Mugabe in trouble

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe looks definitely set to vacate State House if the response to yesterday's polling is anything to go by.

As had been expected, there was an overwhelming turn out of upbeat voters in major urban areas such as Harare, Bulawayo, Kwekwe, Gweru and Mutare. People trekked to polling stations as early as 4am for voting which started at 7am.

According to official figures, there are 3,4 million people registered to vote in urban areas, the opposition MDC's stronghold, as opposed to 2,2 million in rural areas which are dominated by Zanu PF. Even taking into consideration the extra 400 000 expected from the controversial supplementary voters roll, the figures are still heavily in favour of the opposition.

The president himself almost failed to cast his vote as his name was missing from both the mayoral and council voters rolls at Highfield's Mhofu Primary School where he traditionally casts his vote. Mugabe then had to go to Kudzanayi Primary where he finally managed to cast his vote.

All polling stations in Harare were characterised by long winding queues when The Standard toured the city, with attendances heavy, particularly in high density suburbs. However, people complained that the process was painstakingly slow, but they showed a steadfast determination to vote.

"We are used to these queues, and this is the most important event in our history as it will determine the way forward for our troubled country for the next six years," said Elliot Mutapi of Glen Norah.

At Kuwadzana 5 polling station, a voter said he arrived at 4am and only managed to vote by 9am, two hours after polling had started. To ensure order, polling officers were giving people numbered cards, with the voter in question having been the 73rd person to cast his vote.

At Kuwadzana 2 polling station, hundreds of voters in high spirits could be seen with bottles of clear and opaque beer to keep them company while they patiently waited to vote. There was disorder at Warren Park 1 Primary School where less than 100 people had managed to cast their vote by 11.30am. So chaotic was the situation that riot police had to be called in to restore order, but instead they beat up people indiscriminately.

The same chaos was evident at Chengu Primary School in Highfield and Seke 2 Primary in Chitungwiza where people broke the walls around the respective schools in frustration at the slow pace of voting.

There was drama at St Peters Kubatana in Highfield when some people were incensed by the arrival of unpopular war veterans leader, Joseph Chinotimba arrived.

At Chikanga Primary School in Mutare, no voting material was available when The Standard visited at around 10am. Polling officials present refused to explain why this anomaly occurred.

There was drama at St Peters Kubatana in Highfield when some people were incensed by the arrival of unpopular war veterans leader, Joseph Chinotimba arrived.

September 17, 2001 Robert Mugabe isolated **With Commonwealth and regional pressure bearing down on him, he will at least get away with less than before ** By IDEN WETHERELL

[Full Text] When Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe returned from Libya last weekend he was full of cheer that the Abuja agreement on Zimbabwe's landreform programme had provided a welcome show of solidarity by African states. By Tuesday that optimism had evaporated as Mugabe had difficulty disguising his resentment of criticism from neighbours.

While last week's meeting in Nigeria of Commonwealth foreign ministers, which saw Britain offering to fund land reform in its former colony, might have provided the embattled leader with hope that things were going his way, this week's two-day summit in Harare of Southern African Development Community (SADC) heads of state appears to have disabused him of any idea that African leaders are on his side.

In his opening address SADC chairperson President Bakili Muluzi of Malawi did not mince words on the danger of Zimbabwe's economic crisis spilling across its borders, while in closed sessions South African President Thabo Mbeki was understood to have been sharply critical of the damaging policies pursued by Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.

South Africa's relations with Harare have become increasingly strained over Mugabe's reluctance to rein in militia leaders who, during the summit, were unleashing violence on farms in the Beatrice area, south of Harare. Mugabe had even insisted on the heads of state greeting war veteran Joseph Chinotimba, self-styled "leader of farm invasions", on their arrival at Harare airport.

Muluzi announced on Tuesday the formation of a ministerial committee to carry on the work of the regional leaders. He assured reporters that "things are going to change because the government of Zimbabwe is committed to the issues which we have discussed".

It is their insistence that Zimbabwe must stick to the rule of law that has stung Mugabe most. The official media, Mugabe's mouthpiece, this week launched scathing attacks on Mbeki and Muluzi. Mbeki had been a "casualty" of the Abuja accord, The Sunday Mail curiously claimed, suggesting South Africa was not a "true African country".

The Herald alleged that Mbeki had refused to heed the Pan Africanist Congress at home on the land issue while listening to the opposition in Zimbabwe which, it claimed, opposes land reform.

Muluzi was accused of being discourteous to his hosts by lecturing them on the need for the rule of law.

The Abuja agreement obliges the Zimbabwe government to halt land invasions. But as most commercial farms are already under occupation by Mugabe's hired thugs, this will make little difference to violent realities, including the dispossession of about 300 000 farm workers of Mozambican, Malawian and Zambian descent.

As Mugabe's popularity wanes as economic privation and political repression mount, so he will resort to every instrument of coercion at his disposal. That means keeping war veterans and other armed supporters on the farms. But while the Harare government needs to mollify its own constituency it is, at the same time, anxious to be seen complying with the Abuja terms.

As this week's events show, Mugabe is facing growing international censure over his self-made crisis. The United States and European Union are threatening sanctions. Mbeki and President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria are leading a Commonwealth initiative to bind Zimbabwe to the rule of law.

Next month Commonwealth heads of government meet in Brisbane, Australia, to examine ways of tightening measures against rogue members.

The Abuja and Harare agreements will likely head off the challenges to Mugabe's renegade rule and enable him to argue that he is cooperating with the international community.

But he is unlikely to give up the 2 700 farms seized under the so-called fast-track resettlement scheme which the Supreme Court has declared illegal. And Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge, on his return from Abuja, made it clear that about 4 500 farms designated for acquisition - 90% of the total - will not be delisted, nor will their occupiers be evicted.

Most Zimbabweans agree on the need for land reform. But most insist it must be planned and lawful, enhancing food production rather than sabotaging it. They are supported in this by the United Nations Development Programme and other donors.

It is doubtful whether the gulf between the two divergent approaches can be bridged - or whether the international community is prepared to turn a blind eye to the intimidation and electoral rigging taking place as Mugabe feels increasingly cornered by democratic forces. That sense of isolation will have been heightened by last weekend's overwhelming victory for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in a Bulawayo municipal poll.

Mugabe will no doubt soon be breathing defiance again. But with Commonwealth and regional pressure bearing down on him, he will at least get away with less than before while his carefully nurtured myth that Zimbabwe's problems centre on land has finally been laid to rest. Iden Wetherell is editor of the Zimbabwe Independent [End]

Well, now we know, neither Magube or the Commonwealth tried to change their spots.

December 5, 2001- Zimbabwe court rules seizing of white-owned land legal

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