Zimbabwe court rules seizing of white-owned land legal

Houston Chronicle ^ | December 5, 2001 | Houston Chronicle News Services

[Cincinatus' Wife]

HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Zimbabwe's top court has declared the government's plan to seize white-owned farms legal, overturning its own previous ruling that the seizures were unconstitutional.

In a judgment released Tuesday, four of the five Supreme Court justices appointed to hear the new seizure case said they were satisfied the government's "fast track" land nationalization program was lawful and "sufficiently complied" with the constitution.

Last year's Supreme Court ruling declared the government's methods of land seizures illegal and in breach of constitutional ownership rights and government land laws.

Some of the judges who made that ruling have been replaced in recent months.

Four of the five judges hearing the new case, including Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, were appointed recently by President Robert Mugabe. Those four voted to uphold the government's land seizure program.

The Supreme Court traditionally had only five judges until Mugabe expanded the bench to eight in July, adding three judges considered loyal to the ruling party. The chief justice usually appoints small panels of judges to hear each case.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change has described the court's expansion as a political ploy designed to turn the court into a government puppet.

Armed ruling party militants have occupied more than 1,700 white-owned farms since March 2000, demanding they be redistributed to landless blacks. The government has listed some 4,500 properties -- about 95 percent of farm land owned by whites -- for nationalization without compensation and last month warned about 800 farmers they had three months to vacate their land and homes.

Monday's court ruling rejected white farmers' assertions that the land seizures were taking place amid violence and a breakdown of law and order in farming districts.

It said the government had met the previous court's order to prove it had restored law and order and a sustainable land reform program in those districts.

Though it was not disputed that clashes took place on farms, "by definition, the concept of rule of law foresees a situation in which behavior prescribed as criminal will occur. The presence of the rule of law does not mean a totally crime free environment," the court said.

Adrian de Bourbon, the lawyer for the Commercial Farmers Union, had asked Chidyausiku and two other new appointees to recuse themselves from the hearing, alleging they had shown open allegiance to the ruling party and its land seizures.

None of the judges stepped down.

Monday's ruling described de Bourbon's request as "unbridled arrogance and insolence."

"This is the first and last time such contempt of this court will go unpunished," it said.

A spokesman for the union said farmers were surprised and disappointed by the decision.

"The ruling does not seem to be based on the strict application of the law or the rules of natural justice, but on a political argument," the spokesman said.

"We are obviously surprised and shocked by this because this is the highest court. But we hope the government will still find the wisdom to be reasonable," he said.

Judges have been under mounting pressure from the government and ruling party militants. Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay was forced out after the government warned him and other judges they would not be protected from ruling party militants, who stormed the Supreme Court last December.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Two Britons, one American arrested in Zimbabwe

Zimbabweans vow to wait as long as it takes to vote in presidential elections

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Opposition Wins Extension of Zimbabwe Election: Doubts about government honoring ruling [Excerpt] Mugabe and his government have overruled or ignored a number of court orders over the past two years, including two court instructions to halt the seizure of white-owned commercial farms.

Mudede said 2,475,147 voters, out of a total 5.6 million registered, had cast their ballots by 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tsvangirai lodged the court application after charging that Mugabe had deliberately reduced the number of polling stations and delayed voting in the MDC's Harare strongholds in order to fix the election.

Thousands of people were still queuing in Harare late on Sunday, hours after polls had been due to close in the two-day election.
Some people had been waiting 20 hours.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Electronic Telegraph-Mugabe to fight order to extend poll By Peta Thornycroft in Harare and Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 11/03/2002)

[Full Text] ZIMBABWE'S High Court last night ordered the government to extend voting by another day as tens of thousands of people in Harare were left waiting to cast their ballots.

The court granted an application by the opposition to extend the two-day ballot after Judge Ben Hlatwayo flew over the capital to see for himself the long queues outside the polling stations.

The government is to appeal against the ruling, with a hearing scheduled for today. As the court issued its decision, state radio announced that polling stations had closed and voting would not be extended.

An hour later, 60 riot police charged into the Glen Norah polling station in the capital, chasing away between 2,500 and 3,000 people waiting to vote, an opposition observer said. The polling station was then locked.

Tobaiwa Mudede, registrar general in the election directorate, said: "It is not our wish, or intention, to have an extension. I think things went very well."

According to official figures, the turn-out was unusually low. Tellingly, it was reported to be much larger in President Robert Mugabe's rural heartland than in the urban stronghold of his opposition challenger, Morgan Tsvangirai.

In several Harare townships, voters stubbornly stayed in line. "We will block the doors or we will die here," said one man vowing to stop the ballot boxes from being moved until everyone had voted.

Human rights groups reported beatings and scores of arrests throughout the country yesterday, including the detention of two Britons and an American jailed in the east of the country for attending an "illegal" opposition gathering and having radio equipment.

However, there were growing signs that South Africa and other African countries were preparing to recognise a new six-year term for Mr Mugabe.

Several observer sources said the South African government was exerting pressure on its official election observers to declare the election "free and fair".

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Official breaks ranks with Mugabe By Jacqui Goddard | Special to The Christian Science Monitor [Full Text] President Robert Mugabe's power base was crumbling around him Friday night after one of his party's key members and founding fathers broke ranks. Eddison Zvobgo, a former member of Mr. Mugabe's cabinet, current member of Parliament, and influential within the ZANU-PF party, told of his hopes that Mugabe would accept a dignified exit from power in the event of a defeat during this weekend's election.

In an interview, Dr. Zvobgo dismissed threats made last week by the government's external affairs chief, Didymus Mutasa, that ZANU-PF would initiate a military coup to keep Mugabe in power if opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai prevails.

Hinting at deep rifts among the president's political and military circle, he revealed that the party's "official position" is that it will abide by the result and will not tolerate attempts to subvert it. He acknowledged that there could yet be a coup attempt, but appeared confident that few within the armed forces would actually join it. "Even if such a thing happened and succeeded, it would not be permanent," he says.

While Mugabe regularly claims that British neocolonial interference is responsible for the state of the country, Zvobgo says, "I am not one who believes in blaming the world for the plight in which we find ourselves. Sure, some factors were beyond our control, but others were within our grasp, and we either mismanaged or we hesitated and lost an opportunity."

In particular, he said, was the government's failure to come up with an orderly and legal land-redistribution scheme - instead allowing the war veterans to launch farm invasions.

"The devil which has spoiled everything was when we decided to take land," he admits. "I spent 10 years in prison during the liberation struggle, but I didn't go through all that personal sacrifice simply for land," he says. "It was about matters of human dignity, an end to racism, opening up the opportunity for the human soul to freely soar so that every person can reach their highest capabilities." [End]

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Zimbabweans Vote for Third Day in Capital Harare - Others turned away"

[Cincinatus' Wife]

First it was Rhodesia then SA now America paying the price of silence.

Eyes Wide Open--[Excerpt] At the conference exhibit hall, the L.A. kids mounted a photo exhibition showing the underbelly of America. There were bleak images of life on an Indian reservation, of the homeless in Los Angeles. It was an eye-opener to some South Africans, who thought everyone in America was rich. "They were absolutely shocked," said Lynn Warshafsky, executive director of Venice Arts Mecca In turn, the L.A. group was surprised at the degree of anti-American sentiment, something they had to process. "They had to ask themselves questions they'd never asked before" about how others see them, Warshafsky said.

…….. For Eamon, the highlight was hearing Fidel Castro speak. "I had thought of him as seriously evil. I realized he's not evil, he's doing what he thinks is best. He has this sort of demeanor about him. Whether you like him or not, you respect him. It opened my eyes." [End Excerpt]

Zimbabweans Jam Polls for Third Day - Voting is not being allowed

[Cincinatus' Wife]

MARXIST MURDER AND MAYHEM IN ZIMBABWE How to steal an election--[Excerpt] PREPARING FOR WAR Many observers are expecting severe upheavals and violence to erupt after the election results are made known. Most western diplomatic missions have prepared contingency plans to evacuate their citizens in the event of a civil war. South Africa has plans to receive up to 50 000 refugees at Messina near the Beit Bridge border post. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees and the Red Cross are preparing for Zimbabweans to flee the expected violence or hunger over the next months.

There is no doubt that the vast majority of Zimbabweans reject Mugabe and his disastrous Marxist policies. There is also no doubt that Mugabe has no intention of being removed from power, even by an overwhelming electoral defeat. These elections have been rigged from the beginning and have been hijacked by ZANU-PF. However, the long-suffering people of Zimbabwe have reached breaking point. If they are not able to get rid of the tyrant who is oppressing them by the ballot box, many will resort to bullets. The scene is being set for a violent confrontation in Zimbabwe. [End Excerpt]

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Tear gas, gunfire close presidential vote after three days of waiting to vote in Zimbabwe [Excerpt] HARARE, Zimbabwe - Police fired tear gas to disperse voters Monday at the close of a chaotic, court-ordered third day of polling in the most competitive presidential election in Zimbabwe's history.

Police also fired guns into the air at a polling station in the Harare neighborhood of Glen Norah to disperse 600 people waiting to vote Monday night. When told to go home, they began chanting "Change, change, we want to vote!"

At another polling station in the capital, the presiding officer, escorted by police, marked a distance 100 yards from the entrance and announced the voting line ended there. Voters refused to budge and began arguing with police and officials.

"Since independence I've never seen such a thing and I wonder why they've done so." said F. Ncube, a 50-year-old factory worker. [End Excerpt]

[Cincinatus' Wife]

SA alone as world cries foul after Zim poll-[Excerpt] "France finds, along with independent Zimbabwean observers, that this election can not be considered substantially free and fair."

Germany said via foreign ministry spokesperson Andreas Michaelis that it "regretted that the presidential election took place in a context of a policy of intimidation and violence".

The South African government's observer mission to the election was less critical, saying the vote "should be considered legitimate" but deliberately stopped short of calling the vote free and fair.

The heads of South Africa's three largest opposition parties, however, condemned the way the elections were conducted and called on the South African government to take a tougher approach to events in its regional neighbour.

Rebels from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said the re-election of Mugabe was bad news for efforts to end the war in their country, in which his troops are fighting on the side of the government.

The secretary general of the Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC), Olivier Kamitatu, said they believed Mugabe's victory had seen Kinshasa harden its stance at peace talks in South Africa.

"If Tsvangirai had won the elections at least we would have gotten some assurance that Zimbabwe will withdraw its troops, but Mugabe will retain his interests in the Congo, by which we of course mean his mineral interests," he added. - Sapa-AFP [End Excerpt]

Zimbabwe is seething with anger [Excerpt] Zimbabwe's people are "seething with anger" over the re-election of President Robert Mugabe in "massively rigged" elections, defeated candidate Morgan Tsvangirai said as he rejected the result on Wednesday.

"The election was massively rigged," Tsvangirai told a briefing attended by hundreds of journalists, diplomats and observers, vowing to launch a nationwide consultation on how to respond to "the biggest election fraud I have ever witnessed in my life".

"The people of Zimbabwe know better, that this election as announced by the registrar general's office does not reflect the true will of the people of Zimbabwe," said Tsvangirai, who scored 41,9 percent of the vote against 56,2 percent for Mugabe, according to the official results.

"From now on there is massive consultation taking place and they (the people) will have to decide what to do.

They are the ones who have been cheated," he said, adding: "This is a political issue that has to be resolved politically by the people of Zimbabwe."

Tsvangirai warned: "The people of Zimbabwe are seething with anger, but how that anger is going to be directed in a constructive way, in a strategic way, that is what is under discussion." [End Excerpt]

Zimbabwe's tragedy -- Mugabe's villainy and Africa's cynical complicity London Times -[Excerpt] Yet even so, under the most intense intimidation, the MDC kept up its election rallies and voters risked beatings or worse to listen. Voters formed long queues, knowing how little their vote would be allowed to count; in panic, urban booths were shut. The turnout itself tells the story: suspiciously low in the towns where Mr Tsvangirai's support is strongest, highest in those parts of the country firmly in Zanu- PF's grip.

Thus has the bravest, best organised and most tenacious democratic opposition movement in Africa's history gone down to defeat. Mr Tsvangirai, aware of the great danger to which protest would expose his many supporters, has appealed for calm. He himself may now, outrageously, be arrested on charges of treason. Mr Mugabe has said as much. A man who, back in 1982, sent in brigades to massacre 20,000 Ndebele must be judged ready to carry out his threat.

Mr Tsvangirai, and the men and women who have conquered their fear in his support, deserve the unstinting support of all African leaders with any claim to democratic legitimacy. They are not getting that support. The Organisation of African Unity, true to its reputation as a despots' club, has pronounced the poll to be "transparent, credible, free and fair". Kenya's Daniel arap Moi has congratulated his "dear brother" on the "confidence and high esteem the people of Zimbabwe hold in you". Tanzania's President delights in his "richly deserved" triumph. The observers sent by South Africa's Thabo Mbeki, ferociously mocked at home for their complacency, term the outcome "legitimate", though they could not quite bring out the words "free and fair".

The teams sent by Nigeria and the Commonwealth, each headed by former Nigerian rulers who never stood for election themselves, have yet to pronounce. But it is likely that Africa's leaders will refuse yet again to acknowledge how evil has betrayed African hopes. South Africa and Nigeria, along with Australia, have been entrusted with advising the Commonwealth. If this body splits along racial lines and does nothing in defence of the principles for which it stands, it is finished. So will be Tony Blair's dreams of a new compact for Africa, with fresh aid to reward a break with its terrible past. Africa's leaders have a choice between that fresh start, and solidarity with their "brother" Mugabe. Mr Blair must insist at once, and mean it too, that they cannot have both. [End Excerpt]

[Cincinatus' Wife]

(posts from March 12 and 13)

Assessment of the presidential campaign and election by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network

Groups Call Zimbabwe Vote Flawed

Report: Mugabe Re-Elected in Zimbabwe--LINKS to more articles.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Zimbabwe - Mugabe faces prospect of stronger international sanctions -[Excerpt] The United States and several European nations said Mugabe's victory in the weekend elections was marred by violence and intimidation.

The United States and Britain threatened to beef up sanctions focusing on Mugabe and his allies. The European Union, which imposed economic and diplomatic sanctions last month after Mugabe refused to let its monitors observe the elections, has threatened further punishment. EU leaders are expected to discuss the situation in a summit in Spain this weekend.

"We do not recognize the outcome of the election because we think it's flawed," U.S. President George W. Bush said Wednesday after Zimbabwean officials declared that Mugabe had won another six-year term.

"We are dealing with our friends to figure out how to deal with this flawed election," Bush told a news conference in Washington.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell alleged the Mugabe administration had subverted democratic principles and processes for more than two years.

"Mugabe can claim victory but not democratic legitimacy," Powell said. [End Excerpt]

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Journalists jeer SA for endorsing Zim poll--Grey-haired mission head Sam Motsuenyane sat stunned and flustered as journalists jeered and diplomats walked out after his endorsement of Zimbabwe's poll on Tuesday

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Zimbabwe: Mugabe's police crack down on unionists - South Africa embraces Mugabe win--[Excerpt] Despite ringing international condemnation of Zimbabwe's weekend elections, Robert Mugabe moved quickly to be sworn for another six-year term as South Africa warmly endorsed his claimed victory.

South African deputy president Jacob Zuma, flew to Harare late on Thursday to congratulate Mr Mugabe in person, and the two men were photographed hugging each other and giving the one-fisted amandla (power) salute of the black liberation struggle.

Meanwhile, Mr Mugabe's police were using his draconian public order and security decrees to break up a meeting of the Zimbabwean Congress of Trades Unions.[End Excerpt]

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Denunciation of Mugabe by Europeans Intensifies

Zimbabwe -- Big Three to judge Mugabe fate--[Excerpt] General Abdulsalami Abubakar, the former Nigerian President who headed the Commonwealth observers' mission to Zimbabwe, said the possibility of the Commonwealth overseeing new elections in Zimbabwe was one of a range of options. 'We are looking for ways the Commonwealth can assist Zimbabwe to resolve its crisis. There are many complex issues to be addressed, including the land issue, the economy, and the political situation,' said General Abubakar, whose condemnation of the Zimbabwean election will be the basis of the troika meeting.

Abubakar guided the 42 observers in drafting the report, which describes how the elections were compromised by state-sponsored violence, unfair application of the rule of law, repressive legislation, restrictions on civic groups, the disenfranchisement of substantial numbers of voters and the blatant bias of the state media.

According to Commonwealth observers who met until late Friday night to draft the full report, there was emphatic agreement over the findings. Only one of the 42 Commonwealth observers, the Namibian delegate, was unhappy with the report, and other African members firmly supported it.

An eerie, uneasy vacuum has settled over Harare, as Mugabe has not uttered a public word since he was declared the election victor on Wednesday. But his signing into law of the repressive new media bill signalled his intention to silence the critical independent press. [End Excerpt]

[reg45]

The Supreme Court traditionally had only five judges until Mugabe expanded the bench to eight in July, adding three judges considered loyal to the ruling party.

He learned that trick from FDR.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

How Mugabe stole democracy--[Excerpt] What is happening in Zimbabwe "is a Sunday school picnic compared to what happened in East Timor", noted one SA election observer.

The first democratic elections in SA and East Timor were the culmination of protracted and bitter struggles and violence was to be expected in that context.

It is not fair that Zimbabweans, who paid a heavy price to hold their first democratic elections in 1980, should pay so dearly 22 years later.

There is no reason one single Zimbabwean should have died in the past two elections. It makes a mockery of the notion of democracy. The concept of a free and fair election has been stretched so far that for many Zimbabweans it has lost all meaning. [End Excerpt] <a

[reg45]

The U.S. didn't need to civilize the Japanese and Germans after WWII. They only needed help to recover from the war and set up friendly new governments. Their situation was not at all comparable with the current situations in chronically failing third-world countries like Afghanistan and Zimbabwe.

The Japanese and Germans already had modern industrialized societies, otherwise they would have not been able to produce the huge war machines that threatened the allies during the war. What they did not have was a history of popular democratic government.

The Germans had a brief encounter with popular democracy during the Weimar period (1920 -1933). The Weimar Republic was destroyed by the economic instability of the early 1930's.

The Japanese, however, had a long history of feudalism. This had to be overcome at the same time that popular democratic institutions were established.

Third world countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe (literaly from A to Z) need:

1. Democratic institutions
2. Constitutional checks and balances
3. Free market economies

However, they have chosen instead the Marxist model

1. Sham democratic institutions
2. No constitutional checks and balances
3. Command economies

I think it is ironic that third world countries reject the freedom model as "too Western" or "eurocentric" at the same time that they embrace the Marxist model which was clearly a product of European descent.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Zimbabwe: Mbeki must tame the dictator (if not, the unions should)

Mbeki, Obasanjo to Meet Mugabe on Zimbabwe Crisis--[Excerpt] HARARE (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo were due to meet President Robert Mugabe on Monday over Zimbabwe's deep political crisis, but analysts held out little hope of progress.

They said the leaders of Africa's two most powerful countries were likely to push Mugabe, who won a controversial presidential election marred by violence and charges of vote rigging, to consider forming a government of national unity.

The talks come the day before a crucial meeting in London of the so-called Commonwealth troika on Zimbabwe, which is due to discuss suspending the southern African country from the grouping of Britain and former colonies.

Mbeki and Obasanjo are members of the troika along with Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Commonwealth analysts believe Howard is likely to favor some form of suspension which Mbeki would oppose, leaving the deciding vote to Obasanjo.

But senior aides to Obasanjo said in Lagos on Sunday that he looked most unlikely to back the suspension of Zimbabwe. [End Excerpt]

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Victorious Mugabe mocks 'colonial' Britain--[Excerpt] Mr Mugabe's militant supporters clearly anticipated his pledge yesterday to speed up land seizures by driving away Ian Kay, an MDC supporter, and his wife Kerry along with 80 workers from their farm 45 miles south-east of Harare, on Saturday. The Kays, unlike many white farmers, continued publicly to support the MDC after land invasions began in February 2000. Witnesses say the Zanu PF flag was raised above their looted home.

The Commercial Farmers' Union said yesterday that another 44 white farmers would be charged today in connection with assistance given to the MDC during the election. These farmers, from the Raffingora area, north of Harare have been in hiding since police let it be known they were wanted and would be arrested. Some 56 farmers, including their wives, are now facing charges since the start of voting on March 9. More than 150 white farmers have been charged with offences in the last two years. So far not one has been brought to trial.

Roy Bennett, an MDC MP in the eastern Manicaland Province, said yesterday that the purge against MDC election support staff and supporters was reaching "grotesque" levels. "People are being attacked, one man was killed in my area, many are beaten, and many houses have been burned down. This is not going to stop." [End Excerpt

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Mugabe sworn in after tainted vote - new vote fraud numbers revealed - 55 white farmers-wives arrested --[Excerpt] Most of his speech, however, was devoted to the two main issues of his campaign: land reform and sovereignty. Both themes emerged two years ago as Tsvangirai's fledgling Movement for Democratic Change scored a sudden victory against Mugabe just five months after being formed, leading voters to reject the president's proposed new constitution in a national referendum.

Smarting from defeat, Mugabe unleashed veterans of the liberation war and other party supporters in a violent campaign against white-owned commercial farms. In the subsequent two years, nearly 1,700 farms were occupied and 4,526 were listed for forced acquisition by the state.

Barely visible behind a bank of microphones yesterday, he said the final phase of his land reform program - resettlement of the acquired farms by black peasant families and aspiring black commercial farmers - ''must proceed with greater strength and speed.''

His words have already been backed by action. In the nine days since the polls first opened, dozens of white farmers and their wives - 55 people in all - have been arrested and detained on a broad range of conspiracy charges. Others have been driven off their land in recent days by militant ruling-party youths. [End Excerpt]

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Zimbabwe destabilizing region - overwhelming evidence of election fraud [Excerpt] The evidence is overwhelming that Mugabe, who was inaugurated on Saturday, rigged the March 9-11 election to get his 56-42 percent victory over popular opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Western nations denounced the election process as unfair, but to the Organization of African Unity it was "transparent, credible, free and fair." Apparently, assaulting the opposition is well within bounds for the OAU. [End Excerpt]