(NEWZIMBABWE) Back off! Students union tells Chamisa
I helped found ZINASU and want it to remain strong ... Nelson Chamisa
23/10/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
THE Zimbabwe National Students’ Union (ZINASU) on Wednesday demanded that the opposition MDC-T stops interfering in its affairs and blasted the party’s organising secretary, Nelson Chamisa, for allegedly causing havoc in the organisation.
Addressing a press conference in Harare, outgoing ZINASU president, Pride Mukono, said the union had been forced to postpone its congress on a number of occasions due to problems caused by top MDC-T officials.
“We changed the dates for our congress from the 25th to the 27th this month," Mukono said.
We had to change again to the 22nd and now to the 23rd of November not only because of logistical challenges but also because of interference by outside parties, particularly the MDC-T.”
“And quite apart from interfering in our internal processes, we also have MDC-T officials threatening physical violence against delegates expected to attend the congress.
“This is becoming an issue of particular concern to us as ZINASU because we are a non-violent movement we believe in peace; we believe in the ideology of transformation.
“We also believe that as a movement we must retain our autonomy and independence which is very paramount for any movement.”
The ZINASU chief said it was unfortunate that a national political party had reduced itself to interfering in the affairs of student bodies.
“We are particularly worried by the organising secretary of the MDC-T Nelson Chamisa who has gone to the extent of sponsoring factions within ZINASU structures in a bid to re-claim lost glory after his party’s devastating defeat in the last elections.”
However, Chamisa said it was in the interest of his party to ensure that the voice of students was not stifled.
“Are you aware that I am one of the founding members of ZINASU,” he said.
“I founded (the organisation) together with luminaries like (the late) Learnmore Jongwe, Daniel Molokele and Job Sikhala we founded ZINASU and led it to the best of our ability. Why would we want to destroy that which we helped found?”
He added: “Throughout my whole life I have always believed in the student struggle and the last thing that I would do even if I had the opportunity is to undermine a cause for which my whole life has been dedicated to.”
The former ZINASU president said the last time that he was active in student politics was when “I was stills student.
“If they want advice on how to connect with students I am still available to help. Instead of pointing fingers at me they must point fingers at me to signal invitation. We are more than willing to help if they want.”
But Mukono said external forces and individuals should not invite themselves to the organisation’s activities.
Labels: MDC, NELSON CHAMISA, ZINASU
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COMMENT - There are elections coming up, and this writer is one of the MDC operators who are paid to give Zimbabwe a bad image, so when the MDC lose, they can say that 'the elections were stolen'. Charlton Hwende works for ZINASU, which was built up through grants from the US State Department. I quote from Stephen Gowans website (a truly interesting article that everyone should read),
US Government Report Undermines Zimbabwe Opposition’s Claim of Independence:
According to the State Department,
“youth organizations like the Zimbabwe National Students’ Union (ZINASU) and Youth Initiatives for Democracy in Zimbabwe (YIDEZ) are two good examples of…(civil society organizations that were) nurtured through US (State Department) funding from an idea to a level where they are able to stand on their own and attract other funders.”
I would say - this, US funding of 'civil society organisations' is not democracy in any shape or form. The writer even tries to exploit the events in the 1980s for political gain, using the new
buzzword of
'impunity'. If they want to retry events that happed some 26 years ago, why not examine what happened 5 years before that, and earlier. Let's have it all out. Let's have a proper accounting of the war and human rights crimes committed from 1965 to 1980.
Despite impunity, MDC destined to govern
28/10/2011 00:00:00
by Charlton Hwende
THE ongoing disruptions of the public hearing meetings on the Electoral Amendment Bill conducted by a special parliamentary committee by Zanu PF supporters should act as clear warning that impunity has been engraved in Zanu PF’s political culture, and we should prepare for the worst excesses of this culture in future elections.
Zanu PF and its war machinery are better advised to change their tactics because the people of Zimbabwe are ready and prepared to be governed by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) led by President Morgan Tsvangirai.
Zimbabweans are ready to complete the change that was temporarily disrupted by the intervention of the military after President Robert Mugabe was thumped by Tsvangirai in the 2008 March elections.
I want to remind all political players, civic society and the democratic forces in Zimbabwe that the ghost of June 2008 is slowly returning to our political and electoral processes because of the failure of our judicial authorities to deal with impunity.
But irrespective of this organised violence, the people of Zimbabwe like any other people tired of years of impunity and oppression, will wither the storm and all adversity and be victorious against this evil.
The war veterans and members of their militias are encouraged to believe that they are immune from legal responsibility for their actions. They are fortified in this belief by amnesties granted to them by the government, in particular an amnesty granted in October 2000 which pardoned all politically-motivated crimes committed in the run-up to that year’s elections, except crimes of murder, rape and fraud.
And perpetrators of even those crimes enjoyed de facto immunity from prosecution since more often than not the police turned a blind eye to their activities. This is what happened after the violent June 2008 presidential election run-off where more than 200 opposition supporters were murdered while hundreds were abducted, tortured, assaulted and abused in various forms.
Zanu PF’s impunity goes back to the Gukurahundi era in the 1980s when thousands were murdered for supporting PF ZAPU, a legitimate and bona fide liberation party.
The Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri, is a self-proclaimed Zanu PF supporter, who has been in collusion with the Attorney General Johannes Tomana, an equally partisan public officer. Despite clear evidence of the ongoing violence and disruptions which are continuing unabated, the police and the prosecuting authorities are encouraging this lawlessness by failing to arrest and bring to justice the perpetrators.
[Both Augustine Chihuri and Johannes Tomana are excellent guys, who have never betrayed Zimbabwe. - MrK]
The culprits include law enforcement agents who were implicated in the abductions, kidnappings and torture of human rights defenders, journalists and opposition supporters beginning September 2008 on allegations of insurgency and banditry. They are working in the grand political scheme of Zanu PF to intimidate their opponents into submission.
Prior to the formation of the unity government, police officers who sought to carry out their duties professionally and on a non-partisan basis were forced to resign or were transferred. Large numbers of war veterans were recruited into the police force and many of them actually or effectively commanded (and still command) rural police stations.
The Commissioner of Police is an avowed supporter of the ruling party, hence the reluctance by the police to act against Zanu PF militants responsible for attacking MDC supporters and their swiftness to arrest MDC supporters who engaged in retaliatory violence following the looting of their livestock and property during the violent June 2008 presidential election run-off.
The parties to the unity government have no clear programme to address these issues and this benefits Zanu PF which was responsible for human rights violations following Mugabe’s defeat in the first round of the presidential election in March 2008.
[A 'defeat' which, through the Zimbabwe Electoral Act of 2004, 110 (3), followed by a run-off election, because no candidate achieved "a majority of the vote". There was no stolen election in 2008, which the MDC/US State Department writer implies. - MrK]
The perpetrators’ belief in their immunity is encouraged and re-enforced by leading members of Zanu PF who repeatedly proclaim that the MDC will never be allowed to come to power in Zimbabwe and that a war would be waged against it.
[That is because when the MDC would try and steal the land from the 350,000 families who received it, there will be a civil war. - MrK]
Thus in December 2000, Mugabe told a Zanu PF congress that the commercial farmers had “declared war” on the people of Zimbabwe, that the white man was “not indigenous” to Africa and was part of an “evil alliance.” He urged supporters: “We must continue to strike fear into the heart of the white man, our real enemy. We must make them tremble.”
These sentiments were echoed by other prominent members of the ruling party. This is the legacy of impunity that the GNU must address in order to foster justice and equity in the application of justice in the country. Unfortunately, there is little evidence to show a shift from this lawless premise under which the former ruling party operates from.
[Is the writer saying that the MDC is part of this 'lawlessness', considering that they are part of the government now? - MrK]
Having been elected the national executive member responsible for Mashonaland West Province of the MDC –T at its Congress in Bulawayo in May, I have had the opportunity to work with the grassroots people in that province.
In Mashonaland West province, all the towns, Norton, Chegutu, Chinhoyi, Kariba and some rural district councils were won by the MDC in the 2008 general elections. That was historical in that for the first time since independence in 1980, Zanu PF does not control a single urban municipality in the province. In fact, that is the national situation. All urban municipalities are controlled by the MDC-T.
[And their trackrecord of corruption will speak loudly at the coming elections. - MrK]
From Mubaira growth point to Magunje in Mashonalnd West province, the people who support the MDC say they cannot wait to have Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as the President of Zimbabwe and his team of ministers to completely administer national affairs.
People have repeatedly told party leaders that the MDC side of government has brought economic stability in the country. They have also spoken very highly of the Prime Minister for facilitating the provision of textbooks to primary schools. Clinics and hospitals that were closed down because of lack of manpower, medicines and electricity are slowly serving the public and a lot of lives have been saved.
[The MDC created this mess through the targeted assassination of the Zimbabwe Dollar, through ZDERA. It is only the switch to dollarisation that has brought stability to the currency. Which would have been completely unnecessary without ZDERA. So the MDC creates a problem, and then present the solution. Meanwhile, the people are made to suffer. - MrK]
The recoveries in the social services ministries under the leadership of MDC ministers have given hope that an MDC government can restore both economic and social stability to our country ruined by 30 years of corruption, political violence and maladministration by the Zanu PF regime.
[Maladministration? The writer would not be able to READ, without the ZANU-PF instituting universal education for all Zimbabweans, which has resulted in the highest literacy levels on the African continent. In contrast, the neoliberal MDC wants to make education available to the lucky few again. - MrK]
For the past three years since the formation of the GPA, we have led the budgeting process in this country and through the tireless effort of our president’s wise deployments, the country has seen inflation drop to single digits. Economic growth is averaging 7%.
[See dollarisation, which again would not have been necessary without ZDERA. - MrK]
In the ministry of health, we have ensured that all hospitals and clinics are functional and better resourced. The days of our medical facilities dispensing panadols only are long gone.
In the energy sector, we have managed to eliminate the fuel crisis that once brought this country and the local industry to its knees, electricity generation is on the increase and there has been a marked improvement in the reduction of load shedding.
As for the other part of government, ZanuPF has registered limited success for instance in the tourism sector. The country has indeed witnessed an increase in the number of tourists visiting our country and average hotel occupancy is on the increase. Zimbabweans don’t need to be reminded that Minister Muzembi is possibly the least popular minister in Zanu PF because of his perceived closeness to the MDC.
Minister Nicholas Goche has failed in the Ministry of Transport. One needs to look at collapsing parastals such as Air Zimbabwe and NRZ to appreciate the extent of his failure. The same applies to the ministries of Mines, Agriculture, and Defence.
Since 2008, the MDC has been responsible for the legislature the quality of debates has greatly improved and the credibility of parliament restored.
[I remember their first sojourn into parliament, and accurately describing them as a rent-a-mob. I also remember the incident of Roy Bennett trying to strangle a fellow MP on the floor of parliament. - MrK]
There is an overwhelming mood among Zimbabweans that the time to change is now and should elections happen under free, fair and democratic rules, the MDC will be elected into power based on its ability shown so far through our ministers.
[There is absolutely no 'overwhelming mood' among Zimbabweans to see a return to austerity like ESAP, which is what the MDC stands for. They are neoliberals of the privatisation, deregulation and 'free trade' variety, as they have proven over and over again. Not only are they foreign funded like the writer and his organisation, they are there to sell the country's mines to Anglo-American De Beers, the global diamond monopolist. So you keep talking about 'failing parastatals', but at least they are Zimbabwean, and will remain Zimbabwean as long as the ZANU-PF is in power. - MrK]
Party leader Tsvangirai has led the Government Works Programme and is currently chairing the Council of Ministers which gives direction and supervises and hence the successes in the social service ministries including one ministry led by Minister Mzembi from Zanu PF. Our team of planners in government despite three years of frustration and sabotage by the Zanu PF team of plotters have provided leadership and gained a lot of experience and are certainly ready to govern this country.
Impunity, violence and the use of the military in the country’s political and electoral affairs will not last forever. Our national institutions such as the police and the military should realise that the majority of toiling Zimbabweans expect them to respect and abide by the law that creates these institutions. They expect to be protected and not violated by members of these institutions.
One of the MDC’s fundamental roles like any legitimate political player is to protect its citizens against any form of abuse, threats and violence. The culture of impunity is definitely not part of our values as a party.
[Well then the writer can address the slew of MDC councils that are cited for corruption, even in the Wikileaks cables. - MrK]
Chalton Hwende is a former Secretary General of Zimbabwe National Students Union (ZINASU), Secretary for Africa International Union of Students and currently the national representative of Mashonaland West province in the MDC-T national executive
Labels: MDC, PROPAGANDA, ZINASU
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ZINASU fingers MDC over violent attacks
by
11/03/2010 00:00:00
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party has been accusing of exhibiting “behaviour typical of, if not worse than Zanu PF” after four student leaders needed hospital treatment following a brutal assault by alleged MDC youths at a rally last Saturday.
The Zimbabwe National Students Union said its president Tafadzwa Mugwadi, secretary general Kurayi Hoyi, its secretary for legal affairs Archieford Mudzengi and treasurer Tafadzwa Kutya were victims of “rampant beating ... by a group of MDC youths who were clearly mobilised by individuals working in the Prime Minister's office, in an apparently rehearsed incident”.
The National Constitutional Assembly also weighed in, condemning what it described as “barbaric and sadistic behaviour especially coming from the MDC, a key ally in the pro-democracy movement”, and claimed the attacks “happened in the full glare of the MDC leadership including its president, Morgan Tsvangirai.”
The NCA and ZINASU said the attacks took place at a public memorial for Tsvangirai’s late wife, Susan, at the Glamis Stadium in Harare. Nelson Chamisa, the MDC’s spokesman, said the party was unaware of the alleged attacks but promised an “urgent enquiry”.
He said: “I can confirm I was there at the stadium, but I did not see anybody being assaulted. There was no contestation of any kind, we were remembering a national heroine, so I don’t see any reason why people will go all the way to beat up anybody which is against the philosophy of the MDC.
“The MDC is a party of doves, we believe in peace. If we are associated with violence, it is only as victims.
"But if it is true, which I doubt, that some among us have turned from victims into perpetrators, that’s not only tragic but unfortunate.”
ZINASU fingered three top officials in Tsvangirai’s office as responsible for the attacks – his chief of staff Ian Makone, his director for public affairs Dennis Murira and top aide Jacob Mafume.
The students’ union said: “If the MDC is declaring war on ZINASU, they should come out clear and ZINASU is ready for the fight to protect the legacy and the broader student fraternity aspirations of Zimbabwe.
“These attacks on student leaders by these hired-misguided MDC thugs have happened in the past and have gone unattended to by the party leadership.
“These and many other deplorable actions by MDC leaders, activists and employees clearly compromise the credentials of the MDC as a real democratic alternative to Zanu PF.”
The students accuse the MDC of fanning divisions in its ranks in order to control the union. ZINASU said selected members of the union were barred from the memorial because of fears that they planned to stage protests.
“The allegations were baseless,” ZINASU added.
In response, Chamisa said security at the event was provided by the police, and wondered when the MDC youths played the “vigilante role” of barring the ZINASU members.
“We don’t have prophets in the MDC who would foretell that certain individuals plan to protest,” said Chamisa, a former president of ZINASU. “The trouble with this whole issue is that ZINASU now has too many faces, it’s like an octopus. We did not author this multi-headed animal called ZINASU.
“The ZINASU we used to know is a ZINASU which was indivisible and focused on issues but now we hear of a ZINSU with too many voices, heads and faces. We don’t even know what we are dealing with here, whether we are responding to a decoy, or hoax.”
The NCA, whose leader Lovemore Madhuku addressed the public memorial, said it was “shocking” that the alleged attacks “happened at a time when we were all remembering the life of a heroine and a proponent of democracy, Amai Tsvangirai.”
“The behaviour by the MDC youths exhibited on Saturday is typical of, if not worse than that of Zanu PF thugs. One wonders if this is the behaviour that the MDC has been taught by their new found partners in the inclusive government,” the NCA said in a statement which also urged the MDC, “especially its leader Morgan Tsvangirai, to openly denounce this violent and unacceptable behaviour.”
It added: “We hope that such barbaric acts will be a thing of the past from today going forward.”
One of the injured officials, Mudzengi, is described as in a “critical” condition at Harare’s Avenues Clinic.
It is not the first time the MDC has been linked with violence. An October 2005 split in the party was partly blamed on Tsvangirai’s apparent refusal to take action against several party activists, including one of his bodyguards, whom he rehired after he had been suspended by the disciplinary committee.
The youths had been accused of turning the party’s Harvest House HQ into a “no-go area” for certain members of the national executive, and launching violent attacks on the party’s own MPs.
In 2006, Zimbabwe’s new ambassador to Senegal, Trudy Stevenson, who broke away from Tsvangirai’s MDC in the 2005 split, narrowly escaped with her life after a panga attack by alleged Tsvangirai supporters whom she identified.
Labels: MDC VIOLENCE, MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, TAFADZWA MUGWADI, ZINASU
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