Urgent Letter from Dave Colthart
(Dave Coltart is Shadow Minister of Justice, Zimbabwe.)
Dear Friends:
In the course of last week thousands of poor Zimbabweans living in Harare, Bulawayo and other urban centres have had their lives destroyed by an increasingly vicious, brutal and paranoid regime. On the pretext of a “clean up” the regime’s police and army have systematically gone through our cities and towns arresting street vendors, confiscating their goods and destroying homes of poor people.
Whilst there is no doubt that some of these road-side shops and shacks are an eyesore and unhygienic, and whilst there is no doubt that virtually all are strictly speaking “illegal”, they have to be seen in the context of the fastest shrinking economy in the world which in turn is characterized by 80% unemployment and rampant inflation. The state of the economy is a direct result of the insane policies implemented by the Mugabe regime since 1997 when it first decided to send troops to protect its leaders’ interests in the Congo.
The chaotic land invasions orchestrated by the regime from 2000, to secure its grip on power, have dealt a near deathblow to the economy. Its dual exchange rate policy, designed to protect the ruling elite’s standard of living (by giving the elite ready access to cheap foreign currency), has devastated the productive sector. The low interest rate policy, designed to lessen the State’s debt, has all but destroyed the pensions of hundreds of thousands of ordinary Zimbabweans. The regime’s excessive spending on protecting itself and maintaining the elite’s luxurious lifestyle has resulted in greatly reduced spending on health, housing and education.
The vast majority of the people affected by this callous campaign are victims of these policies. Through no fault of their own they have been driven out of the formal sector and to survive have had to try to earn an honest living by street vending. Because the regime has spent billions on a huge military and a bloated, inefficient and corrupt cabinet, rather than on housing, hundreds of thousands have been forced to build shacks so that they have a roof above their heads. What is more is that these practices have been allowed to develop for years under a succession of Zanu (PF) governments which have done nothing either to allocate sufficient resources to build vending sites and low cost houses or to police these breaches of the law.
What is particularly outrageous about this pogrom is that no warning of it has been given and no alternative arrangements have been made for homeless people to move to or for unemployed people to get an alternative source of income. No plans have been announced as to how these people will be provided with an income or where the dispossessed will be housed. Indeed given the collapse of the economy it is hard to see how this regime will be able to do either. This regime cannot even find sufficient resources to pay for fuel so how is going to provide jobs and homes for the thousands of people affected?
What is particularly egregious, sinister and callous about this pogrom is that it has been done at the commencement of winter and at a time when millions are already facing starvation and are affected by Aids and have no access to medication.
I have no doubt that this pogrom will dramatically increase the number of deaths of poor Zimbabweans afflicted by the deadly combination of Aids, no access to drugs and malnutrition. The sudden removal of a source of income and a warm bed will condemn many to death in the coming weeks and months.
What is astonishing is the callousness of this regime, graphically illustrated in the two recent extracts from the regime’s Herald newspaper set out below. It is interesting that these articles are written by journalists who owe their allegiances to the regime for even they capture the desperation of the innocent poor. The words “panic stricken”; “distraught”, “shocked” and “grim faced” are used to describe the feelings of the poor. In contrast Robert Mugabe and the Police Commissioner use dismissive and aggressive language. The poor are criminals whose “illegal source of livelihood has been hemorrhaging the economy”. The poors’ “insatiable desire for corruption” has permeated the economy. The poor areas are “havens for illicit and criminal activity” in the words of Mugabe. He says there is a need to “remedy such ills”.
The truth is that it is Robert Mugabe’s regime that is primarily responsible for massive corruption which is not only some of the worst type of criminal activity but has also destroyed the economy and forced these poor Zimbabweans into penury. During the same period that millions of Zimbabweans have been impoverished and rendered homeless Robert Mugabe and his ruling elite have become fabulously wealthy, evidenced by their construction of mansions costing billions of dollars. A photograph of Mugabe’s new mansion, nearing completion in Harare, is attached. It should be stressed that his mansion is just one of many built by the Zanu elite in the last few years. The Governor of the Reserve Bank, whose recently announced policies appear to promote and at least endorse this pogrom, has himself recently built a mansion which according to reports rivals Mugabe’s.
The truth is also that this exercise has very little to do with a genuine desire to improve the lives of Zimbabweans. It has everything to do with a campaign of retribution against people who are, correctly, perceived to oppose the regime. It has everything to do with their fear that these same people will rise up in revolt against a regime that has been responsible for the destruction of the lives, hopes and dreams of millions of Zimbabweans. It has everything to do with instilling fear in the hearts and minds of these people before they rise up.
One thing is for certain: the good Lord knows everything and sees everything. The Lord knows the truth and the real motives behind these actions. The Lord also abhors actions by the rich and powerful that trample on the poor. This regime should soberly consider the application of Amos 5 to their actions:
The Bible is replete with other verses which set out the consequences for rulers who act in such a heartless and callous fashion. History also shows that autocratic rulers who have employed similar policies have been the authors of their own demise through their actions. I have no doubt that the same fate is going to befall this autocratic and brutal regime. Ironically actions such as these speed up a regime’s end.
In the interim we, for our part, will do everything possible to protect those affected by the depredations of this regime. We will do all in our power to expose the extent of the devastation, to use the courts to suspend these immoral actions and to mobilize communities to oppose the regime lawfully, peacefully and non-violently.
In doing so we hope that people everywhere will also express their outrage and condemn these actions. Now is the time for the international community to intensify pressure on this regime to respect basic human rights, to restore the rule of law in a just and humane manner and to respect the democratic will of the electorate through the holding of free and fair elections that comply with international electoral standards.
Let Justice, indeed, roll on like a river.
Yours sincerely,
David Coltart MP
Shadow Justice Minister
Zimbabwe
Dear Friends:
In the course of last week thousands of poor Zimbabweans living in Harare, Bulawayo and other urban centres have had their lives destroyed by an increasingly vicious, brutal and paranoid regime. On the pretext of a “clean up” the regime’s police and army have systematically gone through our cities and towns arresting street vendors, confiscating their goods and destroying homes of poor people.
Whilst there is no doubt that some of these road-side shops and shacks are an eyesore and unhygienic, and whilst there is no doubt that virtually all are strictly speaking “illegal”, they have to be seen in the context of the fastest shrinking economy in the world which in turn is characterized by 80% unemployment and rampant inflation. The state of the economy is a direct result of the insane policies implemented by the Mugabe regime since 1997 when it first decided to send troops to protect its leaders’ interests in the Congo.
The chaotic land invasions orchestrated by the regime from 2000, to secure its grip on power, have dealt a near deathblow to the economy. Its dual exchange rate policy, designed to protect the ruling elite’s standard of living (by giving the elite ready access to cheap foreign currency), has devastated the productive sector. The low interest rate policy, designed to lessen the State’s debt, has all but destroyed the pensions of hundreds of thousands of ordinary Zimbabweans. The regime’s excessive spending on protecting itself and maintaining the elite’s luxurious lifestyle has resulted in greatly reduced spending on health, housing and education.
The vast majority of the people affected by this callous campaign are victims of these policies. Through no fault of their own they have been driven out of the formal sector and to survive have had to try to earn an honest living by street vending. Because the regime has spent billions on a huge military and a bloated, inefficient and corrupt cabinet, rather than on housing, hundreds of thousands have been forced to build shacks so that they have a roof above their heads. What is more is that these practices have been allowed to develop for years under a succession of Zanu (PF) governments which have done nothing either to allocate sufficient resources to build vending sites and low cost houses or to police these breaches of the law.
What is particularly outrageous about this pogrom is that no warning of it has been given and no alternative arrangements have been made for homeless people to move to or for unemployed people to get an alternative source of income. No plans have been announced as to how these people will be provided with an income or where the dispossessed will be housed. Indeed given the collapse of the economy it is hard to see how this regime will be able to do either. This regime cannot even find sufficient resources to pay for fuel so how is going to provide jobs and homes for the thousands of people affected?
What is particularly egregious, sinister and callous about this pogrom is that it has been done at the commencement of winter and at a time when millions are already facing starvation and are affected by Aids and have no access to medication.
I have no doubt that this pogrom will dramatically increase the number of deaths of poor Zimbabweans afflicted by the deadly combination of Aids, no access to drugs and malnutrition. The sudden removal of a source of income and a warm bed will condemn many to death in the coming weeks and months.
What is astonishing is the callousness of this regime, graphically illustrated in the two recent extracts from the regime’s Herald newspaper set out below. It is interesting that these articles are written by journalists who owe their allegiances to the regime for even they capture the desperation of the innocent poor. The words “panic stricken”; “distraught”, “shocked” and “grim faced” are used to describe the feelings of the poor. In contrast Robert Mugabe and the Police Commissioner use dismissive and aggressive language. The poor are criminals whose “illegal source of livelihood has been hemorrhaging the economy”. The poors’ “insatiable desire for corruption” has permeated the economy. The poor areas are “havens for illicit and criminal activity” in the words of Mugabe. He says there is a need to “remedy such ills”.
The truth is that it is Robert Mugabe’s regime that is primarily responsible for massive corruption which is not only some of the worst type of criminal activity but has also destroyed the economy and forced these poor Zimbabweans into penury. During the same period that millions of Zimbabweans have been impoverished and rendered homeless Robert Mugabe and his ruling elite have become fabulously wealthy, evidenced by their construction of mansions costing billions of dollars. A photograph of Mugabe’s new mansion, nearing completion in Harare, is attached. It should be stressed that his mansion is just one of many built by the Zanu elite in the last few years. The Governor of the Reserve Bank, whose recently announced policies appear to promote and at least endorse this pogrom, has himself recently built a mansion which according to reports rivals Mugabe’s.
The truth is also that this exercise has very little to do with a genuine desire to improve the lives of Zimbabweans. It has everything to do with a campaign of retribution against people who are, correctly, perceived to oppose the regime. It has everything to do with their fear that these same people will rise up in revolt against a regime that has been responsible for the destruction of the lives, hopes and dreams of millions of Zimbabweans. It has everything to do with instilling fear in the hearts and minds of these people before they rise up.
One thing is for certain: the good Lord knows everything and sees everything. The Lord knows the truth and the real motives behind these actions. The Lord also abhors actions by the rich and powerful that trample on the poor. This regime should soberly consider the application of Amos 5 to their actions:
You who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground
You hate the one who reproves in court and despise him who tells the truth.
You trample on the poor and force him to give you grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine.
For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins.
You oppress the righteous and take bribes and you deprive the poor of justice in the courts.
Therefore the prudent man keeps quiet in such times, for the times are evil.
Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.
Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts.
Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream.
The Bible is replete with other verses which set out the consequences for rulers who act in such a heartless and callous fashion. History also shows that autocratic rulers who have employed similar policies have been the authors of their own demise through their actions. I have no doubt that the same fate is going to befall this autocratic and brutal regime. Ironically actions such as these speed up a regime’s end.
In the interim we, for our part, will do everything possible to protect those affected by the depredations of this regime. We will do all in our power to expose the extent of the devastation, to use the courts to suspend these immoral actions and to mobilize communities to oppose the regime lawfully, peacefully and non-violently.
In doing so we hope that people everywhere will also express their outrage and condemn these actions. Now is the time for the international community to intensify pressure on this regime to respect basic human rights, to restore the rule of law in a just and humane manner and to respect the democratic will of the electorate through the holding of free and fair elections that comply with international electoral standards.
Let Justice, indeed, roll on like a river.
Yours sincerely,
David Coltart MP
Shadow Justice Minister
Zimbabwe
posted at 7:56 pm
<< Home