‘Zuma Save Zimbabwe’ was the theme of the Vigil as SADC prepares to hold a summit meeting in Namibia.  Our banners urging South African intervention have so far failed to bear fruit but we were pleased that Mugabe’s attempt to keep Zimbabwe off the agenda seems to have failed.  

As the recent AU Summit in Uganda showed, African leaders are all too willing to sweep Zimbabwe under the carpet on the basis that SADC has been handed the responsibility. Vigil supporters believe that, after eighteen months of Zanu-PF arrogance in refusing to implement the GPA, South Africa and SADC must now force Mugabe’s hand.  

Zimbabweans in exile – with our children now going into secondary school in our host countries – believe that MDC should not stand for Manipulated, Deluded and Confused and should call Zanu PF’s bluff.  They cannot pretend to be part of government when their input is ignored and they are treated with contempt by the security forces and the civil service.  

The Vigil agrees with Simba Makoni’s comment that a new constitution is not necessary for elections. We have always believed that the constitutional outreach programme is a recipe for disaster (a view supported by SW Radio article: http://www.swradioafrica.com
/pages/copac040810.htm.)  

The Vigil urges SADC to address the real issue: how to ensure that elections are free and fair. After all, it is not to the region’s advantage that the present situation continues or that there is a repeat of the 2008 election violence and a fraudulent outcome that will not be accepted by the outside world. 

This week we were sent an email asking us to join in an international prayer day ‘LoveZim’ on 26^th September.  We certainly hope people will pray on this day for Zimbabwe as we do every Saturday. Our supporters spend long hours traveling to join us – such as a new supporter from Leeds who caught the bus at 7 am today – and we regard this as a sacrifice for Zimbabwe. We had extra prayers today when two white Christians spotted supporter Marian Rondora tying a Zimbabwean flag to one of our maple trees. They said that at their church they had been shown an image of a flag and a tree and felt this was a sign they should stop and pray for the Vigil.  They spent some time praying with Marian. 

We have earlier mentioned our supporter who had such a harrowing time on his recent trip to Zimbabwe and we now been given permission to report a little more fully on what happened. This is his story:  

‘A ROHR and Vigil activist visited Zimbabwe recently wanting to witness the much heralded changes for himself. He was held unduly long at Harare airport. Officials spent time doing checks, asking what he did in the UK. They said “you have been away for too long, you are working against Zimbabwe”, etc. An uncle who works for Air Zimbabwe at the airport eventually came to his rescue. 

'Visited Mashonaland East (maternal home connection), where he saw a homestead which had been razed by Zanu PF functionaries at the behest of a powerful  ZANU PF official (women's league and well connected to Tobaiwa Mudede, a Mugabe close relative). The homestead belonged to suspected opposition supporters who are ordered out of the Chief's area. The activist and colleagues confront the Zanu PF people arguing that it amounted to an abuse of power and a human rights violation. The next thing the case is before the Chief who orders the arrest of the activists by police. Held at police station for couple of days after they realised his Vigil and ROHR connection. In police cells the activists are beaten, tortured and accused of being puppets/sellouts, want to return the country to the whites - the usual ZANU PF rhetoric. Lawyer intervenes and our activist is granted bail and ordered to report twice a week at police station. Kept under surveillance by CIO. Passport seized. Twice in court and skipped bail once he could buy the passport back with a bribe. Thankful for Vigil help as, without it, he could still be in Zimbabwe and who knows what could have happened next? Still fears for co-defendants and firmly believes that nothing has changed.’ 

For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/. For the latest ZimVigil TV programme check the link at the top of the home page of our website.  For earlier ZimVigil TV programmes check: http://www.zbnnews.com/home/firingline. 

FOR THE RECORD:  153 signed the register. 

EVENTS AND NOTICES:
·       The Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s partner organisation based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil to have an organisation on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in Zimbabwe.
·       Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum and Central London Zimbabwe Forum. Monday 9^th August from 7.30 – 9.30 pm. Venue: Development House, 56-64 St Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. Human rights lawyer Dewa Mavhinga who has recently been appointed the Regional Co-ordinator of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition’s Regional Office in South Africa will address the human rights abuses around Zimbabwe's diamond fields and the current situation regarding Zimbabwe’s constitution-making process. For more information: http://www.hrforumzim.com/dewa-mahinga.pdf
·       ROHR London South-East Branch general meeting. Saturday 14^th August at 1 pm. Venue: 16 Sydenham Road, London SE26 5QW. Contact: Wellington Rupere 07799702750, Priscilla Chitsinde 07804696328, Courage Chiromo 07894586005 or P Mapfumo 07915926323 / 07932216070. 
·       Ministering to the Diaspora: a case study of Zimbabweans in Britain. Wednesday 15^th September from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm. Venue: Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, SS Philip & James Church, Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6HR. A conference to help identify unique needs, the services Christian organizations are offering and can offer (but are not), identifying what more needs to be done and how this might be achieved, and drawing up a co-ordinated action plan. For more information, contact: Clayton Peel, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or phone 01865 882 421
·       ROHR Liverpool Vigil. Saturday 21^st August from 2 – 5 pm. Venue: Church Street (Outside Primark), Liverpool City Centre. For details please contact: Anywhere Mungoyo 07939913688, Trywell Migeri 07956083758, Panyika Karimanzira 07551062161. Future demonstration: 4^th September. Same time and venue.
·       Vigil Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8157345519&ref=ts
·       Vigil Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/zimbabwevigil