Zimbabwe - is it the beginning of the end for Mugabe?

Edo wrote:Just caught this - it seems like the writing is on the wall

The world holds it breath

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/mugabe-the-writings-on-the-wall-802717.html


Say a little prayer to what ever God or diety you believe in tonight before you hit the sack that this transfer of power can be done with as little bloodshed as possible - its the very least the people of Zimbabwe deserve.

Edo wrote:Just caught this - it seems like the writing is on the wall

The world holds it breath

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/mugabe-the-writings-on-the-wall-802717.html


Say a little prayer to what ever God or diety you believe in tonight before you hit the sack that this transfer of power can be done with as little bloodshed as possible - its the very least the people of Zimbabwe deserve.

Edo wrote:Just caught this - it seems like the writing is on the wall

The world holds it breath

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/mugabe-the-writings-on-the-wall-802717.html


Say a little prayer to what ever God or diety you believe in tonight before you hit the sack that this transfer of power can be done with as little bloodshed as possible - its the very least the people of Zimbabwe deserve.

Breaking News.ie wrote:Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe warned today he would not step down even if he
does lose the presidential election to be held later this month.

“We
shed a lot of blood for this country. We are not going to give up our
country for a mere X” on a ballot. How can a ball point pen fight with
a gun?“ he said in the government mouthpiece Herald newspaper.

EvotingMachine0197 wrote:Can somebody out there just take this lunatic out of the game ?

Breaking News.ie wrote:Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe warned today he would not step down even if he
does lose the presidential election to be held later this month.

“We
shed a lot of blood for this country. We are not going to give up our
country for a mere X” on a ballot. How can a ball point pen fight with
a gun?“ he said in the government mouthpiece Herald newspaper.

Full story Here

21/07/2008 - 11:31:24

Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe and his fiercest rival opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai are expected to sign an agreement to hold power-sharing talks today.

Officials in South Africa said its President Thabo Mbeki who has been acting as go-between is scheduled to arrive in Harare for the signing.

The agreement sets out conditions for talks to form a unity government to help resolve Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis.

Opposition leader Mr Tsvangirai won most votes in the March elections but pulled out of a June run-off vote against Mugabe because of escalating state-sponsored violence against his supporters

cactus flower wrote:I am very pleased to see this.

21/07/2008 - 11:31:24

Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe and his fiercest rival opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai are expected to sign an agreement to hold power-sharing talks today.

Officials in South Africa said its President Thabo Mbeki who has been acting as go-between is scheduled to arrive in Harare for the signing.

The agreement sets out conditions for talks to form a unity government to help resolve Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis.

Opposition leader Mr Tsvangirai won most votes in the March elections but pulled out of a June run-off vote against Mugabe because of escalating state-sponsored violence against his supporters

I have to say that I agreed with the veto on sanctions. I hope that the Zimbabweans can find a way through that allows them to start being a productive country, without losing their independence and signing everything over to the corporations.

Lestat wrote:
Why are you pleased to see an agreement to hold power-sharing talks? It's a sign of a country that has failed, that democracy doesn't work there. Either Mugabe and ZANU-PF won the elections and hold power from the people or they lost the elections and they don't.

Corporations provide work. Ireland depends on large foreign corporations for employment.

Auditor #9 wrote:It's very good news indeed. Was it due to pressure being put on Zimbabwe by the neighbours?

905 wrote:

Auditor #9 wrote:It's very good news indeed. Was it due to pressure being put on Zimbabwe by the neighbours?

I'd say it had more to do with an acceptance by Mugabe that he needs to remedy the situation in some manner. South Africa provided a means that suited both parties. Like Lestat I'd see this as a victory for Mugabe, if he forms some sort of government then he gets a veneer of legitimacy. The others get whatever they can, but they're not bargaining from a position of power. Anyway, it's better than nothing. Perhaps the MDC can hope to sideline Mugabe, as with Musharraf in Pakistan.

905 wrote: What on earth does that mean? Talks offer the chance of some peace, which is why I suspect cactus flower welcomes them. Zimbabweans have a choice between non-democratic violence and non-democratic peace.

905 wrote: Corporation provide work, but they also provide capital flight and eventually unemployment. They also have a nasty habit of threatening to pull out of a country unless they get their way.

Mugabe to seize control of foreign companies
21 July 2008

By Cris Chinaka and Paul Majendie
ZIMBABWE will transfer ownership of all foreign-owned firms that support western sanctions against President Robert Mugabe’s government to locals and investors from “friendly” countries, a state newspaper reported yesterday.
The Sunday Mail said Zimbabwe had begun auditing the ownership of western firms in the country as part of a black empowerment drive “and to counter the possible withdrawal of investment under sanctions imposed and proposed by Britain and the US.”

Mugabe — fighting to retain power after winning a run-off poll boycotted by his rival — says Zimbabwe’s severe economic crisis, which has left it with an inflation rate of more than 2.2 million per cent and chronic shortages of food and other basic needs, is owing to sabotage by former colonial master Britain, its European Union allies and the United States.

The Sunday Mail paper said preliminary results of Zimbabwe’s audit of foreign investments showed that 499 companies enjoyed British investments. Of these, 309 had majority shareholders in Britain and 97 were wholly owned by Britons.

The audit also found 353 firms with shareholders from other European countries, the weekly said in a story largely attributed to unnamed government sources.

“A high-ranking government source told the Sunday Mail that these companies would be targeted for takeover by local investors and companies from friendly countries, particularly those in the Far East, should they heed calls by the US and European governments for them to disinvest from Zimbabwe,” it said.

Most of the Western investments in Zimbabwe are in tourism, agriculture, manufacturing and food processing industries.

Meanwhile, African Union commission chief Jean Ping expressed his hope yesterday that Zimbabwe’s ruling party and the opposition would sign a deal within 24 hours to begin fully-fledged talks.

Ping met Mugabe, opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) chief Morgan Tsvangirai and a separate MDC faction on Saturday to prop up efforts to solve the country’s political crisis, an AU commission spokesman told AFP.

“He [Ping] is hopeful that a memorandum of understanding, which will outline the talks agenda and ground rules, will be signed tomorrow [Monday] with the MDC being part of it. Tsvangirai has given assurance of this,” said Elghassim Wane.

Also yesterday, Zimbabwe introduced a new 100-billion-dollar bank note in a bid to tackle rampant cash shortages, the central bank said.

The new note will go into circulation today, the bank said in a statement cited by state media, joining about half a dozen new high denomination notes already issued this year.

In January, a 10-million-dollar note was issued, then a 50-million-dollar note in April.

In May, notes for 100 million and 250 million dollars were issued, swiftly followed by those for five billion, 25 billion and 50 billion.

The southern African nation, currently gripped by a post-election crisis, has been ravaged by hyperinflation which shot up from 165,000% in February to 2.2 million in June.

Independent economists, however, believe the official inflation figure is grossly understated, estimating it could be running between 10 million and 15 million percent.

905 wrote:

Auditor #9 wrote:It's very good news indeed. Was it due to pressure being put on Zimbabwe by the neighbours?

I'd say it had more to do with an acceptance by Mugabe that he needs to remedy the situation in some manner. South Africa provided a means that suited both parties. Like Lestat I'd see this as a victory for Mugabe, if he forms some sort of government then he gets a veneer of legitimacy. The others get whatever they can, but they're not bargaining from a position of power. Anyway, it's better than nothing. Perhaps the MDC can hope to sideline Mugabe, as with Musharraf in Pakistan.

Auditor #9 wrote: A victory for Mugabe eh? Is he really a demon or is there a lot of adverse press against him too?

cookiemonster wrote:I want one of those new 100 billion dollar notes they're bringing out today, I can add it to my wallet of dictators.