Category: Politics

{In a surprise move, Zimbabwe’s war veterans, who supported Mugabe for decades, say they will no longer back him.}

Veterans of Zimbabwe’s independence war have said they will no longer back President Robert Mugabe in elections, in a surprise revolt that comes after a series of recent nationwide anti-government protests.

The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, which had been a pillar of support for the 92-year-old leader for decades, denounced Mugabe on Thursday, calling him dictatorial, manipulative and egocentric.

“We note, with concern, shock and dismay, the systematic entrenchment of dictatorial tendencies, personified by the president and his cohorts, which have slowly devoured the values of the liberation struggle,” the group said in a statement.

The veterans said they would no longer support Mugabe’s political campaigns, accusing him of abandoning them for the youth league of the ruling ZANU-PF party.

Many in Zimbabwe are frustrated by a rapidly deteriorating economy, a currency crisis and alleged corruption.

Mugabe, who has been in power for 36 years, has recently turned toward the youth league for political support, including in two rallies attended by tens of thousands of people.

Earlier this week, Mugabe responded to the recent anti-government protests, telling critics to leave Zimbabwe if they were unhappy with conditions at home.

The veterans’ group indicated it has had enough of such talk from the president.

“We are dismayed by the president’s tendency to indulge, in his usual vitriol against perceived enemies, including peaceful protesters, as well as war veterans, when the economy is on its knees,” their statement said.

“He has a lot to answer for the serious plight of the national economy.”

They also blamed the southern African country’s economic crisis, the worst since it dumped its hyperinflation-hit currency in 2009 and adopted the US dollar, on “bankrupt leadership”.

{{Mugabe under pressure? }}

This week, Mugabe shrugged off criticisms by Christian pastor Evan Mawarire, who has become the figurehead of the anti-government protests fuelled by social media postings.

“I don’t even know him,” Mugabe said, accusing Mawarire of inciting violence and being backed by foreign countries.

Earlier this month, many offices, shops and some government departments were closed for a one-day strike against economic troubles that have been worsened by a severe drought.

Zimbabwe spends at least 80 percent of its revenue on state workers’ wages, according to officials, and about 90 percent of the population is out of formal employment.

Last week hundreds of Mawarire supporters rallied outside a court in the capital, Harare, until the pastor was released when a case against him of attempting to overthrow the government was dismissed.

Other protests have erupted at the border with South Africa after many basic imports were outlawed, as well as in Harare over police officers allegedly using road blocks to extort cash from motorists.

Salaries for civil servants and soldiers have again been delayed this month, and further protests are planned in the capital on Saturday and Monday.

Zimbabwe’s president has lambasted a pastor behind the #ThisFlag social media campaign that denounces the government’s management of the economy.

Robert Mugabe said that Evan Mawarire was not a true preacher and accused him of being sponsored by foreign countries bent on destabilising Zimbabwe.

The pastor backed a stay-at-home strike earlier this month, one of the largest anti-government protests in years.

He was arrested last week, but released when a court threw out the charges.

His lawyers successfully argued that the charge of subversion, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 year, had been added at the last minute, denying him a fair trial.

Mr Mawarire was first charged with inciting public violence despite the fact that he has called on Zimbabweans to take a peaceful stand against unemployment and corruption and avoided directly criticising the president.

The BBC’s Brian Hungwe in the capital, Harare, says Mr Mugabe was in his usual no-nonsense mood when he attacked his new-found nemesis.

In his first comments about the #ThisFlag movement that began several months ago, he said that if people like Mr Mawarire did not like living in Zimbabwe, they should go to “the countries of those who are sponsoring them”.

“A man of religion will speak the biblical truth. 1 Corinthians what does it say? Love one another,” the president said during his address to thousands of mourners at the funeral of Charles Utete, the country’s first black cabinet secretary.

“So beware these men of cloth, not all of them are true preachers of the Bible.”

To reiterate his point, the 92-year-old president said he was not sure which God such charlatans served.

“I don’t know whether they are serving God… we spell God double G.O.D, they spell God in reverse,” he said to cheers from the crowd.

The pastor is currently in South Africa, but has denied reports that he fled to seek asylum, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Mr Mawarire has struck a chord with many Zimbabweans through his campaign, organised via Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp, our reporter says.

Its success is not surprising given the mood of despair and anger over alleged government corruption, the chronic shortage of money and the heavy police presence on streets, he says.

{The former vice president whose bid government supported with Shs1b was knocked out in the first round when she won only 10 votes against 12 and 16 for her rivals.}

Africa’s political executives yesterday opened up the African Union Commission (AUC) chairperson race to new entrants after abstention by 16 West Africa states under their umbrella group, ECOWAS, deprived the three contenders of an outright win.
A winner, according to the rules, should garner at least two-thirds of the votes by the 53 members, excluding Morocco which is just making a comeback to the continental body.
Uganda’s candidate Dr Speciosa Wandira Kazibwe, a former Vice President, whose bid the government supported with Shs1 billion, was knocked out in the first round after she tailed with 11 votes. Her rivals Pelomi Venson-Moitoi of Botswana and Equatorial Guinea’s Agapito Mba Mokuy garnered 16 and 12 votes, respectively.

The voting was moved from Sunday to yesterday morning as the first agenda for the day after a last-minute attempt by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) to defer the elections was thwarted.

Insiders told this newspaper that the eventual lead candidate, Botswana’s Dr Pelomi Venson-Moitoi, during the fourth and last round, polled 23 votes, which, although the highest, still fell below the 35-vote threshold to bag the job currently held by South Africa’s Dlamini Zuma.

Ms Zuma is expected to remain in-charge for the next six months, but could throw her hat back in the ring if yesterday’s failure to find a suitable replacement buoys her to change her mind and seek re-election.

Mr Jacob Enoh Eben, the spokesperson of the AUC chairperson, tweeted that: “‘Black smoke billows’ from the 27th AU summit as no winner emerges,” referencing a popular Vatican phrase when voting by cardinals in a conclave for a new Pope is inconclusive.

“Elections were suspended as abstention by Ecowas group [meant] no candidate could get two-thirds majority required,” Uganda’s Foreign Affairs ministry Permanent Secretary James Mugume told this newspaper from Rwanda, host of the 27th ordinary AU summit.

Mr Mugume, however, said it was premature to count Dr Kazibwe out and defeated because, according to him, “the first vote only reflects group strengths”. “It is possible,” the PS noted, “to start third and win when the groups become more flexible. All candidates remain in the race, including Dr Wandira.”

A senior diplomat told this newspaper that whereas the law allows Uganda to re-nominate Dr Kazibwe for the voting rescheduled for January 2017 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; doing so after yesterday’s poor show, would diminish the country’s chances and complicate galvanising regional endorsement for her candidature. A more pragmatic option, the source suggested, would be for Kampala to front another more accomplished contestant.

We were unable to speak directly to Dr Kazibwe, who remained holed up in a nearby hotel room after losing in early voting that the heads of State conducted through secret ballot at the new imposing Kigali Convention Centre.

Ms Sarah Kagingo, the campaign spokesperson, however, said the ex-vice president was “upbeat”. “She has always said this was not [a case of] ‘us against them’ because we are all Africans,” Ms Kagingo said.

Uganda government officials had been optimistic Dr Kazibwe would perform better than it turned out after Kampala made available to her substantial resources, enabling her to criss-cross the continent to court heads of states and governments in meetings followed by photo opportunities.
Prior to the start of the AU Heads of State Summit in Kigali, ECOWAS reportedly filed a motion of request to have the elections deferred on grounds that the regional bloc intended to present a candidate. The request, a source said, was brought forward for debate but AU chairman and Chadian President Idriss Deby, overruled it.

The summit consulted the AU legal counsel, Prof Vincent Nmehielle, who advised that the nominations were conducted in line with the AU’s Constitutive Act, with candidates presented and vetted by independent experts before endorsement by the Council of Foreign Affairs ministers.

Ecowas, alleged to be behind a campaign that the final three candidates were not of the right pedigree to lead the continental bloc, was faulted for choosing to ambush the summit with last-minute demands spearheaded by Senegal President Mackay Sall, including for postponement of the vote.

Ivory Coast and Senegal led the Ecowas campaign to postpone the election and when they failed, Senegal presented its former Foreign Affairs minister. He could, however, not be accepted because nominations were already closed. Chairman Deby allowed the voting to proceed.

Shortly after the inconclusive vote, Uganda Foreign Affairs minister Sam Kutesa in a statement issued in Kigali, noted: “The candidates who competed in this election are eligible to run, but the competition will also be opened to other candidates who might be interested and have necessary qualifications.”

{Fresh fighting in South Sudan’s capital has killed hundreds of people and forced thousands to flee their homes.}

Renewed fighting in South Sudan that has killed more than 300 people is set to dominate an African Union summit that starts in the Rwandan capital of Kigali on Sunday.

A shaky ceasefire has held since late on Monday after fighting raged for four days in the South Sudanese capital of Juba, forcing 40,000 people to flee their homes.

The violence echoed fighting that triggered the civil war and marks a fresh blow to last year’s deal to end a bitter conflict that began when President Salva Kiir accused ex-rebel and now Vice President Riek Machar of plotting a coup.

The unrest has also plunged into doubt a peace deal signed in August 2015.

Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi, reporting from Juba, said the ceasefire appeared to be holding but there was a sense of uncertainty in the city.

Locals, she said, were wondering about the whereabouts of Machar, who has been in hiding.

“What is certain is that he has not left the country,” Soi said. “But he says he still feels his life is in danger and until his safety is guaranteed he will not come out.”

Speaking to regional grouping IGAD in Kigali on Saturday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said a “critical stage” in the South Sudan crisis had been reached.

“Now is the time to send a strong message to the South Sudanese leadership,” he said.

“The people of South Sudan have been let down by their own leadership.Their hopes and dreams have been tarnished at the expense of warring parties enriching and empowering themselves. We cannot and will not tolerate this.”

{{Leadership crisis}}

The AU will also seek to hammer out a solution to a crisis engulfing Burundi, where a spate of killings have rocked the country since President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would seek a third term.

Also on the crowded agenda will be the ongoing fight against the Boko Haram armed group that has its roots in northern Nigeria but has carried out attacks across the Lake Chad region.

Recent violent incidents in the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo are also expected to feature in the talks.

Efforts to secure peace in the South Sudan and elsewhere, however, will be complicated by divisions over who should succeed Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as chair of the AU’s new commission.

Several countries on the continent have indicated that they do not back any of the leading candidates for the job, arguing that they lack stature.

Now all three of the leading candidates – Botswana’s Foreign Minister Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi, her Guinean opposite number Agapito Mba Mokuy and Uganda’s former vice president Specioza Wandira-Kazibwe look like they may fail to get a majority of votes from the African Union’s 54 members.

If that happens the vote could be abandoned and re-run at the next AU summit in January 2017.