About 5 000 people attended a rally which I addressed at Chiendambuya, 30 km east of Headlands in Manicaland on Sunday. The people resisted the threats from Zanu PF youths and war veterans and assembled at the business centre for the two-hour meeting. Their concern centred on the 2005 Parliamentary election, in particular, our preparations for that plebiscite.

Chiendambuya is in Makoni North constituency, currently represented in Parliament by Didymus Mutasa. Still fresh in the minds of the villagers in the area are scenes of violence and human abuses they endured in the last two elections.The dilemma facing Zimbabwe's rural areas today stems from our political experiences of the past five years. Will it be possible this time, they asked me, for them to register their political affiliation, to vote =

freely and to meet without harassment? Apart from the harsh campaign period, voters said they dread the prospect of being forced to line up behind their village heads and chiefs on the voting day. The people said they detest the practice of assisted voting, arguing that the majority of Zimbabweans aged 50 and above were literate.

The questions raised in Chiendambuya are at the core of our dilemma as we approach 2005. While it is impossible for the regime to suppress freedom of thought, numerous impediments are placed in people's lives effectively disabling them from organising themselves because of the threat of punishment. Unlike the situation in the urban areas where activists can easily relocate from centres of violence and intimidation, village life presents complex challenges. If violence banishes a voter or an activist from his village, what choices are available to him? Examples from 2000 and 2002 show us that the majority of displaced villagers have yet to recover from the ordeal. My experience in the area showed that Mugabe has failed to deny the people ideas, to side-step reason and to alter attitudes towards the MDC despite the physical and mental cruelty involved in the regime's propaganda and coercive approach. The people are now clear that the regime has no intention to treat everyone as an end. The regime is not ready to attend to their needs or to listen to their demands.

I told the meeting that it is a national wish that we have a genuinely free and fair election. The security of the voter and that of the candidates are non-negotiable requirements for any legitimate elections. If Mugabe proceeds with the election under the current conditions, then Zimbabwe will join other failed states. However, I told the meeting that Zanu PF would allow for democracy only if we exert pressure, as part of our preparations for an even electoral field. By targeting the people, Zanu PF and Robert Mugabe are sending a clear signal to the citizenry that they should be fearful of supporting anyone else but his regime. Doing otherwise may jeopardize their property, family, and even their lives as they saw in the past five years.

State orchestrated violence and human rights abuses are a major cause for great concern throughout rural Zimbabwe. These issues dominated discussion at the rally. Our records show that before the 2000 Parliamentary election about 20000 were affected by the state-sponsored abuses; 37 were murdered; 2466 were assaulted; 27 were raped; 617 were abducted and over 10000 were displaced from their villages. More were to suffer in the run-up to the Presidential election. Human rights violations are a serious cause for immediate distress for the people in our traditionally conservative rural areas. Without any guarantees that life will return to normal, Mugabe's announcement of a Parliamentary election in March 2005 has caused a lot of anxiety, fear and insecurity in the rural areas. The plan makes the people tremble with fear.

The killers of Mugabe's opponents and abusers of human rights still roam the countryside, with the regime's political support and other benefits. No prosecutions took place in any of the cases, thus pointing to a deliberate policy by the Mugabe regime to cause further chaos in 2005. Substantial state support for the perpetrators has cushioned them against any fear of community reprisals. They do not care whether they commit abuses against people who can identify them, or whether their acts of brutality provide irrefutable evidence such physical disabilities from torture. The crimes are normally committed in the presence of witnesses as an intimidation tactic. Unless we take immediate measures to restore the rule of law and bring back the tranquillity of rural life, Zimbabwe's crisis will continue to deepen. Without freedom and peace, it becomes increasingly difficult for villagers to meet their families' basic political and economic needs. The restoration of the rule of law and all its manifestations are a strong factor for further underdevelopment in situation where the majority survive on food donations; in a country where there are more funerals than weddings. Hunger and poverty have worsened the HIV/Aids pandemic. Nationally, 99 percent of the population are living below the Poverty Datum Line of $860 000. Without ordinary democratic choices, Zimbabweans remain desperate for a way out of the current crisis.

Any person, who considers standing for Parliament from the opposition in 2005 in the existing environment, is very aware that they will pay dearly for this choice. The evidence from the past five years shows unequivocally that to stand against ZANU PF is to expose not only the voters, but also yourself, your family and staff to assault, property loss, arrest, torture and possibly death. Conditions for free and fair elections are far worse now than they were in 2000 - the laws are draconian, the media emasculated, and the State more prepared to use force: any election under these conditions would be a definite farce. State officials and executives of parastatals now openly campaign for Zanu PF and link essential services like the provision of rural electrification services as conditions for voting for Zanu PF. The selective application of the law has effectively outlawed many democratic activities, including freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention. The Press, radio and television are even more under state control than in 2000. The opposition is denied the opportunity to use these public resources. Private voices, like The Daily News, were banned. Foreign observers and journalists were able to enter Zimbabwe in 2000. They are no longer free to do so. The Political Finances Act, which criminalises the opposition's right to receive campaign finance from abroad, including support from Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, was passed in 2000. Civil society, the Church and NGOs are banned from undertaking voter education and other independent activities in rural areas, where political abuses are most common.

The regime has effectively eroded and subverted the judiciary since 2000. The electoral challenges we mounted after June 2000 are still to be heard. Those aspiring parliamentarians from the MDC, who feel they were robbed of their victory, still suffer the injustice of a deliberately slow recourse to the law. The police, as I witnessed at Chiendambuya on Sunday, behave in an increasingly partisan way when dealing with the opposition political parties. On the instructions of Mutasa, and despite the size of Makoni North constituency, police denied our party activists an opportunity to organise transport for our supporters to be brought to the business centre. The party was further denied a chance to feed the 5 000 who managed to walk for long distances to the venue of the meeting. At the rally, police officers insisted on listening in to the deliberations, recording names of all the speakers, the names of our local leaders and activists and took copious notes at every turn.

Violence against the MDC has not abated. In fact, it has increased in the last five years, sending a clear message to voters and to anyone who would contemplate standing in an election that this is a dangerous, potentially deadly, decision to take. After the Chiendambuya rally on Sunday, our campaign material and an MDC flag were seized from our officials by war veterans at butchery near Headlands. The MPs from the MDC whose term expires next year can easily testify that their tenure was fraught with numerous difficulties. Eight were severely tortured. One candidate from 2000 was beaten to death while campaigning in the Presidential election in 2002. Almost all MPs had their rights violated; about 30 lost their homes or had their businesses and motor vehicles vandalised or destroyed. The recent vandalism and theft of property at Charleswood Estate and the forced removal of MP Roy Bennet and hundreds of workers from his Chimanimani property are a case in point. The families and staff of most MPs were attacked by state agents, resulting in six deaths. MPs are routinely arrested, detained and formally charged.

MPs, whether finally charged or not, are kept in custody in appalling conditions often for periods of time that are in excess of the time allowed by law. Nevertheless, none has been convicted of any wrongdoing. In most cases, the courts do not uphold State attempts to prosecute. They dismiss the politically motivated allegations before plea. A recent case is that of Mutasa MP Evelyn Masaiti, arrested outside Mabvuku in Harare and later released after spending a weekend in police custody.

We are campaigning in the forthcoming election. We are busy consolidating our political hold countrywide. However, we remain convinced that no free and fair election is possible without substantial changes in the status quo. Zanu PF's insecurity, especially in the rural areas, has led to an indefinite postponement of Zimbabwe's development agenda as resources are poured in unending election campaign since 2000. The violence and the deployment of militias and pseudo-military groups have gobbled millions of potential development aid from the national fiscus. The State has become more brazen in its attacks on opposition activists in the rural areas. The regime no longer makes as much effort to disguise its hand in these attacks.

By contrast, in neighbouring South Africa the people and their government went through an election in a single day and have already forgotten about it. The people chose a government whose task has since shifted to the pursuit of a vibrant national development agenda. An examination of the regime's behaviour in the last five years shows that it hostaged Zimbabwe and threw the country into a perpetual election mode. It has continued to attack its opponents even when it claimed to have won a fresh mandate to govern.

Our MPs and councillors have had a raw deal, even after assuming office, with no concern for their elected positions or their documented contribution to national development. For five years, the regime placed the MDC under siege as to scare away our party supporters from participating in future democratic processes. Before the 2000, the regime argued that the war veterans were acting independently. The attacks, said Zanu PF, arose from the MDC's disapproval of the so-called fast-track land reform programme. Mugabe and Zanu PF blamed everything on the British. What explanation do they have today? Why is Mugabe refusing to open up the country to free political activity? The challenge we face is how to harness the creative energies of all the people to enable them to realise their goals. The people remain resolute in their desire for change. They are determined to square up to Zanu PF in the next election. The spirit and desire for change have never been so strong, both the urban and rural areas.

If the regime maintains its stubbornness and refuses to accede to the people's demands, what options are available to us? It is becoming clear that Mugabe and Zanu PF could plunge the country into further turmoil. They are up to no good. This is unacceptable. Mugabe should not be allowed to test the people's patience that far. I am happy to report that a national consensus on the way forward is fast emerging throughout the country. Our campaign for an even climate continues. Initial results show that we are making progress.

It was with some apprehension that I drove into the center of Harare last Friday. The headlines in the Independent said it all - would Tsvangirai be found guilty and face the death penalty for treason? I was almost alone in the MDC in thinking that he would not be found guilty. Everybody thought that the signs were not hopeful. In July when he was originally set down for judgement, we had information that the Judge, Mr. Justice Garwe, was going to find him guilty. The legal team thought that this would be very difficult to overturn. However the two elderly Assessors who had heard the case with Justice Garwe asked for the transcript of the case and time to review the facts before they would give their assent to the judgement. This gave rise to the delay of nearly 3 months until Friday the 15th October.

When I parked the car and walked through the streets to do a bit of business before the start of the Court hearing at 10.00 hrs. I felt the full impact of the tension in the city. It was palpable - the streets were crowded with people milling about in their thousands. MDC had called for them to come out throughout the country and they did - everywhere I went people stopped me and asked me what I thought would happen. Concern was shown on all their faces. Apprehension, I think best described the feeling. Tendai and I walked up to the High Court - Tendai was carrying a draft Press Release for the Vice President which assumed that Morgan would be found guilty. A draft was not prepared for any other alternative. Tendai wore his full legal regalia and when we got to the Police cordon he was allowed through and I was turned away. I joined the crowds waiting in the distance and then met up with Peter and he said let's go to the rear of the Court and see what, if anything, is happening there. We walked past the Police cordon and at one point I was so incensed by the abuse of our right to support the President more closely, that I spoke out in public to a Police officer and said that this was why we needed change.

We then walked on but after a few yards I was grabbed from behind and force-marched over the road and up to the side entrance to the High Court. There, in front of a dozen other Police officers I was given a sound beating with rubber truncheons and a short wooden stick. When they thought that I had been taught a lesson, they pushed me into the service lane and told me "to go back to Britain". I assume because I was white! I walked out and rejoined Peter and we went and had some refreshments while we waited to hear what had happened in the Courtroom. I now know a little of what a Police beating involves the bruises on my back are deep and painful.

At about 10.20 hrs. two MIG 23 jets (our entire operational airforce) flew overhead and buzzed the Courts on several occasions. The noise was deafening and it did little to reduce tensions. Outside the MDC offices (completely empty as staff felt they knew what was coming) there were armored vehicles, water cannon and riot Police with arms. On every street corner there were Police with batons and many with a nasty whip made from hard plastic. I thought, "if Morgan is found guilty, there will be hell to pay." Tendai remarked as the first jets flew over "They would not be doing this if Morgan was to be found not guilty."

At the same time as this was going on the German Charge d'Affairs was also manhandled and beaten by the Police at the Courts. He was standing in for his Ambassador who had not yet presented her credentials. The Australian Ambassador was also refused access, as were almost all who arrived at the Courts in time to hear the judgement. As you can imagine, the Germans are furious at the treatment of their senior diplomatic staff. Two MDC Harare City Councilors were also arrested outside the cordon and hauled off to the local police station.

Then came the judgement "not guilty". Well, the feeling of relief swept across the city and the country. Impromptu celebrations broke out and the police fired tear gas and beat up people just to make sure that "the happiness" did not get out of hand. Afterwards there was a great deal of analysis: Why did they find him not guilty? A member of our legal team felt that the assessors were the key. Judgement could not be made until they had agreed to the facts as established by the Court. When these were set out (as they are in the judgement) there was no way Morgan could be found guilty. The assessors were firm in their conviction that the facts did not support Garwe's initial judgement. My own feelings were that three months is a long time in politics and Mugabe has become so much more isolated in the region and in Africa during this time. I am also sure that the South Africans had a hand in the final outcome. Whatever the reasons, we are all delighted and now wait to see if they will release Morgan's passport. After all that is what this was all about - plus the cost to us of the trial (billions of dollars) and the time wasted.

While this was going on at the national level, things were not peaceful at the local level all over the country. The legal and physical campaign against MDC structures across the country continues. In Beitbridge the local District Executive held a routine meeting to elect a Chairman after the death of the incumbent a few weeks ago. No permission was sought from the Police and when the authorities were told about the meeting they arrested the leadership. After holding them for 48 hours without food they were taken to Court and charged under POSA. They were released on Z$200 000 bail each. Very tough conditions for whom are in many cases, just peasant farmers. The main thrust of the questions directed at those detained was, "what were you discussing? What plans were made?" Today, the Secretary was again arrested (while out on bail) and taken into custody for interrogation. We are being denied access. What they wanted were the minutes of the meeting. There can be only one reason for this - they want to know how the MDC intends to campaign in the District in advance of the March 2005 elections. Had the MDC asked for permission under POSA, the Police would have had two plain clothes details at the meeting taking notes of everything that was said - and you can be sure that these would go straight to Zanu PF. In Bulawayo a Church leaders meeting was simply told - if you do not break up we have riot Police standing by and we will break up your meeting with force. - So much for the "rule of law and democracy" in Zimbabwe.

There is growing evidence that tens of thousands of Zimbabweans face starvation, despite government insistence that "the food crisis is over", says an Amnesty International report. In Bulawayo, the country's second- largest city, the health department has recorded 161 deaths from hunger this year alone. Its statistics have drawn flak from the central government, but mayor Japhet Ncube, a Movement for Democratic Change member, maintains: "I am not the one who writes information on the causes of death on death certificates; it is doctors at government hospitals."

The report, Power and Hunger: Violations of the Right to Food, released last Friday reveals that Zimbabweans are unable to obtain food "because of discrimination and corruption". The report slams the state-run Grain Marketing Board, which controls the trade in and distribution of maize. "During elections ruling party officials ... manipulate voters by threatening their access to food unless they vote for Zanu-PF. The government and its supporters have also attempted to manipulate the international food aid programme, to prevent supporters of the political opposition from accessing food aid."

Amnesty is "gravely concerned" about further food aid violations in the run-up to next year's parliamentary elections. In Mpopoma township in Bulawayo a visibly malnourished 12-year-old boy told the Mail & Guardian he and his brothers used to receive monthly food rations from NGOs but the government has put a stop to the practice. The majority of the starving children are orphans whose parents have died of Aids. A 15-year-old girl, who heads a family of six, has resorted to prostitution to feed her siblings. "I could not continue to watch my younger brothers and sisters going to bed on empty stomachs every day," she said.

Nobuhle Mahlangu (58) runs the Vulindlela club in Mpopoma. "They all come to me for help. Sometimes it makes me cry to see children suffering like this. I also cry when I hear politicians saying no one is starving in Zimbabwe. Which Zimbabwe do they live in?" she asked angrily. One of the major causes of the food crisis has been the drop in domestic food production. Last week seed producers and fertilizer manufacturers told Zimbabwe's parliamentary portfolio committee on land and agriculture that they are experiencing shortages — a paltry 28 000 tonnes of seed was available to the market, well short of the 100 000 tonnes needed to satisfy demand. Fertilizer stock is even more dire, with the shortfall running close to 300 000 tonnes.

The Amnesty report says that "while climatic factors, the HIV/Aids pandemic and economic problems have all played a role ... government policies and practices have exacerbated Zimbabwe’s food security problems". The implementation of the fast- track land-reform programme severely disrupted agriculture. "Farmers have been prevented from growing crops and fertile land went unplanted even when half the population was in need of food aid," says the report.

Mckenzie Ncube, who chairs the portfolio committee on land and agriculture says the committee, is investigating the reports of food deficits and deaths and is bound by parliamentary rules not to disclose information until it has been tabled in Parliament.

The movement for Democratic Change (MDC) could sink into political oblivion if it boycotts next year's elections. More than half of its supporters feel that the party should contest the elections because electoral reform is a process and not an event. They believe that the MDC's participation in elections acts as a bulwark against total dominance by ZANU PF and guarantees that ZANU PF is kept on its toes. According to an independent survey whose results were released last week, most people felt that although elections were important only when carried out in a democratic way, the MDC's responses to the current ZANU PF initiatives could be better.

"The tight ZANU PF control notwithstanding, the MDC needs to find alternative means to get its message across," the survey said. "It is apparent that ZANU PF will not voluntarily give up on its hold." The MDC decided in August to boycott all pending elections until the government abides by the principles and guidelines for democratic elections agreed to by the Southern African Development Community. Though the guidelines are not legally binding, they advocate for an independent electoral commission, access to the state media by all political parties, and freedom to campaign, among others.

The government has already tabled an Electoral Bill that will set up an election commission but the chairman, it appears, will be appointed by the President. It has also agreed to have transparent ballot boxes and to hold voting over a single day, but critics say these concessions are not enough. The survey, which was carried out by the Mass Public Opinion Institute in August, has some startling revelations which seem to imply that ZANU PF has already bagged the elections. It showed, for example, that 37 percent of the electorate was not registered as voters. The bulk of those not registered were aged 18-24, the group from where the MDC draws the majority of its support.

Only 36 percent of those aged 18-24 years were registered while 88 percent of those aged 45-54 years and 80 percent of those over 55 years were registered. Despite protests that electoral reforms so far agreed to by ZANU PF are inadequate, 83 percent of the people surveyed were not aware of the reforms. This applied even to urban areas where information flows more rapidly. In Harare only 33 percent were aware while in Bulawayo a paltry 19 percent were aware. Though the government has already decided that Zimbabweans living abroad will not be allowed to vote, 66 percent of those surveyed said they should be allowed. The survey showed that even in provinces that are predominantly ZANU PF, a majority supported postal votes.

"This is very confusing because the government is asking them (Zimbabweans living abroad) to contribute to Homelink but will not give them the vote," Tulani Sithole, one of the coordinators of the survey, said. "In other words, what the government is saying is that they are citizens in one aspect and non-citizens in another."

Another blow to the MDC could be that while the party has been advocating for voting over a single day, 76 percent of the people were against the idea. Compilers of the survey found that people were convinced that the government did not have the capacity to ensure that voting could be completed in a single day. The survey indicated that while most people supported the idea of counting ballot papers at polling stations, observers were afraid that this could lead to a rise in intimidation because it would be easier for ZANU PF to identify which villages or areas had voted against them. People from these areas could thereafter be denied either food or development.

The same applied to transparent ballot boxes. While people supported them, others were afraid these boxes would not guarantee the secrecy of their vote. One interviewee even said: "If your ballot paper unfolds inside the box, everyone will see who you would have voted for." Observers said this could be used as an intimidation tactic by ZANU PF because if people were afraid that party cadres could identify who they had voted for when they were using wooden boxes, what more when they were transparent. While admitting that the playing field was not level, most people said the MDC should not boycott the elections.

"The provincial analysis shows that evn in provinces considered opposition strongholds such as Harare and Bulawayo, the view is the same," the survey said. The survey showed that 64 percent of the people were against the boycott. Among respondents who indicated that they supported the opposition, 56 percent said they were against the boycott. Sixty-seven percent of ZANU PF supporters were against the boycott. "Most people are against the boycott because they consider the MDC to be a control of some sort that tends to rein in ZANU PF when it gets carried away," Sithole said.

A member of the National Constitutional Assembly said: "What worries most people is: What will the MDC do if it decides to go ahead with the boycott? It can become irrelevant. It has no other arena to air its views outside Parliament. Is there a plan B?"

About 10 national youth service training centres countrywide will fail to operate due to financial constrains, the Minister of Youth Development, Gender and Employment Creation, Brigadier Ambrose Mutinhiri has said. Mutinhiri told the Daily Mirror newspaper that the affected 10 consist of both those that had been functioning since the inception of the programmes as well as others the government had intended to open this year. The minister added that the centres had not been totally shut down as staff were still manning them awaiting the availability of resources to bring back students. Mutinhiri could not however provide the actual figures of those that were supposed to make a first intake and the others that had failed to reopen. "Participation in this training is voluntary, it is not mandatory and if there are any institutions that demand certificates of national service as a prerequisite for any courses, they will be doing so on their own accord as we have not issued a directive to that effect. But I must say that this training is good as it helps in moulding a good citizen," said Mutinhiri.

On claims that cabinet ministers and other high ranking government officials were not sending their own children to participate in the training scheme, the minister said in his personal capacity he was working on the process of having his own children inducted, adding that comprehensive information on officials whose children had participated would be released in due course. At least 18 180 young men and women have graduated since the launch of the programme. According to government statistics, three quarters of them have found occupations in different government departments. The international media, with the BBC at the forefront, has repeatedly charged that the training institutions are torture camps aimed at holding the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) at bay. Government critics have said the products of the training centres are being used to harass political opponents of the ruling party.

The government has dismissed this, with the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa, declaring early this month that even in the face of lack of finance, the government would never abandon the training camps.

Johannesburg: Zimbabweans, weary of political conflict, are increasingly losing faith in democracy and tempted to accept a one-party system, according to a survey released Thursday. The poll, overseen by the Institute for Democracy in South Africa, found that 46 percent of Zimbabweans now say they trust President Robert Mugabe, up from just 19 percent in 1999. Seven out of 10 said they distrusted the opposition. Researchers concluded that the biggest factor behind Mugabe's growing popularity was his government's control of the press. They said it now largely functioned as an organ of the ruling ZANU-PF party and shut out the voice of the opposition. "However crude, the government's nationalist appeals have apparently induced numerous Zimbabweans – especially older, less-educated elements in rural areas – to accede to the political status quo," the study concluded. "Apparently, ZANU-PF is succeeding in shoring up its base with propaganda about the liberation war and land seizures, while painting the opposition as a foreign-backed force."

The poll of about 1,100 people, conducted in late April and early May, documented widespread hunger and economic distress. But the majority of those surveyed did not see democracy as the solution. Only 48 percent said democracy was the best form of government, down from 71 percent in 1999. Three-quarters said that competition between political parties led to conflict. The survey bodes ill for the Movement for Democratic Change, or MDC, Zimbabwe's leading opposition party. Fewer than one-fifth of those polled said they trusted the MDC's leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, who has been vilified in the state press.

On Wednesday, the MDC declared .that it would suspend its participation in coming parliamentary and local ; elections because Mugabe's policies had effectively eliminated any chance of a fair vote. MDC officials said that they would take part in the votes only if Mugabe's government adopted political reforms. including establishing an independent authority to oversee the electoral process. "Otherwise, we will be participating in a fraudulent exercise," Welshman Ncube, the party's secretary-general. said in a telephone interview. "There is no point in participating in a process of choice where there is no choice."

Zimbabwe's rulers appeared to endorse free elections earlier this month at a meeting of the Southern African Development Community, a multinational forum of government leaders. Zimbabwe joined other nations there in pledging to abide by newly drafted guidelines for transparent elections with full participation by. all citizens. But opposition leaders say recent government actions show Mugabe has no intention of abiding by the pledge. Wednesday's announcement by the opposition was clearly intended to pressure Mugabe, who, critics say, is systematically limiting democratic freedoms and stifling opposition through a series of draconian new laws. The measures, pushed through Parliament by the governing ZANU-PF party, have restricted the independent press, limited public gatherings and substantially broadened police powers.

Another proposed law would subject all non-governmental organizations to a strict registration process aimed at. weeding out foreign-funded groups that support human rights or democracy. Ncube said the government's strictures had all hut prevented opposition candidates from reaching voters. "They have put into place a whole array of laws that make it impossible to compete," he said. "We have to go to ZANU-PF for permission even to hold a meeting." But Lovemore Madhuku, who heads the National Constitutional Assembly, a well-known civic organization, said the MDC's tactic could backfire if its political leaders failed to back it up with mass protests. Should Mugabe refuse to heed the MDC's demands and MDC respond only with a boycott, he said, the ruling ZANU-PF party would be all but assured in elections next March of gaining the two-thirds majority it needs to rewrite the nation's constitution.

The MDC now controls 51 of the 150 seats in Zimbabwe's Parliament. ZANU-PF holds 62 seats and controls about 30 others held by splinter groups and independents. "It is a very risky move if it is not followed up with real political action on the ground," said Madhuku, who is helping to organize a petition demanding democratic reforms."They are expecting that Mugabe cares about whether they participate or don't participate," he said. In fact, he said, Mugabe "is likely just to say that this boycott shows they are irrelevant."

The state-controlled newspaper, the Daily Herald, has already said as much. "The party with so much 'support' is dithering and dreading the polls," it said in an article last month headlined "Endless MDC Boobs." The article said electoral reforms demanded by opposition parties were "in the pipeline" and that the MDC was simply trying to avoid a embarrassment at the polls. Some analysts suggested that the MDC's message was aimed not so much at Mugabe but at the leaders of neighboring countries, who might be able to influence the 80-year-old Zimbabwean leader to allow his political opponents more room to operate. In a summit in Mauritius earlier this month, the South African Development Community endorsed a regional charter calling on its 13 member nations to ensure free and fair elections. The charter envisions an independent electoral commission, a free press; freedom of as- assembly and outside electoral monitors. Zimbabwe signed the charter and Mugabe endorsed it. While he opposed efforts by Western governments like Britain to impose their own electoral guidelines on African nations, he said then, "I am glad that we have now come up with our own."

But Mugabe did not say how Zimbabwe would translate the charter into practice. His critics say that so far they have seen no sign he will follow it. In June, the Herald published a plan for a five-member electoral commission that would organize and run presidential, parliamentary and local elections. The Herald said Mugabe would pick the commission's head and its other four members, drawing the names from a list submitted by Parliament, which his ZANU-PF party controls.

The Communications Committee of the Jesuits in Zimbabwe wishes to inform Catholic journalists assembled for their World Congress in Bangkok/Thailand, 9 –17 October 2004, about the state of communication and media in Zimbabwe:

The media and media workers in Zimbabwe are not able to give the people of their country the information they need to make the right decisions for the good of their society. The human right to information and free expression of opinion is not respected. Sharing of information and opinion is severely hampered, but without it we cannot build a participatory form of government and a democratic culture.

There are only four radio channels and one TV channel, all controlled by the ruling party. The print media are shrinking. Many magazines have ceased publication. High production costs combined with inflation and unemployment have closed the market for them. Their situation has been made worse by ruling party supporters destroying copies of independent publications and banning their distribution in many areas, by police harassment and, most recently, draconian legislation to control the mass media.

The printing press of the only independent daily newspaper was bombed and the paper was later closed by the police in spite of a court order declaring the paper free to publish. The only independent radio station was driven into exile and its Harare offices were destroyed by fire. The perpetrators of this arson and of the bombing of the press have never been arrested, and there are reasons to believe that government agents were responsible. Independent journalists have been arrested, a few have been tortured and some foreign correspondents deported from the country. Two journalists were tortured while being held by the army in defiance of a court order that they should be released.

The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) makes it obligatory for journalists to register with the ministry of information. This legal provision enables government to exclude dissenting voices from the media profession and they have used it frequently. Most foreign correspondents have been refused registration. A few independent weeklies still exist, but they serve almost exclusively urban professional people. The urban working class and the rural majority have access only to the completely government controlled broadcasting media which propagates daily and hourly government policy and deny people the chance to express their views freely.

The Supreme Court declared the state broadcasting station’s monopoly unconstitutional, and in theory it is possible for independent community broadcasters and others to get a licence, but in practice no licences have been granted. The police immediately suppressed. the few attempts at independent broadcasting. Many journalists find it impossible to work in their chosen profession. Some have left the country to find work elsewhere as millions of other Zimbabweans have done, others have gone into public relations and other fields of work.

The situation in church media and communication is also bleak. MOTO Magazine, a current affairs magazine with a long history published by church-owned Mambo Press, struggles on with a reduced print run under great financial strain. Other news sheets and magazines owned directly by the bishops have ceased publication though the main one, Catholic Church News, has recently been published again with a small print run.

Telephones are regularly tapped and the regime are threatening to monitor and control all e-mail and access to the Internet. Religious broadcasting on the state broadcaster is much reduced and dominated by religious groups considered "politically safe". The freedom of the media is just one of the people’s rights that has been sacrificed in order to perpetuate the ruling party’s control and to eliminate all opposing voices.

We fear worse: the country is suffering food shortages again this year, and the ruling party insists on controlling the distribution of what food there is, in order to manipulate the elections due in March 2005. Opposition politicians and their supporters suffer violence almost daily. In this situation, the people need a voice and they are being denied it.

South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad has called upon Zimbabweans to ensure that next year's elections are held in line with the new norms and standards agreed to by SADC leaders at their last summit in Mauritius. Pahad was addressing a two day conference organised by the South African Council of Churches (SACC) in partnership with the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC), the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS), the Institute for Democratic Alternatives in South Africa (Idasa) and the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR). He said free and fair elections were in the interests of all Zimbabweans. Pahad said it was heartening that President Robert Mugabe had promised to hold the elections in line with the SADC protocol.

But delegates at the conference said ZANU PF's failure to send representatives to this important meeting proved that it had no such bona fide intentions. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and ZANU PF secretary for information and publicity Nathan Shamuyarira had confirmed participation but cancelled at the last minute, according to conference organisers. SACC general secretary Molefe Tsele described the absence of Shamuyarira and Chinamasa as regrettable but refused to acknowledge that they had in fact shunned the conference. "It (their absence) limits the circumstances in which we wanted the debate here to take place," said Tsele. "But I cannot say they have shunned the conference since they acknowledged its importance and had expressed their commitment to attend." He said the two had cited scheduling and diary problems as their reasons for not attending. Shamuyarira had promised to nominate another person to attend the conference but failed to fulfill the promise.

However, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) deployed a high-powered delegation led by its deputy president Gibson Sibanda and party secretary-general Welshman Ncube. MDC secretary general Welshman Ncube said ZANU PF's absence was hardly surprising as it was consistent with the ruling party's unilateral approach to issues. "They (ZANU PF) always know it all, they always want to dictate, they despise dialogue, they despise consensus building, they don't consider themselves accountable to anyone," said Ncube.

Respected South African civic society groups had hoped to use the conference to foster consensus on what Zimbabwe needs to do to hold free and fair elections. Because of the excellent reputation of the organisers of the conference, particularly the churches, many had hoped that ZANU PF would indeed attend. However, this was not to be.Chris Landsberg of South Africa's Centre for Policy Studies summed a popular view at the conference when he said the electoral reforms so far proposed by President Mugabe seemed to have more to do with technical compliance with the SADC norms rather than the substance of the issues involved.

The government has proposed to set up an "independent" electoral commission to run the elections, reducing polling from two to one day, counting ballots at polling stations and using translucent ballot boxes. Lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa tore through the proposed reforms saying they do not go far enough in fostering free and fair elections in Zimbabwe. She said the proposed electoral commission would not be free and fair at all as it would be appointed by President Mugabe. She said a proposed provision for Mugabe to appoint the electoral commission in consultation with the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) was not a peremptory one and so the President was not legally bound to consult the judicial commission.

Even if a firm provision had been made, Mtetwa noted that the commission was already stuffed with government loyalists who would only serve to help Mugabe in appointing "yes men" to the electoral commission. MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi detailed to the conference the continuing harassment of the opposition, the lack of access to public media, the draconian security and media laws, among other problems he said would render the elections not free and fair.

Bulawayo - "When they were interrogating me, they kept asking about ‘Zvakwana!’," says activist Gorden Moyo, describing his recent detention by security officials in Zimbabwe. "I told them I don’t know what it’s about." Moyo is one of several campaigners and opposition party members who have been questioned about this underground pro-democracy movement, whose Shona name means ‘enough’. Also referred to in Ndebele as ‘Sokwanele!’, the organisation has Zimbabwean authorities scratching their heads in exasperation.

Its central message is that the 24-year rule of President Robert Mugabe should come to an end – this after four years of increasingly repressive governance in the Southern African country. Zimbabwe has been in political and economic turmoil since 2000 when veterans of the independence war and other militants began occupying white-owned farms in a state-sanctioned campaign.Parliamentary elections held in 2000 and the presidential poll of 2002 were both marred by political violence, much of directed against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Zimbabwe now finds itself in the grip of food shortages, triple-digit inflation and soaring unemployment. At present, demonstrations and other forms of public protest are restricted by legislation – ideal conditions, some would say, for the emergence of an underground democracy movement.

During the past year, news of Zvakwana! has spread via word of mouth after internet surfers spotted its web site (www.zvakwana.com). This quotes Polish writer Ryszard Kapuscinski: "The indispensable catalyst is the word, the explanatory idea. Uncontrolled words - circulating freely, underground, rebelliously, uncertified - frighten tyrants." Amongst other things, the site also provides "Activist tips" that include pointers on how to deal with riot police ("Organise yourself in pairs. Keep an eye out for your partner at all times. Make sure that you know their personal details and who to contact in the event that they are hurt or arrested.") and tear gas ("Stay calm and focused...When your body heats up (from running or panicking, for example), irritation may increase.")

Zvakwana! describes itself as a "non-partisan, non-profit group of...volunteers and visionaries – (who are) working to keep Zimbabweans informed about...civic campaigns and public meetings and events." It also claims to have "an activist wing that engages in non-violent civic actions." The group appears unconcerned that Zimbabwean officials could burrow beneath the anonymity of the internet to find out who its organisers are. "The regime is fighting so many fires...that they do not have the resources to find all their detractors," said the body in response to questions posted on its website by IPS. One of the "non-violent civic actions" that Zvakwana! is claiming credit for was carried out before the Independence Day celebrations on Apr. 18. Some activists spray painted lamp posts and the sewage pipe along Tongogara Road in the capital – Harare – which Mugabe normally uses to travel to the National Sports Stadium (where the celebration was held).

The activists also painted a Zvakwana! slogan, ‘Get UP Stand UP’, on turnstiles and walls at the stadium. "There was so much graffiti," says the group, that "the regime couldn’t repaint it before Mugabe’s trip, so he had to take a different route!" Another gimmick focuses on inserting messages of defiance into matchboxes, which are then distributed. Zvakwana! has even come up with a 15-track compact disc (CD) (the ‘Get UP Stand UP’ compilation) to promote its cause. The CD, featuring 'Get Up Stand Up' by Bob Marley, can be ordered free of charge. South African singer Hugh Masekela’s 'Change', which implores long-standing African leaders, particularly Mugabe, to "say goodbye" is also included on the album. It comes with Zvakwana!'s "revolutionary condoms" bearing the campaign logo, a black ‘Z’ inside a yellow background.

In its e-mail interview with IPS, the group also claims to have distributed hundreds of copies of a British Broadcasting Corporation documentary on the camps where Zimbabwean youth are allegedly being trained to form a paramilitary force that can be deployed against government opponents. (Authorities claim the camps are simply training grounds where a sense of national pride is instilled in young men and women.) As CDs and videos don’t come cheaply, these claims beg the question of who is financing Zvakwana!. When asked about this, the group said it was "a locally sponsored campaign in all respects. Pro-democracy groups and supporters are putting their money towards creating positive change in Zimbabwe."

So far, Zvakwana! appears to be enjoying some success in providing ‘nuisance value’. Police have stepped up efforts to locate those masterminding the campaign, with spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena recently telling a weekly paper that "These people...have been...spreading material and literature aimed at inciting members of the public to lawlessness." He added that officials would be "interested in talking to them." Officers have questioned local artist Leonard Zhakata, who has a song featured on the CD. Three weeks ago another man, who wanted to be identified only as "Mehluli", was picked up by police who were looking for those who had painted yellow hand prints, an emblem used by the opposition, across Bulawayo. The authorities suspected a link between the hand prints and Zvakwana! graffiti – although the group denies any association between the two. A friend of Mehluli’s also had his home searched for the incriminating yellow paint. "I think these guys don’t know what they looking for," he told IPS, requesting anonymity. "They are just fishing in the dark." Zvakwana! says it will continue using alternative, non-violent means in its campaign: "The regime can look for us, but we are everywhere."

With government last week ordering the closure of yet another newspaper, The Tribune, the space in which Zimbabweans can express themselves has been restricted still further. The fact that Zvakwana! has no office building, no spokesperson or known campaign leader gives it an elusiveness which, given current conditions, is a highly valuable commodity.

Mutterin softly, a man in a priest's collar, baggy sweater and pants two inches too short for his legs puttered distractedly about the office of Pius Ncube, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Bulawayo, one recent Saturday, getting things in order for the archbishop's next meeting.He swept papers off one corner of a cluttered desk to create writing space. He searched the dust-covered bookshelves for the archbishop's résumé. He fixed a stubborn electrical outlet. He answered the telephone when the receptionist failed to pick it up. He was so completely the image of a preoccupied assistant that nearly 10 minutes passed before it finally dawned upon a visitor that the man was no assistant at all, but the archbishop himself. That drew a small smile. Archbishop Ncube is accustomed to being underestimated.

For years, Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, treated the archbishop as beneath his notice, even when he called him a liar, a cheat and a despot willing to starve his own people to stay in power. Mr. Mugabe left it to aides to pityingly characterize the clergyman as "quite unwell" or "mad." But that was before this winter, when the archbishop began an all-out assault on Mr. Mugabe beyond Zimbabwe's borders. In March, he began soliciting foreign donations to a legal defense fund for Zimbabweans who allege human rights abuses, collecting about $130,000 so far. In July, he held a news conference in London to argue that Mr. Mugabe is terrorizing his citizens and reducing them to paupers while the world looks the other way.

Now the gloves are off. In May, Mr. Mugabe called the archbishop "an unholy man," another Desmond Tutu, whom he dismissed as "an angry, evil and embittered little bishop." Last week, Mr. Mugabe accused Archbishop Ncube of "satanic" betrayal of Zimbabwe, suggesting he had invited its former colonial power, Britain, to invade. That is the nice version. In the state-controlled press, Archbishop Ncube said, he is vilified as gay, a rapist and H.I.V.-positive. His admirers also compare him to Desmond Tutu. But they mean it as high praise. The retired Anglican archbishop, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for challenging South Africa's apartheid regime, remains to many the model of a clergyman as a moral leader.

Like Archbishop Tutu, said Ray Motsi, the Baptist pastor in Bulawayo, "Pius is a beacon of light. He is a very brave person, very single-minded. He has been able to discern the moment and understand what is the most important role he can play." Not all clergymen are so supportive. Many churches in Zimbabwe have been torn apart under Mr. Mugabe, divided among those who back him, fear him, openly oppose him or simply do not want to hear about politics in a house of prayer. The Roman Catholic Church, the biggest of Zimbabwe's Christian denominations, is no exception. For years it was split between Archbishop Ncube of Bulawayo and Archbishop Patrick Chakaipa of Harare, a friend of Mr. Mugabe. After Archbishop Chakaipa died last year, Pope John Paul II replaced him with a bishop much closer to Archbishop Ncube.

Church insiders tend to read that as a sign that the hierarchy in Rome thinks the archbishop of Bulawayo is on the right path. But some Catholic bishops, priests and nuns in Zimbabwe do not share that view."They think I am speaking too much, that I am too aggressive, not diplomatic," Archbishop Ncube said, perched behind a simple wooden desk cluttered with files. "I say I can not be diplomatic when there is so much suffering. I have to talk straight. "We must defend the people who are suffering. Who else will defend them? There is no opposition."

Pius Ncube was born in 1946 in a cattle-loading town about an hour south of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second-largest city. His parents were peasants who raised sheep, goats and cattle. Catholic schools, Archbishop Ncube has said, taught him to put faith first. He entered a Zimbabwean seminary at age 21. When his country won independence from Britain in 1980 and Mr. Mugabe came to power, he was studying for his master's degree in theology in Rome.But he was back home three years later when the new government went after rebels from Archbishop Ncube's own ethnic minority, the Ndebele, in southeastern Zimbabwe, then a stronghold for a rival political party. Ndebele leaders say thousands of innocent villagers were murdered.That drew Archbishop Ncube, then a parish priest, firmly into the human rights arena. He helped Bulawayo's former archbishop take statements from witnesses who alleged atrocities but never managed to persuade Zimbabwe's council of bishops to endorse the 1997 account by a Catholic commission.HE has now gone far beyond compiling reports to sit on a shelf. From his archbishop's platform, he is perhaps the president's most vocal and powerful critic - influential enough to make Mr. Mugabe insinuate that only his priestly robes protect him from the treatment he deserves.

The archbishop accuses Mr. Mugabe's party, ZANU-PF, of torturing, beating, imprisoning and murdering members of the opposition. He insists that the government has forced the United Nations to scale back a feeding program so it can use government stocks to reward supporters and punish dissidents. "They burn homes," he said. "They kill people. They torture people with electricity. They intimidate people to make them feel afraid." In a meeting last year, he said, he and other Catholic bishops put the case directly to Mr. Mugabe, who attended Catholic school and was married in the church. "We told him to control this. It hasn't stopped," the archbishop said. "We cannot change this man." Nor is there any hope, he said, that the 80-year-old president will risk his party's dominance by allowing fair parliamentary elections next year. With the opposition now thoroughly checked, he said, mass protests are also highly unlikely.

The archbishop's solution is more international pressure from the United Nations and from African countries - a position endorsed last week at a regional conference of Catholic bishops. But although the 53-state Africa Union last month condemned human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, so far African leaders have shied away from imposing sanctions, saying that would only hurt Zimbabwe's poor. "All they do is back each other up and drink tea," the archbishop told one interviewer last month. It was a typically blunt remark, delivered between pauses and sighs. Eloquence and charisma are not in the archbishop's repertoire. His sermons "are all over the place," said Nigel Johnson, a Jesuit priest in Bulawayo and one of his admirers.

"What he has got," Father Johnson said, "is a passion for the people of his diocese." Thus when the ever-vigilant police pick up a dissident on a trumped-up charge, Father Johnson and others say, the archbishop makes sure his family is informed and has enough food. He quietly offers St. Mary's Cathedral, a 101-year-old landmark, as a sanctuary for human rights activists hard-pressed to gather anywhere else. He said he ignored the government intelligence officers who sit in on all of the church serices, and who last year warned him that criticism of the government was not allowed. When an emissary from the government last year offered him a farm, he said, he sent her packing. He answers not to Mr. Mugabe, he said, but to the book on his desk. One recent Saturday, he flipped it open until he found Luke 4:18. "Free the oppressed," he said. "This is our calling."