Full text of Khupe address to parliament on 18th Amendment!!!

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THE following is the full text of a speech made by Thokozani Khupe, the deputy leader of a faction of the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai, in parliament on Tuesday as Zanu PF and the MDC struck a deal on Constitutional Amendment 18:

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Last updated: 09/19/2007 12:05:35
HONOURABLE speaker Sir, it is with a heavy heart and a weighted soul that I rise to make this contribution to the second reading debate on constitutional Amendment No 18.
Mr. Speaker, l am fully alive to the weight of responsibility that has been placed on the shoulders of our generation and in particular those of our respective parties.

Mr. Speaker Sir, as l speak now our country is in a serious economic and political crisis.

It is an economy that has sustained ten years of negative growth rates, a phenomenon unknown to countries that have not gone through a physical war.

It is an economy that has seen millions of fellow Zimbabweans flee the border to unwelcoming, xenophobic, cruel diaspora where our people are subjected to degrading living conditions.

It is an economy that has seen the reduction of our life expectancy to 37 for men and 34 years for women and has resulted in an unsustainable and below par lifestyle of our people.

The economic difficulties have been interpreted differently by our people. On one hand are those such as myself and the party l belong to, who believe that at the core of our current crisis lies the unfinished business of our national liberation struggle.

Whilst independence removed a settler colonial minority regime, it did not deal with three key issues.

Firstly it did not extend freedom to the majority in line with the ideals of our liberation struggle.

Secondly it did not deal with structural economic issues therefore failing to provide for its people.

Thirdly and quite critically it did not deal with the issue of land, agrarian reform and land redistribution.

The post colonial Zimbabwean state regrettably failed to address these issues significantly in the first decade of independence.

At the same time contradictions began to emerge and a gap was established between the ideals of national liberation and the post colonial rulers.

In our view, nationalism simply became exhausted, creating the condition for the inevitable emergence of a genuine opposition political party, the MDC.

Thus the MDC emerged purely and simply out of the resultant crisis of governance.

On the other hand there are those who believe that our problems are not internal but external.

They believe that our problems were created by some grand imperialistic countries whose agenda is to reverse the gains of our independence.

Our failure to accept our diverse views, the need for coexistence and tolerance has created a polarised, vicious, and intolerant society.

Families are heavily divided between Zanu PF and the MDC, between Zanu PF and Zanu PF, and between the MDC and the MDC.

Families are at war with each other. Violence, corruption, vindictiveness, mistrust, greed, patronage, jealousy, and rumor mongering has become the mainstay of our nation.

It is in this context that we welcomed the SADC heads of state resolution in Dar Salaam of the 29th of March 2007, as being important and revolutionary.

That resolution acknowledged the fact that there was a missing link in Zimbabwe, and this was dialogue of its own people and a mutual recognition of each others presence and legitimacy.

That Zanu PF among other formations exists as a legitimate entity that played a critical role in liberating our country cannot and should not be put in issue.

Equally that the MDC exist as a genuine social liberation movement with the legitimacy and blessing of millions of Zimbabweans cannot and should not be put in issue.

More importantly it cannot and should not be put in issue that none of these formations is a sellout or is more Zimbabwean than the other.

We are both stakeholders and citizens of this lovely and beautiful land called Zimbabwe.

With this in mind, the dialogue that has taken place and is still taking
place has gone a long way toward deconstructing the matrix of intolerance and attrition in our society and hopefully this process is irreversible. Our party is committed to this process.

At the core of that dialogue, in our view, is the need to deal with the issue of legitimacy in our society. In our view, that can only come through the introduction of a people driven constitution and free and fair elections thereafter.

Of course the issues of repressive legislation such as POSA and AIPPA are critical, so too are the issues of the militarized state and the opaque management of the electoral process.

These are all issues covered in the agenda agreed to by the negotiators on the 19th of June 2007.

We remain committed to the principle of a new people driven constitution and a transparent and open process.

Our friends and constituencies out there must know that we will never betray this principle; however we are alive to the ongoing discussions and the progress that has been made so far.

It is in this regard, that as a confidence building measure we take the bold decision of not standing in the way of constitution amendment number 18 as amended by the negotiating teams.

In making this decision we are in no way abandoning any of our principles or are we betraying any cause, all we are saying is that at this point in our history the country is crying out for bold and decisive leadership and not populist grandstanding.

We are assured negotiations are still ongoing and that they will deliberate on the many issues that are still outstanding in this proposed constitutional amendment.

For this reason and subject to the inclusion of the agreed positions on the following

• a comprehensive Bill of Rights,

• an all inclusive citizenship provision,

• limits to presidential terms of office,· an independent electoral commission reporting to parliament, and above all an irrevocable commitment to the overhaul of security, media, and electoral laws, we are not standing in the way of the tabling of the 18th Amendment.

We emphasise that our position is predicated on our view that this should be regarded as the first step towards a holistic resolution of the national crisis.

Honorable speaker sir, we are aware that a commitment has been made to a public process of making a constitution by Zimbabweans for Zimbabweans -- a process that we fully endorse.

Our people out there need food, jobs, hospitals, and therefore we as politicians cannot decimate those aspirations.

Mr. Speaker Sir, history will judge our actions one day, but l am confident that we as MDC will be able to look history in the face and say we were right.

Hon Thokozani Khupe is the deputy leader of a faction of the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai

Ncube appears all set to launch new political party???

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 By Our Correspondent

 

HARARE, September 19, 2007 - Former Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube is reported to be finalising the modalities of forming a largely Ndebele-based political party to challenge President Robert Mugabe and his ruling Zanu-PF in the parliamentary and presidential election scheduled for early next March.

 

While still embroiled in devastating allegations of sexual scandal, Ncube appears set to challenge his nemesis, Mugabe, for the presidency. The name of former Defence Minister Enos Nkala, once a right hand man, but now an avowed enemy of Mugabe, has been linked to the formation of the proposed party. Nkala said yesterday that he would respond to questions today.

 

Sources told The Zimbabwe Times that Ncube, who resigned last week from his position in the Catholic Diocese of Bulawayo had indicated in closed door meetings with regional politicians that there was an urgent need for a new political party to represent the interests of the marginalized Ndebele people in the western regions of Zimbabwe.

 

Ncube, a fierce critic of President Mugabe, was unavailable for comment. He was earlier in the day quoted in reports in London as having said he would soon issue a statement on this development with ramifications beyond Matabeleland. The social communications officer with of Roman Catholic Church in Bulawayo, Sister Henri Nyathi, said she could neither confirm nor deny that Ncube - until last week the head of the Bulawayo Catholic Archdiocese - had advanced plans for the launch of a new political party.

 

An outspoken critic of the Mugabe regime, Ncube was stopped dead in his tracks last month by a volley of adultery charges, following what is widely believed to have been a sting operation by the government-owned media. Previously, he had vowed to lead mass protests against Mugabe, "guns blazing".

 

The sensational allegations of adultery levelled against Ncube were accorded unusually extensive coverage in the state-controlled media.

 

Ncube resigned last week after state television and newspapers published graphic photographs of the prelate in various stages of having sexual intercourse with a married woman. The pictures and footage were immediately followed by a Z$20 billion adultery lawsuit filed against Ncube by the woman's husband - a soldier serving with the Zimbabwe National Army - for the alleged affair with his wife.

 

Ncube's social standing noise-dived following the sensational details of the sex scandal, although critics maintained he was set up in a sting operation masterminded by the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO).

 

A defiant Ncube, in a statement issued last week after the Vatican indicated it had accepted his resignation stated: "I have not been silenced by the crude machinations of a wicked regime. I am committed to promoting the social teachings of the church, and to working among the poorest and most needy in Zimbabwe."

 

Sources close to the planned political party said Ncube had consulted senior officials of Bulawayo-based political parties, the Patriotic Union of Matabeleland (PUMA) and ZAPU Federal Party (FP) to sponsor a single candidate in next year's presidential polls. Given his profile, Ncube was likely to emerge the sole candidate who will stand against Mugabe from Matabeleland .

 

PUMA spokesman Leonard Nkala was not immediately available for comment. But Enos Nkala, a card carrying member of PUMA, who also served in Mugabe's Cabinet in the early 80s, declined to comment on the ongoing consultations about the united Ncube-led political front set to emerge from Bulawayo .

 

"I am afraid I can't comment on that. Maybe you can call me back at 8 am tomorrow after I have consulted," Nkala told The Zimbabwe Times last night.

 

Repeated efforts to obtain comment from ZAPU (FP) president Paul Siwela were futile.

Sources close to the proposed opposition political party said they hoped to have new party, dubbed the "Pius Ncube Solidarity Coalition" up and running by the time of the harmonised elections, expected to be called by the end of March, according to a constitutional amendment that sailed through its second reading in Parliament Tuesday. More than 60 civic groups in and around Matabeleland and Midlands have reportedly bought into the idea.

"There's a new committee which is being formed which has some people with vast experience in politics. This will form the steering committee with former Archbishop Ncube most certainly tipped to be at the helm," said our source.

 

He added that the aim was to stop politicians using Bulawayo residents as a "political football" to be hoodwinked with empty promises during election time and.

The official, a senior ex-combatant with the Post Independence Survivors' Trust, said Ncube envisioned a party that would represent Christian interests without excluding other faiths.

"The whole idea is to promote fairness across the board and specific values, such as honesty and dignity and equality," said our source.

 

Gorden Moyo, the director of Bulawayo Agenda, a civic group agitating against what they perceive as the marginalization of Matabeleland, said Ncube was losing the plot.

"If this is true it would be a futile exercise," said Moyo. "Ncube is a respected man and I believe he can do great work outside party politics. Being identified with political parties will certainly reduce his impact."

 

Moyo said he believed Ncube would be stronger as a voice for all people across the political divide, especially in civic society.

 

Bishop Ncube caused uproar in recent months when he openly admitted to praying for 83-year-old President Mugabe's death as a means to end Zimbabwe's political and economic crises. He also sparked controversy when he said Western nations would be morally justified to invade Zimbabwe and topple Mugabe.

 

The relationship between Mugabe and Catholic bishops has soured after the clerics slammed his ruinous handling of the economy.

 

MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT TSVANGIRAI!!

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In July the MDC alerted the nation to the dangers of government besieging the struggling business community by ordering the slashing of commodity prices. President Mugabe and Zanu PF have now sabotaged the economy through policy inconsistencies and reckless populism.

Now the nation is at risk, without food, without water, without electricity and without basic means of sustenance. Schools opened for the third term, with headmasters and school administrators desperate for basics to keep them open. Some schools might close before the end of the year. Hospitals can no longer feed patients; hotels and food outlets are failing to access essentials to provide hospitality, and prisons rations have been reduced to life-threatening levels.

Ordinary people, state and private institutions and businesses are being forced to source food and other scarce necessities on the black market, which ravages the poor as speculators and beneficiaries of government patronage thrive on the scarcity. The poor cannot afford the goods sold on the black market.

Some businesses are closing down, putting jobs on the line. Shop and market shelves are empty; our families are exposed. Mugabe and Zanu PF continue to bicker and to sacrifice the people’s livelihoods for political expediency.

Their plan is to drive the entire nation into destitution for easier control and punishment for rejecting Zanu PF rule. In urban areas the onslaught began with operation Murambatsvina in 2005. Mugabe’s intention is to push everybody into a hunter-gatherer subsistence mode of life and to scatter whole communities into the countryside in search of food and thus weaken and liquidate organised constituencies and organised life in Zimbabwe.

I salute you, Zimbabweans for remaining focussed on the goal; for rejecting the selfish and poor Zanu PF election gimmicks. Experience shows that once a key sector of the economy is targeted by this regime, it is destroyed and the poor and vulnerable often bear the brunt of such recklessness.

I salute you, brave mothers and fathers, the workers, commuters, students, businesspeople, the unemployed and all our children for the discipline you have maintained in the face of such naked provocation from Mugabe and his regime.

We have a scheduled election in March 2008. In stable societies, a free and fair election opens up a host of opportunities for citizens. In our case, the conditions are so flawed that our voices are often muzzled. We must get the right conditions to pull through an election process that works as a catalyst for a holistic transformation of our society.

For 27 years, Mugabe and Zanu PF have proved beyond reasonable doubt that they are unable to lead us to the desired national destiny. Under this regime, Zimbabwe shall never realise the ideals of the liberation struggle. Mugabe and Zanu PF simply enjoy the blame game.

For nearly three decades, they have targeted the opposition and people of Matabeleland and the Midlands to defend their power-base. Mugabe has smashed the media; he has attacked white Zimbabweans, white farmers and the West; he has gone for the church and church leaders; now he has turned his axe onto ordinary people by smashing the conventional business environment.

We can reverse the decay. We have the power to restore our dignity. We can turn around our fortunes, our economy and enjoy our self-esteem. We can reclaim our sovereignty and our freedom. We pledge to lay before you a new breed of leaders, a new generation of committed patriots, ready to tackle the complicated task of putting permanent structures for a new Zimbabwe.

The choice is simple: either take the country into a new era or maintain a decaying status quo. A free and fair election can assist in lifting us from this scrap heap, restore our respect among nations and rest our restless population in its own natural home. A free and fair election, given the right political will, is possible.

With a worthless currency, a huge budget deficit, a shocking external debt, nearly 100 percent unemployment and a devastating HIV/Aids pandemic, fellow Zimbabweans, the time has come for us to swear that we cannot take in any more battering.

Mugabe and Zanu PF have lost interest in turning around the damage they have caused. They are hopelessly weak and tired. The regime no longer has the capacity nor the national interest to clean up the mess. The time has come for us to start afresh. The answer lies in the manner in which we organise ourselves for an orderly regime change.

Organise yourselves in every village, at growth points, in your streets and at meeting places to raise the nation out of this deepening crisis. Talk to your neighbours; engage each other in your churches and at gatherings. Talk about the future. Talk about Zimbabwe. We are ready to provide the leadership. Resist Mugabe’s attempts to scatter the nation into various tribes and clans. Maintain the thread that links us to a single nation and a single identity. Fight the fragmentation, endure the temporary setbacks and overcome fear. Keep hope alive.

My vision rests on a flourishing, tolerant society that respects our diversity as a source of strength. We have already put together a post-Mugabe reconstruction and reconciliation plan in line with our national healing focus.

We need a spirit of togetherness and must come to terms with our disruptive past in order to iron out any traces of covert discrimination based on a person’s ancestry and geographical station in Zimbabwe. A new Zimbabwe shall respect the people’s right to decency.

Zimbabweans require a minimum state involvement in the economy. Zimbabweans require a cafeteria environment to explore their dreams and to realise their full potential as a people.

Given the pressures on our young people – a generation that has borne the brunt of this dictatorship most – we shall put in place a Marshall-plan type of programme to rescue the jobless millions through viable placements in all sectors of the economy in order to offer them a belated head start in life.

Zimbabweans stranded in neighbouring countries and beyond, searching for food security and economic opportunities, shall rejoin their families at home. We pledge to make this possible within a short space of time. We have a committed leadership, a leadership for change, a leadership ready for a new Zimbabwe.

Prepare yourselves and your communities for a new Zimbabwe. Let us stand ready for a society awash with food and jobs for our people. The temporary setbacks we are all facing shall vanish as soon as we mobilise and claim our space. The time for a new Zimbabwe is now with us.

BRO KEN MUFUKA ADVISES THE OPPOSITION!

Change the way you do things!

Ken Mufuka

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IN December of 2006, I came to the conclusion that the opposition forces in Zimbabwe were working under a serious misunderstanding of the facts before them.

Chinjai maitiro enyu! Unless the opposition forces and the civic organisations change their mentality, I see no way forward under the present circumstances.
I also indicated that the South African-brokered talks between the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the Zimbabwean government was a waste of time. South African President Thabo Mbeki, as indeed the other Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders, worship President Robert Mugabe and the ground on which he walks. The most important fact, however, is a not-so secret protocol reached among SADC countries in 2002 to support Zimbabwe against the imperialist onslaught. Then Namibian President Sam Nujoma came close to revealing the protocol when he said: "We have a man here, Mr Blair, who is causing all the problems in Zimbabwe."
If the opposition does not appreciate that understanding of historical circumstances, it will go nowhere. The issue, from the Afrocentric point of view, is that imperialists hunt with the dogs and run with the hares. At that meeting in South Africa, the SADC leaders took the view that despite the fact that Anglo-Americans had supported the apartheid regime in South Africa throughout their history, they are now reaping the rewards for South Africa's reconciliation policy. The SADC leaders believe that as long as white interests are protected, the ruler is hailed in the west as a hero. In their opinion, President Mugabe is a villain, not because of the oppression of blacks, but because of the destruction of the interests of the 11 000 white farmers.
I have just received a letter from Chief Elder Ekabala, Presiding Elder of the Supreme Council of Nubia (a black American organisation). The letter deals at length with President Mugabe and places him in the Pan African tradition of W.E.B. Du Bois and William Chancellor. "Why do you not support your brother?" The letter scolds me.
The second issue is that if President Mugabe loses power, like Charles Taylor, he will face the World Court at The Hague. This is a sore issue with Pan Africanists. White scoundrels like P.W. Botha and Ian Smith were allowed to roam the world as they chose after losing power. African leaders of similar background, at the behest of white judges and white opinion, face the noose. This is the firm mind-set of the SADC leaders. I have found that Professor Arthur Mutambara understands this equation. One cannot get through the thick skins of the SADC leaders, as long as one is branded an imperialist tool. The opposition needs to rebrand itself.
The opposition movement needs a Crisis Council. I was in Zimbabwe when the government destroyed urban accommodation for 700 000 people. The exercise took almost a month. The opposition should have, through its Crisis Council, raised some support and demonstration groups in solidarity with those who lost their livelihood. The next bridge to pass is: "We will get killed."
The opposition movement made a classical mistake. The opposition cannot decide what type of opposition it is prepared to consider, non-violent or violent. The government decides that. Any opposition in an African situation is suicidal. Any politician who enters the fray against a ZANU PF government, and hopes to kiss his wife every morning as he goes to his opposition head office, and maybe, take her for lunch, is a lunatic. In South Korea and in Indonesia, opposition to government is led by student demonstrators. These students have refused to allow government troops to kill and maim their colleagues at will, despite the fact that government has heavy machinery.
There is no reason at the moment for government to consider talks with the opposition movement. Governments do not negotiate with inferiors. They only negotiate when opposition forces become powerful enough to overthrow them. What they will be negotiating then, is a way out, and some safety for gains acquired during their governance. Mr Smith achieved a measure of security for colonial gains by negotiating with ZANU PF. The South African whites achieved a similar measure of security for their investments. No government or politician gives up power. It is a law of nature. They are forced out.
There is a fallacy, which is endemic among the opposition members that "surely, they will be reasonable." There is also another fallacy that certain actions are unreasonable because they ruin the economy. If thus they ruin the economy, they are therefore unreasonable. The governmental leaders one deals with in Africa have very little practical experience of a world economy. These people do not invest their money on the New York Stock Exchange or on the Chicago Commodity Mercantile Exchange. They deal with raw money, either gold or cash, which they siphon from the treasuries of their countries, lawfully or unlawfully.
Our new businessmen "grabbed stuff" — either working farms and houses, harvested the crops therefrom and became rich. We must give them credit that in their former lives, before they learned this "grabbing stuff" they did understand the veldt, harvested mushrooms and wild grasses. A judicious mixture with peanut butter made nutritious meals; they were healthier then, spiritually and physically than they are today, after learning to "grab stuff." The point here is that we are not dealing with reasonable men, nor econmic beings, and such men do not negotiate unless they are forced to.
The first step is to realise is that these brothers do not follow any rules whatsoever. The economic systems of Adam Smith are only curse words to them. Politics in an African situation is always a suicidal business. Always expect the worst, as in the case of Archbishop Pius Ncube. SADC countries admire Mukuru. It took me a couple of years to swallow that. Facts are facts. We can learn a lot from WOZA. In an ever changing scenario, the Crisis Group must also be ever changing its strategies. Nothing stays the same for a moment.