THE DAILY AGENDA

Members of the public witnessed the event which was open for the public to attend. The majority of the councillors belong to the Movement for Democratic Change.

Meanwhile, the long awaited Grain Marketing Board (GMB) truck finally delivered maize which, it has been learnt, will be sold at traditional chiefs’ homesteads. Pastor Edson Dube, the Tsholotsho Agenda chairman has made pleas for the fair distribution of maize. There are reports that army personnel involved in the exercise are allocating maize to Zanu PF supporters only.

Nkayi MDC youths who were arrested on suspicion that they axed a Zanu PF war veteran at Manomano were released from police cells yesterday without any charges being conferred on them. In another incident, Zanu PF supporters conducted victory celebrations at Sifiso Sikazulu war veterans’ cooperative a month after the presidential runoff. This has been interpreted as a show of force indicating that Zanu PF was still in control.

Gweru The Gweru Agenda and CADEC offices in the city remain closed after police raids last week Friday. The staff for both organisations is in hiding with some having fled Gweru after police insiders warned them to stay clear of the Midlands capital.

22 July 2008

Tsholotsho Villagers have expressed outrage at the way maize is being distributed from the Grain Marketing Board, accusing officials there of nepotism. They have suggested that the way food is distributed must change taking into consideration that 10kg is not enough to feed one family. Currently, five families share a single 50kg bag of mealie-meal. Zanu PF supporters are also said to be subverting the process by diverting bags of the scarce commodity into the thriving black market.

Plumtree Five more people have been arrested for crimes committed during the 27 June runoff elections. Such crimes were committed while campaigning for Zanu PF and villagers have applauded the move which has restored sanity to an area once engulfed by political violence and intimidation by war veterans and youth militia in the name of the ruling party.

Hwange Some humanitarian organizations have resumed operations after the government forced them to suspend their work on the 4th of June. USAID and the Catholic Relief Services have in the past two days distributed sorghum in the Hwange district. The sorghum is supplied to local shops who sell at a token subsidized price of 200 billion dollars for a 10kg bag. The locals have welcomed the development as they were going hungry. Humanitarian organisations were stopped from conducting humanitarian work after the government accused them of using aid to campaign for the opposition.

Matopo The park warden for Rhodes Matopo National Park has evicted war veterans who wanted to take over the running of the curios shop inside the World Heritage site. He is reported to have informed them that the shop had nothing to do with politics and urged the locals who were evicted to resume their activities freely without intimidation. War veterans from the Silozwi area had chased away villagers who sold curios inside the national park accusing them of supporting the MDC. They had intended to replace them with relatives and friends.

Nkayi Corruption still persists at the Nkayi Grain Marketing Board (GMB) with some villagers selling maize from the local depot to the public in rands. The GMB distributes maize only to known Zanu PF supporters who then divert it to the black market.

Lupane Hunger persists in Lupane with people eagerly waiting for the government to allow aid agencies to resume food distribution. The communities are hard hit since local businesses are failing to restock with essential food items.

Meanwhile, the office of the provincial administrator has announced that local councillors in the Matabeleland North capital will be sworn in on Monday the 28th of July. Councillors, the majority of whom were elected on an MDC ticket, have not assumed duty since they were elected on 29 March. The swearing in ceremony will be conducted in the council of chambers and is open to the public.

21 July 2008

Harare    Zanu PF and the two MDC formations today signed an MoU on Inter Party talks in the Zimbabwean capital after weeks of stalling by one of the signatories. Morgan Tsvangirai, Arthur Mutambara and Robert Mugabe along with mediator, Thabo Mbeki, the South African President, put their signatures to a document that is expected to pave the way to full scale negotiations to solve the Zimbabwean crisis.

President Thabo Mbeki had arrived earlier during the day, first indications that a deal between the parties had been reached. The MoU which give the negotiators two weeks to reach an agreement places conditions that seek to address the concerns of all the parties involved. The MDC was concerned about the ongoing violence and the displacement of its supporters while Zanu PF have had the issue of sanctions and that of land which mentioned in the document.

    

Gweru     Peter Muchengeti, an activist based in Gweru, has been released by a Gweru magistrate Rosa Chakuva on bail of 2 trillion dollars after having been detained since last Friday when he was picked up by state security agents. Muchengeti, the regional chairman of the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations, is being charged with possessing documents prejudicial to the state and for spreading falsehoods in connection with documents found in his office detailing incidents of political violence, pictures showing the victims and the names of the perpetrators.

Relating his ordeal, Muchengeti, said that he was interrogated naked and suspended upside down, an issue raised during the hearing. He also said that one of his interrogators was an army officer identified as Lt Col. Kahuni which he said was highly irregular. Agents ransacked his office which had been closed since June after police ordered all NGOs closed on the basis of a letter from the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Nicholas Goche suspending their field operations. During the raid board members and staff were chased out. The raiders took documents and equipment that included computers, digital cameras and recorders that belonged to Kudzai Musengi, a journalist, who was working from Muchengeti’s office.

Also affected were four victims from Nkayi who had come for treatment after being assaulted at a Zanu PF base. They apparently had with them police case reports confirming the assaults at the base that has since been moved into Nkayi police camp. The case is going to be heard on the 25th of August and Muchengeti’s bail conditions include reporting to Gweru Central police station twice a week. Peter Muchengeti is among a list of activists that had been targeted at a meeting of security officials in Gweru last June. His movements were being watched resulting in him going underground in the past weeks until his arrest. His arrest last Friday led to most activists based in Gweru fleeing the city in fear.

17 July 2008

Gweru A Transitional Authority is the preferred option as opposed to a Government of National Unity. This came out when at a focus group meeting convened by on Thursday. The meeting which attracted 24 participants was held to discuss the way forward for Zimbabwe on a negotiated settlement. The majority, who favoured a transitional arrangement, expressed that it was necessary to allow at least two years of recovery and healing for the people of Zimbabwe. Participants also said that the country needed a new voters’ role and a new constitution that would be people driven and that draconian laws like the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and Public Order and Security Act (POSA) would have to be repealed. It was also suggested that an administration made up of people from impartial structures such as churches, Non-Governmental Organisations or the United Nations should lead the transitional authority as opposed to those aligned to either Zanu PF or the MDC. On corruption Participants applauded government officials who were not corrupt saying they should continue in office and corrupt ones should be uprooted when the transitional authority is brought into play.

Bulawayo. Thaba Patrick Moyo has been duly elected executive mayor for the city of Bulawayo. He stood unopposed. Amen Mpofu was elected deputy mayor after he beat Dr John Ferguson and Dr Paul Mabaleka who ran for the same post. The meeting was held at the city council chambers at 1630hrs and was chaired by the acting provincial administrator, Leonard Ncube assisted by Skhangele Ndlovu, who stood in for the chamber secretary.

In another incident, 30 MDC youths were arrested and detained at Bulawayo Central police station. They were arrested for distributing MDC pamphlets with the party’s information regarding the talks being mediated by the South African President, Thabo Mbeki. Lawyers from ZHJLR are representing them and the charge is still unknown.

Meanwhile, today 86 residents turned up at Entumbane shopping complex for the clean up programme that was organized by Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association and the city council. Also present was the councilor for Njube ward 12, Mrs. Khoza, Delta beverages and local vendors who assisted in the clean up. T-shirts from Bulawayo Agenda, taxi tunes about the

16 July 2008

Gweru Mr. Chikwekwete, a former MDC councillor in Mkoba, was harassed at Renkini Bus Terminus by Zanu PF thugs for wearing an MDC T-shirt and ordered him to remove it. When Cikwekwete refused, this infuriated the thugs who stripped him of his T-shirt and started ripping it into pieces. He was fortunate to have had a jersey which he wore after the incident. When asked why he had not reported the incident to the police, he said that it would be a waste of time since the police always dismissed such cases as political’.

Bulawayo The Clean Up Campaign involving the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA), Bulawayo City Council and Delta beverages on Wednesday moved to Nkulumane Shopping complex and its environs. They distributed t-shirts from Bulawayo Agenda and taxi tunes produced by Radio Dialogue on the need to keep Bulawayo clean.

Lupane Villagers are starving due to the ban on humanitarian organizations on whom they rely on food assistance. Lupane Centre has been characterized by long winding queues in the past few weeks as people wait for mealie-meal deliveries to local shops. Some have been camping at the centre out of desperation even in the absence of any confirmation that the supplies were on the way. Maize deliveries seem to have dried up after the 27 June presidential runoff elections when Zanu Pf used the scarce commodity as a campaign tool. The Government suspended the operations of Non- Governmental Organisations involved in relief work accusing them for campaigning for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

15 July 2008

Bulawayo The Clean Up Campaign organized by Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA), the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) and the City o Bulawayo launched last Monday moved to Sekusile, Bullet and Munyoro shopping centers in Nkulumane as well as Nketa suburb. A total of 65 residents took part in the exercise. Fliers, taxi tunes from Radio Dialogue extolling the virtues of keeping the city clean and books on environmental issues from EMA were distributed to onlookers.

Plumtree A man from Zimnyama Ward has been sentenced to 9 years in jail for stock theft after he forced a villager to slaughter a beast in order to supply beef to a Zanu PF base during the period preceeding the 27 June Presidential runoff. Police officers from Plumtree have been investigating people who committed crimes in the name of the ruling party before and during the elections. Several Zanu Pf war veterans and youth have been picked up for various crimes in the past three weeks. Zanu PF established a network of torture camps which it claimed to be campaign bases in the run up to the presidential runoff and caused untold suffering to opposition supporters.

Tsholotsho Villagers are having to sleep by the roadside waiting for Grain Marketing Board trucks that deliver maize to the growth point. This is so that they can be the first to access the scarce commodity which since the 27 June Presidential runoff has been the preserve of Zanu PF supporters. Women wearing party regalia have been given preference over other residents prompting others to do the same. The last time there was a delivery millers are reported to have taken for milling promising to distribute the mealie meal the following day. It was later delivered to Zanu PF supporters late overnight. The Grain Marketing Board has been selling 50kg bags to groups of 5 people who then share it amongst themselves, each getting 10kg.

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Bulawayo Agenda

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