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The Real Change TimesMovement for Democratic Change

MDC Information & Publicity Department, Harvest House, 44 Nelson Mandela Ave, Harare, Zimbabwe Issue 058: 2010Tuesday 21 December

The Official Mouthpiece of the MDC

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Together, united, winning, ready for real change!

The MDC, the sole people’s conscience carrier, has shown beyond any shred of doubt in the past two years that Zimbabwe can turn the corner, says President Tsvangirai.

In his second end of year message to the nation as the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister of the Republic of Zimbabwe, President Tsvangirai says the MDC has massively regenerated civil order in government and started to recoup Zimbabwe’s respect in Africa and beyond.

“We have pulled this nation from the brink of collapse to a new potential of hope,” he says.

“We are the people’s conscience in this government and every day, we are mitigating the excesses of entitlement and corruption and keeping in check a sulking minority unused to working in the interest of the people.”

After winning the 29 March 2008 election and the subsequent military intervention which attracted regional mediation and a difficult power-sharing arrangement, the MDC averted an inevitable plunge into the abyss to set Zimbabwe back on the rails; on a new path of stability, development and growth.

The MDC footprint in government illustrates what a determined people can do, against all odds; and especially in the face of open Zanu PF intransigence and provocation.

“We have weathered and survived dark and sinister plots to undermine

the collective government work programme and the real change agenda,” said President Tsvangirai, in an annual review.

“We have remained resolute, in the full knowledge that we are the true people’s representatives because of the clear mandate given to us in a legitimate election.”

Zimbabwe could have moved mountains were it not for the needless tension in government. For the record, the MDC’s maturity and pacific presence in the transition tamed inflation and stabilized the economy -- now poised for a record growth of 9,3 percent.

And, with stability, food is now abundant; schools have re-opened; and hospitals are back to life.

“We led an investment revolution recently when the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development opened a one-stop shop that will enable prospective investors to have their papers processed under one roof in less than 48 hours so that we create jobs and expand our economy,” he said.

In September, with the support of the United Nations and other donors, President Tsvangirai commissioned 13 million textbooks for all the 5 575 primary schools.

“This was the largest single investment in the education sector since independence and it ensured that every primary school child will have access to textbooks,” he said.

In October, President Tsvangirai commissioned new medical equipment at Zimbabwe’s biggest referral hospital, Harare, after years of neglect that turned the place into an instant death trap in the full glare of an uncaring Zanu PF regime.

In another first, the MDC steered the first private member’s Bill that promises to bring new, democratic amendments to the draconian Public Order and Security Act (POSA).

If it weren’t for the needless meddling of Ignatious Chiminya Chombo and Zanu PF, MDC-run local authorities were poised to reverse decades of misgovernance, sleaze, cronyism and corruption. Water and other basic services trickled back to

local communities after 29 years of intermittent and erratic supplies.

“I am aware that more needs to be done to realize our full potential in bringing hospitals and schools to their former glory and in ensuring that our silent factories start working again,” he said. “But we have made our positive change in this government amid renewed tension which is threatening our collective march from a dark past of uncertainty to a future of hope and progress.”

The failure to implement the Global Political Agreement, the resurgence of violence and Robert Mugabe’s unilateral and unconstitutional acts have blighted the dawn of possible progress.“I am frustrated because these things have stood between us and the great things we could have achieved as a coalition government,” said President Tsvangirai.

“I am frustrated because we have taken Zimbabweans for a ride and betrayed the trust bestowed upon us by you, the people of Zimbabwe as well as SADC and the African Union as the guarantors of the Global Political Agreement.

“I am frustrated because we cannot implement the 24 issues we have agreed upon for the simple reason that President Mugabe has chosen to run away from his signature and treats fellow Principals with utter disdain and contempt.

“I am frustrated because the noble-constitution-making process has failed to stand the test of legitimacy after Zimbabweans were disallowed from freely expressing their views. However, we must continue with this process of crafting a new charter for ourselves while awaiting the making of a truly people-driven Constitution in a post-transitional environment.”

President Tsvangirai said it is a shame that 30 years after independence, Zimbabwe still uses the Lancaster House Constitution, albeit a cease-fire document which Zanu PF has mutilated 19 times. “And we still have the temerity to call ourselves a sovereign nation while at the same time subverting a noble process of crafting our own, home-grown Constitution.

“I am frustrated because those who lost the election have chosen to mistake our goodwill and benevolence for a weakness.”

President Tsvangirai said Zanu PF and Mugabe have deluded themselves into thinking that they invited the MDC into government.

“But we derive comfort in that while they are soaked with the blood of innocent Zimbabweans, we remain drenched in the legitimacy bestowed upon us in a free and fair election. We are the true repository of the people’s aspirations,” he said.

For a full text of the Christmas and New Year message, please visit our website: www. mdc.co.zw

Zim staggers back to life…shames a sulking minority with a tired, expired agenda

President Morgan Tsvangirai, an unwavering fighter for democracy and freedom, is determined to see Zimbabwe’s rural areas rid of partisan and Zanu PF-aligned security forces before next general election. He told an International Human Rights Day meeting in Harare that people in the rural areas desperately need breathing space after three decades of state-sponsored chaos and brutality. He said the presence of armed security forces and state agents in Zimbabwe’s villages is designed to perpetuate an unacceptable state of emergency metaphor and to fertilise fear and anxiety.

‘’We all know that soldiers, members of the police and CIO are being deployed in the rural areas to harass our parents,” said President Tsvangirai. “The army is not there to beat up and abuse people. It is there to protect the nation.”

The MDC accepts the role of the security forces in a Constitutional democracy and would always support a professional, non-partisan security sector.

“A false impression has been created that the MDC and its leadership are fighting our national security institutions. We have nothing against

the soldiers, the police and the CIO as long as they stick to their Constitutional mandate of protecting the people of Zimbabwe.

“But we have a problem when the same institutions are used for partisan interest, to intimidate and mete out violence against innocent and defenseless citizens.

“When we tell our security forces to leave the people to mind their own business in a climate of total freedom, we are not fighting them. We are asking them to stick to their constitutional mandate,” he said. “An election is not a declaration of war. Get out of the village and let the people enjoy their freedom to determine their own destiny.” The MDC understands that the idea of deploying security forces is aimed at instilling fear in the minds of women and men of ordinary nerve; to shore-up and boost shambolic Zanu PF structures; and to undermine national confidence in structural transformation and far-reaching reforms.

There have been disturbing and careless statements by some security service chiefs and some in Zanu PF that they will not allow an election to decide Zimbabwe’s future leaders, said President Tsvangirai. With the active assistance of SADC, Zimbabweans

must ensure that the people’s will prevails if the nation is to entrench a new culture of democracy.

The long-term consequences of this type of political practice are devastating to a young nation. Corruption and cynicism takes centre stage; professionalism in the security sector suffers as the people are forced to take orders from merchants of violence and lawlessness. “These are national security institutions which must not be abused by any political party,” said President Tsvangirai. “This must stop. Our people want peace. This is what we agreed to abide by in the GPA.’’ There is clearly a systematic pattern where Zanu PF is using armed soldiers and coercive traditional leaders to intimidate and harass people nationwide ahead of the elections.

Zanu PF must let ordinary people taste peace

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Zimbabwe has set up a One Stop Shop Investment Centre whose thrust is to drastically cut down the time it takes businesspeople to start work in Zimbabwe.

The idea is to move away from a backward and inherited system marred by red-tape and bureaucracy at the expense of best international practices open to investors elsewhere. “We must ensure a stable political environment,” said President Tsvangirai, speaking in his capacity as the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister of the Republic of Zimbabwe. “Investors from all over the world will shy away from any perceived political risk.” President Tsvangirai never minced his words about the need for political stability. He told the high profile audience, which included Robert Mugabe, that politics -- in any society -- matters.

Not surprisingly, a week later Mugabe who pretended to agree with President Tsvangirai at the OSS launch ceremony slid back into a long discredited Zanu PF lyric, threatening to act against companies from Western countries he claimed to have imposed what he called sanctions on his party. He repeated the now tired threat to nationalize companies such as Rio Tinto and Anglo American Corporation.

Mugabe regularly sinks into these highly destructive political spasms, especially when he is surrounded by cheering gangs of Zanu PF fanatics. “Why should we continue having companies and organisations that are supported by Britain and America without hitting back? Time has come for us to revenge,” he bellowed. “If the sanctions persist we are taking over 100 percent.”

MDC applauds a One Stop Shop Investment Centre in Harare

…while a pessimistic Mugabe says something else

One such company in Mugabe’s mind is Nestle, a milk processor Mugabe recently pleaded with to take milk from his Gushungo Dairy in Mazowe, alleging that the Zimbabwe’s indigenously owned alternative, Dairyboard Zimbabwe, was short changing him on the product. Nestle was uncomfortable with taking milk from an invaded farm.

Ignoring Mugabe’s usual tantrums, President Tsvangirai maintained that a stable political environment is necessary to attract foreign direct investment. Officials from the World Bank, Botswana, Rwanda and Mauritius joined top local business people and senior government officials to hear President Tsvangirai speak at the OSS launch.

Rwanda, Botswana and Mauritius have similar and successful One Stop Shops for foreign investors. The centre, a brainchild of the MDC, was driven by

the economic ministries currently under the direction and guidance of President Tsvangirai and Dr Tapiwa Mashakada, the MDC deputy secretary general.

The OSS coordinates all government ministries that handle investors under one roof, making it easier and simpler to streamline and process new business opportunities. Zimbabwe ranked 157 out of 183 countries this year in the United Nations books on easiness of doing business.

While Mugabe tried to clear Zanu PF and his former administration from the economic meltdown that brought Zimbabwe to its knees in the past decade by blaming what he referred to as sanctions, Zimbabwe has enjoyed remarkable progress since the MDC entered into the Inclusive Government last year.

The economy is set to grow by 9, 3 percent – a remarkable achievement similar to what is happening in fast growing nations like India.

If as Mugabe contends that sanctions were the cause of the meltdown, analysts maintain that since nothing has changed regarding the so-called sanctions debacle, Zanu PF’s argument keeps on losing its lustre and validity every day.

What exists and is not in doubt are restrictive measures which, among other things, forbid Mugabe and a few dozen Zanu PF officials from visiting Western capitals. “If the sanctions were vicious in 2008, resulting in famine, shortages of basic commodities, a cholera pandemic and an unheard of hyper-inflationary spiral; and those sanctions are still there today; why is it that Zimbabweans now have plenty of food, fuel, foreign currency and literally all the basics they need today?” said one analyst.

Hon. Mashakada

The MDC urgently calls for a comprehensive, transparent and non-partisan land audit during the tenure of the 7th Parliament of Zimbabwe in line with the requirements of the Global Political Agreement to reassert agriculture’s pole position as our economic mainstay.

The party sees the urgency of the audit as paramount to national survival following latest reports indicating the misuse of a large swathe of prime land seized during the last 10 years of Zanu PF madness that annihilated commercial agriculture and plunged the nation into famine and food insecurity.

For the first time, the normally pliant state media, in a report published early this month acknowledged the undisputed failure of Zanu PF’s false, faulty and primitive accumulation economic model inspired by a fiefdom script which has turned serious farmers into land tenants of Zanu PF’s elite.

The so-called invader-sponsored land leases bear testimony to Zanu PF and Mugabe’s insincerity about land reform. Renewed calls for a termination of the GPA and an early election are part of a broad plan to scuttle a transitional reform agenda meant to pave the way for order and transparency in governance; in according equal access to economic opportunities for all Zimbabweans; and in honouring the benchmarks for change set in the GPA.

They knew, right from the beginning, that none of the senior officials who now control a whooping five million hectares of choice plots of this finite resource were ever interested in commercial agriculture – beyond fulfilling a sucking, vacuum cleaner mindset of licking out and pillaging anything that moves.

The story of Hurungwe, in particular, and several former hubs of commercial agriculture, in general, provides ample proof that Mugabe and Zanu PF merely wanted to loot the farms and strip them of all their valuable assets while enjoying their last supper in power. It beggars belief that after what Zimbabweans went through supposedly in the name of correcting historical imbalances, the same Zanu PF officials are now sitting back advertising the farms and pleading for rent-paying tenants.

Article V of the GPA is very specific. It requires Zimbabwe to undertake a land audit to clean up Zanu PF’s fetid waste spluttered on our national heritage and primary resources in the name of land reform; and to stop the disastrous actions of the new landlords and ladies. This must be done before the retirement of the 7th Parliament of Zimbabwe. For a whole decade, Zimbabweans remain amazed that theirs is the only country in the world where a president, close to 2 000 Mugabe’s loyalists in Zanu PF, Cabinet ministers, senior army and government officials and judges are the only ones with prime commercial farms in a nation of 14 million people.

That is the 100 percent empowerment Zanu PF always talks about, and partly explains why the people rejected Mugabe and Zanu PF on 29 March 2008 – an undisputed fact Mugabe finally and openly accepted at the Zanu PF conference in Mutare at the weekend.

The people of Zimbabwe have never understood what has befallen them, to be so unfortunate to have the nation’s political elite purport to combine the demanding affairs of state, governance and public service with an equally complex industry like commercial agriculture.

Zanu PF calls for a snap elections a smokescreen for a war on the people

HARARE - Innocent Gonese, the MDC Chief – Whip has said the party is witnessing the spectre of MPs from the MDC being persecuted and harassed by the partisan law enforcement agents in a brazen display of political victimisation. His statements follow the illegal detention of Hon. Amos Chibaya the Mkoba MP who was last week detained in Gweru for several days facing spurious assault allegations.

“We are convinced that the allegations the MP is facing will be proved to be baseless in the fullness of time, as has happened with numerous other MPs,” Hon. Gonese who is Mutare Urban MP

MPs shall have the last laugh

and the MDC’s Legal and Parliamentary secretary said.

“Hon. Shuah Mudiwa, Hon. Mathias Mlambo and Hon. Ernest Mudavanhu had to go through the ignomnity of being suspended from Parliament, depriving their constituencies of the services of their elected representative only for the Appeal Courts to allow their appeals on the basis that the convictions were not sound.

“Numerous other MPs have been acquitted, such as Hon. Blessing Chebundo, Hon. Oliver Chirume, Hon. Ransome Makamure and Hon. Tachiona Mharadza, to name but a few. All their cases are an indication of the insatiable desire on the part of the securocrats to persecute members of the MDC for no other reason than politics. No wonder that the allegations have been found at the end of the day to be of no substance,” said Hon. Gonese.

He added that recently, the Deputy Minister of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment and Masvingo Urban MP, Hon. Tongai Matutu, was convicted of assaulting

Zanu PF’s Vengesai Rushwaya in circumstances where we have no doubt that on appeal this case will follow the same route of others before it,” he said.

He called upon the inclusive government to put an end to this madness.

“Our MPs are being deprived of their liberty and freedom and this should not be allowed to continue. Their only crime is to fight for democracy and justice,” he said.

HARARE – The Minister of Home Affairs, Hon. Theresa Makone says she is sick and tired of protecting and dry cleaning corrupt public officials in the inclusive government and wished her boss in the MDC party Morgan Tsvangirai was the President so as to name and shame the culprits. “I am sick and tired of sanitising and dry cleaning corrupt people in this government,” she said.

“It is about time we should deal with corruption but there is no collective effort in this regard. I alone cannot eradicate corruption because it needs national effort. It needs political will starting from the executive cascading downwards. As an individual I am committed to dealing with corruption once and for all, be it naming and shaming or expelling corrupt government officials, but it takes more than the Minister of Home Affairs, it takes the whole Cabinet to fight corruption. “If Morgan Tsvangirai was the President today I could move on anyone, I mean anyone. No one would be beyond the reach of the rule of law. The reason why this country’s economy deteriorated is because of corruption. We thought things were going to change when we joined the government but unfortunately nothing has changed,” said Hon. Makone. The minister said she is facing stiff resistance from Zanu PF senior officials in addressing corruption.

“There is a sense of impunity that pervades the whole government, because the people that ruled this country for the past three decades have not been able to arrest public officials, or to try to address the problem or bring justice to perpetrators of corruption, therefore these people feel protected and as long as that political protection exists, what I might want to do as Home Affairs minister becomes useless,” she said.

According to records unveiled by Transparency International Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe is number 134 out of 178 most corrupt countries being the second worst corrupt country in Southern Africa, and has scored 2,4 out of 10 points on fighting corruption a figure which shows that nothing is being done to curb corruption. On the global integrity index the country scored 33 out of 100 in terms of implementation of anti-corruption measures.

Zanu PF hopelessly dirty

Hon. Chirume

Hon. Chibaya

Hon. Makone

To Page 4

To Page 4

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Our record in leadership…as we move together with the people

Harare and its surrounding metropolis are poised for an unlimited water supply, sufficient to boost peri-urban agriculture and to cover the water needs of a new Zimbabwe’s expected industrial and commercial expansion following the construction of Kunzvi Dam in nearby Mashonaland East province.

For three decades, Zanu PF abandoned the construction of the dam while deploying all its resources to fight political rejection from the people. The party concentrated all its efforts in denying Zimbabweans their freedom. It cared less about the plight of the people and the quality of life of the general citizenry. But the nation persevered, forcing Zanu PF off the national podium in an election on 29 March 2008.

The Kunzvi project starts early next year, thanks to the presence of the MDC in government.

The crusade for Kunzvi Dam was led by President Tsvangirai, working with Hon. Samuel Sipepa Nkomo, the Minister of Water Resources Development and Management, whose efforts opened the way for negotiations leading to a public- private partnership.

Hon Nkomo, the MDC’s secretary for Home Affairs in the National Executive Committee, mobilised over US$300 million to undertake the development as a matter of urgency and in line with the party’s policy that puts people first in the provision of clean water and sanitation.

The 160-million cubic metre dam, which will be completed in four years, is set to benefit millions of people in Harare, Ruwa, Goromonzi, Norton, Chitungwiza and farmers and villagers in the surrounding areas. “Dam construction is planned to commence in April 2011 towards the end of the rainy season. It is envisaged that the entire project will cost about US$370 million,” said Hon. Nkomo.

“Out of which US$70 million will be for the construction of the dam and the

rest will go towards the construction of pump stations, reservoirs, water treatment works, a 60km water conveyance system and connection to the existing City of Harare network.” Measurable and visible projects aimed at raising the lifestyles of ordinary people started to dominate Zimbabwe’s landscape after the MDC swept through the 29 March 2008 polls and defeated Zanu PF after 28 years of economic decay.

Work would have started much sooner had it not been for the delays caused by Zanu PF’s initial refusal to accept defeat which derailed progress until September when a power-sharing agreement was brokered by SADC, with the African Union as underwriters.

Even then, there were more delays in the consummation of the agreement forcing SADC to step in again, and to put pressure on Mugabe and Zanu PF, in January 2009 to understand that Zanu PF was no longer solely in power in Harare.

Thereafter, a new government came into life. The MDC never wasted any time. Numerous projects were rolled out in economic stabilisation; arresting inflation; housing development; the communications sector; food and food security; education and health; and water and sanitation.

Bulawayo, for instance, brought up two generations of residents on erratic water supplies. Today, the city’s perennial water woes are coming to an end soon after the new government repaired 72 wells at the Nyamandlovu Aquifer to augment the city supply lines.

This means Bulawayo will no longer ration water as originally envisaged. “I am happy to announce that the rehabilitation project and repair of 72 boreholes at the Nyamandlovu Aquifer has been completed,” said Hon. Nkomo. Before the MDC entered into the inclusive government only nine boreholes were in good working order. At the moment 49 boreholes are fully operational and are already pumping water to Bulawayo while others are still mothballed as the engines need an overhaul. The previous government had long abandoned the city’s residents. Finance Minister, Tendai Biti has already allocated a substantial amount of money in the 2011 budget for the completion of the Mtshabezi -Umzingwane dam to mitigate Bulawayo’s water blues. So far, the 25km of Mzingwane-Mtshabezi pipeline has already been laid. “With all this progress my Ministry should complete the first phase of upgrading water and sewer reticulation by March 2011,” said Hon. Nkomo.

Hon. Nkomo

President Tsvangirai has called on the people to prepare adequately for their last supper with their dark past as the nation prepares for final election into a new Zimbabwe.

“We are now on the last mile,” he said in an end of 2010 message to the nation. “As we go on this last mile, we remain undaunted as this is the only route through which a legitimate government can begin to transact the business of the people and bring about real change.”

The MDC, as the winners of the Presidential, parliamentary and local government elections of 2008, has nothing to fear. As the title holder, the party stands ready for any of tired-looking challengers, itching to inflict revenge after being humiliated in the very first round.

“I won the election. So, I am ready…And I know that you, the people of Zimbabwe, are ready,” he said.

“But I am not ready for war. And I know that you are not ready for war. We are only ready for a free and fair election, a peaceful election where violence, rigging, intimidation and a biased public media have no space; where soldiers, the police, central intelligence officers and war veterans remain impartial actors that respect the Constitution of Zimbabwe.”

The MDC will only participate in a free, fair and violence-free election. “We will not participate in a war. We are simple defenseless citizens of this country fighting for change through peaceful and democratic means. So we will not participate in a blood-soaked event masquerading as an election.”

Since there was no contestation of parliamentary and local government polls in 2008, the MDC decided on Thursday that the only unfinished business is that of the presidential election.

This means Zimbabweans should be given a chance to vote for a President of their choice in the next election.

“As we embark on this last mile to full democracy, I urge the church to take a leading role in committing our country and its leadership to God,” said President Tsvangirai.

“I urge all God-fearing Zimbabweans to race alongside me in this last mile as we unite in prayer and ask God the Almighty to bless our country.

“Join me in this last mile to pray for a peaceful election; where we allow each other to vote for a party and a leader of our choice.

“Let us join hands in this last mile as we all walk united in our collective quest for a peaceful and prosperous Zimbabwe, a Zimbabwe where war and violence have no place, where we are united in our diversity and where every Zimbabwean has the freedom to pursue and live their dreams.

In Zimbabwe’s dark past, the people were forced to walk the road of violence and “we are not prepared to walk it forever more,” said President Tsvangirai. “We have lost relatives. Our homes and property have been destroyed.

“We have seen State agents actively engaged in shameful acts of violence and the unbridled violation of the people’s rights and freedoms.”

He acknowledged the people’s flat refusal to be cowed; and to be distracted from the urgent national assignment of fighting for democratic change.

“I have personally experienced this violence and I understand the pain of brutality and indignity,” said the President. “As a nation, we cannot afford to slide back if we are to claim our rightful place among the civilized family of nations.

“We derive comfort in that at the SADC meeting in August in Windhoek, Namibia, regional leaders agreed to charting a clear roadmap to ensure violence-free elections in Zimbabwe.”South African President Jacob Zuma is leading a regional initiative to ensure that Harare develops a charter for a free and fair poll, guaranteed by SADC.

SADC must claim a visible presence six months before and six months after the election to keep violence in check and to monitor the work of the security sector.

“We need a transparent, biometric voters roll and an independent Zimbabwe Electoral Commission with a credible secretariat, an electoral body that ensures that the people’s will is respected, the results announced expeditiously and power transferred to the new authority,” he said.

The 2008 lesson shows the importance of SADC’s presence. With the spectacle in Ivory Coast, Africa needs strong regional bodies that are ready to defend the people’s verdict.

“We applaud the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which has stood firm in its defence of

the legitimate will of the people of Ivory Coast,” he said, re-affirming last week’s MDC National Council resolution.

Africa risks becoming a laughing stock if it continues the disturbing trend that we have seen in Kenya, Zimbabwe and lately the Ivory Coast, where losers take advantage of incumbency to refuse to hand over power even after losing a free and fair election. The will of the people is sacrosanct and it must always be respected.

“I wish to thank the people of Zimbabwe for investing their faith in us; for choosing hope over despair, peace over violence and a bright future over a troubled past.

“The civil servants, peasants, workers, farmers, housewives, students and everyone across the social spectrum have stood resolute in support of the peaceful foundation we have laid for a bright future.”

Our faith in the Lord and our fortitude in waging this great struggle for democracy and real change should continue to drive us in 2011.

May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels. (Psalm 122, verse 7).

For a full text of the message, please visit our website: www.mdc.co.zw

YES to elections; NO to violence and bloodshed

Meanwhile, Hon. Lovemore Moyo, the Speaker of the House of Assembly and the party national chairperson, was elected the new leader of the SADC Parliamentary Forum. That showed SADC’s confidence in the MDC and the people of Zimbabwe. Hon. Moyo becomes the first Zimbabwean chairperson on the regional grouping, a feat that demonstrates the MDC’s requisite role and impeccable credentials in fostering regional cohesion, unity and development. The honor bears testament to the MDC’s values which emphasize the sanctity of life, solidarity and togetherness. The MDC has demonstrated and exhibited alternative politics of humility, serving leadership and accountability, that makes the different.

Hon. Lovemore Moyo

MDC Information & Publicity Department, Harvest House, 44 Nelson Mandela Ave, Harare, Zimbabwe • Tel: +263 4 793 250 www.mdc.co.zw

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Those who have names of perpetrators of violence in your constituencies feel free to phone or write to

MDC Information and Publicity department. Telephone: 04-770708

Email: mdcnewsbrief@gmail.comPostal Address: Harvest House, 4th Floor,

44 Nelson Mandela Avenue, Harare.

HARARE – The MDC has done what Zanu PF could not do in 30 years, says Hon. Nelson Chamisa, the party secretary for information and publicity.

Hon. Chamisa, the MP for Kuwadzana East, who was addressing thousands of people at a “Real Change” rally in his constituency said the MDC in government made great strides in stabilising the economy in two years. He said Zanu PF lacked leadership as shown by their lack of ideas to take Zimbabwe ahead.

“Zanu PF has a crisis of manpower and brainpower, now they are importing people like Jonathan Moyo. But even if they bring back the likes of Jonathan, the corpse of Zanu PF can not be brought back to life,” Hon. Chamisa said. In spite of these deficiencies, Zanu PF continued to use violence and intimidation as a way of maintaining its grip on power.

“We are in a very cruel struggle, where we are fighting a wounded lion, but we are as organised as the wheels of a bicycle where the other has stepped, the next follows suit. We are one. The MDC is united, we are winning, and we are ready for real change. Zanu PF is divided, separate, unelectable, and is losing,” Hon. Chamisa said.

“Let us all register to vote. The only outstanding election is the

presidential election. No one disputed the parliamentary or local government seats, it is the presidential election that remains outstanding,” he said.

The MDC Secretary General, Hon. Tendai Biti, who is the Finance Minister, said the people of Zimbabwe need their personal security. “There is need to devillagise the military and demilitarize the villages. People should be able to conduct their businesses without fear of being victimized. That is one of the broader objectives and expectations from the MDC,” Hon Biti said.

He said that the MDC stood for hope, prosperity, personal security,

democracy and freedom.

“Once these five core principles are achieved, then the people of Zimbabwe can be free from bloodthirsty vampires of Zanu PF. Unfortunately for them, our blood has turned poisonous. They can not suck on us anymore. The time for real change has come, and the freedom train is fast approaching,” he said.

“We are only left with two bus stops now and these are the new constitution and elections to deal with Mugabe once and for all. The only ammunition we have is the people. Let’s all register to vote and conclude the presidential elections,” he said.

PLUMTREE – Hundreds of people including senior MDC officials, supporters and relatives of the late MDC Matabeleland South Provincial Chairperson, Themba Ndlovu on Saturday converged at Plumtree Hall to pay their respects.

Ndlovu, 42, died last week at Plumtree Hospital.

Addressing the mourners the MDC National Chairperson, Hon. Lovemore Moyo described the late Ndlovu as a courageous person who was always principled and had a vision for real change and democracy. “Themba Ndlovu was a hardworker who would jump to participate in any activity that would drive towards democratic change,” Hon. Moyo said.

“He did not choose between tribes but he tried hard to make sure that the people were united out of humanity and not background. He worked and served the movement until his death and the party is at a loss of a dedicated cadre,” said Hon. Moyo.

At the time of his death, Ndlovu was working for the Zimbabwe National Railways (NRZ) and was an active member of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trades’ Union (ZCTU).

He is survived by a wife, Nokuthula and four children- two boys and two girls. President Morgan Tsvangirai sent his condolence message to the family saying this was a great loss to the Party.

The burial was attended by several senior MDC officials who included the National Organising Secretary, Hon. Elias Mudzuri, National Deputy Spokesperson, Hon. Thabitha Khumalo, National Youth Assembly Chairperson, Hon. Thamsanqa Mahlangu, National Executive Committee members Norman Mabhena, Hon. Seiso Moyo, Thembeni Mlotshwa and the MDC Matebeleland South provincial executive members.

HARARE – The MDC has strongly condemned the harassment, intimidation and arrests of teachers and independent journalists across the country.

There has been an increase in the harassment and arrests of teachers and journalists raising concerns over their security as they lawfully undertake their duties.

Six teachers at Gwangwava Primary School in Rushinga, Mashonaland Central province had to flee from the school after a botched kidnapping attempt by State agents. They were victimised for making submissions at a Constitutional outreach meeting.

“It is regretable to note that the victimisation of the teachers is being fueled by the headmaster of the school, Luckson Chidhindi, Rushinga district education officer, Beauty Gasa and Zanu PF supporters,” the MDC said.

The party further expressed its revulsion over the continued arrests, detention and prosecution of

journalists at a time when the inclusive government is supposed to be working hard to open up space for freedom of expression and communication.

“The latest harassment of Mr Nevanji Madanhire, the Editor of the Standard, was unfortunate for it places Zimbabwe on the international radar for entirely wrong and unnecessary reasons.

“Article XIX of the GPA clearly commits the Inclusive Government to specific freedoms which should be taken for granted by the people of Zimbabwe during the transition.

“What is unsettling is that only journalists from the privately owned media have been targeted by the police for continuous arrests while those in the state media have an open licence to do as they wish,” the MDC said.

The selective application and abuse of the existing legal instruments to target independent journalists shows a deliberate attempt to muzzle debate and purvey a particular viewpoint which favours the sunset party, Zanu PF.

“Zanu PF is barking at a moving train,” said Misheck Chigogo, a businessman. “Nobody listens to that sanctions message anymore. Even my illiterate grandmother who can now buy a mobile phone line for 50 cents at a village shop can testify to that. Only two years ago that phone line cost a whooping US$250 on the black market.” Schools and hospitals have re-opened after years of neglect, while Zanu PF officials cherished the idea of sending their sick relatives and children abroad for medical attention and education. “We do not forget the day when Augustine Chihuri’s children and those of Gideon Gono were deported from Australia,” said John Mawoyo, a lecturer at a local private college. “Their parents cried, making Zimbabweans wonder why? These are the same people who destroyed our education sector.”

As soon as the MDC entered into government, its ministers developed the Short-Term Emergency Recovery Programme to stabilise and turn around an already tattered economy. That saw a

MDC Matabeleland South chairperson laid to rest

Zanu PF in leadership drūgath - Chamisa

For that reason, the people are pressing for a land audit to enable them to revisit the Mugabe and Zanu PF’s land reform exercise; and to work as a nation for the restoration of full productivity on all agricultural land that would have been redistributed irrespective of race, gender, religion, ethnicity or political affiliation. The chaos in the former commercial farms, plantations and wildlife conservancies, where certain individuals are now being subjected to blackmail and rent-seeking schemes, smack of deliberate effort to continue the looting; to subject other Zimbabweans to an aura of permanent insecurity and abuse. There can never be any meaningful production in an insecure business environment, hence the reduction, by Mugabe and Zanu PF, of the entire Zimbabwean land mass into dead capital today.

Indications of this heinous and scandalous plot were exposed by, among others, a Robson Goredema – the Mashonaland West secretary

MDC applauds a One Stop Shop

of the war veterans association – who boldly claimed, in The Herald story, that he has been leasing the farm he invaded for an eight percent rental fee from another Zimbabwean’s farming business. He even had the audacity to claim that he wants to raise the stake to 51 percent in line with Zanu PF’s indigenisation policy! The ideals of the liberation struggle abhor such behaviour where a new Zanu PF crony society of about 2 000 people now claim to own territory the size of Slovakia at a time when millions of desperate Zimbabweans continue eke out a living on rocky outcrops in scattered villages dotted around poor rainfall areas. The area under the control of this minority clique represents nearly 40 percent of the 14 million hectares of prime land – now either lying fallow, derelict or abandoned.

That all Zanu PF ministers and their deputies, security service chiefs, senior civil servants are multiple commercial farm owners explains the difficulties the MDC has faced to nudge the inclusive

Elections - a Zanu PF smokescreengovernment to put people first, improve the economy and bring Zimbabwe back to life in a short period of time. Our much needed exports from agriculture have fallen from about 50 percent in 2000 to negligible receipts in 2008. Lack of activity on the farms proves beyond any reasonable doubt that the Zanu PF elite was never interested in agriculture; but in looting and dispersing unionised farm workers Mugabe assumed to be a potential catchment area for MDC support. What is more disconcerting is the plight of these former farm workers who suffered immeasurably in the past 10 years; and today, lie scattered in the bush after the Zanu PF merchants of violence and deceit wilfully started a ruckus and tampered with their livelihoods and basic sustenance. Unless the land audit commences soon, the signs of instability shall remain deeply etched in the people’s hearts and minds. Fortunately, the MDC is fully behind the nation in the call for order. Together, we are confident that we shall win.

Chairman Themba Ndlovu

Zanu PF must leave teachers, journalists alone

Hon. Chamisa addresses thousands of MDC supporters in Kuwadzana 4 on Sunday

From Page 2

From Page 2record improvement of growth to about six percent in a short space of time, rising to eight percent this year.

the restrictive measures imposed on a few dozen Zanu PF politicians for their individual, past disagreements and misunderstandings with the governments of those nations.

The party’s view is that Zanu PF was merely grandstanding to garner cheap publicity and claim unnecessary attention. The reality on the ground shows that Zanu PF businesspeople would love to do business with the West more than with any other partners.For 10 years, Zanu PF always claimed to have changed direction and faced the East for partnerships but the results of these forays have yet to be seen on the ground. If anything, Zanu PF and Mugabe have been clamouring for strong links with the West either as individuals or as a group.

The brouhaha over differences with Nestle, the international milk processor, and imports from Gushungo Dairy is a case in point. The Mugabe family never made a secret of their disdain for other milk customers, insisting that Nestle should remain the family’s prime customer.

The MDC wishes to advise the nation and the world that Zanu PF’s private feelings and policies on the economy, as a single interest group, do not reflect the shared thinking of the policy makers in Zimbabwe Inclusive Government and must be treated as a purely political party wish-list devoid of any national resonance and endorsement.

Nowhere in the new government thinking is it stated that foreign owned companies shall be targeted for wholesale nationalisation arising from any measures their governments may take against certain politicians in Zimbabwe.

The MDC totally distances itself from the Zanu PF desire to confiscate some as yet to be known foreign companies as a so-called form of revenge against

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