Letters

Mutambara holds the balance of power in the cabinet, and we all know he and his top five party leaders are opportunists and will vote where their personal interests lie. There is nothing to document who gets what in the ministries, in the cabinet, or how many governors each party gets.

After signing Mbeki is history, having been fired by the ANC, and Mugabe does exactly what he pleases. Morgan tours the country and visits banks where people are trying to withdraw their money, but is unable to do anything to fix the problem.  Now the agreement is in danger of collapsing.

My advice for the MDC is not to hang in there too long. Ordinary supporters will not back you forever.  If you cannot control what is happening in the government, get out. – DAN, South Africa

GNU will fail

EDITOR – The so-called power sharing government of national unity will fail unless the elected Prime Minister has control of the forces, finance, food and fuel.  

Mbeki is out and should be kept out. Mugabe should be going to The Hague, along with his officials who have been involved in crimes against humanity. – JOHN KUFAMBA, Kariba

Put welfare first  

EDITOR – The Council for Zimbabwean Christian Leaders in the UK (CZCLUK) has welcomed the power sharing agreement. We urge Zanu (PF) and MDC in its two factions to put the people first and ensure that this agreement brings a period of justice, peace and reconstruction.

Restoring Zimbabwe should be the priority and we commit ourselves to ensuring that the benchmarks set in the power sharing agreement, especially the writing of the new constitution, are achieved in a just and democratic process. We encourage civic society to continue to serve the role of monitoring the process and its resultant government.  

We urge the government to lift sanctions and allow NGOs to bring in much needed aid. We urge restraint of the violent squads that continue to terrorise citizens. We ask MDC and Zanu (PF) to compromise in resolving their administrative differences. – QOBO MAYISA, United Kingdom

 

No agreement

EDITOR – We have been without a government for eight months. People are hungry and suffering because of Zanu (PF) mismanagement of the economy The people spoke loud and clear on March 29 but SADC decided to bring Mugabe through the back door.

Mugabe will not change, and it is the Army Generals in power, strengthening the murderous youth wing under Generals Kasukuvere, Manyika and Karimanzira.  

Border Gezi training Camps are churning out green bombers to harass people.  

Why do the SADC, AU, UN and the International Community allow the deranged old man to address the UN?

We do not want to hear the same propaganda we have been subjected to for 28 years. SADC please get Robert Mugabe out of the way for economic recovery and progress in Zimbabwe. – STREET KID, by e-mail

Let’s rebuild Zim

EDITOR – Zimbabwe is a hive of violence that has stalled development and driven our

beautiful country to a halt. Zimbabwe is surely bleeding.

On September 15, Mugabe, Tsvangirai and Mutambara signed an agreement for an all inclusive government. These three leaders, who have failed to see eye to eye for nine years, opened a new chapter in the history of the country.

We should follow the same route. We should condemn the violence and stop preaching a hate gospel. Zimbabwe is not a Zanu (PF) country or an MDC one. Let us be united to rebuild our once lovely country.

Let’s put party politics behind us and strive to bring food for our children and petrol for our engines.

“Reconciliation and reconstruction, is like a dark cloud giving way to a blue sky.” (Mzwkhe Mbuli)

The future of Zimbabwe relies on the action you take today; divided we fall but united we stand. – RUX SILO, by e-mail

Tsvangirai mouthpiece

EDITOR – I used to respect your paper in the few months after it was launched. However, many Zimbabweans are disappointed by your pro-Tswangirai stance.

Your paper is no longer objective in its coverage but has become biased in favour of the Tsvangirai MDC while portraying the other faction as untrustworthy sell outs. People call The Zimbabwean the MDC News and mock you saying that Tsvangiai’s election campaign is found in your pages.

Your reporters have become Tsvangirai activists who never check their stories with the other faction before writing bad things about them. What confuses me is that the same people in the MDC-M faction accused of working with Zanu (PF) were victims

of Gukurahundi when Tsvangirai was still a Zanu (PF) member and worshipper of Mugabe’s ideology.

You should rediscover the goals that you wanted to set when you launched your paper. On several occasions The Zimbabwean has printed stories accusing Mutambara of agreeing to a deal with Zanu (PF).Who came up with the deal? Mutambara and the others only agreed to Mbeki’s deal, not a Zanu (PF) sponsored agreement. – THABO KUNENE, by e-mail

– We are committed to reporting factually, fairly and fearlessly. We have used Mutambara’s statements on many occasions. We report the facts. Mutambara is getting closer to Zanu (PF) than to Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC. We would be delighted to correct this if it can be proven to be false. – EDITOR

On our knees

EDITOR – Since Monday, mile-long queues have filled the streets outside banks, waiting to draw the maximum allowed – the equivalent to US$2 per day. People are unable to buy food or travel to work or home. 3 million Zimbabweans are on the edge of starvation, brought to their knees.

This is not just about saving lives. For two weeks I have listened to desperate stories about the parents and children starving in rural areas, eating the roots of indigenous trees.  

What can we learn at this time? We can wait for our voice to be heard above the clamour for power and wealth. – BEV., by e-mail

Education doomed

EDITOR – It is disheartening to note that the current Minister of Higher Education has indefinitely postponed the opening of Higher Institutions as a result of feared student reactions to the current stalemate and economic rot.

The situation is worsened by the failure to pay lecturers and the deteriorating education standards at tertiary institutions.

I urge those from both spheres of the political divide to consider the student plight in the wake of this massive lecturer and student exodus to the neighbouring states in search of greener pastures. – WELCOME ZIMUTO, by e-mail

Time has come

EDITOR – The time has come for the people to take to the streets and demand freedom and democracy. I have asked many Zimbabweans why direct street action is not happening and all I get are excuses. How then can the women off WOZA pull 600 women onto the streets?

The truth of the matter is that it is the women of our country who have the balls. Zanu (PF) has emasculated our men. Our collective entrapped paralysis is almost like hara-kiri. It signals to Zanu (PF) to carry on and do whatever they want to subjugate our people and rape our country.

The world’s spotlight is on Zimbabwe and we need to send a loud, unequivocal message to Zanu (PF) and the world that we demand our freedom, our rights and the people’s mandate.  

Are we going to join WOZA on the streets or are we going to let them carry this heavy burden on our behalf? – PAT, by e-mail

Inciting violence

EDITOR – Herald columnist, Nathaniel Manheru’s statements on inciting violence if

there is a land audit is very worrying especially when every Zimbabwean is trying to move the country forward following the signing of the political agreement.

Manheru stated that there would be bloodshed if the commitment by Zanu (PF) and the MDC to remove corrupt multi-farm holders is implemented. The columnist is using his influence as a senior civil servant and abusing the public media.

Even the outgoing information minister, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu has urged the public media to report responsibly in light of the signing of the agreement to form an inclusive government.

Manheru seems not to care about these new developments.

How can he as someone who is also a beneficiary of the land reform programme be against an independent land audit that will put an end to the land issue once and for all?

Is he one of those Zanu (PF) bigwigs who have multiple farms? – ANON., by e-mail

Bring in Annan

EDITOR – Mugabe recently gave a hilarious interview in New York, but for the five million people suffering from extreme hunger in Zimbabwe, there is nothing to laugh at.

He says he is willing to share power with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, the election winner designated as Prime Minister, but the hiatus in the Harare talks before Mugabe and his 40-strong entourage flew to New York for the UN’s annual jamboree, was over Mugabe’s insistence that the MDC were junior partners, holding only minor ministries.

Returning to Harare, Mugabe had nothing to offer except his ongoing Idi Aminesque-style nonsensical rhetoric.

Sanctions have no effect on the economy, contrary to the lies that are put about.

If those Harare talks cannot progress towards a power-sharing government, an approach should be made to the UN to get its former Secretary-General, Kofi Anaan, on board.  He had some success in helping to create Kenya’s power-sharing interim government following their rigged election and serious violence.

These arrangements do not relate to democracy.  Zimbabwe’s people didn’t vote for power-sharing.  They voted for regime change. – IVOR DAVIS, Johannesburg

Cholera concern

EDITOR- I am very concerned by cholera outbreak in Chitungwiza. We need to take precautionary measures, especially in high density areas and with the rainy season approaching. – LOVEMORE KASHAWO, Harare

Thanks to SA

EDITOR – I would like to thank the people of South Africa for setting an example of how democracy works.  

It is a big shame that Mugabe, his hero-worshippers and Mutambara forced themselves on the people of Zimbabwe.

Mugabe goes to the UN to beg for forgiveness when his soldiers are misleading the poor people in the rural areas. The interpretation of the agreement is twisted to promote Zanu (PF) and not unity.  

The world should not lift sanctions until Mugabe and his relatives are serious about the success of the agreement.  

Soldiers who were given land are the ones in power and Mugabe is powerless. – THE BUSH LAWYER, by e-mail

No celebrations

EDITOR – As long as Zanu (PF) controls the army, CIO and the police, some of us fail to find reason to celebrate this new unity government. As long as Zanu (PF) controls the home affairs ministry, this deal is as bad as any I could imagine.

The MDC won both the March 27 parliamentary and presidential elections, yet we woke up one morning to the shock that it would get 13 cabinet allocations while Zanu (PF) would get 15, and, Morgan Tsvangirai would be required to report diligently on a regular basis to the defeated.

The excuse that home affairs is exclusively a PF Zapu ministry and therefore sacrosanct should be ridiculed. Neither PF Zapu nor Zanu, for that matter, was party to the deal, simply because they don’t exist – they are not mutually exclusive – Zanu (PF) is the party. Resurrecting a virtually defunct party for egocentric political advantage amounts to hypocrisy of the highest order – somebody ought to be embarrassed.

Is it not high time the MDC singled out certain ministries as non-negotiable as well?

With Tsvangirai shockingly agreeing to play second fiddle to Mugabe, the MDC is slowly but surely dancing to the whims and caprices of a waning party.

If the MDC walks away without the police under their control, they have betrayed us and we are doomed – we will remain a police state with brutalized and traumatized citizens. We desperately need the rule of law in Zimbabwe. – CHARLES MUNKULI, by e-mail