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Zimbabwe Vigil Diary – 28th November 2009 |
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Written by Administrator |
Sunday, 29 November 2009 21:04 |
The Vigil is not surprised that the MDC UK and Ireland Province has been suspended by the party’s leadership in Harare. A letter from MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti spoke of financial irregularities, poor performance and ‘disfunctionality’ (see scanned copy on http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/sets/72157622770117445/). The Vigil could add many other reasons. Since former Assistant Police Commissioner Jonathan Chawora was foisted on the membership going on 2 years ago, the MDC in the UK has gone steadily downhill. All its efforts have gone into fundraising but it seems Harare has seen none of the funds. Where has the money gone? The Vigil has a good idea. Well, the party leaders in Harare are to send an investigating committee to find out. The Vigil can tell the committee that the disgraced UK Executive has done nothing to publicise the plight of Zimbabwe or promote the party to the British public. Instead it has devoted its energy to trying to undermine the Vigil – sometimes with veiled threats of violence. We remember Hebson Makuvise, Tsvangirai’s uncle and representative in the UK, angrily waving his fists, trying to take over a vigil. (Hebson has been nominated as Ambassador to Germany – let’s hope he’s learned some diplomacy.) Although Vigil supporters were pleased that action had finally been taken against the MDC bullies in the UK, many people expressed their impatience at the slow pace of talks in Harare: belatedly started on Monday only to be suspended on Wednesday, with Welshman Ncube openly scoffing at SADC’s timetable. There is growing suspicion among Vigil supporters that the politicians in Harare are happy to see things drag on until elections in 2013. Their attitude seems to be: ‘as long as we have our jobs and cars and official business trips to Peru, Nepal, Azerbaijan or anywhere we can go on talking forever.’ The Vigil trusts that President Zuma will knock heads together. (He will have to knock very hard otherwise they won’t notice!) Fourteen months after the GPA there has been zero progress on the rule of law, freedom of the media – or just about anything. With our politicians left to their own devices we doubt that there every will be. Similar pessimism was expressed on Wednesday at a meeting in London at the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum’s offices attended by Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlungu of WOZA, fresh from their wonderful reception by President Obama in Washington. The London meeting was attended by Josephine Zhuga and Sue and Francesca Toft from the Vigil who reported there was deep concern about the human rights situation in rural Zimbabwe. There was criticism that the MDC were not reaching these areas. Similar comments were made by Gertrude Hambara, General Secretary of the General Agricultural and Plant Workers Union of Zimbabwe, who dropped in at the Vigil. Earlier in the week she had addressed the All-Party Parliamentary Committee on Zimbabwe and said the MDC needed to move into rural communities before they became ‘no-go areas’. Gertrude told the Committee that the so-called land reform programme had displaced about 350,000 farm workers, affecting two million people when their families were included. The Vigil has been invited to take part in a demonstration to mark Human Rights Day on 10th December in Trafalgar Square. More details next week.
FOR THE RECORD: 188 signed the register. EVENTS AND NOTICES: |
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