In his first speech to the emotional crowds outside the city hall in Cape Town, Mandela’s first words were, “I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all.”

He waved to the cheering mass of 50 000 South Africans, media corps, diplomats and visitors and said, “We call on our people to seize this moment so that the process towards democracy is rapid and uninterrupted. We have waited too long for our freedom.”

Robert Mugabe sent his formal congratulations to Nelson Mandela on that day, too. In 1990 Mugabe had already been in power for ten years; he had an horrific genocide on his record and was routinely imprisoning and torturing many of his political opponents. But that didn’t stop him from claiming liberation-hero kinship with South Africa’s revered icon and president-to-be.

Years later, at a banquet to celebrate his 90th birthday, a retired Mandela voiced his disappointment that ‘peace, democracy and freedom for all’ had not yet been achieved in Africa.  He said, “Nearer to home we had seen the outbreak of violence against fellow Africans in our own country and the tragic failure of leadership in our neighbouring Zimbabwe.”

Madiba knows that Zimbabwe has been independent for 30 years, but it is still waiting for its freedom.

Zimbabweans have always shared kinship with South Africans; traditionally we consider South Africa to be our ally. Many of us have taken refuge there, fleeing our beloved homeland where Mugabe’s brutal regime has robbed us of the means to earn a living. As Zimbabweans cheer for Nelson Mandela on this milestone anniversary, so we also weep for our broken country and our scattered families. As we salute the greatest son of Africa, so we urge our own leaders to embrace Mandela’s humanitarian values.

Zimbabweans wholeheartedly share Nelson Mandela’s proud vision for Africa: Peace, democracy and freedom for all. May this at last be the year that it becomes reality in Zimbabwe.

We salute Africa’s greatest statesman and, in unison with our South African brothers and sisters, we pray for his continued health and happiness on this day and for many years to come.

When Ayittey was asked in 2007 what initiative his organisation, the ‘Free Africa Foundation’ was working on, he said:

“To save Zimbabwe from implosion. We hope to achieve peaceful change in Zimbabwe through the convocation of a “Sovereign National Conference.” It is the same mechanism (the Convention for a Democratic South Africa — CODESA) which was used to dismantle apartheid in South Africa. If it worked in South Africa, then it will work in Zimbabwe.”

Ayittey isn’t too popular with most African leaders, because he sees them for what they are.
He rightly states that there is nothing wrong with Africa except its leaders, and he treads crushingly on the oh-so-dignified toes of the useless and toothless African Union.
“The slate of post colonial African leaders has been a disgusting assortment of military coconut-heads, quack revolutionaries, crocodile liberators, “Swiss bank” socialists, brief-case bandits, semi-illiterate brutes and vampire elites. Faithful only to their private bank accounts, kamikaze kleptocrats raid and plunder the treasury with little thought of the ramifications on national development.”

It is a great shame that the AU is too preoccupied with self-perpetuation to think about solving Africa’s problems. Imagine the bargaining power of a genuine coalition representing the gigantic wealth of Africa’s resources, instead of a club of lazy, self-serving dictators!  Imagine a continent able to leapfrog the mistakes of the industrialised nations and create a world once more worth living in! But we get ahead of ourselves. Let’s look at putting out the fires first:

The Free Africa Foundation has set up the Zimbabwe Coalition for Change (ZICOCHA). This initiative, which has not yet attracted much funding, has as its main objective, to convene a great national all-stakeholder Indaba (or Dare depending on which language you speak) in Zimbabwe to settle the conflicts there and bring freedom and prosperity to the country. Zimbabwe has been free, it has been prosperous, but it has never been both at the same time.

Ayittey says that squabbling political parties and heavily corrupt military officers in Zimbabwe are never going to produce a satisfactory or lasting solution to the crisis – in fact he is predicting a civil war – and so he recommends that the way out of the trap could be found in an ancient African tradition: a DIRECT consultation with all the people. A nation’s people is the only truly valid source of power and legitimacy, and Ayittey points to modern versions of the village meeting; to recent examples in Africa which have worked. He cites the transition of South Africa as well as  Benin, to peaceful democracy.

Ayittey’s opinions are therefore not too popular with politicans and army generals.

As an economist, he ain’t too popular with big business and voracious capitalist interests, either. He visualises African people actually having a share in, and directly benefitting from, national resources such as petroleum and diamonds. What heresy! The fact is that the past, present and would-be plunderers of Africa are the ones who keep the continent’s people poor while destroying the precious natural environment – a stark truth that is given only lip-service by the peddlers of global influence – big business and the world’s political cartels, including the ones led by Obama.

Dr. Ayittey however is no starry eyed idealist and he recognises that any successful, free nation needs to possess the following basic list of essential institutions:

An independent and free media (Only 9 African countries have this),
An independent central bank,
An independent electoral commission,
An independent judiciary,
An efficient civil service, and
Neutral and professional security (military and police) forces.

Ayittey puts his ideas into the context of African history, and he is well versed in the economics of poverty alleviation. He espouses practical programmes such as micro-lending institutions; appropriate technology (e.g. better fishing boats for traditional fishermen, instead of big automated trawlers); exploitation of Africa’s abundant solar energy, rather than nuclear or coal-fired power stations. He sees the doom and devastation wreaked on the planet and it’s people by the ‘developed world’ and is showing us a leadership solution, made in Africa.

‘African solutions to Africa’s problems’ is far more than a nationalist mantra, bandied about by dictators who use it to justify their own survival. It is a big idea whose time is coming. It is not popular, it’s not fashionable, and it’s unthinkable to big business and big politics. But it is probably nothing less than essential. In the words of Victor Hugo, “Greater than the tread of mighty armies is an idea whose time has come”.

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Your Opinions please:
We cannot think of anyone more qualified to chair a future People’s Indaba, or ‘Sovereign National Conference’  in Zimbabwe, than Dr George Ayittey. If anyone has a better candidate, please let us know. The debate is now open on this website.

On behalf of the suffering people of Zimbabwe, we call on the United Nations to deny Robert Mugabe visiting rights to all the UN organisations. We ask the UN to apply targeted travel sanctions on Mugabe and his relatives and entourage immediately.

This week, an important United Nations official envoy was refused entry into Zimbabwe by Robert Mugabe. United Nations special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak was stopped at Harare International Airport and told to get on the next plane out.  Mr Novak was on an 8-day mission that had previously been organised and agreed to by the Zimbabwe government. He was supposed to be a guest in our country.

The United Nations on the other hand, allows Mugabe (and his wife, and his ministers and security people and various relatives and other hangers-on) to visit the United Nations offices wherever they may be – in New York, Geneva or Rome. The Mugabes love this, because It’s the only way they can get round the targeted sanctions and Grace the First Shopper spend her ‘crochet money’ on designer shoes and jewels.

No Criminals in Government:

Mugabe recently said in a CNN interview, regarding the issue of Roy ‘Pachedu’ Bennet:  “The allegation is that he’s responsible for organizing arms of war against Zimbabwe.” Mugabe said that Bennett would be appointed only if he were cleared of all crimes.

But how come if you are accused of crimes and a Zanu-PF member, you can not only be in government but you can get right to the top? Why is the Zanu-PF Politburo crammed with alleged murderers, torturers, thieves and nepotists?  Robert Mugabe himself is personally responsible for the massacre of more than twenty thousand innocent men, women and children in Matabeleland in the ’80s.  By his own rules, let Robert ‘No votes’ Mugabe stay out of government until he also is “cleared of all crimes”!

On behalf of the People of Zimbabwe and in the name of justice, ALL the accused criminals in government must step down immediately, and face their day in court in front of a neutral judge.

But their efforts to use democracy were seen as some kind of heresy, even treason.

During its ten years of opposition, MDC has had to deal with a regime that brought Zimbabwe to a failed state situation. Even President Mugabe referred to his hand picked politburo as  “The worst cabinet I have ever had.”

ZDN spokeswoman Ethel Moyo heartily agrees with Mugabe on this point.

“It seems that Robert Mugabe’s executive is based only on doglike loyalty,” she said, “No brains or expertise required. During the last ten years their stupidity and unlimited greed have brought us into world disrepute.”

Some of the more outstanding events of ZanuPF’s rule have been – to list just a few:

The Diesel Nganga
The world’s first Trillion Dollar bank note
The five-week vote ‘recount’
The worst cholera epidemic in Africa
The bulldozing of 100 000 homes
The destruction of 6 000 productive farms
The closing of hundreds of factories and businesses
The ZanuPF Leadership Code – a total joke
The phantom Jatropha plantations
The disappearing Aids Fund

The MDC and its members have been cruelly persecuted for opposing these events, and prevented from helping to mend or correct any of the injustices and suffering of Zimbabweans, brought about by fools and bullies. A thriving economy has been ruined.

“No wonder that, after the last ten years, ZanuPF’s support among the population is down to just ten percent,” added Mrs Moyo, “And I think that is a generous estimate.”

The MDC, now in a difficult marriage of convenience, has a treacherous path to find.
May they persevere with the support of the people towards the goal of good governance at last.

One is the arms embargo and targeted travel ban on individuals, which ZanuPF shrilly denounces as ‘illegal sanctions’.
The other is the existence of shortwave radio stations that are not under their direct control.

The world is clearly not allowed to do things without ZanuPF’s permission!

But, with ZanuPF’s blessing, anything goes:
On 7 September 2009, the (ZanuPF) Minister of Media, Information and Publicity, Webster Shamu,  was ‘delighted’ to launch H-Metro, a new daily tabloid which has been published without a license by the Zimpapers group, in violation of the current media laws.

Minister Shamu used the occasion to attack ‘pirate’ radio stations which, he claimed, were being enabled by the MDC element in government:

“…what must also stop is the continuing situation where some parties in the GPA continue to aid and abet illegal, extraterritorial pirate broadcasts which violate our sovereignty in the name of media freedoms. The GPA the often quoted GPA – disallows this as gross external interference in the affairs of our country. These stations – all of them sited in countries that have slapped Zimbabwe with sanctions – are a violation of the GPA. To the extent that they persist well into the Inclusive Government, they amount to an outstanding matter which must be addressed by those who needed them, indeed created and legitimised them in the name of struggling for their own brand of democracy here.”

SW Radio Africa, ‘The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe’ was asked to comment on the minister’s statement, and if indeed they would obediently shut down if ‘some parties in the GPA’ asked them to. Their reply was:

SW Radio Africa would like to reiterate that it is not ‘pirate’ radio station. Our broadcasts are legal under international law governing shortwave radio broadcasts.
Additionally we won the right to set up Zimbabwe’s first independent radio station in the country’s Supreme Court – when the full bench of the court agreed with our right to freedom of expression under Zimbabwe’s constitution. Unfortunately Robert Mugabe used his presidential powers to overturn that court ruling and have us forcibly shut down in 2000. Since then no independent radio station has been licensed.
We regret the fact that the closure of ‘external’ radio stations is part of the GPA, as we are a private and independent company staffed and managed by Zimbabweans, and no one has any influence or control over our broadcasts.
We would not voluntarily shut down if asked by the MDC or the GPA, or anyone else, as we believe absolutely in the right of Zimbabweans to have access to free and independent news and information.
Gerry Jackson
Station Manager

Minister Shamu’s allegations that ‘some parties’ in Zimbabwe’s inclusive government created, or have control over, external radio stations remain to be proved. Voice of America’s Studio 7 also broadcasts into Zimbabwe.

The minister insists that the provisions in the GPA regarding the media should be followed to the letter – but the privatisation of ZBC is not on his agenda. Perhaps Finance Minister Biti should consider ZBC and the Zimpapers shareholding in his list of state assets to be sold off.

Is there is now a case for the other members of the GPA to sit on the board of both ZBC and Zimpapers? If the Zimpapers Group is 70% owned by the Inclusive Government, surely all partners in the GPA should have equal representation on the Zimpapers board of directors?

Media groups are already calling for the suspension of all Zimpapers titles on the grounds that they have not been properly licensed. ZWNews reported that: “Media analysts have suggested that if H-Metro is – as the minister claims - not owned by the state, then it needs a permit, without which government would have no option but to shut it down. The same would apply to any other unlicenced mastheads in the ZimPapers stable.”

In his speech Minister Shamu emphasised that Zimpapers was government owned, with a 70% majority shareholding, adding, “Let it be pronounced here that Zimpapers is not a State enterprise.”  He then pointed out that wholly state-owned media (such as the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation) were exempt from the media laws.
“My ministry will not condone the breaking of the law,” he declared.

Is he a schizophrenic? No. He is just using standard ZanuPF dual-thinking techniques: The law must be applied, except to ourselves.

Zimbabwe:  Targeted sanctions must remain in place until the targeted persons and organisations mend their ways.

Zanu-PF’s preoccupation with shopping expeditions for 250 of its members, when the nation needs every cent for food and basic services, is outrageous.

Led by Vice-President Joice Mujuru, the party’s petulant cries for ‘illegal sanctions’ to be lifted are unlikely to produce the desired results, since the  individuals on the list have done nothing that might persuade the US and Europe to lift them.

But the Zanu-PF spin doctors assert that the MDC is somehow able to lift these sanctions – which only affect those directly responsible for destroying the country and undermining its democracy: Zanu-PF officials, family members and corrupt business associates.

The Zanu-PF owned Herald newspaper leader (August 17, 2009) noted: “We hail the resolution made by the Zanu-PF Politburo calling on the MDC formations to honour their part of the bargain instead of making endless demands without ceding anything, a stance that implies a sinister motive.”

The Herald would do well to remember that the lifting of targeted sanctions is the prerogative of the countries that imposed them – long before the GPA was even mooted.

The United States and the European Union have stated repeatedly that they will lift sanctions only once certain minimum criteria – the very issues that Zanu-PF refuses to address – are met.

Desperate to Shop

The sanctions Zanu-PF is so desperate to see lifted are the United States’ perfectly legal refusal to allow the 250 people on their list to visit their country; a ban on weapons of war to be sold to Zimbabwe or for Americans to trade with specified (Zanu-PF-controlled) local companies.

Canada banned arms exports to Zimbabwe, froze the assets of top Zimbabwean officials and banned Zimbabwean aircraft from Canadian airspace.

The EU sanctions, linked to the former government’s abuse of an EU election observer, are milder: 160 people may not visit EU countries, there is an arms embargo and a prohibition on technical or financial assistance to the military.

The only bright light in this sorry tale of Zanu-PF greed and deception is that some of its ministers – most likely those currently without direct access to illicit funds – must be struggling to maintain their lavish lifestyles on US$300 a month.

Certainly the car lots in Harare bulge with second hand luxury vehicles and it may explain their desperation to travel to the despised West.

Zimbabweans are encouraged by President Jacob Zuma’s ongoing commitment to the Global Political Agreement and to ensuring that peace and democracy are restored in our country. As President of South Africa and current chair of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), his role in this regard is critical.

While President Zuma says progress has been made in certain areas, he acknowledges there are still some “weighty” issues to address. We are relieved.

The list of issues requiring urgent attention is long and, if they are not addressed, there is a very real threat that the violence will escalate to dangerous levels, as was the case in the run up to last year’s fraudulent Presidential election.

The list includes:

• Zanu PF’s renewed campaign of violence targeting senior MDC officials, family members and their employees, as well as activists, supporters and leading human rights officials.
  
  It is important to point out that during the state-sponsored election violence which took place last year between March 29 and June 27, there were at least 180 recorded deaths of MDC members, supporters and innocent civilians, more than 9 000 people were viciously beaten and tortured, and around 28 000 people were internally displaced (Amnesty International statistics).
• The reopening of youth “training” camps and redeployment of the youth militia.  Zanu PF’s deputy secretary for Youth, Saviour Kasukuwere, recently admitted that the former ruling party deployed militias to spearhead its violent election campaign last year.
• In Muzarabani, Domboshava, Mudzi, Mutoko, Chiredzi, Zaka and Gutu, cases of violence against MDC members continue to increase. War veterans, Zanu PF youth militia and soldiers have established bases in Mutoko, Mudzi, Murehwa, Chinhoyi and most areas of rural Mashonaland.
• The ongoing arrests of MDC MPs and lawmakers which are aimed at robbing the party of its tenuous majority in Parliament. Seven MDC MPs and over 100 members and activists are facing various trumped-up charges across the country.
• The delay in the swearing-in of Senator Roy Bennett as deputy minister of Agriculture.  Bennett is still facing trumped up charges of terrorism.
• The continued delay in the appointment of governors, ambassadors and permanent secretaries.
• Mugabe’s refusal to dismiss Gideon Gono, Governor of the Reserve Bank, and Johannes Tomana, the attorney-general, both of whom are incompetent, corrupt Zanu PF loyalists.
• Zanu PF’s refusal to relinquish control of the security forces, comprising the army, air force and police, as well as the Central Intelligence Organisations (CIO), which collectively enable President Mugabe to retain power.
• The use of the security forces to intimidate Zimbabweans.  For example, helicopters have been used to kill civilians at the Marange diamond fields in the Chiadzwa district and more recently to swoop down on MDC supporters at a rally in Mutoko East.
• Zanu PF is bitterly opposed to public consultation on the drafting of the new constitution and President Robert Mugabe insists on backing the Kariba draft constitution, which leaves his power untouched and allows him to stay in office for two further terms. The MDC is insisting that “the process will be people-based, people-centred, people-led and therefore people-driven.”
  
  The Kariba Draft is inadequate in terms of both process and content. If the Kariba Draft were to be used as the basis for constitution-making in the country, Zimbabweans would be denied their right to write a constitution for themselves. Moreover, the content of the Draft is also inadequate. It fails to protect fundamental rights and freedoms and promotes the continued dominance of government by the Executive.
• Mugabe’s continued control and manipulation of the state media. The GPA states that “steps must be taken to ensure that the public media provides balanced and fair coverage to all political parties for their legitimate political activities.” Furthermore, the GPA states that “the public (and private) media shall refrain from using abusive language that may incite hostility, political intolerance and ethnic hatred or that unfairly undermines political parties and other organisations.”
• Mugabe’s continued invasion of the commercial farms, the violence perpetrated on farmers and their farm workers, as well as the blatant theft or wanton destruction of crops in a country where between half and two thirds of the population is reliant on food aid and desperate for foreign currency.

The National Security Council

Since the signing of the GPA, Zanu PF has resolutely refused to disband Joint Operations Command (JOC), which was at the forefront of strategising Mugabe’s retention of power in the chaotic and violent aftermath of last year’s March elections and the June Presidential run-off.

They have also refused to allow the formal constituting of the National Security Council (NSC), the new security organ to replace JOC.  By law the council should meet at least once every calendar month.  While the setting up of the NSC has been strategically sabotaged, JOC has continued to meet.

It was only due to mounting pressure to resolve some of the outstanding issues of the GPA ahead of next month’s SADC Summit in Kinshasa (September 2-8), that an NSC meeting was finally held on July 30.
Moreover, it is important to note that Mugabe chairs the NSC, while Tsvangirai as Prime Minister is only a member.  The powerful service chiefs, who are ex-officio members, are Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Constantine Chiwenga, army Commander Lt Gen Phillip Sibanda, Air Marshall Perence Shiri and Commissioner-General of Police, Augustine Chihuri.

Commissioner of Prisons Retired Major-General Paradzai Zimondi and the Director-General of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), Happyton Bonyongwe, also sit on the council.

The escalating threat of violence

Zimbabweans appreciate the continued concern and support expressed by President Zuma and the leaders of SADC, and value their commitment to the restoration of peace and democracy in Zimbabwe.

We believe it is of paramount importance to stress the extremely serious threat of renewed violence as evidenced by the re-mobilising of the military and the militia, and the re-establishment of militia bases in rural Zimbabwe.

So much for Zimbabwe’s three days of peace and national healing! But then, nobody in their right minds would believe for a moment that Robert Mugabe had any intention of changing tack and committing himself to a peaceful solution for Zimbabwe.

When he called for an end to violence in the country last weekend, Mugabe said people should promote “the values and practice of tolerance, respect, non-violence and dialogue as a means of resolving political differences.” Sounds good on paper or over the state-controlled airwaves, but Mugabe has a long history of playing to the cameras while his paid thugs create mayhem behind the scenes.

And, for the past week it’s been business as usual. Last Wednesday evening, Mrs Athanancia Mlilo, a 63-year-old nurse and mother of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) official Nqobizitha Mlilo, was savagely beaten over the head with an iron bar and left for dead in her small home town of Mvuma. Mlilo, a top aide to Finance Minister Tendai Biti, believes the attack was politically motivated and that Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa’s thugs may have been responsible. Mnangagwa has an appalling track record of violence and is a dangerous and ruthless adversary.

The unprecedented violence in the run up to last year’s fraudulent Presidential election run-off in June included vicious beatings of elderly people, notably a 79-year-old widow who was thrashed with barbed wire. Children were also brutalised and at least three were deliberately burnt alive in a hut.

Assaults and intimidation

On Saturday, the Zimbabwe Standard reported that, “as Zimbabwe prepared to celebrate three days of peace and national healing, an MDC-T activist, Ebba Katiyo from Uzumba, a village in Mashonaland East province, was battling life-threatening injuries inflicted by Zanu PF supporters a few days earlier.” After two brutal assaults, she was saved by an MDC team summoned to her rescue, and rushed to hospital.

Also during the “weekend of peace and reconciliation”, the air force tried to intimidate 10 000 MDC supporters attending an MDC rally in Mutoko East. An air force helicopter was flown in and hovered so low over the crowd that one of the crew was actually identified. The officer, a man called Manhanga, is known to have worked under the command of Bramwell Katsvairo who spearheaded violence in Mashonaland East province during the Presidential run-off election.

The use of helicopters to instil fear and cause panic is also not new. In May last year, as the Presidential run-off violence escalated, Zanu PF militia members attacked Kodzwa village in Mazowe Central constituency, leading to the villagers retaliating bravely. An army helicopter was called in and it too hovered menacingly while the police arrested more than 20 MDC members.

On Monday, despite the mounting pressure, Mlilo was back at his desk reporting that Tendai Biti, who is also the MDC Secretary General, had received a live bullet in a letter – yet another trademark death threat. Previously leaked Zanu PF strategic documents have indicated he is a top figure on their hit list. The letter told Biti to “sort out his estate”.

Bullets in the post are another favoured tool in Zanu PF’s arsenal. In February 2007, Bill Saidi, then acting editor of the Zimbabwe Standard, received a bullet and note warning him to be careful. This was after he had published a cartoon focusing attention on the pathetically low pay received by defence force troops. Fat cat salaries are reserved for those at the top – the arrogant “top brass” who drip with gold braid and medals.

Gearing up for violence

The writing is clearly on the wall.  Zanu PF is gearing up once again for violence. Last time it was for the elections. This time it is dual purpose.

Message one to all Zimbabweans is that the Kariba draft constitution – which protects Mugabe’s power and would enable him to serve another two terms in office – has to be adopted, otherwise the orgy of violence will resume. By dying in office, Mugabe would avoid prosecution for gross human rights abuses perpetrated throughout his 20-year tenture.

Message two is that Zanu PF is gearing up once again for an election, predicted to be as early as March next year. Mugabe and his thugs have had enough of being part of a transitional government and the restrictions of the Global Political Agreement are irksome in the extreme. So it’s time once again to deploy the youth militia – unemployed youngsters who are useful instruments of violence and expendable cannon fodder.

Earlier this month, the notorious Minister of Youth Development, Empowerment and Indigenisation, Saviour Kasukuwere, said plans were at an advanced stage for the reopening of youth “training centres” across the country. Kasukuwere admitted openly that the former ruling party deployed militias to spearhead its violent election campaign last year that left hundreds of opposition supporters dead.

“We have done it…. all political party youths were involved in it,” he said. “It’s easy to take advantage of a young man or woman who is doing nothing.”

Kasukuwere is a known Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) operative who has been linked to the car accident in which Mrs Susan Tsvangirai was killed on Friday March 6.

Attacked with axes

Morgan Komichi, a senior MDC official involved in rural organisation, told IRIN this week that the reports of violence they are receiving at their offices are extremely shocking and barbaric.

“MDC supporters are being axed, while in some instances members of the military are viciously assaulting our members.  Zanu PF is now actively pushing the agenda of national healing so that perpetrators of violence find an escape, so they don’t (have to) account for their actions.”

Komichi said the violence would end if Mugabe explicitly told his supporters to refrain from it. But Mugabe will never do that. He has his own aged skin to think of and his close friends – the thugs in Joint Operations Command (JOC) and his other cronies who have amassed fabulous wealth – may well be holding a discreet gun to his own head.

ZDN’s message to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is this:

As underwriters of the Global Political Agreement, you have inexplicably chosen to remain silent in the face of continued and blatant rights infringements by Zanu PF. Their strategy is patently clear. Not only has Zanu PF deliberately chosen to thwart any form of progress but they are now, irrefutably, gearing up for violence.

It is therefore your responsibility to take immediate action – before the blood of innocent Zimbabweans is once again spilt in a strategically orchestrated campaign of terror, the trademark modus operandi of Zanu PF.