On Monday lunchtime I landed at Harare Airport and the South African Airways pilot made an announcement saying that passengers should remain in their seats so that the Korean (North) delegation could leave the plane first. There was a whole lot of rumbling in response to this from passengers up and down the aircraft. Then the pilot spoke again and asked passengers to exit out the back door so that the Korean delegation could skip out the front and along the red carpet all on their own. The rumbling grew louder. Another announcement and we were told that stairs for the back door couldn’t be found so we’d get our turn on the red carpet after all. The pilot apologised, and so he should have. What sort of crap is this? Why should the Korean delegation get any special treatment? Come to think of it they hadn’t even bought business class tickets, so sitting cattle class like me they should have waited their turn like everyone else.

Bollocks I say.

Even bigger bollocks was the fan fare put on by the Government of National Unity . . . they rolled out Everything, not just the red carpet. And I believe that Morgan Tsvangirai and Thoko Kupe were part of the welcome party.

A text message I received on that day read

I would not like to think any member of the MDC whatever group would attend the state banquet tonight for organisers of the fifth brigade.

So who were the fifth brigade and what did they do? Here is an excerpt from a report called Breaking the Silence published by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace. The report discusses the atrocities in Matabeleland in the early 1980s.

In October 1980, Prime Minister Mugabe signed an agreement with the North Korean President, Kim Il Sung that they would train a brigade for the Zimbabwean army. This was soon after Mugabe had announced the need for a militia to “combat malcontents”. However, there was very little civil unrest in Zimbabwe at this time.

In August 1981, 106 Koreans arrived to train the new brigade, which Mugabe said was to be used to “deal with dissidents and any other trouble in the country”. Even by August 1981, there had been very little internal unrest. Joshua Nkomo, leader of ZAPU, asked why this brigade was necessary, when the country already had a police force to handle internal problems. He suggested Mugabe would use it to build a one party state.

Mugabe replied by saying dissidents should “watch out”, and further announced the brigade would be called “Gukurahundi”, which means the rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains.

5 Brigade was drawn from 3500 ex-ZANLA troops at Tongogara Assembly Point. There were a few ZIPRA troops in the unit for a start, but they were withdrawn before the end of the training. It seems there were also some foreigners in the unit, possibly Tanzanians. The training of 5 Brigade lasted until September 1982, when Minister Sekeramayi announced training was complete.

The first Commander of 5 Brigade was Colonel Perence Shiri. 5 Brigade was different to all other army units, in that it was not integrated into the army. It was answerable only to the Prime Minister, and not to the normal army command structures. Their codes, uniforms, radios and equipment were not compatible with other army units. Their most distinguishing feature in the field was their red berets. 5 Brigade seemed to be a law unto themselves once in the field.

Deployment of 5 Brigade – Matabeleland North, 1983

In late January 1983, 5 Brigade was deployed in Matabeleland North. Within weeks, they had murdered more than two thousand civilians, beaten thousands more, and destroyed hundreds of homesteads. Their impact on the communities they passed through was shocking.

Most of the dead were shot in public executions, often after being forced to dig their own graves in front of family and fellow villagers. The largest number of dead in a single killing involved the deliberate shooting of 62 young men and women on the banks of the Cewale River, Lupane, on 5 March 1983. Seven survived with gunshot wounds, the other 55 died. Another way 5 Brigade killed large groups of people was to burn them alive in huts. They did this in Tsholotsho and also in Lupane.

At the same time as 5 Brigade was sent into the area, the Government had introduced a strict curfew on the region. This prevented anybody from entering or leaving the area, banned all forms of transport and prevented movement in the region from dusk to dawn. A food curfew was also in force, with stores being closed. People caught using bicycles or donkey carts were shot. No journalists were allowed near the region. This situation meant that it was very hard to get news of events out of the region, and hard to judge the truth of the early accounts. However, as some people managed to flee the area, stories of the atrocities began to spread.

Targeting civilians: during these early weeks, 5 Brigade behaved in a way that shows they had clearly been trained to target civilians. Wherever they went, they would routinely round up dozens, or even hundreds, of civilians and march them at gun point to a central place, like a school or bore-hole. There they would be forced to sing Shona songs praising ZANU-PF, at the same time being beaten with sticks. These gatherings usually ended with public executions. Those killed could be ex-ZIPRAs, ZAPU officials, or anybody chosen at random, including women. Large numbers of soldiers were involved in these events, sometimes as many as two hundred, and often forty or more.

If Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Thoko Kupe were part of the welcome party at Harare Airport then I’m pretty sure that they attended the state banquet as well. The thought of this made me choke – what about you? A question to ask ourselves is when do we move on and put these national injustices behind us?

After a national inquiry perhaps?

I have to say this. I have commented on local social and political issues from way back before the turn of the century and for me whether it has been objective or emotional, one thing has always stood out in my analysis and understanding of local politics: the sincerity of Zanu PF is always and has always been suspect.

Everything the party says – the individuals as a collective – is taken in at your own peril. Whatever people say, the analysts, the opposition, the academics, there is always a caveat.

Beware – they (Zanu PF) only put up a human face to a leviathan that only seeks the dominance of other people’s lives. And all this based on the folly of imagining their own immortality.

I wrote a long time ago about how Mugabe made snide remarks way back in the early years of independence about a white legislator who sued govenment and won the case only to have Mugabe – then the darling of the white world -  to issue an edict that the pay out would be a waste of taxpayer’s money so why pay it.

Now they (Mugabe types) are arressting or rather re-arresting all kinds of activists in direct contravention of the so-called GPA so where does that leave us? Are we there yet? Stupid question! Are we ever getting there?

With this kind of crap where everybody seems to think the leopard will change its colours one can only commiserate with the opposition – and the rest of the incorrigible optimists – where popular thought is that Mugabe and the other types are about or on the road to Damascus. It has always been a trifle that actions speak louder than words, so folks how louder can it get?

The question then is: how do Zimbabweans get themselves out of this mess as the whole world is saying we only pass this Rubicon when they see genuine changes? We have lived with this crap for long enough and we surely deserve better.

The Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ) has just withdrawn from the highly controversial Zimbabwe All Stakeholders Media Conference set to start tomorrow. They cite the re-detention of Zimbabwean activists as the reason for their withdrawal.

We need more of this. Much much more. Without this kind of public condemnation of the behaviour of the Government of National Unity (GNU) there will be no hope of achieving a return to the rule of law and respect for human rights.

I hope that others involved in the conference will follow the example set by MAZ and stand up for justice.

Shame on ANY of you who don’t.

05 May 2009.

Media Alliance of Zimbabwe Position Statement on the Re-Detention of Journalists and Human Rights Defenders.

The Media Alliance of Zimbabwe advises members of the Zimbabwean public, the Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity, and Members of Parliament of its decision not to attend the Zimbabwe All Stakeholders Media Conference scheduled for this week from the  6th to the 9th of May 2008 in Kariba. This decision was made following the re-arrest and detention of human rights defenders, in particular Zimbabwe Peace Project director Ms. Jestina Mukoko and freelance journalist Mr. Andrisson Manyere on charges that can only be considered political.  It is MAZ’s view that their re-detention represents an apparent abuse of the judicial process which undermines the spirit and letter of the Global Political Agreement, especially as regards the restoration of a political environment that is democratic and respectful of the rule of law, as well as cognisant of the urgency of ensuring the security and freedom of human rights defenders and citizens in general.

It is in this context that MAZ considers it impossible to participate at the government All Stakeholders Media Conference when human rights defenders and journalists such as Ms. Mukoko and Mr.Manyere, who are presumed innocent until proven guilty, continue to be targets of repression.

MAZ remains committed to engaging the government to ensure that genuine media law and policy reforms are made in a politically conducive environment, and according to the letter and spirit of the GPA.

Ends//

MAZ comprises of MISA-Zimbabwe Chapter, Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe National Editors Forum, Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe, and African Community Publishing and Development Trust.

18 human rights activists including Jestina Mukoko have been re-detained on terrorism charges by the Government of National Unity in Zimbabwe. Morgan lets see some muscle; lets have some freedom. Now.

When Bill Gates suggested in his key note address at the ICTD 2009 conference in Doha that the time isn’t right to invest in Zimbabwe quite a few people took him to task. But one has to ask whether the people commenting negatively on Bill Gate’s statement on the Connect Communicate Collaborate blog would actually put their hands in their own pockets and invest in Zimbabwe especially when government entrenched corruption and fraud is par for the course in Zimbabwe.

I have maintained a Forex Currency Account (FCA) with Barclays for 5 years now with of course the usual complaints a customer has: tellers who take their time malingering etc. But this is a first and I have a feeling others could been in this mess. I have been doing regular withdrawals after getting confirmation from both the depositor and Barclays. And then this week I was told my account was OVERDRAWN. For me it was the case of the missing dollars that the legendary sleuth Sherlock Holmes would be well placed to sniff out. Why would a bank allow a client to overdraw an FCA, I wondered? Each time I walk in I ask if I have enough money to withdraw and it is only then that I make any transaction, but then this week, the money I was expecting and which was confirmed by the sender suddenly wasn’t there. The bank appears to have bit off more than it could chew as it took more than what I have! Now I’m told I actually owe the bank! How’s that for a new Zimbabwe. Something is terribly wrong here and I believe this is not an isolated case after reports that the RBZ has been dipping its fingers in the till. - Kubatana subscriber

and . . .

Recently Hivos, a Dutch development organisation, said it was demanding repayment from the Reserve Bank of a total of EUR90,000 which it said has not been accounted for from a total of EUR300,000 taken from its account by the central bank. The organisation has since opened a new bank account in Botswana. Last year, the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria said EUR5.64 million was missing from its bank account in Zimbabwe. The money has since been returned. On 18 April, Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono, a member of Mugabe’s inner circle, admitted raiding foreign currency accounts. Gono defended the action, saying it was done to save the country from “maximum danger” due to difficulties arising from western sanctions. He also admitted in a statement to purchasing 29 vehicles for three state universities – Great Zimbabwe, Midlands State University and Chinhoyi University of Technology – using foreign currency in expenditures that were outside of the budget. - University World News (UK)

Until the Zimbabwean authorities clean up their act, Bill Gates is right to be skeptical.

As a Business Day article recently pointed out the Zimbabwean Government of National Unity figures that

obtaining international aid is based on a simple premise: after a few hiccups the country’s new unity government is running smoothly, so it’s time the world loosened its purse strings. Most governments with deep enough pockets to matter, notably the US and European Union (EU) members, have refused to buy into this rubbish.

Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister Tendai Biti is struggling to get the kind of big dollar support he is hoping for to resuscitate the country’s ailing economy.

He’s gotten a few nibbles – this week Zimbabwe secured USD 200 million in credit from SADC, and another USD 200 million in credit from COMESA. The UK has promised USD 21 million in humanitarian aid. Nothing to sniff at – but nowhere near the USD 10 billion plus injection Biti has been shopping around for.

Part of the problem, of course, is the global financial crisis – countries are worried about bailing out their own economies, and aren’t as open to helping out others as they might have been a year or two ago.

Part of the problem is scepticism. The IMF turned down Biti’s request, reportedly citing arrears and financial restrictions.

But most importantly, perhaps, Western governments at least are still under pressure to not give aid to Zimbabwe – until the government stops its human rights abuses, and commits to reform.

Human Rights Watch Africa Director Georgette Gagnon said in a statement today:

Humanitarian aid that focuses on the needs of Zimbabwe’s most vulnerable should continue. But donor governments such as the UK should not release development aid until there are irreversible changes on human rights, the rule of law, and accountability.

Continued farm invasions are getting a lot of media coverage, and are cited as one type of abuse that has to stop. As Tom Porteous pointed out in the Guardian (UK) yesterday, while perhaps less in the public eye, the attacks at the diamond mines in Marange are also a brutal form of human rights abuse. Porteous warns that donors can’t guarantee that aid to Zimbabwe will go to rebuilding the country’s infrastructure to promote basic human rights. Rather, it might still end up financing the forces which actively assault them.

There is much talk of reform in Zimbabwe but, as yet, no concrete action. The process of political change may have started but it is not irreversible. As long as Mugabe’s nexus of repression and corruption remains in place, no amount of development assistance will help solve Zimbabwe’s huge economic problems. And any economic aid to Harare from the UK or other donors will help to feed the crocodiles, just as surely as the blood-soaked profits of the Marange diamond mines.