have made it like Deborah Bronnert have to be visited by the same consequences as well.”
According to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, 206,901 of the 3,410,767 total voters were assisted in the July 31 elections, representing an average of 985 per constituency.
Assisted voters are mainly the elderly, disabled or illiterate people who require assistance from election officials to indicate their choice on the ballot paper.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said if Bronnert and Tsvangirai’s claims were true, it would have taken a whole month to get 10,000 assisted voters to cast their ballots. It takes an average five minutes for an assisted voter to cast their ballots, he said.
Moyo added: “The problem with Britain and its allies, the US and Australia, is that they have a large Rhodesian population which controls the media and they have been telling themselves that the people of Zimbabwe are against their independence.
“So the result of the harmonised elections shocked them because they showed that the people of Zimbabwe and their liberation movement are together, they are a team under Team Zanu-PF.
“They wanted another government of national unity, but the people of Zimbabwe came with an expression of their sovereignty that shocked them.
“This is why we don’t want these people to observe our elections, they are liars. Bronnert did not have the capacity to observe the elections but made this lie. You can imagine the amount of lies they would have made if they had been invited to observe the elections.”
Labels: AMBASSADOR, DEBORAH BRONNERT
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West pressures MDC-T on elections
Sunday, 14 October 2012 00:31
Sunday Mail Reporters
Some embassies in Harare aligned to the European Union (EU) have over the past few weeks been summoning the top leadership of the MDC-T to formulate election strategiesahead of the forthcoming polls, it has emerged.
This move has once against exposed the MDC-T’s Western parentage, with reports saying the Western-sponsored party is inadequately prepared for the impending elections that President Mugabe has said will be held in March next year.
Impeccable sources within the faction-riddled party told The Sunday Mail last week that some embassies in Harare aligned to the EU have been summoning the MDC-T hierarchy to formulate election plans.
Despite reservations by the MDC-T that the political playing field was uneven for a general election, senior members of the party were a fortnight ago summoned by British Ambassador Deborah Bronnert who reportedly told them she was not happy with the party’s preparations for elections.
The MDC-T’s foreign backers, who include the United States, Germany and Nordic countries, have also threatened to withdraw aid if the party “does not shape up” and adopt an election strategy that they have laid on the table.
Zanu-PF and the MDC led by Professor Welshman Ncube have since blasted the move by Western embassies, saying it is “divisive and immoral”.
The sources revealed that Mrs Bronnert gave the MDC-T top hierarchy a tongue-lashing, accusing them of failing to prepare for the forthcoming polls.
“The British Ambassador summoned the MDC-T top hierarchy and fervently expressed her disappointment with the party ahead of the elections. Britain is very angry that the party has not managed to keep the faith and trust of its sponsors and it wants a strong say on the election strategy that the party adopts,” the sources said.
The sources revealed that the British Ambassador particularly grilled MDC-T Women’s Assembly chairperson and National Council member Mrs Theresa Makone over the party’s affairs.
“Theresa Makone was the last to be summoned to the meetings and she was particularly grilled. This is not surprising, given that she is one of the ministers who are close to (Mr Morgan) Tsvangirai so she was basically given a full lecture to take to her leader,” the source revealed.
Efforts to get a comment from Ms Bronnert were fruitless last week as she had reportedly travelled to her home country on business.
Questions sent to her offices on Thursday had not been responded to by the time of going to press.
MDC-T spokesperson Mr Douglas Mwonzora said he was not aware of the meetings.
“I am not privy to any of those meetings at all,” he said.
EU head of delegation to Zimbabwe Ambassador Aldo Dell’Ariccia said the EU stance does not favour any political party.
“The EU does not favour any party over any other. We will work with any government formed as the result of a credible electoral process. The EU is not supporting any political party. Since February 2010 we have further broadened the scope of our co-operation to include support to GPA reforms and we have been doing so, for instance, in supporting the Copac process,” he said.
However the sources revealed that the MDC-T’s Western handlers are riled that the party will lose the forthcoming elections if it “does not step to the plate”.
“The consensus between Britain, America, Germany and the Nordic countries is that the MDC-T will lose the forthcoming elections if they do not change their way of doing things. They want to see changes that will redefine the party come elections,” the sources said.
Zanu-PF spokesperson Cde Rugare Gumbo said the clandestine meetings between the MDC-T and the Western countries were nothing new.
He said it was surprising that the MDC-T is “not reforming”, yet is had been at the forefront of calling for reforms ahead of the elections.
“This is nothing new to us. People are always talking about reforms, but they do not want to reform themselves,” said Cde Gumbo.
MDC spokesperson Mr Kurauone Chihwayi said Western nations are being divisive by siding with a political party.
He said the West held “the warped view that only the MDC-T is the democratic party in Zimbabwe”.
“These nations have always been meddling in our internal political affairs and they are divisive. Why is it that they are choosing to engage with one political party? If they have Zimbabwe’s interests at heart, as they want us to believe, they are supposed to involve every party and not one party. The Western countries have got a problem because they believe Tsvangirai is the only person who can deliver democracy to Zimbabwe. They are basically leaving the playing field unfair ahead of the elections,” he said.
Political commentator Dr Lawton Hikwa said former US Ambassador Christopher Dell had exposed the United States stance of giving election strategies to the MDC-T.
“This has become something that it synonymous with the MDC-T and Ambassador Dell once revealed that he was giving election strategies to the party,” he said.
Labels: 2013 ELECTIONS (ZIMBABWE), DEBORAH BRONNERT, MDC, MDC TREASON, THERESA MAKONE
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