Samanyanga urged members who have not paid for their cards to do so, as the next batch of cards was going to be ordered from Harare in the next few days. Other launches are also planned for South West District at Portsmouth on September 3, Midlands South District at Luton September 10 – coinciding with the MDC’s 12th Anniversary Celebrations for UK & Ireland External Assembly, and dates are yet to be confirmed for North and South East Districts.

He urged those who had received their cards to maintain their subscription up-to-date and Treasurers at branch and district levels to keep up-to-date spreadsheets of their members’ subscriptions in order to keep records reconciled within their districts, in the External Assembly Executive and at the Head Office.

Birmingham Branch which hosted the launch has already exceeded its initial twinning fundraising target for September. All branches are expected have raised at least £200 pounds towards their twinning programme by September. Under the twinning programme UK branches each adopt a constituency or several constituencies whose candidates their will support financially and by any other means.

Former external executive members, who are members of Birmingham Branch, Jonathan Chawora and Mathew Nyashanu, were present with a large contingent of Birmingham members and former Birmingham secretary, Grey Samakande, who belted out Zimbabwean favorites from his disco.

Samanyanga said the External Assembly recruiting programme was well on course and the assembly was well on course to deliver a twinning programme that would ensure 100 percent victory for the MDC.

Another innovative programme in MDC UK is the MDC HQ Resources Centre and Library Project whereby members are donating their old text-books in any field for onward delivery to the MDC HQ for its resource centre and library now under construction in Harare.

Members should bring text-books to all their meetings and branches should then contact Economic Affairs Secretary Elliot Pfebve who is the manager of the project, to collect the donations of books or equipment on behalf of the External Assembly.

Samanyanga also announced that in two weeks members of his executive would attend a hand over ceremony where the University of Cambridge will also hand over some books for the project.

Victims of the Robert Mugabe regime violence would also benefit from a schme which is mostly supported by the Women’s wing of the MDC UK. Midlands North Chairlady Faith Kadyamarunga said the district’s Victims Fund kicked off two weeks ago with a women’s district function hosted by Birmingham women.

She urged women’s wings at branches to follow suite in order to deliver the necessary support for victims of the violence perpetrated on innocent Zimbabweans by the regime.

The launching ceremony involved handing over the first few cards to District officials and Branch Chairs who were present, starting with Midlands North District Chairman Solomon Matoro who was jubilantly humbled, followed by the rest of the executive including District Vice Chair, Hebert Mushangi, District Secretary Edward Zvavareyi (centre), District Treasurer, Kumbirai Chikosha (kissing his card), District Organising Secretary Robert Hombiro, District Assembly for Women Chair, Faith Kadyamarunga and district Information and Publicity Secretary Makusha Mugabe who was not present for the ceremony.

Next were hosting branch chairman Izwi Muyambi, Coventry Branch chairman, Winston Matemadombo and Ebert Gono, vice chair of Nottingham Branch and Michael Ngulube, the organising secretary for Nottingham.

MDC Youths were also present washing cars as part of their fundraising activity which complemented Birmingham Branch’s “gotchi gotchi” – a braai with traditional Zimbabwean meals and or course beer galore.
]]> http://mdcnottingham.wordpress.com/2011/08/30/new-mdc-party-cards-launched-in-midlands-north-2/feed/ 0 Dhumbe Tonderai Samanyanga (Centre) Group photos Chikosha http://mdcnottingham.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/key-note-congress-address-by-tsvangirai/ http://mdcnottingham.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/key-note-congress-address-by-tsvangirai/#comments Thu, 28 Apr 2011 20:46:41 +0000 mdcnottingham http://mdcnottingham.wordpress.com/?p=687 Continue reading →]]> Key Note Address by President Tsvangirai to the MDC Women’s Assembly Congress, Bulawayo

Thursday, 28 April 2011

Today is a significant day for the women of Zimbabwe. You as the women representantives of the country’s largest political party -the MDC- have come to this Congress to elect a new leadership and to chart the way forward for the MDC Women’s Assembly and for the country.

I hope that you will use this important day to reflect on the past five years and derive valuable lessons on how best the women of this country can actively take part as leaders in this important journey towards a new Zimbabwe and a new beginning.  It is a fact that 30 years after overcoming the racial inequalities for which the liberation struggle was waged, the gender inequalities remain. This is despite the fact that our women played such a central role in the our liberation struggle.

Indeed, you have also played a central role in the struggle for a democratic Zimbabwe that has been ongoing now for more than a decade. Unfortunately, it is the women of Zimbabwe who had to pay the highest price in our national struggles. When any hardship stalks our land, it is the women of this nation that bear the brunt of the suffering, whether it be from disease, hunger, or poverty.

Therefore, let us take this opportunity to remember the gallant women who defied fear and played an active part in the formation of this party in 1999. Women who must continue to inspire us as we run the last mile to full democracy and freedon. Some of them are now departed and I am talking here about passionate fighters for democracy such as the late Getrude Mthombeni. May her soul rest in eternal peace.

Yet others braved violence and stood firm in this struggle, like our colleague Thabitha Marume who was callously and publicly murdered by Zanu PF activists in Manicaland in 2007. Talent Mabika, a committed woman who was plucked down in mid-stride and brutally murdered in April 2000 at Murambinda Growth Point in Buhera, is a pick from this rich galaxy of brave women who paid the ultimate price in their quest for change.

Abigail Chiroto, another brave woman who was killed simply because  her husband was a senior MDC activist. We must remember all these gallant women; brave daughters of this land who decided to be part of the national quest for a new dispensation.

Our mothers and our sisters in Murehwa,  Nkayi, Muzarabani and Chendambuya who were raped, murdered and assaulted over the years for their unstinting belief in change. In the face of threats, intimidation and brutal murders, they maintained their resolve to continue fighting against oppression, violence and plunder.

And there is one woman I knew so well and loved so much -a woman who insisted that women were equal shareholders in the struggle for change in Zimbabwe. A woman who would have been happy today to see such a huge gathering of friends and colleagues committed and determined to finish the struggle they started so many years ago.

And I am talking here of my late wife, Susan Tsvangirai, who tragically perished in an accident on 6 March 2009, exactly 23 days after hope had beckoned for this country following the formation of the inclusive government on 11 February 2009. All these women, including the women in the villages, on the farms and in urban townships who have borne the brunt of violence, are the true heroes of our struggle.

They have refused to be cowed and they continue to be associated with the national desire for change.At this historic congress let us honour their sacrifice. Let us treasure the memory of those that have paid the ultimate price and let us ensure that their legacy is a New Zimbabwe that is truly free, democratic and prosperous.

This is what they stood for and this is what they were fighting for when they died. We owe it to them to carry on the struggle courageously, peacefully and relentlessly. In light of this, I wish to address the allegations of factionalism, conflict and corruption that have preceded this Congress.  Let me state once and for all that there will no tolerance of violence in the MDC. There will no sanctioning of  corruption in the MDC and there will be no reward for patronage in the MDC.

It is these traits that our party was born to eradicate. It is these traits that condemned an entire generation to poverty and repression and there can be no room for them in the New Zimbabwe.

Soon, you will vote for your new leaders.Let me tell you now that it is your duty to shun those that encouraged violence; To reject those that promoted factionalism; And to discard any individual that attempted to tarnish your precious vote by trying to buy it. As we prepare to govern our beautiful country let us ensure that we represent the very best that the people of Zimbabwe have to offer.

Let us truly be the Party of Excellence!

Women of Zimbabwe, I am heartened by the enthusiasm that I see here, the high spirits and the emotive contest which all go to show that we are a true democratic party. Serious business for the Women’s Assembly must begin today.And we must begin with an honest introspection into whether we have succeeded in the past five years in creating a strong women’s movement that can mobilise women across all sectors and classes to be part of the change agenda.

Our last party Conference approved a 50-50 threshold for women at all levels of leadership and you must rise up to the challenge and demand your space. I urge you to step up to this challenge and as a Women’s Assembly; I hope you have comprehensive proposals to the Constitution for adoption by this Congress, including the demand for equal representation at all levels.

Until we have such a Constitution and until our women take their rightful place in the Party and in Zimbabwe, our nation will never be truly empowered. Only then will the MDC truly be a Party of Excellence. I take heart that you have remained resolute over the years, undaunted by a dark past but excited by the prospect of a better future for yourselves and your children.

I also hope that you have managed to debate the party policy on gender in order to enrich the party position on all major issues affecting women and to keep the party appraised of the special needs and concerns of women. At the epicentre of our beliefs as a social democratic party is gender equality, the need to eradicate poverty and the empowerment of women to take care of every   area of their lives.

We must be alive especially to the needs of rural women and the key role they continue to play in the country’s economy. We must recognise the role of women as mothers in the family and as the ultimate care-givers even where national institutions have collapsed.

This nation is poised for an election and the role of women in this important national process cannot be underplayed. Women must be on the forefront in the collective quest for a clear roadmap to an election; with a clear role for our African brothers and sisters in ensuring that the election will take place in a peaceful environment with neither fear not coercion.

We must not merely seek peace. We must demand it! The women of Zimbabwe must continue to occupy their space by taking part in national struggles, national discussions, national processes and national events.

I equally hope that the new leadership that will emerge from here will be able to take the struggle forward and to ensure that women have an important role to play in shaping the country’s future.

Your future is in your hands.

I thank You

Around the football stadium in a poor part of Bulawayo, more than 5,000 MDC delegates began gathering for the congress.

Many groups were campaigning for candidates seeking one of the top 12 spots on the party’s national standing committee, which runs the MDC on a day-to-day basis.

Groups of supporters for various candidates were singing catchy campaign songs on the outside of the stadium.  Other groups were handing out promotional material.

Only MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai, who is also prime minister in Zimbabwe’s inclusive government, has been unanimously re-elected prior to the congress.

Tendai Biti, secretary-general of the MDC, and finance minister in the inclusive government, said it was remarkable that the party has survived since it was launched more than 11 years ago.

“To be alive in Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe… Some of us have been tortured, some of us have been imprisoned, some of us have been exiled, we died 10 times over, to be here, in our third congress in spite [of] everything that has happened to us, I think is a miracle. So we deserve to celebrate,” said Biti.

Biti has significant support to retain his post, but others, including well-known MDC provincial and national leaders are being challenged for the first time since the party’s formation.

Biti said the stiff competition for top jobs is healthy, but he said it has also led to some regrettable intra-party violence.

“It is an extremely healthy party, the exuberant competition in all the provinces: that is democracy, but also there is a bad side that has come out of this – violence and other illegal practices. This is unacceptable.  Also sometimes the victim becomes the perpetrator.  We are in a very violent society because of ZANU-PF,” added Biti.

In the 26-month-old inclusive government, Sekai Holland represents the MDC in a ministry created to promote national healing between victims and perpetrators of violence.

She said the MDC will have to confront the pre-congress violence and ensure that it never happens again.

“I have told Tsvangirai urgently we have to put a program together inside the party where we do national healing internally, meeting this dimension we were never aware of,” said Holland.

Holland is standing for election as deputy treasurer-general.  The present treasurer, Roy Bennett, who many say is the most persecuted member of the MDC, is living in exile in London, as he has been warned that if he returns to Zimbabwe he will be arrested.

He has made himself available, from exile, for re-election.

The congress is due to be officially opened Saturday by Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

It is my fervent hope that today, as we celebrate 31 years since we liberated ourselves from colonial rule, we are surrounded by family and friends as we all reflect on the true meaning and significance of the great struggle that we waged. I hope we will all have time to reflect on what this nation has gone through and whether our current status reflects what thousands died for as they sought to bring freedom, peace and prosperity to a country ravaged by plunder and racial segregation.

For a peaceful and prosperous Zimbabwe, is the Zimbabwe that our liberation heroes fought and died for. That is the Zimbabwe that has now been hijacked by a small group that is determined to betray our heroes who bravely sacrificed their lives to liberate every Zimbabwean regardless of race, creed or religion.

This small clique has ensured that people’s freedoms are repressed and fear and intimidation brought into our homes, our villages and our townships. I am confident that today, more than at any time in the last 15 years, we are closer to reaching the ideals for which all our true heroes paid such a dear price to achieve.

But I also acknowledge that we still have a hard road to travel before we reach the ultimate goal of a peaceful, prosperous and democratic Zimbabwe. What we have learnt over the past three decades is that there are some among us who are determined to make this country slide back to the dark years of repression, violence and intimidation.

We have also learnt that we are ultimately responsible for our own destiny, even though we remain heartened by the brave stance of SADC in standing with the people of Zimbabwe as shown by its recent commitment to ensure and guarantee peace in this great country that we all love.  Just as we decided to take up arms against the white minority government and subsequently, in 1999, to launch a peaceful democratic struggle against a regime that had imposed sanctions and declared war upon its own people, so we today must take responsibility for where our nation is headed.

We must take responsibility for the type of society we are trying to build, for the future that we want for ourselves, our children and our loved ones. It is probable that by the time we celebrate 32 years of Independence, we will be in an intricate and watershed period that will shape and decide our collective future.

Thus, we have a momentous and exciting year ahead of us. A year that will enable us all to choose, determine and put in place mechanisms to ensure we build a strong  foundation for the new Zimbabwe that we demand and deserve. The coming year will also hold many challenges, dangers and difficult choices. But we have already shown that we have the conviction, the courage and the belief in our own capacity to overcome any hurdles and to build the society that we want.

As we enter our 32nd year of liberation, there will be many treacherous voices trying to convince you to shed away your determination for a new and democratic Zimbabwe. All I ask you is to trust in your heart and to embrace the democratic ideals of our fallen heroes and to remain steadfast in your dedication to building a truly free society. Twenty years after independence we were told that the land would set us free. The same land was later grabbed by avaricious politicians and the well-connected in our society.

Now, thirty years after independence we are being told by multi-millionaires and multiple farm-owners that indigenisation will set us free. By this they are not referring to broad-based empowerment of the ordinary man and woman, but the looting and plunder of national resources by a small, parasitic elite.

Let us not be diverted or distracted by empty rhetoric. Let us not grasp at seemingly easy, short-term gains while continuing to live under the yoke of repression, by individuals driven by partisan political motives and personal greed. Our police and armed services should defend the people and should do their job, without fear or favour, in terms of our Constitution and by upholding the rule of law will we be nearer to true freedom.

Only when we are free to fulfill our potential as employers, entrepreneurs or employees, as mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters will we be truly free.

Only when we begin to enjoy basic freedoms of assembly, movement, speech and association can we say we have achieved what our gallant sons and daughters fought and for.

My fellow Zimbabweans, let us make this 32nd year of our Independence the most significant time in our history. Let us stand together, work together and pray together so that we can all experience true freedom, lasting prosperity and universal security. That is the Zimbabwe we deserve and the nation that I am committed to building.

And that is the Zimbabwe for which many of our heroes and heroines lost their lives. I make a commitment today that I will lead the collective national effort to complete the unfinished business of the liberation struggle by ensuring that true freedom returns to this great country of our birth.

God Bless You.
God Bless Zimbabwe.

Morgan Richard Tsvangirai – Prime Minister and MDC President

By Tichaona Sibanda
18 April 2011

MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai has called on his party to unite, to counter
what he described as ZANU PF’s increasingly authoritarian and brutal streak
meant to destabilise the country ahead of a planned poll.

Tsvangirai has been on whirlwind tour of the country to meet with provincial
party structures following elections that have largely been disrupted by the
police. In other provinces some elections have been marred by vote buying.

The MDC leader says some individuals in ZANU PF and members of the Joint
Operations Command (JOC) are holding the country to ransom. ‘It is a fact
that there are some among us who are determined to take this country back to
the dark years of repression, violence and intimidation,’ Tsvangirai said
over the weekend.

In Chinhoyi on Friday night, he said people can have different points of
view on many things ‘but at a time of major challenges ahead, it was
important to maintain the unity of the party.’

He went on to say; “The MDC should come out of the third national congress,
stronger and with a clear agenda that it is a party ready and worthy to
govern”.

5,000 party delegates from across the country are expected to attend the
congress in Bulawayo from April 28-30. But there are reports the police are
trying to bar the gathering.

Our Bulawayo correspondent, Lionel Saungweme, said it appears the police,
acting on instructions from the top, are hell bent on disrupting the ‘’rebranding’
of the MDC, because of the threat it creates to ZANU PF.

‘People should not forget that between January and February, the JOC met at
Rose camp police station in Bulawayo and ordered that all MDC functions be
banned. A fractured MDC will not be a threat to ZANU PF but a rebranded MDC,
with new faces and new ideas, will be bad news for Mugabe. This is why the
partisan police will want to make it difficult for the party to have its
congress,’ Saungweme said.

The Zimbabwe Standard newspaper reported on Sunday that police claim they
don’t have adequate manpower to cover the meeting and are demanding US$10
000 a day to provide extra security.

The MDC is also being barred from using education institutions for
accommodation in the city, raising fears hundreds of party delegates will be
left without anywhere to sleep.

HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s main rival on Monday
denounced his plans to nationalise foreign-owned firms as “looting and
plunder” by a greedy elite.

In a statement for Zimbabwe’s 31st independence anniversary, Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai dismissed as “empty rhetoric” a drive by Mugabe’s ZANU-PF
party to force foreign companies to transfer majority shareholding to local
blacks.

Mugabe’s seizures of white-owned commercial farms about a decade ago under
the banner of correcting colonial injustices had ruined the economy and
benefited “avaricious politicians” over the last decade, Tsvangirai said.

“Now thirty years after independence, we are being told by
multi-millionaires and multiple farm owners that indigenisation will set us
free,” he said.

“By this, they are not referring to broad-based empowerment of the ordinary
man and woman, but the looting and plunder of national resources by a small,
parasitic elite,” he added.

Mugabe, 87 and in power since Zimbabwe’s since independence from Britain in
1980, signed an Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act in 2008, which
forces foreign-owned companies worth over $500,000 to achieve at least 51
percent black ownership within five years.

Mugabe defended the policy later in the day at an independence rally also
attended by Tsvangirai.

The president said a government notice giving foreign mining companies until
May 9 to submit their plans on the share transfer was part of a broad
economic empowerment programme.)

Mugabe also denounced political violence and avoided his usual attacks on
Tsvangirai in a reconciliatory speech.

Zimbabwe, Mugabe said, had stabilised politically after a power-sharing
government brokered by regional leaders in 2009 and could complete
constitutional reforms ahead of elections.

Mugabe has been pushing for an early poll this year before agreed democratic
reforms, accusing his opponents of wasting time on petty quarrels over state
appointments.

Analysts say an election without reforms, including a new constitution, a
free media and improved voter registration, will favour Mugabe and his
ZANU-PF party. MDC officials warned an early election could lead to a
bloodbath.

Although Mugabe called for national unity and peaceful political
co-existence, he made no direct reference to a spate of clashes between his
supporters and backers of Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change or the
arrest of opposition officials.

Moses Mzila-Ndlovu, a minister from a small MDC faction led by Industry and
Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube, was detained at the weekend on charges of
addressing an illegal meeting and using hate speech.

Despite some members having been told that there was no branch meeting on that day, some heed the call not to attend and some made calls to other members who told them the meeting was on, the attendance was excellent against all odds. The main bone of contention about the so called resignations were resolved. The executive, led by Nicholas Shiri which was constitutionally voted in March by the whole branch was the only recognized by UK & Ireland and Zimbabwe. The one led by Regis Manyanya and his two executives was an illegal one and he should be grateful for the part could have sued him for putting the party’s name into disrepute. Mr Musarurwa was given a chance to chose which executive he wanted to work with and he decided to go with the floor. The membership were urged to unite and fight one enemy which was  ZANU PF. People were again remanded that MDC was a people’s project and it will be foolhardy for any individual to claim that they single handedly brought the branch to were it is today. Those with pending immigration issues were notified of the proper channels to follow. Again they were exhorted that no one should take advantage of their situation. The executive and the district pledged its support to all those who will be found to be in need.

for picture click on http://www.flickr.com/photos/27758004@N08/sets/72157626475452134/

Mozambique, outgoing Troika chairman.
Tsvangirai also met current Sadc chair, Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba.
The premier met leaders of Tanzania and DRC as part of his regional trips. Tsvangirai has been telling Sadc leaders about his poisoned relations with Mugabe, renewed political repression and violence, arbitrary arrests and selective application of the law, and refusal to implement the Global Political Agreement (GPA) and its perpetual violations. He has also said Mugabe does not respect them.
Banda, Zuma, Guebuza and Pohamba attended last week’s Troika meeting which drew up far-reaching resolutions and left Mugabe further isolated.
As Mugabe’s row with Sadc leaders escalated, his spokesman George Charamba on Wednesday wrote a long article in the state-controlled Herald, distancing his boss from the Sunday Mail remarks. Charamba also issued a series of disclaimers, retractions and denials in the process, saying Mugabe was only complaining about procedures and not Sadc resolutions.
He, however, indicated Mugabe’s discomfort with the new Sadc team which would work closely with the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee on issues relating to the GPA and Government of National Unity (GNU) and the return of Sadc facilitators on Zimbabwe, who are also Zuma’s personal advisors.
Despite Mugabe’s outrage, Sadc executive secretary Tomaz Salomao said Zimbabwe had not complained officially and Sadc was proceeding with its activities. Zuma’s facilitators arrived on Wednesday and held meetings yesterday.
Mugabe caused the crisis by reacting angrily to the Sadc decisions, accusing regional leaders of meddling in his internal affairs and denouncing Zuma in the process.
“There is a line of thinking in Sadc that a body should be created to point certain things to us but Zimbabwe will not tolerate any group to prescribe to us what to do. Facilitators should facilitate, he cannot prescribe to us to do A, B, C, and D. We give ourselves the A, B, C, and D, in accordance with our agreement,” Mugabe told his party’s central committee last Friday, a day after the Sadc Troika summit.
Mugabe said Zuma could not tell him what to do.
“We will not brook any dictation from any source. We are a sovereign country. Even our neighbours cannot dictate to us. We will resist that,” he said.
“The facilitator is the facilitator and must facilitate dialogue. He cannot prescribe anything. We prescribe what we should do in accordance with our laws and our agreement. “The (opposition) MDC thinks Sadc or the African Union can prescribe to us how we run our things.”
Mugabe opened the floodgates for the government-controlled Sunday Mail and its columnists to insult Zuma and other Sadc leaders in unprecedented terms. The Sunday Mail, which reflects the views and thinking of Mugabe, his section of government and Zanu PF, described Zuma as a “dishonest broker”, a surrogate of Western countries and “a huge liability, not only to South Africa but also to the rest of the continent”.
“President Mugabe has clearly stated that President Zuma has no mandate to craft an election roadmap for Zimbabwe,” the Sunday Mail claimed.
Mugabe’s remarks and those by his loyalists in Zanu PF and the state media angered Zuma and Sadc leaders. Although Zuma has not spoken in public about Mugabe’s statements, his office has said Zimbabwean leaders use the official channels of communication.
]]> http://mdcnottingham.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/tsvangirai-tightens-screws-on-mugabe/feed/ 0 Dhumbe http://mdcnottingham.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/pm-tsvangirai-blasts-chihuri/ http://mdcnottingham.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/pm-tsvangirai-blasts-chihuri/#comments Fri, 08 Apr 2011 11:07:57 +0000 mdcnottingham http://mdcnottingham.wordpress.com/?p=663 Continue reading →]]> http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Reagan Mashavave, Staff Writer
Thursday, 07 April 2011 16:26

HARARE – Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday castigated police
commissioner general, Augustine Chihuri for failing to investigate and
apprehend perpetrators of the 2008 election violence in which 200 MDC
supporters were killed.

Tsvangirai singled out Chihuri for being partisan in exercising his duties
saying the police chief has ‘chosen to engage’ in selective application of
the law.

The premier was speaking in Harare at the memorial service of five MDC
supporters who were murdered towards the presidential run-off in 2008.
Victims of political violence have been getting assistance from Heal
Zimbabwe, a non-governmental organisation.

“We are angry because the commissioner-general, Augustine Chihuri has chosen
to engage in selective application of the law and to personalise what should
otherwise be a state institution,” Tsvangirai said.

“We are angry because our parents, our brothers, our husbands and our wives
were killed in state-sponsored violence, which is a cruel irony because it
is the duty of the state to protect citizens and not harm them.”

Five of the MDC supporters who were being remembered are Tonderai Ndira,
Better Chokururama, Cain Nyeve, Godfrey Kauzani and Abigail Chiroto. All the
five, the MDC said were abducted and murdered by yet to be identified
assailants towards the 2008 elections.

Tsvangirai pulled out of the presidential run-off election with President
Robert Mugabe four days before the election citing violence against his
supporters and a ban on their rallies by the police.

Tsvangirai said perpetrators of violence that include Joseph Mwale, the
alleged murderer of his aides Tichaona Chiminya and Talent Mabika as way
back as the year 2000, are yet to brought to book. He said despite
overwhelming evidence the police have not arrested Mwale.

He said the police have failed to make even a ‘single arrest’ of the
perpetrators of violence which has ‘made the majority of our people lose
faith and confidence in the police force as a people’s institution.’

“We are angry because the perpetrators of these heinous acts are walking
scot-free and the police have not even bothered to make a single arrest,”
Tsvangirai said.

“Joseph Mwale, the alleged murderer of Tichaona Chiminya and Talent Mabika
in that gruesome murder in April 2000, remains in the employ of the State
and a free man despite overwhelming evidence against him. He is a living
example of the culture of impunity that has afflicted this country; a true
testimony of the failure of the justice system in Zimbabwe.”

“There has been no single arrest of these murderers and all perpetrators of
violence and this has made the majority of our people lose faith and
confidence in the police force as a people’s institution,” said Tsvangirai.

He said history will one day judge the current police force for its failure
to arrest perpetrators of violence. The MDC leader, however said he is
‘heartened’ by the Sadc troika on politics, defence and security which last
week called for an immediate end to political violence in the country.

“In the absence of arrests and prosecution, history will record that the
police force in this country folded its arms and closed its eyes while the
merchants of violence killed and brutalised innocent civilians, ”Tsvangirai
said.

“We are however, heartened that our brothers in Sadc have now realised that
violence as orchestrated by partisan state institutions is the single major
threat to democracy in Zimbabwe and stability in the whole region.”

Tsvangirai said the country has experienced violence enough in its history
from the liberation struggle that brought independence, Gukurahundi
disturbances and in the past years. He said the recent exhumation of bodies
at a disused mine in Mt Darwin was being done in a partisan manner for
‘cheap’ political gain.

“We have recently witnessed the exhumation of dead bodies in one corner of
the country for cheap political gain. We should accord those that died
violent and unnatural deaths the respect they deserve,” Tsvangirai said.

Tsvangirai later addressed his supporters who had gathered at the Warren
Hills cemetery for the memorial of the five activists, where he said the
next elections must be free from any form of violence.

“From today we will not betray men and women who died for a new Zimbabwe. We
don’t want any violence during the next elections,” he said.

Several top MDC government officials attended the memorial service of the
five activists. The officials include secretary general and Finance
minister, Tendai Biti, Co-Home Affairs minister, Theresa Makone, Economic
Planning minister, Tapiwa Mashakada, ICT minister, Nelson Chamisa and Labour
minister, Paurina Mpariwa among others. There were no Zanu PF officials at
the function.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Heal Zimbabwe director, Rashid Mahiya,
centre, and deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe attend a memorial service
in rememberance of MDC activists in Harare yesterday.

07/04/2011 11:32:00

Masvingo, April 07, 2011 – In a bid to stop divisions which were likely to
split the party in Masvingo, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has ordered a
re-run of Masvingo congress following serious complaints by a faction which
boycotted last weekend’s party provincial congress in Mucheke stadium.

Tsvangirai has since assigned his deputy, Thokozani Khupe to attend the
congress which is now set for April 9, 2011.

Party spokesperson Nelson Chamisa has confirmed the development.

“We have since resolved that Masvingo should have another congress on
Saturday,” Chamisa said.

The venue for the congress is not yet known as the party is still deciding
to have it at either Masvingo Polytechnic or Mucheke Stadium.

“Thokhozani Khupe is expected to deliver a speech before the elections.
Khupe was assigned by Tsvangirai to plead for unity in Masvingo. She is also
expected to start by asking for forgiveness over what took place last
weekend,” said a highly placed source in MDC-T.

Khupe will be accompanied by Sekai Holland, Edie Cross, Dr Henry Madzorera,
Shepherd Jack and Joel Gabhuza.

Both factions in Masvingo have expressed confidence that they will win the
weekend elections.

“We knew that last weekend’s event was a mock rally. We were confident that
Tsvangirai in his normal senses would not accept that dubious committee to
stand for Masvingo. Now we are going for a real congress where true party
leaders are expected to be elected,” the incumbent vice chairman Charles
Muzenda said.

However, the provincial chairman Wilstuff Sitemere who was re-elected for
the same position last week said nothing is going to change on Saturday.

“You will see that those who were elected last week will remain the people’s
choice. We shall go for that congress so that those who boycotted last week’s
congress will witness us being re-elected in to office,” Sitemere said.

There are two factions in Masvingo with the one being led by Gutu South
legislator Professor Elphas Mukonoweshuro while the other faction is under
Masvingo urban MP Tongai Matutu.

Mkonoweshuro’s faction boycotted last weekend elections citing a lot of
irregularities and vote rigging among other things.