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Zim
exiles protest at border as Mugabe celebrates
The Sunday Independent (SA)
February 24, 2008
http://www.sundayindependent.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4270909
Exiled Zimbabweans yesterday
protested on the border with South Africa as President Robert Mugabe
celebrated his 84th birthday a short distance away in the town of
Beitbridge.
The protesters wore white
t-shirts printed on the front with "March 29. The party is
over", referring to the country's election date. On the back
it asked: "Are you hungry enough? Are you angry enough?"
The ruling party Zanu-PF
has officially raised Z$3 trillion dollars (about US$1,2 million
at the parallel market rate) to finance the celebrations, which
doubled as the launch of Mugabe's re-election campaign. A loaf of
bread, when available, costs about Z$5 million.
Gift Sambama, the treasurer
for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) South Africa, said
240 people had bussed in from Johannesburg and Pretoria, and 150
had come from Musina. "[Mugabe] is dining while Zimbabwe is
starving and down to its knees," he said.
Mugabe is seeking
a sixth term in power. In a speech at the climax of his birthday
celebrations he tried to boost his backers' morale, which has been
affected by a crumbling economy, with hyperinflation
at 100 000 percent in January, and a lack of basic commodities.
While Mugabe
was at Beitbridge, the main opposition MDC
launched its own manifesto for the joint presidential and parliamentary
polls set for March 29, in the eastern town of Mutare.
The octogenarian president
arguably faces one of his lowest points as he is also challenged
for the presidency by Simba Makoni, his former finance minister,
whom he recently labelled a "prostitute".
Makoni announced
three weeks ago he would take on Mugabe in the presidential elections.
He was expelled
from the ruling party last week but was confirmed by a special nominations
court as an independent presidential candidate.
Morgan Tsvangirai, the
MDC leader, is also taking on Mugabe, in a four-horse race which
includes an obscure independent challenger called Langton Towungana.
In Mutare yesterday,
Tsvangirai pledged to revive the country's moribund economy and
mend relations with the West. He also promised a new constitution
for Zimbabwe within two years.
"The Zimbabwean
economy is an enclave economy that is uneven, unequal and virtually
dead," he told thousands of supporters at a stadium in Mutare.
"We are not going
to patch up the tattered economy. The economy has been destroyed
to such an extent that we need to start afresh. We need food, drugs
and medical care. The nations of the world are helping, but we need
more. Beyond the aid, we need the help of the world to rebuild our
economy. But more than anything, we must look after our own."
He said US$10 billion
would be required to revive the economy, including resuscitating
companies that have folded and establishing a trust fund to woo
back the millions of professionals who have left the country for
South Africa, Britain and Australia. The MDC said it would provide
free primary education and health care for people living with HIV/Aids,
crack down on corruption, pare down the cabinet and launch an audit
targeting land.
The MDC was torn into
two factions after a row about whether to boycott or contest senate
elections in 2006. A bid to patch up and forge a united front flopped
three weeks ago when the factions disagreed on the allocation of
constituencies. The leader of the smaller faction, Arthur Mutambara,
said he would back Makoni.
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