Today we again add our voices to the chorus singing that ole’ Zimbabwean spiritual – “Fuck Fuck Fuck Mugabe“

except we’d like to add a new chorus to that old refrain today.

“You Thought it was over till you met our new head man; then you saw that this man isn’t workin the same plan – not until then did you know, it wasn’t a game.

the rules have changed and there’s no need to rebutt; cause out of the gate our Headman smacks this nut. throw your hands in the air and wave em around; cause they stand as a testament to those he’s put in the ground. always wantin to gank you; when he can’t even thank you. the end has come Zimbabwe – it’s over mugs; and to this there’s no doubt.

yes the rules have changed and there’s no need to announce; You See this time around we smash and then bounce. You Mugabe are being Knocked the Fuck OUT, so pack it up now Mugs, Cause you’ve been warned. next step baby is the Big Obama bout”

~RE Ausetkmt copyright 01/29/09

The U.N. food program said Thursday that 7 million Zimbabweans — 80 percent of the population by some estimates — need food aid.

State control of foreign currency has allowed a ruling clique to enrich themselves by buying U.S. dollars at lower government rates and selling them at the much higher black market rate.

There is no reason why Russia and China “are unable to separate themselves from the regime of Robert Mugabe. … Their interests no longer, frankly, coincide,

“Yeah Yeah Yeah – Fuck Fuck Fuck Mugabe“

Lets Do It Already,

Efforts to Pressure Zimbabwe Continue Under Obama

Stephen Kaufman – 29 January 2009
(AllAfrica.com)

Zimbabwe’s longtime ruler, Robert Mugabe, is not getting a reprieve from President Obama, who is actively continuing U.S. efforts to convince the international community, and particularly Zimbabwe’s neighbors, that they must not stand by as the country’s people continue to suffer from humanitarian and economic catastrophe and a lack of political freedom.

The United States increased targeted sanctions against leaders and supporters of Mugabe’s regime in response to the country’s sham presidential runoff election in June 2008 and the failure of Mugabe to negotiate with good faith in power-sharing talks with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). MDC won the March 2008 parliamentary elections and its presidential candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, received the most presidential votes, but he was forced to withdraw from the runoff election as the result of violent attacks against his supporters.

Both the Obama and Bush administrations have recognized that although bilateral sanctions have had an impact, they have not convinced Mugabe to either step aside or share power in a meaningful way. Peaceful democratic change in the landlocked country is much more likely to occur when Zimbabwe’s neighbors in the Southern African Development Community take action.

U.S. leaders, including Ambassador James McGee in Harare, have pointed out that the continued deterioration of Zimbabwe is presenting significant risks to its neighbors. (See “Zimbabwe Approaching ‘Failed State’ Status, U.S. Ambassador Says.”)

The country’s cholera epidemic has begun to spread to neighboring South Africa. Zimbabwe’s neighbors have been challenged to absorb millions of refugees who have fled disease, economic hardship and political repression.

OBAMA REACHES OUT TO SOUTH AFRICA DURING HIS FIRST WEEK

In a January 27 telephone call to South African President Kgalema Motlanthe, President Obama emphasized Pretoria’s role as a regional leader and one of Africa’s strong democracies. According to a White House statement, the two leaders discussed the situation in Zimbabwe and Obama “noted that South Africa holds a key role in helping to find a resolution to the political crisis” there.

Likewise, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has spoken with South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping. According to acting State Department spokesman Robert Wood, Clinton “is very interested in what’s going on in Zimbabwe.”

USAID has supplemented its food aid to Zimbabwe with emergency assistance due to the cholera epidemic.

“We are going to do what we can, working with countries in the region, to try to put additional pressure on Mugabe to basically … negotiate seriously” in power-sharing talks with the MDC, Wood said January 28. But Mugabe “clearly is not interested in … an equitable solution to the political crisis in the country, and we need to see further pressure coming from the region.”

President Obama named Susan Rice as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Rice has an extensive background in the African region, having served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs during the Clinton administration.

At her January 15 confirmation hearing in the U.S. Senate, Rice said the Obama administration would be pressuring Zimbabwe’s neighbors. She added her belief that there is potential to work with both China and Russia, which previously vetoed U.N. Security Council resolutions targeting Zimbabwe, by maximizing common bilateral interests.

There is no reason why Russia and China “are unable to separate themselves from the regime of Robert Mugabe. … Their interests no longer, frankly, coincide,” Rice said. (See “U.N. Ambassador-designate Urges Cooperation Against Autocrats.”)

MORE U.S. ASSISTANCE TO COMBAT CHOLERA

Meanwhile, the United States is working with others in the international community to try to alleviate the cholera epidemic and provide assistance to those who have been affected. The epidemic began in August 2008 and has affected all of the country’s provinces, with 48,000 reported cases and 2,755 deaths from the disease as of January 22.

On January 28, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) said it is consigning nearly 440,000 bars of soap, valued at nearly $365,000, to the U.N. Children’s Fund. Cholera is a preventable disease, and clean drinking water and improved hygiene can help prevent it from spreading. (See “Zimbabwe to Receive $6.2 Million from U.S. Aid Agency.”)

Humanitarian organizations will distribute the soap as part of a hygiene education program, USAID said.

The cholera epidemic occurred on top of continued food shortages in Zimbabwe, which was once a major food exporter. According to the World Food Programme, 7 million Zimbabweans, or more than half of the population, will need food assistance to survive until the next harvest in April.

USAID said it has provided more than $264 million in food and health assistance to Zimbabwe since October 2007. The agency has also pledged $6.8 million in emergency water, sanitation, hygiene and health assistance since the cholera epidemic broke out.

Zimbabwe’s water, sanitation and health systems have collapsed

The death toll from the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has now passed the 3,000 mark, the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

The latest figures represent an increase of more than 1,000 deaths in just two weeks.

Meanwhile, the MDC’s leader sounded more upbeat about power-sharing, a day after his party denied it had agreed to join a unity government next month.

He said it would go ahead if the rivals resolved their long-running disputes.

“Everyone agrees that, subject to the clearing of all the issues that are outstanding, a coalition government can be formed,” Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai told South African newspaper The Star.

As the stalemate continues, Zimbabwe is lurching towards economic collapse.

The WHO said on Wednesday a total of 3,028 people have died from the cholera outbreak and 57,702 have been affected since August 2008.

STATE OF ZIMBABWE Five million people – almost half population – need food aid Central bank introduced Z$100tr note, worth about US$30 (£20) Unemployment more than 80% Nearly 3,000 people dead in cholera outbreak Many teachers, doctors and nurses not working Teacher: ‘I can’t afford to work’

The epidemic of the water-borne disease has been fuelled by the collapse of Zimbabwe’s water, sanitation and health systems.

Aid workers say the focus of the cholera outbreak has now moved to rural parts of the country.

South Africa insisted the MDC had said it would join a unity government with President Robert Mugabe next month, despite the opposition’s denial that it had agreed to do so at a regional summit this week.

Frank Chikane, director-general of South Africa’s presidency, told reporters that observers should not “read too much” into the MDC’s complaints.

Monday’s 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting in Pretoria said the MDC was ready to form a unity government with Zanu-PF by mid-February.

SADC leaders also concluded that Zimbabwe’s contentious home affairs ministry, which runs the police, should be controlled jointly and reviewed six months after the new government was inaugurated.

Home affairs has been a key sticking point, with the MDC insisting it should run the ministry if Zanu-PF is to administer the defence and national security departments.

The MDC also wants a share of regional governor and diplomatic posts.

President Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai agreed to share power last September but the rivals have not been able to agree on how to allocate key government jobs.

The MDC, along with Western nations, accuses Mr Mugabe of not being sincere about power-sharing, pointing to a spate of abductions of opposition officials and human rights activists.

A cholera epidemic is sweeping across Zimbabwe, causing further suffering to millions of people already struggling to survive in a country close to systemic collapse as food shortages and hyperinflation continue to take their toll.

The map below shows the extent of hunger and cholera in Zimbabwe. Click on the towns to read more about the situation on the ground.

The BBC does not have permission to report from Zimbabwe, so the names of some contributors have been changed to protect identities.

HARARE: BRIAN HUNGWE

A strong odour pounces up your nose, choking it stone dry, as you drive into Harare’s Mbare township past hostels and its popular market, Mbare Musika.

The stomach-churning stench is enough to kill your appetite for a week.

Raw sewage flows through Mbare Musika – Harare’s rendezvous for farmers selling their produce.

East of the township, more sewage flows effortlessly into the Mukuvisi River, one of the city’s main suppliers of water.

Communal toilets in the surrounding hostels hosting hundreds of families have broken down.

As pumps are not working, sewage waste from burst pipes flows from the hostels’ third floor down, leaving waste traces on the windows.

There are many sick people inside, they can’t walk and relatives don’t have money to send them to hospital Mbare resident Majorie

And on the walls below, a thick dark layer of waste, hanging loose on windows has been accumulating over the past months.

It is a recipe for disaster, and a health scandal, according to a local priest.

“Even now, there are many sick people inside, they are frail, they can’t walk and relatives don’t have money to send them to hospital, so they are left to suffer,” said Majorie, a middle-aged woman carrying a child on her back.

In the streets, piles of uncollected refuse are commonplace with flies feasting on the rubbish.

In this chaos, vendors selling tomatoes, mangoes and vegetables rove around.

Customers are still available. Some buy the produce and walk leisurely, eating mangoes, alongside streams of raw sewage to their hostels.

There is nothing they can do about it.

Most imported goods have to be bought with foreign currency

In this crisis, statistics of people dying of cholera rise each day.

But it is not just killing people, it is devouring Africa’s traditional norms and values.

When Ruth Huni, a woman living in Glen Norah township died last week there were just six relatives seated outside when I visited her home.

Zimbabwean funerals used to be huge affairs with hundreds of friends, family and well-wishers. But no more.

It was common knowledge she had died of cholera.

“Where are our values as Africans?” asked John Mkwananzi, her brother and a famous musician with the popular Runn Family group.

There is a feeling here that people are being punished for supporting the opposition Budiriro resident Claudios Mkwati

“They know she died of cholera. There are many friends, even relatives, around yet they are not visiting. Out of fear. I suppose,” he said.

“What are we doing to our culture, if we can’t pay condolences? Cholera is there, but we should rise above the problem and respect our cultural values that bind us together,” he said.

Christians are not taking chances either.

At St Peter’s Catholic Church in Mbare, there is something special missing during and after fellowship.

“Our usual shaking of hands which is a sign of peace and reconciliation – our custom to do during mass, during the holy service – we had to abandon it because people are afraid it might lead to more transmission of the virus,” says Father Oskar Wermter, of the Catholic Church.

“People refrain from it so we just nod at each other in a friendly manner or just clap our hands to ourselves [the] traditional [way],” he says.

After the Sunday service this week, there were hardly any hugs, handshakes, or kisses.

Raw sewage running behind the church, a few yards away, left an unsettling odour.

Rubbish has not been collected from the streets of Harare

Budiriro is Harare’s worst hit township, recording close to 200 cholera-related deaths.

It is an opposition MDC stronghold.

“There is a feeling here that people are being punished for supporting the opposition,” says resident Claudios Mkwati.

“Our local councillors and legislators can’t do much, because the buck stops at the ministry of local government which provides the money,” he explained.

The township has over 300,000 families.

Schools here in Harare are now officially closed for the Christmas holidays but most have been closed for months now.

The past schooling year has basically been one long break for the majority of pupils who have not attended a class in months because of the lack of teachers and unaffordable fees.

Most shop shelves remain empty of foodstuffs except for the few supermarkets in a position to sell imported goods, mostly available to those with foreign currency.

Their shelves are full but the items are so expensive that they are beyond the reach of most city dwellers.

Zimbabwe abandons its currency

Zimbabweans will be allowed to conduct business in other currencies, alongside the Zimbabwe dollar, in an effort to stem the country’s runaway inflation.

The announcement was made by acting Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa.

BBC southern Africa correspondent Peter Biles says the Zimbabwean dollar has become a laughing stock. A Z$100 trillion note was recently introduced.

Until now only licensed businesses could accept foreign currencies, although it was common practice.

The country is also facing a deepening humanitarian crisis as well.

A cholera outbreak has killed over 3,000 people according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

And the World Food Programme (WFP) has revised up the number of people it says need food aid.

Our people are now using multiple currencies alongside the Zimbabwean dollar Patrick Chinamasa Acting Finance Minister

It now says seven million Zimbabweans are in need of food aid, up from 5.1 million in June.

WFP regional spokesman Richard Lee said the situation had deteriorated rapidly.

“The economic situation has worsened more dramatically than we had anticipated,” he told AFP.

“The agency is being forced to halve the cereal rations given to hungry Zimbabweans so that all the people in need can receive aid.”

Hyperinflation

Mr Chinamasa made the announcement as he delivered the annual budget to parliament.

“In line with the prevailing practices by the general public, [the] government is therefore allowing the use of multiple foreign currencies for business transactions alongside the Zimbabwean dollar,” he said.

The country is in the grip of world-record hyperinflation which has left the Zimbabwean dollar virtually worthless – 231m% in July 2008, the most recent figure released.

Teachers, doctors and civil servants have gone on strike complaining that their salaries – which equal trillions of Zimbabwean dollars – are not even enough to catch the bus to work each day.

Worthless

A 40-year-old Zimbabwean primary school teacher from the capital Harare, told the BBC news website earlier this week it cost nearly US$2 a day to travel to work, but inflation had reduced the average teacher’s wage to the equivalent of US$1 a month.

He said he now made a living reselling maize to families in high density areas, as it made more money than teaching.

Before the announcement, shops in Zimbabwe were increasingly demanding payment in US dollars – a reality acknowledged by Mr Chinamasa.

“In the hyper-inflationary environment characterising the economy, our people are now using multiple currencies alongside the Zimbabwean dollar. These include the [South African] rand, US dollar, Botswana pula, euro and British pound among others.”

A Harare resident said even street vendors were refusing to accept Zimbabwean notes.

Last year, the Central Bank was forced to slash 10 zeros from the local unit in an effort to make the currency more manageable.

Correspondents say that although the local currency will still be printed, all prices will be set in US dollars, making the Zimbabwe dollar irrelevant.

The country’s economy is now on the brink of collapse – a situation worsened by the political crisis that resulted from last year’s disputed presidential elections.

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