What it doesnt want is to be remote controlled by the UK or any other foreign power.

Tell Love more, if there is no democrracy in Zimbawbe, ,how come MDC has had dozens of seats in the Parliament? How come they are holding elections if there is no (representative) democracy?

Hitler also said you need to lie so oftent that people will begin to believe you.

A bit rich for Brian to quote Hitler. Brian can lie and lie, but most sensible, informed people will not believe him! Infact there are a few parallels between the Nazi's and ZanuPF; both won power through democratic elections with minority vote-share, both exact brutal suppression of political opponents and commandeer ruthless execution of political power in partnership with military rule.

Brian will no doubt reply back with the question "where is the proof?" (as he has done on previous postings on this newswire, for eg:  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/06/401317 ). To pre-empt this, I will say that only one so blinkered in their dogmatic allegiance to Mugabe and ZanuPF and their so-called anti-imperialism (a fool) would deny the various human rights abuses which have been occuring in the country. The evidence is the tens of thousands who have fled to this country to escape persecution.

However, I draw attention to Mugabe and ZanuPF's greatest culpability for the damage they have inflicted on their own country as being the very same main reason/rational they claim for their progressive justification to remain in power - their carelessly rushed and damagingly executed land redistribution programme in 2000, which they somehow think was a success.
Horace Campbell and Eusi Kwayana : "It was only after the massive opposition from the working people in 1997 and after the loss of the referendum of February 2000 that the ZANU leadership opportunistically launched the Fast Track Land reform process. This opportunism has only been surmounted by the fact that the best land went to the political elite who were not real farmers. Opportunism and cronyism exposed the reality that for land reform to be beneficial for the mass of the population, reform must involve the political empowerment of the poor, especially farm workers. The new black landowners did not treat the farm workers any better than the previous settlers. If anything, this experience exposed the reality that the issues of the health and safety of farm workers and their children are just as important as the question of land ownership. Farm workers whether working on farms owned by blacks or whites must be paid a living wage and must have adequate protection from pesticides. They must be accorded full political and economical rights instead of being forced to live in a semi-slavery state. The experiences of land acquisition in Zimbabwe pointed to the reality that land reclamation by itself could not solve the problems of the Zimbabwean society. There had to be transformation of the credit, transportation, agricultural marketing, seed production, distribution of fertilizers, water management and all of the aspects of economic relations associated with agriculture."
Ref:  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/06/401546.html

 http://www.talkzimbabwe.com/news/117/ARTICLE/2755/2008-06-21.html
MDC-T DEMOCRATIC RESISTANCE COMMITTEES BEHIND VIOLENCE – CHIHURI

Floyd Nkomo

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 11:03:00 +0000

THE Movement for Democratic Change’s Democratic resistance Committees are behind the recent spate of violence in the country which is meant to discredit the electoral process in the country and delegitimise a Zanu PF victory in the run-off presidential election, says the commissioner general of police.

Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri who was addressing the press in the capital yesterday said that the opposition MDC-T party formed what they termed Democratic Resistance Committees which aimed to intimidate voters in the run-up to the election and thereby delegitimize the electoral process.

"I wish to put the record straight on the political violence in Zimbabwe. It is without doubt that between the two political parties, MDC-T and Zanu PF, MDC-T is the main culprit in the political violence that we are currently witnessing in the country," Comm-Gen Chihuri told journalists...

Simon, you are so willing to believe every piece of ZanuPF state propaganda. Simon, your partial selection of facts to support your increasingly demented world view that ZanuPF are somehow the victims is increasingly clutching at straws.

Simon, the police chiefs are very likely in the pay of the government, so they would say this wouldn't they! This is the same Zimbabwean police force that in early April investigated ridiculous allegations of alleged fraud at the expense of Mugabe's vote in several constituencies, a vote which overall had obviously collapsed in the March election across the country.The plain truth that anyone with a bit of common sense realised was that ZANU-PF was seeking to distract people from the fact that results had still not been released.

While I wouldn't deny that there has been MDC violence (under extreme provocation - this is after all a class war between Zanu PF's black bourgeois, their tribal support base and the military versus the trade union working class/impoverished middle class and rural poor of the MDC), to suggest this violence has been entirely one-way is at best stretching credibility, at worst, a deliberate falsehood.

Re: violence, in Harare where the MDC won 45 of the 46 local council seats and Emmanuel Chiroto of the MDC was elected as Mayor of Harare by the councillors on June 15th, on the night of June 16th, Chiroto's house in the suburb of Hatcliffe was attacked and destroyed by ZANU-PF supporters. Ignatius Chombo, the Minister of Local Government, has not sworn in the new local administrations, and because the elected Harare councillors were not allowed to meet at Harare's Town House, they met elsewhere to elect Chiroto on the 16th June. Chiroto believed that petrol bombs were used. Chiroto's wife and son were taken away by the attackers, although his son was delivered to a police station on June 16th.

The Mugabe and ZanuPF propaganda department in the civil service has been working overtime. For instance, on April 17th, The Herald published a letter said to be from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to Tsvangirai, along with allegations that Tsvangirai was plotting "illegal regime change" with British assistance, Tsvangirai countered on that the allegations were "outrageous" (1). The letter purported to be from Brown was dated April 9 and was said to have been sent in response to a letter from Tsvangirai on April 3; Brown's purported letter said that the United Kingdom would lobby SADC and the United Nations Security Council to impose further sanctions on Zimbabwe. The British Embassy denounced the letter as a forgery and said that "faking documents for crude propaganda purposes" "reflects the regime's desperation".
Source: (1). ^ Sapa-AP and Hans Pienaar, "Tsvangirai reacts to plot allegations", The Star (IOL), April 18, 2008, page 1.

Mugabe's has honed his manipulation of half-truth's to a fine art, especially where he blames Britain for every problem in his midst, where it is clear many of his problems he brought upon hmself. Knowlng full well that hyper-inflation is crippling the economy, on March 5th, Mugabe said at a rally in Mahusekwa that some businesses were raising prices with the intent of causing the people to suffer, hoping that they would blame the government for their suffering and vote for the opposition as a result. The timing of ZanuPF's passing of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Bill, which requires all businesses to be majority owned (at least 51%) by black Zimbabweans, was obviously more of a political gesture in view of this, as Mugabe warned that "profiteering" white-owned businesses would be taken over by the government. As in previous elections, Mugabe timed the playing of the race card in speeches, claiming that Tsvangirai and Makoni would reverse land reform and that "white farmers were poised to move back onto their old farms on the announcement of a MDC victory". Tsvangirai dismissed the reports as nonsense, but the post-election impact was successful for Mugabe in re-mobilising his support base, sparked into action by a new wave of paranoid state propaganda, with war veteran's occupying farms (the straegy ZanuPF employed in 2000 - politicising the land redistribution process to gain short-term political advantage - discounting the economic consequences of managing the land redistribution process in a way that retained food producing capability).

Emphasising the increasingly demented state of Mugabe's mind, on June 17th in the Herald, Mugabe is quoted as saying "that hunger and the absence of commodities were not problems worth 'selling the country' over", viewing the MDC as western lackies - a statement which shows how little he considers the country's problems are, and his paranoid preoccupation with the supposed western control of the MDC being more important than widespread starvation and the economic collapse of the Zimbabwean economy.

Basic sound economic management like making sure yr country retains food producing capability whilst redistributing the main means of production - which in a predominantly agricultural economy is land. Zimbabwe did the latter at the exclusion of the former and te result is what is now happening in the country. Basic economic management also means not printing loads and loads of currency in excess of the underlying productive resources of the country. Patrick Bond: "According to Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono, 67 trillion Zimbabwean dollars (US$33 million at the effective exchange rate in January) were in circulation but could not be traced inside the financial system.The banks had only Z$2 trillion cash on hand. Said Gono, "The rest of the money is with cash barons who have opened mini-central banks at their houses. Unfortunately the people doing that are influential citizens with leadership positions."

Source for some of this information:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwean_presidential_election%2C_2008

'A bit rich for Brian to quote Hitler. Brian can lie and lie, but most sensible, informed people will not believe him! Infact there are a few parallels between the Nazi's and ZanuPF; both won power through democratic elections with minority vote-share, both exact brutal suppression of political opponents and commandeer ruthless execution of political power in partnership with military rule.'


What Mark may be unaware of is that unlike Hitler, Mugabe was the leader of a liberation movement in his own country, and was instrumental in ending apartheid in South africa.

Meanwhile, the MDC,whom Mark supports have siome interestnig historical links:

'Externally, the MDC aligned itself with South African Apartheid supporters and the violent RENAMO movement in Mozambique. The pro-Western orientation of the MDC is perhaps best characterized by its current website poll, which poses the question, "Does Zimbabwe need to establish strong ties with the West (Europe and North America)?" At the last count, 96.1% of visitors voted in favour.'
 http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=5730


Mark, Mugabe has suppressed noone...if he had, yioud not see MDC with seats in parliament, nor would Tsvangirai, who has already tried to have president Mugabe assassinated, be contesting the presidency.

Better luck next comment.

anybody bothers rising to the bait that Brian so consistently puts out on the wire. He is an apologist for a brutal regime run by a tin pot dictator.

But then that is perhpas not surprising as he does work for the Zimbabwe embassy.

Wake-up Brian,

As African government after African government (from Tanzania to Zambia) withdraw their allegiance with Mugabe's government because of the now-proven brutal suppression as her people dared to vote for the opposistion in their droves, hopeless apologists like you, Brian, remain in aloof denial, bewitched by anti-imperialist propaganda which give an at-best partial view of events in Zimbabwe, and at, worst, deliberately twist the truth - carelessly neglecting the actuality of the economic crisis that has been presided upon in that country and the reckless land redistribution process which brought it about. Oh dearie, dear Brian. When will you wake up from your dreamy stupor?

You have consistently failed to answer any of the points I have previously raised with you, and so, have conclusively proved that you have lost the argument about what constitutes the actual record of Mugabe, Zanu PF and the state of the country he currently presides over.

Zanu PF's hold on power, necessarily steadfast because of their foremost role in the independence struggle, subsequently led to their concentration of political power.

Dale T. McKinley (taken from "Zimbabwe and the strategy of resistance"):
"The institutional existence and political dominance of a 'socialist' political party in the form of ZANU-PF, engendered a 'civil society' that was effectively confined to the margins of key political/ideological and social debate and contestation. While opposition to the negative effects of SAPS and a subsequent raft of neo-liberal policy prescriptions in the early-mid 1990s fostered union-based, student and other smaller-scale resistance, eventually leading to the formation of the NCA and then the MDC, the dominant strategy of this accumulated resistance was bounded within a dominant constitutional and legal framework - i.e. to seek, through existing societal and state institutions, an expression of growing popular demands for changing the character and content of those institutions. This strategic orientation, and the tactics employed to pursue it (e.g., the formation of a political party to contest representational power through the existing institutional and legal framework) was understandable given the existence of political-social space at the time, the fact that the MDC was the first, meaningful and mass-based political challenge to the post-independence hegemony of ZANU-PF and the subsequent 'victory' of the nascent opposition forces in the constitutional referendum."

The claim that MDC are backed by the west is an exaggerated claim which serves the ZanuPF propaganda machine very well. MDC's apparant policy agenda which appears to be a capitulation to western financial capital, is also largely exaggerated; ZanuPF blatantly lie when they say that the MDC will reverse land reforms carried out. Infact, much of the talk of privatisation and shrinking the amount of state employees is really all about reducing the nepotism and flabby, inefficient bureaucracy familiar to many post-independence socialist African states of which Zimbabwe is one of the last remaining.

The plain truth is that Zanu PF primarily represent an elitist black bourgeois and petite bourgeois and that Mugabe's regime is exposed as being primarily focused upon the protection of patronage networks predominantly within the ruling Zanu PF party, such as the war veterans. As in Guyana, anti imperialism and vanguardism has been used to cover up the repression of it's own citizens. Ref:  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/06/401546.html
ZanuPF's political leaders have accumulated wealth in such a conspicuous manner that their consumption of luxury goods stands out in a country where more than 80% of the eligible workers are unemployed. Millions more Zimbabweans have been rendered as economic refugees in Africa and beyond.

'anybody bothers rising to the bait that Brian so consistently puts out on the wire. He is an apologist for a brutal regime run by a tin pot dictator.

But then that is perhpas not surprising as he does work for the Zimbabwe embassy. '



No, i dont work for any embassy. Im a white australian, and prepared to kick a lying ass or two.

If Zimbabwe was a brutal regime run by a tin pot dictator, do you think there would be any elections at all? or that Tsvangirai would have a seat in parliament?

But since you are british, its no wonder you are upset: youve lost your empire, play poodle to US, and dream of wiping out every black african in zimbabwe, so the land can be owned by whites likes yourself.

''The MDC party split in 2005 due to disagreements over participation in the senate elections of that year.

One faction was led by Morgan Tsvangirai, and another by his deputy Gibson Sibanda with the support of Welshman Ncube, Gift Chimanikire and spokesperson Paul Themba Nyathi (now led by Professor Arthur Mutambara).

Since the split there have been allegations of intra-party violence.

The party split of 2005 was blamed on acts of violence perpetrated by MDC-T. David Coltart decided to join the Mutambara faction of the MDC citing ‘deep concerns about violence in the MDC-T faction.

I was so concerned about our failure to get to the bottom of the violence that I prepared a statement that was tabled at the next meeting of the National Executive held on the 15th July, said Coltart in 2006.

MDC-T thugs were also blamed for an attack on Trudy Stevenson, then an MDC-M legislator. She was attacked with a machete and hospitalized with four other MDC-M members in 2005.

According to Paul Themba Nyathi, of the MDC-Mutambara, the thuggish behaviour of Tsvangirai's supporters has largely escaped the attention of observers and the press because the big prize is still to rid the country of Mugabe.'

 http://www.talkzimbabwe.com/news/117/ARTICLE/2271/2008-05-01.html

Nice guys...and very violent..None of this gets into the western media.

Mark, where do you suppose MDC derives its funds? Deny it all you like

Brian, care to finally accept that ZanuPF represent a ethnic (Shona) capitalist bourgeois elite, propped up by their tribal support base, that have:
- committed war crimes in Matabeleland during the 1980s, when the 5th brigade killed 10,000 Ndebele
- corrupted the land redistribution process, and in turn, sacrificed the long-term food producing and currency earning capability of the country, destroying the central dynamic of the Zimbabwean economy
- Completely mismanaged the economy by allowing cash-baron beneficiaries of Zimbabwe's patronage networks to print loads and loads of extra currency, so that the total currency in circulation was vastly in excess of the underlying productive resources of the country, leading to hyper-inflation
- financially enriched a priviledged elite and maintaining high salaries for the military, state police and civil service whilst neglecting public sector workers and allowing the mass of the population to endure hunger, starvation and severe economic hardship,
- hoarded land amongst their patronage networks and cronies, at the expense of the majority of the rural poor during the 1990s, when financial constraints meant the land redistribution process even after the 1992 Land Acquisition Act, was always going to be limited under the shadow of IMF austerity
- allowed the new capitalist farming entrants to treat the farm workers no better than the previous settlers
- and exhibited a woeful record on investment in agricultural infrastructure such as credit facilities, transportation, agricultural marketing, seed production, distribution of fertilizers and water management

Wrong again Brian. I am not a MDC supporter. I support the rural poor, trade unions, and civil society groups, some of whom are the constituent elements of the MDC. The question of where the MDC gets it's money is rendered of relatively less important significance in relation to the grosteque self-aggrandisement of the ZanuPF/Shona political class and economic segregation of Zimbabwean society as a result of the freefall of the Zimbabwean economy. In this context, cash strapped civil society are obviously going to be more dependent upon money from overseas (like the people are - dependent on remittances from abroad just to survive).

That said, I can appreciate that MDC's history of funding from white farmers and sources of funds from the west compromises it's agenda (though the 'white-farmer' constituency is rendered the enemy only by ZanuPF's politicisation of the issue; land redistribution and 'fair' compensation agreements will now be considered by many fellow SADC nations as a reasonable solution - what was actually originally on the table in 1998 before ZanuPF rode roughshed through the process just to cling onto power through paranoid propaganda and aggressively racist posturing/tubthumping). It is perhaps because of this and the IMF culpability, that an outright MDC rule would also be a problem (if they are indeed willing to go cap in hand back to the IMF), though not as much as the continuation of outright Zanu PF rule. The truth is, ZanuPF have dragged the Zimbabwean economy into a quagmire (by printing too much money and not having enough revenue-raising activity going on), and so, the IMF is probably going to have to be used again. There is currently no finance for any development, so no rate of return on anything, as compared a situation where profit margins from activities are sliced in two and shared between western financiers and the domestic (home) economy share of proceeds.

What the MDC propose is trust in the electorate to give backing to whatever changes they make. If western financial capital is not desired, then the MDC will be voted out. One thing is clear; the imperialist mandate of ZanuPf has done nothing except hoard wealth amongst an elite and drag the economy into freefall. Also, the pretensions of independence from imperialism are shallow if Zimbabwe is relying on food aid from the United States!!!!

Spin yr anticolonial rhetoric all you like, but Mugabe had the chance to make Zimbabwe truly independent through slow transition and gradual land redistribution in 1998, but he blew it, and has been crashing the economy just to keep the politbureau's head above water ever since.

Was that a threat of physical intimidation, coming to kick my ass cos you dont like me? Just like your heros zpf thugs are doing in zimbabwe. Funny that.

Elections yes, free and fair no, and there are plenty of precedents for countries having elections that are neither free nor fair, China, Burma, Russia, USA etc etc.

You seem to argue with very little logic and much hypocrisy. Elections are held so it must be a legitimate democracy, yeah right. You slam press reports that are critical whilst holding up the zpf owned press in harare as torch bearers of truth. Double standards Brian.

And no I am not British, but you do work at the zimbabwean embassy.

and yo might like to discuss this news item:

 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/0619/breaking30.htm

Last Updated: 19/06/2008 19:24
Africa ministers criticise Zimbabwe poll

Zimbabwe's run-off presidential election next week is very unlikely to be free and fair, a group of southern African ministers said today, in the strongest regional condemnation yet of pre-poll violence.

"There is every sign that these elections will never be free nor fair," Tanzanian Foreign Minister Bernard Membe told a news conference. He was speaking on behalf of a peace and security troika of nations from the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Tanzania is also current chairman of the African Union.

Mr Membe said he and the foreign ministers of Swaziland and Angola would write to their presidents "so that they do something urgently so that we can save Zimbabwe." SADC is sending monitors to Zimbabwe for the June 27th vote.

Mr Membe said their judgement on the conduct of the poll was based on evidence from 211 observers already inside the country.

Some of the observers saw two people shot dead in front of them on June 17th, Mr Membe said.

Evidence of your hypocrisy, for you, a white australian, to condemn anyone for treating black indigenous populations really is the icing on the cake.

I am sure that you will come back and say that yo are opposed to the way aborigines have been treated and i hope you do. But dont start throwing accusations around when you dont have a leg to stand on.

I apologise for lowering myself to your level but sometimes needs must.

Enjoy mugabes phony victory in his far from free elections.

From the Southern African Development Community

 http://www.sadc.int/news/news_details.php?news_id=927
ON THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN ZIMBABWE

The Extra-ordinary Summit noted and appreciated the briefing by H.E. President Robert G. Mugabe on the current political developments in Zimbabwe.

The Extra-Ordinary Summit recalled that free, fair and democratic Presidential elections were held in 2002 in Zimbabwe.

The Extra-Ordinary Summit reaffirmed its solidarity with the Government and people of Zimbabwe.

The Extra-Ordinary Summit mandated H.E President Thabo Mbeki to continue to facilitate dialogue between the opposition and the Government and report back to the Troika on the progress. The Extra-Ordinary Summit also encouraged enhanced diplomatic contacts which will assist with the resolution of the situation in Zimbabwe.

The Extra-Ordinary Summit mandated the SADC Executive Secretary to undertake a study on the economic situation in Zimbabwe and propose measures on how SADC can assist Zimbabwe recover economically.

The Extra-Ordinary Summit reiterated the appeal to Britain to honour its compensation obligations with regard to land reform made at the Lancaster House.

The Extra-Ordinary Summit appealed for the lifting of all forms of sanctions against Zimbabwe.

Simon, but that nugget of information comes from early 2007, since then, unless you are unaware, the situation has changed somewhat. The article i posted is from, err June 19th 2008, five days ago.

perhaps if you want to argue the point you can provide us with some more recent evidence of SADC support.

Oh wait, they have lost patience with mugabe too. Do you work with Brian at the embassy?

i thought you might like this nuugget of news. Of course it is from the ANC a notable white supremacist organisation with a vested interest in putting the interests of white western imperialism high on its agenda:

ANC 'dismayed' by Zimbabwe crisis

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7471105.stm

South Africa's governing ANC party has accused the Zimbabwean government of "riding roughshod" over democracy.

The party said it was "dismayed" by the authorities' actions, and that free and fair elections were not possible.

A BBC correspondent says this is the strongest statement so far by the ANC on Zimbabwe and a sign of mounting diplomatic pressure on its government.
etc etc

I already know what your response will be so dont bother posting it, and stop wasting time with nonsensical support for a brutal regime and by posting out of date press releases that you think will back up your position. they dont, and as even you should realise the african nations are pulling together to show the zimbabwe elections up as they sham they will be.

"yeah but its worse in xyz so lay of mugabe" - what utter nonsense, yes it probably is worse in many places but you and your brother brian are talking about zimbabwe as are we. So stick to the issue, supply us with new news not old pressers and dont try and compare chalk with chees to justify your untenable position.

much love xxxx

'Wrong again Brian. I am not a MDC supporter. I support the rural poor, trade unions, and civil society groups, some of whom are the constituent elements of the MDC. The question of where the MDC gets it's money is rendered of relatively less important significance'

If it lookslike a duck.....

MDC supports PRIVATISATION:

' The establishment of a new opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), in September 1999, found instant support from Western leaders. Significant funding from Western sources enabled the party to rapidly grow to the point where it won 57 out of 120 seats in the June 24-25 2000 parliamentary election, less than one year after its creation. Ostensibly based in the labor movement, the program of MDC reads like a call for a return to ESAP. A policy paper issued by the party spelled out its plans for privatization. Upon taking power, the party plans to appoint a "fund manager to dispose of government-owned shares in publicly quoted companies." The boards of all public enterprises would be "reconstituted," and the new boards would be "required to privatize their enterprises within specified timetables...with an overall target of privatizing all designated parastatals [public companies] within two years." The interests of Western capital would not be ignored. "In areas where a high level of technical skill is required, foreign strategic investors will be encouraged to bid for a majority stake in the enterprises being privatized." A primary principle of the program would be that "all sales of major state assets will be conducted through open, international [that is, Western], competitive bidding." In order to counter opposition from workers made redundant, the National Privatization and Procurement Agency would be instructed to "carry out public awareness campaigns regarding the privatization program in order to generate public awareness and support for the exercise." Implementation of its program, the MDC feels, will mean "that foreign direct investment will take place on a substantial scale." (10) As a further incentive for Western investors, the MDC plans to review income and corporate tax levels "for regional competitiveness." (11)

The MDC appointed an official of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries, Eddie Cross, as its Secretary of Economic Affairs. In a speech delivered shortly after his appointment, Cross articulated the MDC economic plan. "First of all, we believe in the free market. We do not support price control. We do not support government interfering in the way people manage their lives. We are in favor of reduced levels of taxation. We are going to fast track privatization. All fifty government parastatals will be privatized within a two-year frame, but we are going far beyond that. We are going to privatize many of the functions of government. We are going to privatize the Central Statistics Office. We are going to privatize virtually the entire school delivery system. And you know, we have looked at the numbers and we think we can get government employment down from about 300,000 at the present time to about 75,000 in five years." (12)

A press release issued by ZANU-PF presents a contrasting vision for Zimbabwe. "For ZANU-PF, the central question was and still is who benefits from the management of the economy? The answer is simple; it must be the broad masses of our people. That is where we differ with the MDC and with other parties. They want to benefit the employers and the capitalists. We say no, no, no." (13) '
 http://www.swans.com/library/art8/elich004.html

why right thinking people should find mugabe abhorent, apart of course from his violence, intimidation and incompetance.

1. He is great friends and a financial beneficiary of nicholas van hoogstraten, one of the most disgusting men you could hope to meet.

2. He detests homosexuals

3. His moustache

Whilst I completely and utterly distrust ZanuPF's paranoid propaganda proclaimations about the MDC, I recognise that western financial capital is looking to ride on the coat-tails of the installation of MDC into power, and I abhore the wholesale capitulation to the sale of major state assets by large international financial conglomorates. But ZanuPF have destroyed their own country. It is now a failed state, and has been left wide open to this takeover.

If the MDC could moderate their plans and legislate a variant of the Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Bill applied to particular sectors such as education, health and railways, and reverse the liberalisation of the Grain Marketing Board which was previously enforced by the IMF, I believe that would be a successful outcome.

In general, there is a logic to privitisation; it allows private borrowing to fund investment and remove the short-term constraints of government budgeting. If further efficiency in the running of certain state industries will compromise the interests of workers so severely (lay-offs, paycuts), it would be a strange argument that the MDC don't care about their labour unions, for this would be an odd position considering the labour unions comprise a substantial base of the MDC membership. More likely, labour rights will be guaranteed and there is a recognition that some of these state sectors (particularly in the civil service) and state industries are being run so inefficiently that privatisation will actually be a viable option.

However, I do agree that as a wholesale principle, privatisation is troublesome.

Take the example of what happened in the UK in the 1980s with Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government. Some elements of the privatisation agenda worked; there were good arguments to stop the taxpayer continuing to subsidise loss-making state industries such as British Leyland, British Steel, and in particular British Telecom (telecommunications) which was vastly inefficient (as a state-run company, there were waiting list for phones; after privatisation, the industry was transformed to a universal service). British Airways and the British Airport Authority were also privatised, and their performance/efficiency improved thereafter. More contentious was the privatisation of British Gas which was making profit as a state industry (it is now owned by Centrica) and the ten previously public regional water and sewerage companies. The privatisation of British Rail in 1993 was a disaster, principally because it's separation of track and train into separate businesses has meant that central management of investment of nationally important infrastructure can no longer be easily coordinated in a system where there are multi-users of the same piece of track. The ongoing legacy has been the upward spiral of government subsidy to the privatised 'train operating companies' for infrastructure work such as track which they contract out to the track maintenance authority (now called National Rail) who in turn contract out the work, whilst profit margin is appropriated by shareholders of these 'train operating companies' (descibed as "thinly-capitalised equity profiteers of the worst kind"), even though the overall level of investment in rail infrastructure has remained the same as it was before privatisation.

However, as I said, Zimbabwe's economy has been left so devastated that the large-scale involvement of oversea financial capital is probably going to be inevitable. A better situation would be investment from within fellow SADC states. However, quite obviously, most African nations continue to remain cash-strapped economies. More investment from China and Venezuela could be a further option, but only a viable option in specific state sectors (say mining).

The article says that the MDC plans to privatise fifty government parastatals and that they plan to reduce government employment from about 300,000 at the present time to about 75,000 in five years. To this, I would say that much of the MDC's talk of privatisation and shrinking the amount of state employees is really all about reducing the
nepotism and flabby, inefficient bureaucracy familiar to many post-independence socialist African states of which Zimbabwe is one of the last remaining. More information is neede on the precise details of these proposals to comment any further. The quote that the MDC plan to privatise virtually the entire school delivery system would appear a very excessive plan if this were true; but, if the country is now so cash-strapped, you could perhaps understand why this might now be an increasingly possible option as each month passes in Zimbabwe's descent into economic ruin.

Zanu PF's unswerving indignation that they knew best meant that even constructive, pragmatic choices of basic economic management in awareness of the basic economic fundamentals of the world market were ignored, viewing any external advice neoliberal and their adherence to it a surrender of their independence to neocolonialism. It has been an misconceived vanguard that, in the absence of Soviet patronage which may have helped them to a limited extent in the 1980s, considered itself entirely independent of the world economy. This may have been possible if complete economic minmanagement had been avoided such as the excessive printing of currency which has created hyper-inflation and the agricultural sector was producing enough food for it's own needs. The fact that ZanuPF have been even unable to even maintain food self-sufficiency is a crippling indictment of their administration.

I would say of most urgent priority is large investment in agricultural infrastructure such as seed production, distribution of fertilizers, water-management/irrigation, credit facilities, transportation, and agricultural marketing.

OK, you white Left (although I suspect some of you are just pretending to be Left), I've got it wrong. You want the best for black people. You recognised our domination by white people. But - you smart people, you - you also can recognise a black, tin pot dictator when you see one.

So, does that mean you will give support to black nations that pursue a policy of black self-determination?

You support the right of black nations to pursue their own interests in opposition to the agenda of the white Left?

You acknowledge that working-class black people DO NOT look to the white Left for their salvation.

You acknowledge that working-class black people are apt to regard the white Left as racist as white capitalists?

That you have given your support and blessings to black nations - without tin pot dictators - that have pursued a policy of black self-determination.

That you can name those black nations that have pursued a policy of black self-determination that you have supported.

That true and honest black leaders that pursue a policy of black self-determination would never get the sort of treatment from the West, right-wing or left-wing, that Mugabe and Zanu-PF is getting.

Or, am I wasting my breath?

Oh, by the way, Mark, SADC have not met or discussed Zimbabwe since 2007. Perhaps, you are saying that Mugabe never was a brutal dictator up to the 2007 meeting and then afterwards decided to become one.

sorry simon, I didn't say anything about SADC. That was the watcher.

Butfor the record (you knew I'd say something), quite obviously, Zimbabwe's fellow neighbours gave Mugabe and Zanu PF the benefit of the doubt before now by virtue of their unwavering support in solidarity with the anti-colonial movement and in recognition of Zanu PF's foremost role in it and the spirit (rather than the execution) of the land redistribution programme.
I say up till now because now the abuse by the military and militia has been more brutal now than ever and election procedures have been so clearly breached.

'I say up till now because now the abuse by the military and militia has been more brutal now than ever and election procedures have been so clearly breached..'

Mark and others

You are no doubt aware of Frank Kitson, 'Gangs and Counter Gangs'. The British military officer in Kenya reckoned a good way to undermine a genuine liberation movement was to organise disaffected members and get them to commit atrocities in the name of that liberation movement.

You are aware of an internal, violence struggle within MDC. Former Selous Scouts, Legal Officer of MDC and former MDC point man for the US, David Colthart, has left MDC-T and complained of the violence.

You are aware of MDC-T MPs who have been chased out of their homes in fear of their lives by people in police uniforms who have written in the local press saying that these men were from the MDC-T.

Is it not pointless for an unpopular Zanu-PF to try to force people to vote for them. They would have to threaten the whole population. It would be easier to abandoned elections altogether and set up a dictatorship. Why has Mugabe not done this already? Why is he bothering with elections?

The level of the intimidation of the people in Zimbabwe as evidence of the exceptional nature of state thuggery is ridiculous.

You lot are dupes!

FYI people:

'POLICE intervened at the weekend to avert violent clashes between rival factions of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

There was tension in Chitungwiza as former student leader Arthur Mutambara, now leading a rival faction, addressed a public rally.

As Mutambara addressed cheering supporters, a group of activists who support the other faction leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, appeared in the distance, cheering and singing.

Mutambara's supporters charged towards them, but police intervened to avert potential clashes.

In a statement Monday, a spokesman for Mutambara's faction accused Tsvangirai's group of "hiring thugs" to disrupt their rally.

"MDC would like to express its gratitude to the police for taking swift action to defuse the situation. We also wish to thank our supporters for staying calm in spite of the blatant and unprovoked attack by Tsvangirai's hired thugs," the spokesman said.

The spokesman said 5000 people attended the rally.

The MDC has split into two, and both factions claim to be the legitimate group. Efforts to reconcile the two, or get an "amicable divorce" appear to be floundering which could drag the fight over the party name to the Zimbabwe courts.

 http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/senate166.13964.html

NOTE: this has been ignored by most media

but Brian, the two MDC factions reunited for the 2008 elections; this sounds like more Zanu-PF proaganda to me. You read the Zanu-PF run zimbabwean press too much and not independent sources of info, me thinks.

To Simon:

For you to say "Is it not pointless for an unpopular Zanu-PF to try to force people to vote for them" is shocking in view of the revelation of the circumstances of what has been happening in the country over the last 2 months. You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself.

I'm both sorry to say (and humble enough to admit) that I am not aware of all the facts about what is going on within the MDC, for instance where you say that MDC-T MPs who have been chased out of their homes in fear of their lives by people in police uniforms have written in the local press saying that these men were from the MDC-T. I am aware of Frank Kitson's book, 'Gangs and Counter Gangs' but have not read it myself, but do know of the British army's use of infiltration intelligence to create terrorist-cells planted within the Mau-Mau insurgency to discredit the independence struggle. Lets just say I would not be surprised if there is a war sponsored by western capital going on within the MDC right now. You/we need to give more information on it, and expose it. And perhaps the best way would be by the formation of a new political movement independent of the MDC, but certainly independent of ZanuPF which is discredited for it's own reasons.

I do accept the MDC's neoliberal mandate is abhorrent. I just happen to believe ZanuPF are worse.
Both parties are run by Zimbabwe's black bourgeois - ZanuPF have their tribal base whilst the MDC have their New Labour-like alliance with the big trade unions and western capital. In the middle is a economic wasteland.

Finally, in an earlier post, you asked whether 'we' (or to those others who you evidently have contrary views to yourself) could name those black nations that have pursued a policy of black self-determination that you have supported. Well, I have 36 yrs old and so, was very young when there was a wave of independence of struggle across the african continent. But breifly, I can say that I am aware of, of course, Kwame Nkrumah's Convention People's Party in Ghana which led the independence struggle and ruled from 1957 to 1966, Patrice Lumumba's anti-imperialist the MNC party or Mouvement National Congolais in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) of 1960 to 1961, the Union of the People's of Cameroun (UPC) who led the anti-colonial struggle in Cameron against the rule of French Imperialism during the 1950s into the early 1960s.

Of course there was the anti-apartheid struggle, the Chimurenga in Zimbabwe, and there was Tthe Burkinabe revolution in Burkina Faso between 1983 and 1987 led by Thomas Sankara.

All the above leaders mentioned were assasinated by western imperialism.

I will stop now, because I do not need to prove anything more to you about whatever anti-colonial credentials you may think I should be proving to you.

Rugby hero tackles foes of Mugabe

The tycoon behind plans to split farmers
Special report: Zimbabwe

Andrew Meldrum in Harare
Sunday March 25, 2001
The Observer

He was a star of Rhodesia's national rugby team during the heyday of white rule. Canny and ruthless, he emerged as a key figure behind Ian Smith, helping to supply arms to the beleaguered white minority regime in its battle with the guerrilla forces of Robert Mugabe.

But last week he emerged as a central backer of President Mugabe's attempt to split the white farmers and end their fierce opposition to 'fast-track' land seizures in Zimbabwe.

Although the farmers rejected his proposal, John Bredenkamp, the country's wealthiest businessman, will continue his efforts, as an influential Mugabe ally, to divide the farmers by persuading them to open negotiations with the regime.

Bredenkamp, an international arms merchant, mining entrepreneur, oil dealer and hotelier, maintains that Zimbabwe's economic and political crisis will ease once a resolution of the land issue is reached. Normally Bredenkamp shuns the limelight, but there is no doubt that he is a key player.

Mugabe strives to make it appear that his chief enemies are Zimbabwe's whites. But his regime's dealings with Bredenkamp make it clear that when it comes to money Mugabe doesn't care where it comes from.

Bredenkamp's elegant Harare offices boast a museum-quality collection of African masks and other artefacts. Ministers breeze in unannounced for quick visits, showing an unusual familiarity and friendliness .

His demeanour is affable and charming but those who have done business with him say this masks a steely determination and ruthlessness. Aged 55, he is a self-made man who has devoted supporters and vociferous detractors. He first rose to prominence as a star of the Rhodesian national rugby team and he began amassing his fortune in the tobacco business.

His firm, Casalee, had success in breaking international sanctions and selling Rhodesian tobacco overseas, and it became a major international shipping and forwarding company. Having learnt to evade sanctions, Bredenkamp then moved into arms trading and reportedly sold weapons to Smith's government. After Smith's regime fell and majority-ruled Zimbabwe was born in 1980, Bredenkamp stayed in the arms-broking trade with offices in Europe.

Bredenkamp's empire is now global and his fortune is estimated at between £300 million and £500 million. In the past year he moved his headquarters to Zimbabwe, where he now spends most of his time.

His splendid residence, Thetford House, enjoys a commanding view over the Mazowe Valley, about 35 kilometres north of Harare. The capital's residents know when Bredenkamp is in town because they hear his private helicopter transporting him from his home to the city.

Bredenkamp defends his dealings with Mugabe, saying his business has required close relations at the very top with both the Smith and Mugabe governments.

He maintains he is working to find a middle ground in Zimbabwe at a point when the country is bitterly polarised, and that he is attempting to help it out of its economic crisis. One of his companies, Petraf, is the only firm bringing fuel into Zimbabwe. His critics claim he is simply making money as the supporter of a corrupt regime.

Bredenkamp's companies are major suppliers of arms to the Congo war, according to the Africa Confidential newsletter, and he has taken over management of Zimbabwe's mining concessions in the Congo, including uranium, cobalt and other strategic minerals, following the failure of another
Zimbabwean businessman, Billy Rautenbach, to make profits from the mines.

Those concessions were granted as payment for Zimbabwe's support to the Kabila regime.

Although businessmen say Bredenkamp is critical of Mugabe, he rejects the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Instead, he is said to favour Mugabe associate Emmerson Mnangagwa.

It was Bredenkamp's role in the campaign to reform the white farmers' union that revealed him as one of Mugabe's strategic allies. He bankrolled the drive by Nick Swanepoel to persuade the farmers' union to accept the loss of nearly half its members' land.

Swanepoel, a former chairman of the Commercial Farmers Union, tried to convince white farmers to drop all legal cases objecting to Mugabe's 'fast track' land seizures. He also called for the union's leaders to step down and to be replaced by allies of Mugabe.

Maybe I'm wrong but this Tsvangirai remebers to me one I saw getting up a car against dictatorship in early nineties. A champion of democracy who compelled the Boss Number Two of the World to resign dimissions after a fake coup d'etat. It ended up with our champion bombing the parliament (with the plause of "free" press all over the world), a season dominated by oligarchies, War In The East War In The West.

The same victimism, the same maneuvers...

I'm betting we've yet seen nothing. Wait a couple of years when his friends in the IMF will be able to impose their agenda, with Human Rights (embedded) supporters finally at peace.