Zimbabwe seeks "all support we can get" on cholera

A huge international aid effort is needed to help Zimbabwe combat a cholera outbreak that has killed hundreds, the government said on Friday, even though President Robert Mugabe has said it is now contained.

"We need all the support we can get from peace-loving nations," information minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu told reporters.

The main opposition MDC also called for more help in fighting the epidemic.

Mugabe, under Western pressure to step down as Zimbabwe's economy and health system collapse, had said on Thursday that "we have arrested cholera."

But the United Nations said the death toll, now nearly 800, was rising.

Ndlovu said the media had misrepresented Mugabe's comments, and presidential spokesman George Charamba said they were taken out of context.

The outbreak follows months of violence and political turmoil in Zimbabwe. Coupled with chronic food shortages, it has highlighted the economic collapse of the southern African country.

The health system is ill-prepared to cope and there is not enough money to pay doctors and nurses or buy medicine. The water system has collapsed, forcing residents to drink from contaminated wells and streams.

Neighboring South Africa is worried about conditions as thousands of Zimbabweans cross the border each day.

DEATH TOLL RISING

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday the death toll from cholera had risen to 792, with 16,700 cases.

"I don't think that the cholera outbreak is under control as of now," WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said in Geneva.

"We are not commenting on President Mugabe's assertion because it's not the place to discuss politics now.

Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe for the past 28 years, has accused Western countries of trying to use the cholera outbreak to force him out of power.

"Now that there is no cholera there is no case for war," he said in Thursday's remarks.

Western leaders and some within Africa have called on the 84-year-old leader to step down as the epidemic compounds Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Mugabe on Friday to agree to a rapid deal on a new government.

Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai reached a power-sharing deal brokered by regional mediator Thabo Mbeki, South Africa's former president, in September. But they are deadlocked over how to implement it.

The MDC said while it was still committed to the talks, it would not be a part of a unity government unless positions were allocated freely and a new National Security Council was created.

Ban said he had pressed Mugabe in "very tense" private talks two weeks ago in Doha to accept the September 15 agreement.

Asked whether he backed calls for Mugabe to leave office, Ban told a news conference in Geneva: "He should really look for the future of his country and his own people who have been suffering too much and too long from this political turmoil now coupled with very serious humanitarian tragedies.

"I am really appealing and urging him again."

Britain on Friday questioned a U.S. proposal to seal Zimbabwe's borders to hasten the collapse of Mugabe's government, saying the move could have far worse consequences.

Mark Malloch Brown, senior British official for Africa, said if neighboring countries closed their borders, Zimbabweans would have no escape route and the crises would worsen.

Zimbabwe cholera outbreak kills more than 3,000

Cholera has killed more than 3,000 Zimbabweans and
infected at least 57,000, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday,
making it the deadliest outbreak in Africa in 15 years.

The disease has spread as rival political parties struggle to implement a
power-sharing agreement reached in September and seen as a chance to ease
the humanitarian crisis and save the faltering economy.

Regional leaders decided at a summit on Tuesday that a unity government
should be formed next month. Fears of the cholera spreading in Zimbabwe have
stepped up pressure on rival parties to end the political uncertainty.

WHO figures showed an increase of 57 deaths and 1,579 new infections since
Tuesday. The outbreak has hit the entire country, leading to a high overall
case fatality rate of 5.3 percent.

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has said he agrees to form a government
with President Robert Mugabe although his Movement for Democratic Change
voiced disappointment with the deal reached at the summit, a South African
newspaper reported.

MDC officials are expected to meet on Friday to discuss how to proceed.

"It's a historic decision we will make. I hope the party will be united in
ensuring that we respond to the needs on the ground and the expectations of
Zimbabweans," Tsvangirai told reporters in Harare.

But Zimbabwe's state-run Herald newspaper said MDC Secretary-General Tendai
Biti, considered more hardline than Tsvangirai, had made a "sudden U-turn"
against implementing the deal.

The MDC has said the outcome of the summit fell "far short of our
expectations" but in a statement it denied that there were divisions within
the party.

"There are struggles going on internally, between the pragmatists and the
hawks in terms of their contrasting positions on the power-sharing
arrangement," Zimbabwean political analyst Eldred Masunungure said.

The prospect of a split within the MDC over implementation of the September
pact added to uncertainty over whether a new Zimbabwean leadership would be
united enough to tackle an acute economic crisis.

Mugabe, who has made it clear he would set up a government without the
opposition if need be, said talks were concluded and a new cabinet could now
be formed.

South Africa's Star newspaper quoted Tsvangirai as saying that resolving
outstanding issues over a government was a "work in progress."

"Everyone agrees that -- subject to the clearing of all the issues that are
outstanding -- a coalition government can be formed," he said.

"After all, the whole idea of these negotiations is to form a coalition
government, and I therefore agreed to that principle."

The 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) said after the
summit in South Africa -- its fifth attempt to secure a deal on forming a
unity government -- it had agreed that Tsvangirai should be sworn in as
prime minister by February 11.

Frank Chikane, the director general in South Africa's presidency, told
diplomats in Pretoria that the establishment of a unity government in
Zimbabwe was meant to be a transitional step that would lay the foundation
for future free elections.

The signing of the pact is seen as an opportunity to prevent a total
economic collapse that would add to the strain on neighboring countries
already hosting millions of Zimbabweans who fled in search of work.

Zanu-PF loots donated South African agriculture aid

As was predicted by Zimbabwe's main opposition, MDC, the corrupt Zanu-PF
Members of Parliament have abused the South African R300 million
agricultural aid after looting fertilizers, maize seed and fuel.

The eight corrupt Zanu-PF legislators, who are close allies of president
Robert Mugabe, were working together with some farmers and members of the
public to swindle large quantities of the ammonium nitrate, Compound D and
maize seed.

The inputs were brought into the country recently but unfortunately fell in
wrong hands of Zanu-PF members in influential positions.

Late last year, South Africa handed over R300 million aid to Zimbabwe to
bail out Zimbabwe's crippled agriculture sector.

The MDC chided South Africa for disbursing the aid to the Zanu-PF government
before the finalisation of the peace deal.

The revelations are a confirmation of how unscrupulous Zanu-PF members are
abusing the South Africa's R300 million agriculture aid.

Mugabe's henchman, Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba, handles the
inputs that were sourced by South Africa.

Nyikayaramba's inputs committee has denied to name-and- shame the Zanu-PF
thieves but sources in Parliament have promised to let the cat of the bag.

However the other implicated Zanu-PF supporters are Shingirai Mawere, Simon
Machiri, Simbarashe Benhura, Paddington Mutasa and two Malawians John Phiri
and Liaka Musa.

The other fraudsters are two Malawians who acquired 30 tonnes of Urea
Fertilizer and 160 litres of diesel under unclear circumstances.

The inputs committee says Mashonaland East Province tops the list of
corruption cases, with 22 while six cases happened in Mashonaland East, and
Matabeleland North has four cases. Mashonaland West and Masvingo have three
cases each, while two cases were recorded in Harare.

During the Zanu-PF conference in December, party members stole nine beasts,
mealie-meal and other foodstuffs, as thuggery in the regime reared its ugly
head.

Once Africa's breadbasket, the southern African nation has low agricultural
outputs because of poor farming preparations.

The UN says more than 5.5 million Zimbabweans require food aid this year.

7 abductees charged as state continues playing legal game

Seven activists on Wednesday appeared in the Harare Magistrates Court in
connection with a series of minor bomb blasts in the capital last year. They
became the first group of the more than 40 abductees, to be formally charged
by the state.

The seven, including the Tsvangirai MDC head of security Chris Dhlamini and
Tsvangirai's former aide Gandhi Mudzingwa, all pleaded not guilty to the
charges of terrorism, banditry and insurgency laid against them on
Wednesday. Defence lawyer Andrew Makoni explained that the case was further
deferred to Thursday and said a new application has been filed on behalf of
the seven, listing their complaints about their treatment during their
unlawful detention. Makoni argued that despite the charges, the defence is
still fighting for the group's remand to be refused, saying there is "no
evident reason or knowable suspicion for the group to be placed on remand."

In court lawyer Alec Muchadehama said the group had been 'severely tortured'
by state security agents after their abductions, and explained that not a
single member of the group had been lawfully detained. He said: "No arrest
took place. Each one of them is a victim of abduction and forced
disappearance by state agents. None of them was arrested in terms of the
law."

The group could face the death penalty if they are found guilty of being
involved in two minor blasts at Harare police stations and a blast at a
railway line in Norton last year. The questionable circumstances surrounding
the blasts, which at the time were linked to a ZANU PF attempt to implicate
the MDC, and the subsequent abductions and charging of the seven activists,
has raised questions over whether the bombs were in fact set off to create
convenient evidence in the current case.

Adding more fuel to the fire is speculation this week that a so-called
'assassination attempt,' targeting Air Force Commander Perrence Shiri last
year, was in fact an elaborate hoax by Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF as part of it's
ongoing effort to build a case against the MDC. Shiri was supposedly wounded
in the hand after being shot at while driving from his farm in Shamva in
December. In the days that followed, state-controlled media launched a
propaganda assault on the MDC, reporting that the attack was a "build up of
terror attacks targeting high profile persons, government officials,
government establishments and public transportation systems".

The deliberate manipulation of events to build a case against the MDC has
been clearly evident in the case launched against abducted human rights
activist Jestina Mukoko and her eight co-accused. The group is yet to be
formally charged after being accused of attempting to recruit fighters to
train in neighboring Botswana to overthrow Mugabe. Their case was postponed
for the second time this week on Tuesday, and the group is set to remain in
custody until their next Magistrate's Court appearance on the 14th January.
Lawyers are still pursuing applications in the High Court for the abductees
to receive proper care outside of the Chikurubi prison where they are being
held. But despite evidence of being tortured and seriously injured during
their detention, a High Court judge over the weekend refused to handle the
medical affidavits, citing a 'legal irregularity'.

Such legal irregularities have been prominent since the abductees' first
court appearances last year, as the state has continued to play a legal game
with the defence and the abductees. Mukoko and the other abductees that have
been accounted for meanwhile have been shuttled to and from solitary
confinement; all while being denied medical treatment. This includes the two
year old son of Violet Mupfuranhehwe who is held in solitary confinement
with his mother, and who is also yet to receive proper medical care after
being beaten in a very cruel effort to glean information from his mother.

And while such a high stakes game is being played in court, it would appear
that the safety and whereabouts of at least 10 other abductees remains
either a closely guarded secret or a mystery. The MDC has said that more
than 40 people were abducted last year, and despite Tsvangirai issuing
Mugabe with what has proved to be a fruitless ultimatum to produce the
abductees by the 1st January, only 30 people were eventually produced.