COMMENT - The MDC wants to know where you live. They don't sound like they like democracy any more than their rhodesian predecessors did. - MrK
(HERALD ZW) MDC gets roll, demands voters’ photos
Felex Share Senior Reporter
MDC Alliance on Tuesday said it had received a copy of the voters’ roll for the July 30 harmonised elections, but immediately demanded photographs of all registered voters to conduct an audit through door-to-door visits. In a bid to cast aspersions on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and undermine the credibility of the polls, MDC-T faction leader Mr Nelson Chamisa, who leads a coalition of seven fringe political parties, insisted the voters’ roll was not final.
MDC-T national deputy treasurer Mr Charlton Hwende said they wanted a voters’ roll with pictures, a request described by observers as an intimidation tactic.
ZEC yesterday said the voters’ roll contained adequate information.
Photographs, ZEC commissioner Dr Qhubani Moyo said, would be used by the electoral body on election day for identification purposes.
“The voters’ roll that we compiled does contain photographs of everyone registered,” he said.
“We are going to use those photographs for identification purposes as the commission during voting day. All stakeholders interested in the voters’ roll have been given a voters’ roll that carries adequate information of the voter in terms of their name, age, ID number and also where they are registered.
Can you imagine what it entails to download a file that has images of 5,6 million Zimbabweans for everyone who wants to go through it? We are convinced as a commission that all stakeholders desirous of the voters’ roll do have adequate information.”
Dr Moyo added: “There has been a number of issues being raised by a lot of people saying when we were registering you made a commitment that our details are going to be purely for election purposes and for us now to be giving every stakeholder those pictures creates problems of confidence amongst citizens who would not have registered had they known their pictures would be given to anyone.”
ZEC availed a final voters’ roll last Friday, which contains over 5,6 million registered voters.
Mr Chamisa, who is under fire from alliance partners after he grabbed parliamentary and council seats reserved for them, said the voters’ roll was not final.
“We’ve now established that the voters’ roll ZEC is issuing is not the final roll,” he tweet- ed.
“Those who ‘registered’ during inspection are yet to be added. ZEC claims it will add them later. So ZEC has given us a voters’ roll it knows is not final. Our response is coming, it will be red.”
In his intimidating tweet, Mr Hwende said: “@ZECzim a final voters’ roll without the pictures of the registered voters is unacceptable. We want the final voters’ role with the pictures so that we can do a physical audit through door to door visits.”
Observers yesterday said the frivolous demands being given by the Chamisa-led coalition showed the party was running scared ahead of the elections.
Senior legal counsel Mr Tendai Toto said: “These are methods and tactics of the rightwing brothers and sisters to scuttle the impending elections.
“The demands interfere with voters’ rights to free choice. The exercise of voters’ roll audit can be used by anybody to intimidate the electorate, campaign for or against, and unnecessarily interfere with people’s privacy.
“How will political parties execute the voters’ roll audit if they interfere with voters’ rights as forestated? It is unfortunate that some of these demands are made without due regard to citizens’ rights.
“Before and after the polls it is possible that harassment, bullying, victimisation and compulsive voting can happen especially when image identities are disclosed and publicised.
“If any political parties or interested parties, stakeholders wish to conduct voters’ roll audit (if they have any such mandate) they must consult the database of their respective registered supporters and conduct the audits.”
Political analyst Mr Tafadzwa Mugwadi weighed in: “They are now resorting to desperate spanner-throwing shenanigans to discredit a credible electoral process, which even their member, Eddie Cross, lauded as the best since colonisation.
“Chamisa and crew have been on the forefront demanding a voters’ roll from ZEC and now that that they have it, they are cornered and are running out of a political message.”
Mr Cross this week said this year’s elections would be the best in 54 years.
Labels: DEMOCRACY, ELECTIONS, MDC, ZIMBABWE
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(NEWZIMBABWE) Zanu PF observes elections in Denmark
08/12/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
DESPITE its leader barring the European Union (EU) from observing local polls, Zanu PF joined a Zimbabwean delegation which observed Denmark’s municipal elections last month. The Royal Danish embassy in Harare confirmed Zanu PF’s participation in its electoral processes.
According the embassy, Zanu PF was represented by Brigadier Gen (Rtd) Asher Walter Tapfumaneyi and one Tangisayi Tapera. The delegation also included MDC leader Welshman Ncube and representatives of the MDC-T. Zanu PF deputy information director Psychology Maziwisa could neither deny nor confirm his party observed the Danish elections.
“This is something I would ordinarily comment by I am not commenting on this issue. However, we have a right to accept an invitation from anyone or decline including Denmark,” he said.
“It is also up to Denmark to invite who they want to let in or shut out. Similarly as a country we can decide who can come in or not.”
Opposition MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said the MDC-T was surprised that Zanu PF sent a delegation to observe a European election.
“We are surprised that Zanu PF sends a delegation despite having refused the Europeans to observe our elections and what happened showed the duplicity and hypocrisy in Zanu PF,” Mwonzora said.
A social, political and media commentator Ernest Mudzengi: “I think it simply shows that they (Zanu PF) are hypocritical and need to revise the way they conduct their business.
“The key question is why they would want certain democratic imperatives to apply to other people and not to them.”
Mwonzora said his party believed in universal democracy.
“The MDC is of the firm position that in the democracy we want to usher into Zimbabwe there is no separate democracy for Africa, Zimbabwe or Europe.
“We observe other countries so that we tap into their experience even though they are Europeans they are simply part of a global village and we have to learn from each other,” the former Nyanga North legislator said.
President Mugabe refused to allow the EU to observe the March constitutional referendum and his re-election in July in a vote dismissed as fraudulent by his rivals.
“The Europeans and the Americans have imposed sanctions on us and we keep them out in the same way they have kept us out,” President Mugabe said as he cast his vote during the March constitutional referendum.
The Zanu PF leader was however, made clear his anger at the refusal by the EU to endorse his re-election despite African observers giving the July vote the all-clear.
The development has seen the EU holding back on lifting sanctions which were suspended ahead of the vote with the promise that they would be completely lifted if the elections were credible.
Speaking during his inauguration Mugabe said: “Today we tell those dissenting nations that the days of colonialism and neo-colonialism have gone and gone forever. Today it is Britain and her dominions of Australia and Canada who dare tell us that our elections were not fair and credible.
“Today it is America and her illegal elections with all that past of enslaving us, it is America that dares raise a censorious voice over our affairs and says our elections were not fair, were not credible, yes today it is these Anglo-Saxon who dare contradict Africa’s verdict over elections in Zimbabwe, an African country. But who are they we ask? Whoever gave them the gift of seeing better than all of us?”
As an EU member, Denmark has supported Zimbabwe’s democratic transition processes and the establishment of governance institutions since the signing of the Global Political Agreement that culminated in the establishment of a coalition government.
Denmark and Zimbabwe have a long history of cooperation dating back to the days of the struggle for independence.
“Denmark was a strong supporter of a free and independent Zimbabwe and continued to provide extensive support for its development after independence.
“Denmark has since 2008 helped about two million of the most vulnerable people out of immediate food shortage and distress,” the embassy said.
Labels: DENMARK, DOUGLAS MWONZORA, ELECTIONS, EU, PSYCHOLOGY MAZIWISA, ZANU-PF
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'If you lose, you must surrender'
By Editor
Thu 01 Aug. 2013, 14:00 CAT
THE Zimbabwean people yesterday went to the polls to elect their president and members of parliament.
And compared to elections before, this can be said to have been relatively peaceful. We do not expect the Zimbabwean elections to perfectly meet every expectation of the participants. But from the conduct of the parties and the grievances raised, we feel the primary things that are required to make the participants accept the results were somehow met.
We therefore expect those who chose to participate in these elections to accept the outcome, that is defeat. We say defeat because nobody has problems accepting their own victory.
We also hope the international community, especially the Europeans and the Americans, will not make demands that will push the people of Zimbabwe much further apart and backwards. As President Robert Mugabe admits in a recent interview, "Although we boxed each other, it's not as hostile as before. It's all over now. We can shake hands." We hope this will be the spirit that prevails when the results of these elections are known or announced.
President Mugabe says, "If you go into a process and join a competition where there are only two outcomes, win or lose, you can't be both. You either win or lose. If you lose, you must surrender." This spirit must be lived up to by both President Mugabe and his supporters on the one hand and Morgan Tsvangirai and his supporters on the other.
Tsvangirai's party, the Movement for Democratic Change, says the party was only prepared to accept the results if the poll was "free and fair" - a verdict on which the jury is still out.
Tsvangirai has accepted to participate in these elections and he should therefore deal with the outcome in line with that acceptance. This however does not mean that Tsvangirai should accept the result, come what may. He has the right not to accept the result. But his rejection of the results has to be effected in a manner that does not disturb the peace and end up in the unnecessary loss of lives and property. There are peaceful procedures to protest and challenge an election result one does not find acceptable.
We saw what happened in this year's elections in Kenya. Raila Odinga did not accept the election result. But unlike before, his supporters remained calm and restrained while he challenged the results in the courts of law. The Kenyan Supreme Court upheld the election results that put Uhuru Kenyatta as the winner. Again, Odinga was not happy with the decision of the Kenyan Supreme Court, but for the sake of his country and his people, and in the interest of peace and stability, he respected a judgment he did not agree with.
We expect nothing less than this from all the parties that participated in yesterday's Zimbabwean elections. Those elections are certainly not perfect in terms of being free and fair, but they somewhat represent the nearest estimation of the wishes of the Zimbabwean people.
We hope the Zimbabwean people, this time round, will use their vote as a powerful weapon for unity and as an instrument for justice and peace. We say this because on their voting, on the quality of it, the discernment behind it, depend the progress and peace of their country. Let everyone involved have in their hearts the desire that all will benefit and not just the party which wins. Let it be said, not that this particular party won, but rather that Zimbabwe won the elections.
President Mugabe spoke of boxing each other; he did not speak of being at war with each other. In a boxing tournament, the aim is not to kill or destroy the opponent but to simply score more points and if possible temporarily knock him out of the fight. This should not be confused with a battlefield where the aim is to destroy, annihilate the other. These elections, after all, are not supposed to be a fight for survival, but a competition to serve the Zimbabwean people.
We urge those who will lose this election to educate their followers to be peaceful and tolerant. It is only in that way Zimbabwe will be united and peaceful. Let them set an example which will win the respect of the whole world.
Resorting to violence is unacceptable under any circumstance. And our final prayer and call is that although we are convinced that many things could have been done better, that there have been some injustices to those who are not in control of the electoral process, nevertheless, we are hoping that all will heed our appeal to the various political groupings to remain peaceful. The interests of the political parties and their candidates should be kept subordinate to the public good. And it is necessary to remind all parties that elections are for the good of the Zimbabwean people and their country, and not for the political survival of any individual or political party. If the spirit of the primacy of the common good were to animate all the Zimbabwean political parties and their leaders, we will not witness any violence after the results are announced.
Labels: ELECTIONS
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Prosecute election corruption, fraud
By Editor
Sun 14 July 2013, 14:00 CAT
Corrupt activities committed during election campaigns should be prosecuted like any other.
It is not enough to nullify an election on the grounds of corruption and then allow the culprits to go scot-free. Some even recontest elections after being found to be corrupt and win.
How can someone who has been found to be corrupt and whose election was accordingly nullified be allowed to recontest the same seat when he should be in jail?
And moreover, those whose elections have been nullified and resulted in by-elections are causing the taxpayer to incur more costs as a result of their corruption and other electoral fraud. Why should such people be allowed to take part in by-elections?
We have had situations in the past where the courts recommended the prosecution of people who were found with criminal abuses during election petitions, but they were allowed to go scot-free.
There is nothing in our laws that says if one engages in corruption during elections they can only have the result nullified without them being prosecuted for the crime.
The attempt by the Anti-Corruption Commission to study the election petition judgments with a view to finding out cases that can be prosecuted is highly welcome. It is long overdue because we have people in Parliament today who were found to be corrupt during elections and had their elections nullified. They were allowed by some political parties to recontest and won. What morality is this?
Decent political parties are expected not to adopt people who have been found to be corrupt and had their elections nullified on that account. If morality doesn't exist in our politics, the law exists to deal with criminal acts and it should be made effective. Moreover, even if the political parties had such high morals and were not willing to adopt corrupt elements, things shouldn't end there. The law enforcement agencies, especially the Anti-Corruption Commission, should pursue those who have been found to have resorted to corruption during elections and arrest and prosecute them.
It may also be necessary for the Anti-Corruption Commission and other law enforcement agencies to be proactive and look out for cases of corruption during elections. They shouldn't just wait for election petitions to be brought for them to pursue those who have been found wanting. In fact, it will be much better if their actions were independent of election petitions because a conviction would automatically nullify the election. A lot of money and time would be saved because of instead of having two cases - one a civil matter under the electoral laws and another, a criminal one under the Penal Code - we would only have one. This would also save the individual costs of pursuing people who engage in electoral corruption and other malpractices. Election petitions are not cheap and as a result many fraudulent elections are not challenged.
It is good that the Anti-Corruption Commission is thinking of becoming proactive when it comes to election corruption. This will help a great deal in increasing the credibility of our elections. Elections which are corruption free are more likely to be generally accepted by the voters. And when election results are accepted by all, political stability increases and democracy is strengthened.
Corruption-free elections also lead to better governments. If corruption is removed from elections, the cost of elections also goes down. And with the cost of elections reducing, participation increases as more and more people are able to set themselves a political agenda. Where there is corruption during elections, only those who are able to mobilise more resources will be able to participate as candidates in an election.
The measures that the Anti-Corruption Commission is trying to take deserve the support of all who want to see clean elections in our homeland. But of course the political parties that want to adopt corrupt politicians as candidates will not be happy with this and may seek to have things continue the way they have been. We expect them to oppose this because corruption has never been an issue with them in the first place. The individuals who have been found to be corrupt were sponsored by the same political parties and the money they used to corrupt weak souls came from the same political parties. We don't see the MMD and UPND accept such a move. This is so because the MMD had no problems with election corruption in 2011. The whole party leadership supported it. There is no one in the MMD leadership who openly criticised the corruption that was going on. The UPND also had no problems with that corruption. It was actually a beneficiary of the corruption of the MMD in 2011 - they had some working relationship or a loose alliance against the Patriotic Front. This is why today the UPND doesn't have problems fielding on its ticket MMD candidates whose elections have been nullified. In Lukulu West, the UPND fielded an MMD member whose election was nullified for corruption. We are told they have been seeking to do the same in Petauke Central and Malambo where MMD candidates were found to be corrupt and had their elections nullified. UPND doesn't care about such corruption - it wants them dirty and stinking as they are.
Clearly, if the issue of election corruption is left to the politicians, we will not put an end to it. It is encouraging that the Anti-Corruption Commission is joining the fight. The courts are doing well on this front and need the support of other judicial institutions to cleanse our electoral system of corruption and other malpractices.
Labels: CORRUPTION, ELECTIONS
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(NEWZIMBABWE, SAPA) No dates for Zimbabwe summit: South Africa
07/06/2013 00:00:00
by SAPA
A NEW date has not been set for a regional summit to assess Zimbabwe's readiness for general elections, South Africa's International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said on Friday.
Regional mediators are consulting to set a date for the summit, after one scheduled for Sunday was abruptly called off on Thursday, she told reporters in Pretoria.
"The date for such an extra-ordinary summit always gets decided upon by the availability and programmes of heads of state, creating space for this meeting. It’s not an ordinary, scheduled meeting."
President Jacob Zuma - who has led SADC's efforts to facilitate negotiations between President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party and the MDC formations was expected to present his latest report to the meeting.
Media reports on Friday suggested that Sunday’s meeting was called off because President Robert Mugabe informed SADC he would not be available for the summit.
The summit was expected to discuss a range of issues, including the cash-strapped n government's efforts to raise a US$132m election budget.
Last Friday the Constitutional Court ruled that Mugabe should organise elections no later than July 31.
The polls aim to end an uneasy SADC-brokered unity government between Mugabe and his rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, which was formed in 2009 after deadly disputed elections.
Labels: ELECTIONS, MAITE NKOANA-MASHABANE
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(NEWZIMBABWE) Elections can go ahead: SADC
26/05/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
THE conclusion of the constitutional reform process means the country can now hold fresh elections to choose a substantive government, the regional SADC grouping has said.
SADC leaders held an extra-ordinary summit to discuss Madagascar, DRC and Zimbabwe on the sidelines of the African Union general assembly in the Ethiopian Capital Addis Ababa on Sunday.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting the grouping’s executive secretary, Tomaz Salamao said: ‘‘The summit took note that the constitution making process has been endorsed by parliament ... it is time to put our minds as a region and support Zimbabwe to hold elections.
"Our position as Sadc is that the Constitution was concluded and the next step is the election, whether it’s held within one month, two months, three months or the next six months, it is up to those with the powers to decide.
“We are waiting to hear the ruling of the Supreme Court, and as Sadc we will be there to support . . . We are basically waiting for the announcement of the day of the election so that we move this process forward.”
Last week the Supreme Court reserved judgement in a case in which a Harare man wants President Robert Mugabe to be compelled to name an election date before the end of Parliament on June 29.
SADC intervened to facilitate the formation of the unity government after the violent 2008 elections and has helped the coalition parties negotiate various reforms and map out a so-called roadmap to new polls.
A new Constitution was one of the key reforms agreed under the coalition deal.
President Robert Mugabe signed the new charter into law last week paving the way for new polls to be held although the parties remain miles apart over the exact timing of the vote.
Mugabe wants the polls to immediately follow the end of Parliament on June 29 while the MDC parties are pushing for a delay to facilitate the implementation of further reforms.
MDC-T leader and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai recently toured the region to urge SADC to call a summit and help ensure reforms he says were agreed as part of the coalition deal are fully implemented.
It was not clear whether the Addis meeting was connected to the MDC-T leader’s diplomatic campaign which was derided and dismissed as a failure by rivals back home.
Tsvangirai cancelled travel plans to the AU summit after his wife was taken ill, officials said at the weekend.
Meanwhile SADC Troika chairperson and Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete said he did not see any reason why the elections could not go ahead.
‘‘Why not? There is progress; we are hopeful, there is progress. We have to keep our fingers crossed for the next hurdle,” he said.
“We have made progress with the referendum. It went on very well and now there are preparations for the next election.’’
Labels: ELECTIONS, SADC, TOMAZ SALOMAO
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(BUSINESS DAILY AFRICA KE) Sun setting on British empire?
Opinion and Analysis
By John Kamau
Posted Wednesday, April 10 2013 at 18:04
Three noteworthy events occurred this week — the death of Margaret Thatcher, the swearing-in of Uhuru Kenyatta as Kenya’s fourth president, and the departure of Mwai Kibaki from office.
If we have to remember Mrs Thatcher, it is because of the way she sustained the Kanu government, turned a blind eye to former President Moi’s dictatorship and kept pumping money into the bottomless pit that was his government as budgetary support.
But we have to understand that the relationship between Thatcher and Moi was of two hard-driving hard-headed characters who had assumed office months apart.
While Thatcher had been sworn into office in May 1979 Mr Moi was first sworn into office on October 14, 1978 — two green-horns in power seven months apart.
Interestingly, Thatcher invited Moi as the first head of state to visit the UK during her reign with Moi arriving at No 10 Downing Street on June 12, 1979. His only other State Visit being Ethiopia in January, 1979.
From then on, Thatcher made the mistake of oiling the wheels of Moi’s dictatorship and it was not until her fall in 1990 that Kenyans were able to push for sensible reforms in the country.
In all that, the British economic interests outweighed Kenya’s desire for change. So close were Moi and Thatcher that when Moi University was built in Eldoret in 1984, the library, with a sitting capacity of 2,500 readers, was named the Margaret Thatcher Library.
Moi also allowed Thatcher to have Kenya as a training ground for troops destined to defend the Falkland Islands in a pact that still brings in 10,000 troops. For all that, Thatcher will always have a place in our history.
The entry of Kibaki in 2002 was unanticipated by British top echelons who had given tacit support to Moi’s candidate Uhuru Kenyatta hoping that there would be no change of policy that would affect their geo-political and economic interests.
But months before Moi left, he had been irked by the British and called British High Commissioner, Sir Jeffrey James a “meddler” when he went to bid him bye.
Sir James’ replacement, Edward Clay, turned as combative as his predecessor with the Kibaki government cancelling British tenders and turning East for development support.
In a radical twist, the government unbanned Mau Mau and unveiled Dedan Kimathi’s monument still regarded in Westminister as a terrorist. And that explains the “they are vomiting on our shoes” remark by Mr Clay.
Mr Kibaki has left State House without paying a State visit to the UK despite being invited. His handlers said he was busy. And that shows that despite the diplomatic speak of cordial relationship with the UK London’s influence on Kenya is on the wane.
The numbers tell the story with UK aid to Kenya on the decline. Since 1997 — when the Tories lost power — the UK’s expenditure on Kenya has been cut by more than 50 per cent from a high of 2.8 per cent of the entire UK DFID bilateral programme.
“With our recent direct experience of fraud in the Ministry of Education, we will make limited use of Government systems to distribute aid, but…the 2012 elections could be a major watershed for governance in Kenya, and we will review our aid delivery instruments again after that,” says a DFID strategy document.
And that is where Mr Kenyatta’s relationship with UK will start. How things change!
Mr Kamau is the Associate Editor, Business Daily. Email: jkamau@ke.nationmedia.com
Labels: 2011 BUDGET, ELECTIONS, KENYA, MARGARET THATCHER, UHURU KENYATTA
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(BUSINESS DAILY KE) Eleven presidents witness Kenya’s change of guard
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe received a rousing welcome at the Moi Sports Centre Kasarani from Kenyans who thronged the stadium to witness the Uhuru Kenyatta's inauguration. Photo/Emma Nzioka
Media Group
By EDWIN MUTAI
Posted Tuesday, April 9 2013 at 20:19
In Summary
* The ceremony was witnessed by 11 presidents, five prime ministers, four vice-presidents, two former heads of state and one former first lady.
* The dignitaries were entertained by a military band — Maroon commandos— Mwomboko dancers from Kiangai in Kirinyaga, Sarakasi Dancers from Nairobi and Chuka drummers from Meru among other groups.
* Uhuru sworn in as president
At exactly 1.35pm Tuesday, Uhuru Kenyatta took the oath of office as Kenya’s fourth President amid jubilation from over 60,000 Kenyans who thronged Moi Sports Centre Kasarani to witness the historic occasion.
Five minutes later, a visibly excited Deputy President William Ruto was sworn in at a ceremony witnessed by 11 presidents, five prime ministers, four vice-presidents, two former heads of state and one former first lady.
Mr Kenyatta and Ruto received deafening applause from their supporters who arrived at the stadium as early as 3am to secure vintage positions to capture unfolding events during the colourful ceremony that was marked with a 21-gun salute.
Mr Kenyatta took five minutes to conclude the swearing-in after his supporters interrupted every sentence of the Oath of Office and the Due Execution of the Office, which was administered by the Registrar of the Supreme Court, Ms Gladys Shollei, and witnessed by the Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court, Dr Willy Mutunga.
Mr Kenyatta, who was clad in a grey suit and accompanied by his wife Margaret, was overwhelmed by his supporters who repeated the words he uttered as Ms Shollei led him to take the two oaths.
“I Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta…. I Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta chorused the supporters drowning his oath and prompting pleas from military commentator Warrant Officer 2 Gibson Mwandawiro.
Mr Ruto got a similar reception after a standing ovation when he was called to take his place at the inauguration square for the oath-taking.
Clad in a dark suit
He was clad in a dark suit and was accompanied by his wife Rachael during the swearing-in which also took five minutes.
Article 141 and 148 of the Constitution require a president-elect and his deputy to take the oath of allegiance and oath of due execution of office before assuming official duties.
Immediately after Ms Shollei declared Mr Kenyatta president and Mr Ruto as his deputy, the stadium erupted into ululation, clapping, song and dance.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who lost to Mr Kenyatta in the March 4 presidential poll did not attend the event together with all leaders elected on the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (Cord) ticket.
Pomp and colour preceded the occasion which saw dignitaries enter the venue of the inauguration in style.
The first to arrive was the Chief of Defence Forces Julius Karangi and his service commanders followed by the Chief Justice.
Chinese Second Vice-President Xi Jinping was the first foreign dignitary to arrive followed by former Zambia President Kenneth Kaunda who was accompanied by Vice-President Guy Scott.
Labels: 2009 BUDGET, ELECTIONS, ROBERT MUGABE, UHURU KENYATTA
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Kenyatta victory: Defiance to Western affirmation
Wednesday, 13 March 2013 21:35
In a week leading to Zimbabwe’s referendum on a new constitution and at a time we are experiencing bizarre claims of supernatural happenings across the country, it is a bit of a quandary for any columnist to focus on a topic far away from home.
Claims about the occurrence of godly miracles and underworld supernatural happenings in Zimbabwe now border on the ridiculous, and the sooner the country wakes up from this superstition stupor the better for the name of human civilisation and for the dignity of Africans in the 21st century.
But there is a shared feeling of relief across the Kenyan population after the conclusion of last week’s presidential election. This time Kenya did not burn — no images of barbaric Africa with victims of political violence being ferried to surgical rooms with spears and arrows stuck into their skulls. We saw these kind of images in December 2007, and the use of traditional weapons between the clashing political rivals painted Africa as a backward continent struggling to transit into civilised democracy — perhaps the same way it makes civilised people across the planet raucously laugh when they hear of Zimbabwean young men that pretend to be prophets of God with powers to create babies and cash from thin air — or weird counter claims of satanic powers that purportedly turn school kids into baboons, or any other such primitive nonsense.
At the conclusion of the election in Kenya, there were no inflammatory statements this time around. After losing to outgoing President Mwai Kibaki in 2007, Raila Odinga was asked by a BBC correspondent to restrain his supporters and he responded, “I refuse to be asked to give the Kenyan people an anaesthetic so that they can be raped.”
That was a tacit encouragement to the violent rioters, and Odinga is lucky not to be among those later indicted by the ICC for playing key roles in the violence that killed 1 200 people.
At the height of the political clashes the then Lands Minister, Kivutha Kibwana, said about Raila Odinga’s supporters: “It is becoming clear that these well-organised acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing were well planned, financed and rehearsed by the Orange Democratic Movement leaders prior to the general elections.”
This time Odinga complained that the election he lost to Uhuru Kenyatta “lacks integrity,” but he quickly called for “calm, tolerance and peace.” It would appear like the people of Kenya have learnt that violence does not pay, and as one Kenyan said to the BBC’s Karen Allen, there has been a “revolution in Kenya’s political maturity but not a revolution in the leadership.”
While young Kenyans are celebrating the election of the country’s youngest leader ever, the losing candidate Odinga seems to lack the maturity to concede defeat — or the decency to accept the verdict of the Kenyan people on his political fate. This time he seems to be licking his wounds all by himself — with no solidarity message even from his ally Morgan Tsvangirai.
The court challenge announced by Odinga might simply be a gimmick to conjure up solidarity so he can retain the leadership of his party on a sympathy vote, or a mere face-saving tactic to exit the political scene with the image of a robbed gallant fighter. From a legal perspective, the challenge looks badly compromised by the fact that Odinga simply does not have the numbers.
Francis Eshitemi, an Odinga supporter from Kibera, conceded that it was clear his candidate had lost in a free and fair election. He said: “The problem is that Raila doesn’t have the numbers. There were a few irregularities, but the gap between Raila and Uhuru is big.”
A Kenyan academic resident in Australia, Charles Okumu, had this to say: “The ethnic implications for the Kikuyu-Kalenjin-Meru alliance that gave Kenyatta and Ruto victory are huge and very significant. It is indisputable that these three ethnic groups easily make up about half of Kenya’s population, and the ‘we stand with our own’ sentiment was quite evident in the campaign leading to this election.”
Mr Okumu added: “Apart from the numerical advantage of this coalition, it must be credited to the coalition leaders that they did an excellent job of mobilising their supporters for both voter registration and for turning out to vote on the election day. Raila Odinga lacked in this respect.”
Another Odinga supporter, Isaac Khayiya, was wary of violence. He said: “This time we want post-election peace, not war. We will be the ones to suffer if there is violence. For them, Uhuru, Ruto and Odinga — they have security and they are rich.” And in comes the quandary of the West — the dilemma the West faces after their sponsored candidate, Raila Odinga, was defeated by about one million votes. Kenyatta, the ICC-indicted candidate that the West so wished to be the loser, was delivered a solid mandate by the Kenyan people, and that reality is a bitter pill to swallow for Western policymakers, let alone for the sponsors of the Kenyan ICC cases. The ICC indictment hugely boosted Kenyatta’s profile.
However paper-thin his victory margin might be described, Uhuru Kenyatta still won the election outright. The result itself shows the defiance of Kenyan people to Western affirmation in the affairs of their country, and the rest of Africa was watching.
The West’s affirmation for the leadership of Zimbabwe is on Morgan Tsvangirai and his Western sponsored-MDC-T, but perhaps it is time the West begins to realise that the financing of election victories in Africa is no longer as straightforward as the United States used to do in Central America in the seventies and the eighties.
Like Odinga proved to be a worthless leader as Prime Minister of Kenya under a coalition government with Kibaki’s party, Morgan Tsvangirai has done worse in proving his lack of leadership depth as Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister in a coalition government with President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party — and there are more chances of the scandalous Tsvangirai losing the vote to the veteran Zimbabwean leader than there ever were for Odinga losing to Kenyatta.
The alliance between Tsvangirai and Odinga can be easily described as camaraderie in confusion.
To the majority of Kenyans the matter of the ICC indictments is viewed as an inconvenience rather than an impediment, just like sanctions against Zimbabwe have rallied the masses on the side of President Mugabe. Those who voted for Uhuru Kenyatta simply do not regard him as a criminal, and to them he is an innocent man facing a smear campaign from a politically motivated international court. It appears both Uhuru and his supporters are confident that it will be easy to have Kenyatta cleared. For Kenyans it was the victory of politics over justice and at The Hague the West will want imperial politics to triumph over justice.
Kenyatta is tremendously influential in Kenya and it can be predicted that a verdict based on the travesty of justice as was seen in the Saddam Hussein conviction would certainly trigger a disastrous mob backlash in Kenya. In the run-up to the election, Johnnie Carsons, the top American envoy to Africa, bullishly warned that “choices have consequences,” and that was widely interpreted as a threat to Kenyans not to vote for Kenyatta.
Clearly the majority of Kenyans have responded by an open “game on” gesture, and the whole world waits curiously to see Carsons’ threatened consequences.
Carson’s predecessor, Jendayi Frazer, has already rubbished her successor’s utterances, saying the statement was “reckless and irresponsible,” adding, “Kenyatta knows that he needs the United States, and the United States knows it needs Kenya. While it might be awkward, there won’t be a significant change in our policy stance toward Kenya or theirs towards us.”
In addition, US Secretary of State John Kerry said: “We will continue to be a strong friend and ally of the Kenyan people.” In reiterating that the ICC indictment has no effect on his capacity to do his job, Kenyatta has also urged “the international community to respect the will of Kenyans,” and he has called on the West to recognise “the sovereignty” of Kenya.
The indictment of Kenyatta has rallied Kenyan citizens to the side of their new leader — in total defiance to the expectation of the West. This is precisely because the ICC stands as a discredited politically motivated court whose sole focus is on the continent of Africa.
Since its establishment in July 2002 the ICC has indicted 30 people and they are all from the African continent. Of these, 10 are fugitives, one is dead, 9 are either on trial or pre-trial, 4 have been arrested, one has been acquitted, 3 have had their charges dismissed and one has been convicted, and that is Thomas Lubanga of the DRC, who has since appealed.
All this is despite the fact that the illegal Iraq invasion happened almost a year after the ICC had been instituted, or that the drone bombings of Afghanistan civilians still goes on unabated, or that the deadly and ruthless Nato grazing down of Sirte in the lead-up to the murdering of Muammar Gaddafi was fully televised for the world’s full viewing.
The ICC has no political motivation to investigate any of these Western-inflicted atrocities, and that alone is enough enragement to rally Kenyans around their own leaders they perceive to be victims of this egregious conspiracy.
Ayo Johnson, the director of View Point Africa, had this to say: “Many Africans have lost faith in the ICC and view it as targeting African leaders and failing to discharge its justice among non-African leaders.” He added: “Kenya sent a loud message to the ICC — don’t interfere.” In what seems to be a strong affirmation of African resentment for the motives of the ICC, senior lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi wrote in the newspaper The Nation that the Kenyatta-Ruto victory “must be seen as a slap in the face of sponsors of the ICC”.
Britain committed about US$25 million to the Kenyan election, and the stakes are quite high for the former colonial power. The top five Kenyan corporations are British owned, and there is a strategic military base where British soldiers are sent before deployment to Afghanistan. These cannot be abandoned easily and certainly will not.
The United States considers Kenya a central part of its military strategy in East Africa, especially when it comes to the anti-terror efforts targeted at Somalia.
The United States should not exactly worry too much about the ICC status of Kenyatta, if only the country was principled enough to respect its own rejection of the relevance and usefulness of the court.
The US has not only refused to be a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the ICC but has vastly mobilised against the work of the ICC by arm-twisting weaker states to exempt its citizens in their commitment to the ICC.
Kenya has brought to the fore the dilemma of peace versus justice. Those that say the result of the election must be upheld to keep peace in the country now face the prospect of being labelled rule of law traitors, while those who favour the route of the ICC idea of justice risk the label peace traitors.
Kenyan patriotism has been put on trial as well, and it is hard to believe the ICC can thwart the patriotic resolve of a defiant people. It is highly likely that the ICC will drop the charges against Kenyatta and his co-accused in a show trail to save the face of the West.
Hardly after Kenyatta’s victory the ICC dropped its charges against Francis Muthaura — the president-elect’s co-accused. For once the people of Africa seem to be determining global affairs.
Africa we are one and together we will overcome. It is homeland or death!
Reason Wafawarova is a political writer based in SYDNEY, Australia. Feedback at wafawarova@yahoo.co.uk or visit www.wafawarovawrites.com
Labels: COLOUR REVOLUTIONS, ELECTIONS, ICC, KENYA, NEOCOLONIALISM, UHURU KENYATTA
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Kenyatta wins Kenya vote by slim margin
08/03/2013 00:00:00
by Reuters
UHURU Kenyatta, the son of Kenya's founding president, won the presidential election with a slim margin of 50.03 percent of votes cast, provisional figures showed, just enough to avoid a run-off after a race that has divided the nation.
Kenyatta, who faces international charges of crimes against humanity, secured victory over his main rival, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who trailed with 43.28 percent of the vote.
To secure an outright win a candidate needed more than 50 percent of the votes. Kenyatta, the deputy prime minister, achieved that but with a margin of just 4,100 of the more than 12.3 million votes cast.
The first-round win, which must be officially confirmed by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, means Kenyans who waited five days for the result of the vote will not now face a second round that would have prolonged uncertainty.
The winner also needs to get at least 25 percent of the votes in 24 counties out of 47. This is expected be confirmed by the electoral commission. The commission is due to announce the official result on Saturday at 11 a.m.
But such a narrow win will almost certainly prompt legal challenges from Odinga's camp, which complained about the election process throughout. Odinga also lost in a disputed vote in 2007 that led to weeks of tribal killings.
John Githongo, a former senior government official-turned-whistleblower, urged the rival coalitions, Odinga's CORD and Kenyatta's Jubilee, to ensure calm. "Jubilee and CORD, what you and your supporters say now determines continued peace and stability in Kenya. We are watching you!" he said on Twitter.
International observers broadly said the vote and count had been transparent so far and the electoral commission, which replaced an old, discredited body, promised a credible vote.
Provisional figures displayed by the election commission showed Kenyatta won 6,173,433 votes out of a total of 12,338,667 ballots cast. Odinga secured 5,340,546 votes.
The result will pose a dilemma for Kenya's big Western donors because Kenyatta is due to go on trial in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity, accused of orchestrating the tribal violence five years ago.
Reputation
The United States and other Western states warned before the vote that diplomatic ties would be complicated with a win by Kenyatta who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court along with his running mate, William Ruto.
Western nations have given a broad range of views on how to deal with Kenya under Kenyatta and to what extent they will be ready to deal with his government.
"It won't be a headache as long as he cooperates with the ICC," said one Western diplomat. "We respect the decision of the majority of the Kenyan voters."
Both Kenyatta and Ruto deny the charges and have said they would cooperate to clear their names. However, Kenyatta had to fend of jibes during the campaign by his rival Odinga that he would have to run government by Skype from The Hague while he attended hearings.
Kenyans hope this vote, which has until now passed off with only pockets of unrest on voting day, would restore their nation's reputation as one of Africa's most stable democracies after mayhem last time.
Cars drove through the streets honking their horns, and one taxi driver shouted "50+1, that's OK," referring to the 50 percent plus one vote threshold required by law to win the vote, as noisy pockets of people yelled on the rainy streets.
The test will be whether any challenges to the outcome are worked out in the courts, and do not spill into the streets.
Odinga's camp had said even before the result that they were considering legal action, but said they would pursue it through the courts and the newly reformed judiciary.
That is a change from 2007, when Odinga said he could not trust the judiciary at the time to treat the case fairly.
Kenyatta's camp had also complained about delays in counting and other aspects of the process.
But many Kenyans had said this race was more transparent than previous votes. Turnout reached 86 percent of the 14.3 million eligible voters, in a nation where tribal loyalties largely trump ideology at the ballot box.
Kenyatta, comes from the Kikuyu tribe, Kenya's biggest ethnic community, accounting for about a fifth of Kenya's 40 million people, and Odinga, 68, is a Luo. Their ethnic groups alone could not have secured victory, so both picked running mates from other tribes to beef up their support.
Labels: ELECTIONS, KENYA, UHURU KENYATTA
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MMD denies using public funds for campaigns
By Mwala Kalaluka
Wed 10 Oct. 2012, 14:30 CAT
MMD national secretary Major Richard Kachingwe says there would have been screaming headlines and the Auditor General's office could have picked it had the party used public funds or proceeds of crime to procure its seized election campaign motor vehicles.
During continued hearing in a High Court matter where the MMD, through Maj Kachingwe, petitioned the state over the seizure of several of the former ruling party's motor vehicles early this year, Maj Kachingwe said no money was obtained from state coffers to buy the motor vehicles in question.
Maj Kachingwe said the MMD was able to procure the motor vehicles because of donors that believed in its free enterprise approach and the levying of its parliamentarians.
"All the motor vehicles they relate to are certified to have complied with customs formalities," said Maj Kachingwe after the MMD lawyer Sakwiba Sikota referred him to the state's bundle of documents relating to customs clearance certificates. "I have seen all the interpol certificates in the bundle. None has a contrary certificate as to the findings of the examiners."
On assertions that other people were claiming the seized motor vehicles, Maj Kachingwe said according to the Road Transport and Safety Agency RTSA application forms, no one was claiming the motor vehicles to be theirs.
Maj Kachingwe said the state and the PF started seizing the motor vehicles in question immediately it was announced that the PF had won the general election and that this was around September 24, 2011.
"The seizure notice was issued after we complained in the papers that they were holding our motor vehicles illegally," Maj Kachingwe said.
"No one has been charged with a crime in relation to the motor vehicles. No one has complained of the loss of money or motor vehicle. There has been no complaint of loss of public funds by anyone."
Maj Kachingwe said the Zambian system does not allow parties to get money from the state for their activities.
"The so-called investigation has been going on for over a year since we left office. The last time I was called by the authorities in relation to these vehicles was when they gave me the seizure notice," he said. "We did not use public funds or proceeds of crime to acquire the... motor vehicles. Our sources of income are traditional sources; membership, some are big some are small donors. We also have donors who believe in what we believe like free enterprise and well-wishers, locally and abroad."
Maj Kachingwe said in the run up to the 2011 general election, the party was levying each of its about 80 members of parliament K600,000 and that membership was pegged at K2 million and that at one occasion the party raised K1 billion.
He said there were records from the MMD treasury department to show how the party carried out its fundraising activities.
Judge Annie Sitali then adjourned the matter to November 15, 2012 for continued hearing.
Labels: CORRUPTION, ELECTIONS, MMD
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Zimbabwe elections on 31 March 2013
This article was written by Our reporter on 3 October, at 00 : 30 AM
PRESIDENT Mugabe’s application that all by-elections be held during the harmonised elections slated for March next year has been granted. This effectively means that the general harmonised elections will be held at that time.
Judge President George Chiweshe yesterday extended dates for by-elections in three vacant Matabeleland House of Assembly constituencies to March next year.
President Mugabe was expected to publish by-election dates for Nkayi South, Lupane East and Bulilima East by October 1, but his lawyer Advocate Ray Goba successfully obtained an order for the extension.
Yesterday’s ruling by the Judge President effectively means no by-elections would be held until the country goes for harmonised elections next March. Justice Chiweshe heard the arguments on the merits of the case and ruled in favour of President Mugabe.
“The period within which to comply with the order granted in case Number SC267/11 is hereby further extended to March 31 2013.
“There will be no order as to costs,” ruled Justice Chiweshe.
The Judge President said he would give detailed reasons for the order in due course. President Mugabe wants harmonised elections held at the end of March, instead of having by-elections in three constituencies only.
The by-elections were set to fill vacancies left by Abednico Bhebhe (Nkayi South), Norman Mpofu (Bulilima East) and Njabuliso Mguni (Lupane East) who were dismissed from their party in 2010. The President cited lack of financial resources to conduct the by-election.
Last year, the High Court in Bulawayo ordered the President to publish the by-election dates within 14 days.
The President appealed to the Supreme Court, resulting in the Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku upholding the High Court’s decision.
He gave the President up to August 31 this year to publish the by-election dates.
Before August 31, the President successfully got an order for the extension of the deadline to October 1.
Last week, the President’s lawyers filed a fresh application to extend the deadline to March 31.
After the arguments, Adv Goba said President Mugabe was ready to comply with the order of the Supreme Court, but due to the economic challenges facing the country, he was seeking the extension.
“The President has respect for the courts. The fact that he sought postponement before the deadline shows an element of respect for the law,” he said.
“My client accepts the substance of the Supreme Court order, but his predicament is in regards to time limits.”
The three ex-legislators’ lawyer, Mr Tawanda Zhuwarara, said the Government was pleading poverty when there was a court order.
Government, Mr Zhuwarara said, was a creature of statute and it should comply with the law.
TH/TZG
Labels: ELECTIONS
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We'll wait for Hakainde to fix us in 2016
By The Post
Tue 12 June 2012, 13:20 CAT
THE Post will never get into an alliance or a pact with anyone to pursue selfish interests, vanity, evil or indeed to do wrong things. A sense of justice, dignity, moral principles, self-respect, respect for others and love for our country and our people will never allow us to do that.
And it is this approach that has enabled us to survive and prosper under a very hostile political, financial and economic environment. Unlike privileged people like Hakainde Hichilema who had the opportunity to acquire many things on the cheap, we have had to pay a very high value for everything we have, including for our right to exist and still be there today.
The Post was not acquired through privatisation or the sale of some liquidation assets. We started it from scratch and with very little capitalisation. And today The Post is a big company employing many people across the width and breadth of our country and abroad.
The Post is contributing greatly to the income of government and is today one of this country's big taxpayers. In saying all this, we are not in any way trying to be like that narrow-minded gentleman who likes bragging about how rich he is and about what he owns, that rich man without money. We are merely stating facts that can be verified.
We have never asked anyone in this country or in this world to write off any of the debts of Zambian Airways. This airline still exists under receivership. Zambian Airways is not in liquidation. It is still in existence and is under the management of a receiver from Kenya appointed by the company's creditors. All matters pertaining to this airline can be addressed by the receiver and those who appointed him.
And there are no secrets, no cover-ups about what this airline did or did not do. Everything can be looked at from the receiver.
We are surprised to hear Hakainde threatening to make us pay the K14 billion Zambian Airways is said to be owing the Development Bank of Zambia when he becomes president. We don't need any threat from any president for us to pay our debts to anyone.
We have a duty to pay our debts as they fall due. If we fail, every debt contains conditions of what happens when there is failure to repay it. And commercial debts are legally enforceable. There is nothing one can do if the law requires them to pay a debt and they fail to do so, other than to face receivership and eventually liquidation.
K14 billion may sound a very huge amount to people like Hakainde. But it isn't something beyond The Post's ability to pay. The Post is a big company with a reasonable amount of assets and a steady flow of daily income. As such, The Post is in a position to service or repay an obligation in that range.
The issue here is not inability on the part of The Post to pay an obligation of K14 billion. What is in dispute is whether or not The Post has a legal obligation to pay the Development Bank of Zambia such money. As explained above, we sincerely believe The Post does not owe the Development Bank of Zambia such an obligation.
And we challenge Hakainde and his friends at the Development Bank of Zambia, including their lawyer Vincent Malambo, to put in the public domain every document in their possession that shows that The Post owes the Development Bank of Zambia K14 billion. We also challenge them to put in the public domain any document in their possession that shows that the Development Bank of Zambia had converted its loan to Zambian Airways into equity, into shares.
We sincerely believe the Development Bank of Zambia never converted its loan into equity to deserve the consideration of a share buyback by The Post. And even if the Development Bank of Zambia had managed to convert its loan into equity, we still believe that the guarantee for a buyback that was given to them was not for them to jump out when the company was in receivership.
It was for them to leave when the company was doing well and no longer needed them as shareholders. Acting otherwise would mean giving security to equity in the same way we do with debentures. We know things like these are not easy to understand for people whose minds are jaundiced by prejudice, hatred and envy like Hakainde.
This is not a frivolous argument. A dispute of this nature requires a fair and sober adjudicator. We did not get any of that in the court processes that were commenced against us. There were violations of the High Court Act in the manner the case was shifted around. And we challenged that within the Judiciary itself.
But in the end we realised that, and by its own admission, the Judiciary was not in a position to act in a just way and resolve our grievance against it. It was then when we brought the matter to the Minister of Justice. Again, this was not done behind the back of the Judiciary - we kept them, together with the Law Association of Zambia, informed about what we were doing.
We have never sought assistance from anyone, including President Michael Sata and finance minister Alexander Chikwanda, to be let off our alleged obligations to the Development Bank of Zambia or to anyone else for that matter. We have no problem with this matter being resolved by our courts.
What we had a quarrel with is the way the matter was being handled. If at the end of the day the Supreme Court says that we have to pay Development Bank of Zambia K14 billion, we will pay it. We have never made a plea to anyone to get us absolved of any legitimate liability owed by us.
However, we do appreciate that things like these are not the things people like Hakainde would like to hear. What Hakainde would love to see is us nailed to the cross. But this is wishful thinking. It won't happen that way; he is dreaming. What they can't forgive is our dignity, our independence. What they cannot forgive is that after 21 years of being fought so hard, we are still there.
As for Hakainde's threat to fix us in 2016 when he becomes president, we can only say that he will find us waiting for him and ready to be fixed by him. We have been through that route before with many politicians before him. We can only say good luck to him. And by that time everybody would have known the truth about what happened with the Zambian Airways loan to the Development Bank of Zambia.
We would like this issue to be dealt with by all those involved in the most transparent way and to let the public have access to all the information. This is the only way those who are trying to tell lies like Hakainde about this issue will dry up. If this is Hakainde's main election campaign issue, then his chances of being president in 2016 are very slim, if not nil.
Anyway, it shows great anger, bitterness, malice and envy on Hakainde's part. There is a lot we can say about Hakainde, his politics and his business life but it's not necessary, at this stage, for us to delve into that. The only thing we can say is that he needs to grow up and gain some maturity if he has to be taken seriously by the voters.
Bragging about who he is, when he is not what he is claiming to be, will not get him votes to become president of this country. Even about the money he brags about, what money does Hakainde have? Hakainde may be well-to-do, but he is not a rich man in the real sense of the word.
There are many Zambians with more money than Hakainde, but they don't go around bragging. What businesses does Hakainde own? This is why sometimes he attempts to claim businesses that are not his because he is desperate to project himself as a rich man.
And here is a rich man whose political party is sinking deeper and deeper into oblivion since he took it over. Since Hakainde became the leader of UPND, the party's performance at every election has been going down. Why? In saying this we are not in any way being malicious. We are merely stating facts as they stand.
And the fact is that since Hakainde took over UPND, the graph of its performance has been pointing downwards. These are the things Hakainde should concentrate on. Addressing these issues may win Hakainde some votes, rather than trying to concentrate on telling lies about us. If scandalising us will win him some votes, let him continue to do so.
We are not made of wax to be melted by Hakainde's wet mouth, full of lies, anger, bitterness and envy. A braggadocio of the Hakainde type cannot bring us down.
Labels: ELECTIONS, HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, THE POST, ZAMBIAN AIRWAYS
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MDC-T ignorant of how Sadc functions: Charamba
This article was written by Our reporter on 5 June, at 05 : 21 AM
THE recent extraordinary Sadc summit tasked facilitator to the Global Political Agreement, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, to urgently visit Zimbabwe and meet GPA principals to resolve their differences. The resolutions of these differences should be done within a timeframe so that the country proceeds to conduct elections.
Zanu-PF insists the harmonised elections should be held this year, while the MDC factions want them next year. All the parties in the inclusive Government told Sadc leaders during the Angola summit last week that they were ready for elections.
MDC factions and some internet media organisations, however, are being accused of deliberately confusing Zimbabweans on the outcome of the summit, saying the summit supported the idea of having elections next year, rather than this year.
Online media, including reputable western organisations last week reported that Sadc had blocked Zanu-PF’s move to push for elections this year.
The communique of the Extraordinary Sadc summit did not mention elections, but ‘full implementation’ of the GPA. The date for elections, according to the Zimbabwean constitution, is announced by the President.
SW Radio, a pirate radio station, incorrectly reported that Sadc was blocking the elections, although the communique was clear on the issue.
Full text: Sadc communique, 1 June 2012
SW Radio did not understand that any Sadc troika decisions have to be endorsed by the full summit.
It quoted MDC-T leader and prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s spokesman, Jameson Timba, who had tweeted that “two crunch SADC meetings will decide the fate of Zimbabwe’s transition to democracy today (Friday).”
“History is on the right side,” Timba had added.
SW Radio further commented: “A full SADC summit is set to endorse the Troika findings when they get a briefing from South African President, Jacob Zuma, who chairs the tripartite grouping. That summit got underway Friday afternoon.”
A full Sadc extraordinary summit, however, did not endorse that position.
Presidential spokesperson George Charamba yesterday said the summit made it clear to all parties that time was not on their side as the GPA was coming to “a close.”
The term of the current Parliament ends in March next year.
“The summit asked the facilitator and South African President Mr Jacob Zuma to come to Zimbabwe to urgently discuss with the principals to the GPA with a view to dealing with whatever issues the parties might have.
“Given the urgency of the matter, we expect the South African President in the country next week or in the next two weeks,” said Charamba.
He said the South African president and the principals were expected to explore how problem areas could be resolved within a timeframe.
Charamba said it was only after that meeting that the principals could discuss an election roadmap.
“It is entirely up to the Zimbabweans as parties to the Global Political Agreement to decide on the appropriate time for the elections.
“In the meantime, the parties to the GPA within and amongst themselves should agree on ways of tackling areas of differences,” he said.
Charamba said the summit agreed that all parties to the GPA should commit themselves to the resolution of all issues agreed to in the GPA, including Constitution-making.
“Note that the summit is not talking about a new Constitution. It is talking about concluding the Constitution-making process.
“The summit could not predetermine or foreclose the outcome of the Constitution. There are two possibilities of the outcome of the Constitution-making process, which are the rejection of the draft or its acceptance.
“There is a difference between concluding the Constitution-making process and agreeing on a new Constitution.
“You can conclude the Constitution-making process by way of a deadlock. We should never consider conclusion as having a new Constitution. During the referendum, a ‘yes’ might not follow,” he said.
Charamba said all parties in the inclusive Government, save for Professor Arthur Mutambara who tried to be academic, agreed that there was need to hold elections as soon as possible.
He said President Mugabe made it clear that there were some issues already in the draft Constitution, among them dual citizenship that Zanu-PF was not going to shift its stance.
Charamba added that the MDC-T was confusing the people on the outcome of the summit because they do not understand how the regional organisation functions.
“The confusion around the outcome of the summit came from individuals who do not seem to know the difference between debates within the troika and the actual recommendations of the troika and the decisions of the summit.
“The summit then makes the final decision. What matters are the recommendations of the troika to the summit, which ultimately build the decision of the summit,” he said.
The Sadc organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation that comprises three members reports to the full Sadc summit that passes final resolutions on issues.
Labels: ELECTIONS, GEORGE CHARAMBA, MDC, SADC
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Setting the election agenda
Wednesday, 30 May 2012 21:47
In 2000, MDC was in its infancy and the party went into its maiden election race wielding nothing else but the slogan “Chinja!” — a rather vacuous, albeit populist, chant for a departure from the then 20-year rule of Zanu-PF.
This chant for undefined change was more of an “anything, but Zanu-PF” attraction for most of Zimbabwe’s urban voters, as the subsequent election result proved.
MDC itself had been launched as an expression of protest against Zanu-PF’s anti-labour and
pro-liberal governance that started with the deadly and murderous Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) prescribed by the IMF’s Washington Consensus, as gullibly adopted by a spectacularly duped Zanu-PF Government of 1991-1992.
Just like the very party it sought to topple by preaching a vacuous gospel of change, the MDC itself was spectacularly hijacked by the same Western forces that had sponsored ESAP, a policy against which the MDC was building so much mileage; indeed at the expense of the revolutionary Zanu-PF — itself certainly far from being revolutionary between 1991 and 1999 — a time the party pursued the privatisation and belt-tightening austerity policies of the IMF with indisputable conviction and even arrogance.
As the MDC was hijacked by the West to be used as a puppet tool against Zanu-PF, the only viable political option for Zanu-PF was to remember its revolutionary beginnings and to go back to the same people it had so much pushed into involuntary austerity for the benefit of Western investors.
Just like the MDC went across Zimbabwean cities with its chinja slogan in 2000, Zanu-PF heroically came back into the picture, setting the election agenda on compulsory land reclamation, encouraging and even taking over commandeering of occupation of white-held commercial farms by landless masses — that way absolutely infuriating the Western imperialist anaconda, particularly the Tony Blair government in London, joined in fury by the Howard and Bush governments in
Australia and the US respectively.
Employment remained the significant concern for the urban population, but that was relegated to a matter of little moment as the MDC successfully preached more their hatred for Zanu-PF’s alleged dictatorship than they outlined their capacity to create jobs for the urban youths, strangely getting away with it as well.
While Zanu-PF fervently promoted land reclamation through whatever media the party could muster, the best opportunity to rebut MDC accusations availed itself when the ousted white commercial farmers began to actively and openly fund-raise for the MDC, with the Westminster Foundation posting its financial backing of the labour-turned-puppet-party on its website. The incriminating evidence was later pulled down after the damage had already been inflicted.
Apart from capitalising on the immensely popular land reclamation policy, Zanu-PF damningly and correctly labelled their political opponents in the MDC insidious puppets of former colonisers. That label is the widely held view across the African continent, notably in Zambia, South Africa, Ghana and the DRC.
The end result of the 2000 election was that the election agenda became a matter of the trampling and roar of the bewildered landless masses on the one hand and the rhetoric of the “responsible men,” who vainly tried to rubbish land occupation as a “lawless land grab,” warning endlessly that Zimbabwe was going to become a “basket case” for the foolishness of reclaiming her stolen land. Britain was even so daring as to raise the issue of property rights; colonially stolen land being the property in question.
At the peak of the 2000 electioneering one Fidelis Mhashu of the MDC went public through the BBC, boldly promising that his party would kick out black farmers and give back the land to ousted white commercial farmers. Zanu-PF feasted heavily on this propaganda scoop and Mhashu’s party could not reverse his foolishness for fear of ramifications from the sponsoring white farmers. The sell-out label just stuck firmer.
One reason the MDC does not speak a lot about policy is that the party is sponsored to practise capitalist politics — where those elites deemed responsible for the success of all others must be spared the foolishness of the bewildered masses, usually considered ignorant and dependant, and whose only function is to be spectators and never participants. It is like the way blacks were meant to watch white colonialists develop Africa.
Of course spectators are not supposed to bother their heads with complex matters like ownership of resources and reclamation of land, only limiting themselves to simple matters like waiting to be employed by smart-thinking Western investors.
The MDC election agenda for 2012 is “vote for a new Zimbabwe,” or “Let us complete the change,” — a lot more vacuous than the original chant for change. The
MDC election manifesto is shaped not exactly by the vision of the party leaders or by their innovativeness in matters of policy. It is entirely moulded and anchored on the shortcomings of Zanu-PF — real, alleged or imagined ranging from the alleged dictatorship and brutalities to the real shattering of democratic systems within the party itself — like some of the recent Zanu-PF sham District Co-ordinating Committee (DCC) elections held in parts of the country, some of them ordered to be nullified by the party’s leadership.
Reports are that some Zanu-PF charlatans instructed voters on who should win, in many cases barring popular candidates from contesting, citing the dictatorial jungle rule that says “juniors must not contest positions that are of interest to senior members” of the party. There is no worse insult to democracy than this filthy logic, and Zanu-PF needs to stop this madness before the electorate is fed up with the nonsense.
But away from its internal democratic shortcomings, Zanu-PF has set a more plausible election agenda for 2012 than their MDC partners in the current inclusive Government. The party has repeated another mass-resonating economic policy in Saviour Kasukuwere’s indigenisation drive, especially the 51 percent local ownership of essential businesses in the country.
Predictably the MDC-T is concerned that the policy will disappoint the responsible and civilised people of this world, who must be attracted at all cost to come and employ our labour-gifted people.
In fact, the MDC-T actually brags about a “jobs policy” that it says shadows Zanu-PF’s economic empowerment drive and Tendai Biti is not at all ashamed of it. He is convinced we are jobs people and not investors or a people capable of running businesses.
What often happens in elections is that the needs of people often recede drastically as party managers and their PR agencies focus on character politics — elevating vilification of political opponents to the status of national interest, with slander and hate sometimes converted to pure logic. To this end the MDC-T cannot see itself winning an election where Zanu-PF is not portrayed as demonic.
Senator Morgan Femai’s recent lunatic contributions towards the HIV and Aids policy are not only a matter of personal inadequacy but rather a disturbing reflection of the shallowness in policy among candidates that are allowed by political parties to contest for positions of power. Specifically the utterances that women need to be shabby and unattractive in order to curb the spread of HIV and Aids were an indication of the lack of seriousness the MDC-T places on policy formulation.
That Douglas Mwonzora could not even gather enough courage to discredit the utterances, save for blaming the “unfortunate” blame on his party makes it even more concerning. It has become more important to block a propaganda coup for Zanu-PF that even perfect foolishness can be subtly defended. That is the logic at the MDC-T.
Senator Femai is certainly a foolish politician, but he is definitely not the only nut case in the political community.
The late Senator Joseph Culverwell was ejected from Parliament in the eighties after he labelled the late Sydney Malunga “a lunatic” for suggesting that rapists were motivated by hunger, advising the House that providing food to poverty-stricken males would help reduce rape cases.
Culverwell declared he could not put up with such “empty mouthing.” Sadly Zimbabwe still has to put up with this kind of empty-mouthing.
One MDC-T legislator recently proposed the administering of a libido-suppressing substance to all men, and also passing a law that limits sex for men to once a month. The vanguard who uphold the elevated ideals of our liberation struggle have among them some who believe they are uniquely charged with managing the
Zimbabwean society and directing the course of our collective actions, even regardless of our choices. To these the drift towards unchallenged occupation of political office must be acceptable to all loyal members of the revolution — in happiness and in sorrow, in good performance or otherwise, simply on the most important understanding that those who fought colonialism are immune to challenge.
Zanu-PF lost quite a chunk of parliamentary seats to this phenomenon of mistaking docility for loyalty in 2008. Imposed candidates chose to sink with the party instead of upholding the views of the voting public and allowing electable candidates to contest.
If this does not change in the immediate, Zanu-PF can prepare to escort those unelectable members of its vanguard into political oblivion. Fortunately the revolution is greater than the party.
Each time this writer has raised the issue of the MDC-T’s incapacity to articulate policy, there has always been this blame that the party has no access to outline its policies through the public media.
What has not been explained is why the slogan CHINJA has been so successfully promoted outside access to public media and why the soaring rhetoric about Zanu-PF’s alleged dictatorial tendencies has been so widely peddled outside this public media access.
It is a wonder that the pages of pro-MDC-T privately owned newspapers are all blank on MDC-T policy, writing on behalf of the insidious party more about Zanu-PF’s problems than the successes of the MDC-T — of course because no such successes exist.
Zanu-PF must forget totally about the MDC-T in the competing agenda setting of elections. Rather the party must learn to contend with the reality that the West’s marvels about free elections are only spared for situations where elections are believed to have come out the “right way,” for Zimbabwe the MDC-T way.
The 2008 June election in Lebanon was hailed as free and fair by the entirety of the West just because the Western-sponsored Saad Hariri’s March 14 coalition had won more representatives in Parliament, despite having lost the popular vote 47 percent to 53 percent to Hizbollah’s March 8 coalition.
The 2006 Hamas election win in Palestine resulted in the brutal US-Israel response to a genuinely free election, with other shameless people lauding George W. Bush’s administration for its noble dedication to “democracy promotion,” even suggesting that it was the US responsibility to make the lesser people of the Arab world appreciate democracy, not to do the unthinkable of voting such “terrorists” like Hamas into power.
Zanu-PF must watch out for this trend in the coming election.
The whole idea of elevating debate about alleged human rights abuses and “war crimes” by Zanu-PF and its leadership is designed to criminalise Zanu-PF and whatever the party stands for, land and indigenisation included, even criminalising membership to the party.
The idea is to set an election agenda that threatens to punish the electorate for voting Zanu-PF, starting by labelling all Zanu-PF supporters criminals by association — threatening those who openly support the policies of Zanu-PF with retribution in the event Zanu-PF does not win the election one day. The hell promised to instil fear is, of course, The Hague.
If the people of Lebanon had voted Hizbollah into power in 2008, the USA would not hesitate to instruct Israel to bomb them for it, the same way the Palestinians were starved, bombed and brutalised after voting in Hamas in 2006.
Zanu-PF must henceforth insist that intimidation of its supporters by Western-sponsored human rights activists and other Western surrogates must stop forthwith if ever there will be a truly free and fair election in Zimbabwe.
Rhodesian Eddie Cross recently posted an article portraying Zanu-PF as a party in waiting for some retributive trials and punishment and, surely, that kind of behaviour must be halted if Zanu-PF is serious about asserting itself as the true revolutionary party responsible for bringing about the nation’s independence, a legacy Zimbabwe cannot afford to lose.
Zimbabwe we are one and together we will overcome! It is homeland or death!!
* Reason Wafawarova is a political writer based in Sydney, Australia.
Labels: ELECTIONS, NATHANIEL MANHERU
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Polls this year – Mugabe tells UN Rights chief
This article was written by Brett Mashingaidze on 23 May, at 23 : 39 PM
THE principals in the inclusive Government of Zimbabwe do not have the people’s mandate to keep extending the life of the current administration, President Mugabe told the visiting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Ms Navanethem Pillay yesterday. For that reason, he added, Zimbabwe will be going for elections this year without fail.
He said principals in the inclusive Government do not have the people’s mandate to continue extending the life of the Global Political Agreement – the legal document that gave effect to the current arrangement.
President Mugabe had an hour-and-a-half-long meeting with Ms Pillay at State House.
Sources said the President told the UN envoy that elements scared of elections were deliberately delaying the completion of the Constitution-making process.
“They touched on the issue of elections with President Mugabe bemoaning the slow pace of the Constitution-making process, which he blames on those who are afraid of going for elections,” a source told The Herald newspaper.
Quoting the President, the source said: “The President said, no, we must have elections this year. In any case, principals to the GPA do not have the mandate of the people to extend the life of the inclusive Government to next year.”
President Mugabe outlined to Ms Pillay how illegal Western sanctions were hurting the economy and the people of Zimbabwe.
“He told Ms Pillay that the illegal sanctions on the country were causing economic hardships and infringing on the enjoyment of economic and social rights by citizens.
“He gave an example of Bulawayo where industries have closed down as a result of sanctions,” the source said.
President Mugabe narrated to Ms Pillay how Zimbabweans were not benefiting from minerals such as diamonds because of sanctions, saying the Americans were frustrating diamond sales despite the fact that the country was granted permission to export her gems by the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme.
The US intercepts payments meant for Zimbabwe whenever the country exports its diamonds, through the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
President Mugabe also talked about the abuse of the country by the Western media that peddle lies about the human rights situation in Zimbabwe.
Ms Pillay told President Mugabe that she celebrated his release from prison during the war of liberation.
“She said she celebrated Cde Mugabe’s release from prison and followed his life history, which has been one of struggle for the civil and political rights of his people,” the source said.
In an interview after meeting the President, Ms Pillay commended President Mugabe’s stance against political violence.
“I commended the President for making a call that there should be no violence in future elections and I urged him to continue to make such calls.
“I also urged him to ensure that future elections would be free and fair,” she said.
Ms Pillay said President Mugabe recounted to her the country’s history and attributed “some of the current problems to the past”.
Earlier, Ms Pillay had visited Boka Tobacco Auction Floors where she interacted with farmers.
The UN envoy acknowledged the pivotal role the historical land reform programme has played in empowering the poor.
“I see that there has been an improvement. Poor people and women now have the dignity to produce (on farms) and see their children going up to university.
“I have noticed women farmers. This is welcome and it gives them an opportunity to claim property rights,” she said.
Ms Pillay’s visit comes at a time when most tobacco farmers have already sold their crop since the opening of the selling season.
However, Ms Pillay observed that most women were still disempowered as they did not own land.
She said smallholder farmers were also facing challenges such as lack of inputs.
“I need to know how they can be assisted and to know how Government is responding,” Ms Pillay said. She said she was impressed that former farm workers “now have the dignity to produce their own crop”.
Ms Pillay sought to know how farmers were allocated land by Government.
She asked if there was discrimination according to political affiliation during land redistribution.
“This programme is open to all Zimbabweans who want it and can apply for it,” said Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board chairperson Ms Monica Chinamasa.
She added: “What happened was that some people could not believe it and stood aside and watched but after realising the land reform is a reality and other people are benefiting from farming they now need land.
“There is serious need for land. The programme is open to everyone.”
TH/TZG
Labels: ELECTIONS, LAND REFORM, RAVI PILLAI, UN
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Mugabe dispatches top ministers to region
22/05/2012 00:00:00
by Gilbert Nyambabvu
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe this week dispatched his defence and state security ministers with special messages to the leaders of Angola and Zambia in what could be a campaign to seek regional backing for elections this year.
Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa delivered a special message from Mugabe to Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos in Luanda on Monday. And on Tuesday State Security Minister Sydney Sekeramayi also met Zambia’s Michael Sata in Lusaka with another special message from Mugabe.
The contents of Mugabe’s communications were not disclosed.
But the Zanu PF leader considers the backing of the SADC region crucial as he presses for fresh polls this year.
SADC, whose point-man in the country is South African leader Jacob Zuma, facilitated the formation of the coalition government after the violent but inconclusive 2008 ballot and is helping negotiate a so-called roadmap to new polls.
Mugabe says the coalition government is no longer workable and is pressing for new elections this year to end the arrangement.
However, his rivals – with the apparent backing of Zuma – are demanding the full implementation of political reforms and claim a credible ballot is only viable early next year.
While the position of the rest of the SADC leaders remains unclear, Mugabe may, at least, count on the backing of Zambia’s Sata who, early this year, said there was no reason for delaying the elections.
Speaking in an interview with a British newspaper in January, Sata said: "You people, the Western countries, you taught us that democracy is elections. Now somebody wants elections and you say no.
"There will be elections and Mugabe will go (at some point) and someone else will take over, but not someone imposed by the Western countries."
Zimbabwe is currently writing a new constitution, as part of a raft of reforms the MDC formations want concluded before new elections.
“The ultimate deadline (for new elections) March 2013,” Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara told Parliament last week.
“(But) we must go through these reforms very carefully; the Constitution, media reforms, political reforms, electoral reforms, national healing, and security sector alignment, economic reforms.
“This means seven types of reforms. These reforms require time and that time will determine when our elections will take place.”
Labels: ELECTIONS, EMMERSON MNANGAGWA, ROBERT MUGABE
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Hollande's election progressive - Chitala
By Allan Mulenga
Thu 10 May 2012, 17:40 CAT
DR Mbita Chitala has asked newly-elected France President Francois Hollande to come up with progressive policies towards African countries.
Commenting on Hollande's election as France's first left-wing President in 17 years, Dr Chitala, who is Zambia Research Foundation executive director, said the victory was a clear testimony that social democracy was on the rise.
"The election of Francois Hollande as France President is obviously very progressive. You can see that social democracy is on the rise.
They had this issue of austerity and making people suffer should not be the function of governments and states. The purpose of governments is to make people happy and that is why even the conservatives in London, United Kingdom during the last elections lost by more than 400 councils and Labour Party, which has a social programme was elected," he said.
Dr Chitala, who is also former ambassador to Libya, said Nicolas Sarkozy was rejected because of bad policies, particularly towards African countries.
"As you know he was a person who even caused the invasion of Libya, where I was last ambassador in a sphere where the African Union was seeking for diplomatic solutions. For us really it is good for Africa and we also hope that Mr Hollande can come up with progressive policies towards Africa. He has not yet announced what programmes he has for Africa particularly in Franco-Africa where they had used troops in Ivory Coast and we need to know," he said.
Dr Chitala hoped that President Hollande would be supportive to the AU and the entire continent.
"By and large, the election of President Francois Hollande appears to be a progressive thing. We are looking forward that he will be much more supportive of the African Union and formulate programmes which powerful countries are involved in," said Dr Chitala.
Labels: ELECTIONS, FRANCE, MBITA CHITALA, SOCIALISM
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Zanu-PF completes elections for grassroots structures
Wednesday, 21 March 2012 00:00
Herald Reporter
Zanu-PF has completed elections for grassroots structures with focus shifting to re-structuring of district co-ordinating committees. The completion of DCC elections will see provinces choosing their leadership.
Zanu-PF spokesperson Cde Rugare Gumbo said the restructuring was designed to rejuvenate the party ahead of general elections set for this year. President Mugabe has indicated that general elections will be held this year with or without a new Constitution.
“We have completed cell, branch and district elections in most parts of the country. I have checked with the commissariat department and they confirmed that DCC elections have since been held in Mashonaland Central province.
“Midlands province will also hold DCC elections before the end of the month and other provinces will follow. After completing DCCs, we will then move to provincial elections,” he said.
Cde Gumbo indicated last month that DCC structures were of paramount importance to the party. Zanu-PF conducts DCC elections after every two years.
The party was supposed to hold the elections last year but was postponed due to other pressing issues.
As the party gears up for elections, Cde Gumbo said, Zanu-PF will focus on people-oriented policies.
He said the party had resolved to dwell on developmental issues, particularly economic empowerment of ordinary people.
Cde Gumbo said Zanu-PF was prioritising economic turnaround programmes after a decade of sanctions induced economic meltdown.
He said there was need to recapitalise the manufacturing sector and promote investment.
Cde Gumbo said there should be a win-win situation between investors and the country through indigenisation.
To ensure sustainable development, Cde Gumbo said, there should be unity of purpose among Zimbabweans.
Labels: ELECTIONS, RUGARE GUMBO, ZANU-PF
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‘Gaddafi poured millions into Sarkozy campaign’
Wednesday, 14 March 2012 00:00
FRENCH president Nicolas Sarkozy received up to £42 million from the late Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to fund his election bid in 2007, it was claimed on Monday. The report comes six weeks before the first round of France’s presidential election on April 22.
The funding however, did not stop Sarkozy from being at the forefront of the military campaign that ousted Gaddafi. Evidence made public in Paris is said to prove that the two men had an illegal financial arrangement that helped Sarkozy to power in 2007.
A governmental briefing note published by Mediapart, an investigative website, points to numerous visits to Libya by Sarkozy and his colleagues that were aimed at securing funding.
One meeting referred to in the note as having taken place on October 6, 2005, led to “campaign finance to NS (Nicolas Sarkozy)” being “totally solved”.
At the time Sarkozy was an ambitious interior minister raising money for his presidential election campaign.
Taking cash would have broken French political financing laws.
Mediapart claims that 50 million euros referred to in the note was laundered through bank accounts in Panama and Switzerland.
The Swiss account was opened in the name of the sister of Jean-Francois Cope, the leader of Sarkozy’s UMP party, and the president’s right-hand-man.
The money was then allegedly distributed through an arms dealer called Ziad Takieddine, who acted as a middleman between Arab leaders and French politicians.
In March 2011, as France and Britain spearheaded air strikes against Libya, Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam told Euronews TV that Libya had financed Sarkozy’s 2007 election campaign, which Sarkozy’s office also denied at the time.
Saif, who was arrested after the fall of his father’s government said, “Sarkozy must first give back the money he took from Libya to finance his electoral campaign. We funded it.
“We have all the details and are ready to reveal everything. The first thing we want this clown to do is to give the money back to the Libyan people. He was given the assistance so he could help them, but he has disappointed us. Give us back our money.”
In December 2007, eyebrows were raised when Col Gaddafi was honoured with a state visit to Paris.
He was referred to as the “Brother Leader” by the French, and allowed to pitch his Bedouin tent next to the Elysee Palace.
Addressing the Peace and Security Commission meeting at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the end of January President Mugabe said: “I saw a picture yesterday of Gaddafi shaking hands with Sarkozy in France after they invited him there, but those hands that Gaddafi was shaking were the hands that were going to kill him a few months later.
“How far then do we go in associating with such people?”
The incriminating evidence came after a thorough investigation of Takieddine’s activities.
His doctor, Didier Grosskopf, told judges in Paris that he went on many of the trips to Libya and witnessed negotiations about political funding.
The discussions involved Brice Hortefeux, one of Sarkozy’s closest allies, who has confirmed to Mediapart the meetings took place, but would not comment further, beyond denying any wrongdoing.
The incriminating note, which is in the hands of the French police, was leaked to Mediapart along with other documents.
These include at least three letters sent from Sarkozy and his colleagues to the Libyan leader in 2005 and details of “one-on-one negotiations” between Sarkozy and Gaddafi.
Meanwhile, Sarkozy has denied claims he received money from Gaddafi to fund his first presidential bid in 2007.
“If he (Gaddafi) had financed it, then I haven’t been very grateful,” Sarkozy said when a journalist asked about the report on TF1 television.
Sarkozy lashed out at the journalist who asked him about the report and Saif’s claim, accusing her of sympathising with Saif.
“I am sorry for you that you are the spokeswoman for Gaddafi’s son,” Sarkozy said, visibly angered by the question.
“Gaddafi (Saif), who is known for talking nonsense, even said that there were cheques. Well then the son should just go ahead and produce them then,” he said.
Yves Thibier a political analyst said if the allegations are proved those involved face prison sentences. He added, “There are frequent funding scandals involving domestic donors, but a Gaddafi funding scandal is something else”.
— dailymail.co.uk/ The Herald/Reuters.
Labels: ELECTIONS, MUAMMAR AL-GADDAFI, SARKOZY
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