US SUSPENDS NORTH KOREA FOOD AID

The US has suspended its food aid to North Korea over Korea's plan to launch a rocket next month.According to US, North Korea has broken the terms of a peace deal that these two countries had agreed upon. To US, N.Korea has embarked on a missile test that will prove to be a threat to regional stability.

United States has to understand that its decision will have have catastrophic consequences.It will only affect millions of starving innocent people who are in urgent need of food aid.According to CNN news (28/03/12), such people amount to 6 million.
I strongly believe that the political negotiations that US undertook with N.Korea do not have to affect the humanitarian assistance it has to offer N.Korea.I am dissapointed that US is prepared to priorities its political interests first before having the interests of Korean citizens who urgently need this food aid from US.US would rather have people dying from starvation until N. Korea decides to cancel its rocket launch plan, whenever that may be.This seems unreasonable and totally unfair.Even though North Korea's plan to launch a rocket may be irresponsible and dangerous, that does not justify US to disadvantage starving people in need of its aid.
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120328/DEFREG03/303280008/U-S-Suspends-Plans-Food-Aid-N-Korea-Pentagon-Officia
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UN PEACE PLAN FOR SYRIA FAILS

Syria has failed to implement the peace plan

The Syrian fighting has escalated though it had accepted peace plans by Kofi Annan. According to CNN news, activists say that at least 26 people have been killed in the latest fighting. The Iraq tribal leaders are also reported to have been sending money, expert bombers and arms to assist the opposition in Syria.

The fact that Syria has disrespected the UN peace plan means that UN will face a number of problems in the future concerning helping the Syrian government and its opposition settle their disputes. Syria has reflected in this sense, that it still has a long way to go before the situation becomes stable. As long as countries such as Iraqi keep on assisting Syria rebels with money and arms, there is no hope that the crisis will ever end anytime soon. Syria has disappointed UN in that it has been just talk and no action on its side.President Bashar al-Assad was asked to step down but he has not.

 

I however understand why  Syria has fail to implement the plans, they cannot be expected to immediately drop arms and embrace peace. For Syria, reaching stability after such heavy fighting is going to be a slow process that can not just take place in days but will take months or even years.

I wonder what the next step for the UN on Syria will be. I wonder whether UN will give up on this country which does not seem to care about UN’s cry for peace or whether it will take the matter in its own hands and forcibly remove the Syrian president from his position.

While this crisis is still going on in Syria, Sudan and South Sudan in contrast have decided to talk and resolve a number of disputes.These countries have been in conflict over an oil field.The leaders of both countries however made it clear that they do not wish to eventually reach a full scale war.It is high time they put aside their differences and make peace. 

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/28/world/meast/syria-unrest/ 

http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/media/news/images/2012/photo_1332964726550-1-0.jpg 

    

Macky Sall becomes the new President of Senegal

supporters of Macky Sall celebrating his victory

I was impressed by the kind of democracy that has taken place in Senegal.Mackey Sall (Former Prime Minister of Senegal) was voted as the new President of Senegal whilst the former president, Abdoulaye Wade submissively stepped down from power after a 12year rule when the people of Senegal voted him out of power.

 This kind of democracy is absent from countries such as Zimbabwe and Angola in comparison where there are no free and fair elections and the presidents are still clinging to power up to now.

Some rulers have even gone to the extent of rigging elections so that they could stay in power, such was the case in Zimbabwe in the 2008 elections. The 12 years of rule is decent as compared to President Mugabe’s  years in power and the Angolan President Dos Santos’ years. What also moved me as I was watching the evening news yesterday is seeing the bright faces of the people in Senegal, how they were hopeful for a brighter future now that they had a new ruler whom they had elected into power. Among the goals set by Macky Sall included reducing the Presidential term to 5 years. I believe that democracy in a country can take place when citizens are free to vote for any candidate they wish to represent them and if they are not satisfied with the President they would have chosen, they are free to vote him out of power in the process of free and fair elections.

  

http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Editorial/Election+results+show+Senegal+has+matured+/-/440804/1374234/-/851kt4/-/

http://www.africandictator.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/senegal_Wade040.jpg

 

Human bones exracted from a mass grave in Libya

an uprising in Libya

Piles of bones have reportedly been exracted from a mass grave just a few miles outside Tripoli.According to human rights groups, there are as many as 8000 people missing or having dissappeared in Libya during the last year revolution against the Gaddafi regime.

I agree that the revolution against Gaddafi was for a good cause, the Libyan people had suffered enough under the former leader's tyranny rule and they could no longer tolerate it.Howeever on the other hand, although that was justified enough, many lives were also lost in the process.This therefore becomes one of the  disturbing consequences that arise from uprisings.Many Libyans up to this day have no idea where their relatives and friends dissapeared to, whether they are dead or alive.According to the reports from BBC news, many of the bodies that were extracted from the mass grave were unidentifiable.The Libyans were successful enough in getting rid of Gaddafi and there were celebrations everywhere, but some Libyans are still mourning the deaths and disappearance of their loved ones.To them, the revolution was a nightmarish experience that would forever remain etched in their minds, giving them no peace in their lives.I sometimes ask myself over and over again when I think about Libya, was the revolution truly worth it? Was it truly worth it to sacrifice the lives of 8000 people just to get rid of 1 person?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/world-africa-17429113
http://previous.presstv.ir/photo/20120319/reportint20120319160948487.jpg

WHEN POLICE BECOME ENEMIES

The police brutally beat civilians

I was deeply affected when I read the story about a group of police officers who brutally beat a mine worker to death in Shamva. What also worried me is that this attack was over goods allegedly stolen from the senior officer’s wife,according to "myzimbabwe.com", the wife had lost a purse which contained a $1 note. Surely how can such a case drive the security officers to savagely assault a man till he dies from his injuries? What the police did was unacceptable and inhuman .This behavior among police angers me in the sense that they are the ones who are supposed to protect citizens not the ones to instil harm. However Zimbabwe has become a place where no one feels at ease or safe  if the police are around.People  succumb to fear even if they just happen to come across a policeman walking by, wearing his uniform and carrying a baton stick . The police have lost the trust of the people as they have become perpetrators of violence.It is their duty to instil law and order in the country but instead they go about perpetrating violence to innocent individuals.My wish for these police officers who committed this hideous crime is that they must be severely punished without any leniency.Even if it means that they are sentenced to 40 years in jail or even given a life sentence, so be it.

http://www.myzimbabwe.co.zw/news/police-kill-mine-worker-in-shamva-over-a-missing-purse-with-1.html
http://www.zambianwatchdog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Zimbabwe.jpg 

MDC-T will not be bullied into elections

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai

Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC-T party have lately reflected strong signs that they will not give in to Mugabe and Zanu PF’s demands for new elections.MDC-T takes a stand that there be certain reforms first such as the completion of the constitution making process.

The fact that Tsvangirai and his MDC-T party have at least shown signs that they stand their ground concerning political, economicand military reforms before elections reflects that there is still hope for a better Zimbabwe. This stand shows a high level of maturity and political strength  on their part in that they have resisted Mugabe’s bullying tendencies of forcing them into making decisions.Rushing into elections will have disastrous consequences so MDC-T has made a wise decision to wait first.I believe that Mugabe is eager to rush into elections so that he repeats the same stance he took in the 2008 elections, Tsvangirai thus has shown him that he can not be made a fool of again.I am sure this move has left Mugabe and his party in the cold, who knows, maybe they are the ones who will end up submitting to the MDC-T decisions and not the other usual way round.

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/zimbabwe/10985-mdc-t-refuses-to-be-cowed-into-early-election.html 

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Government grain loan scheme, not the only solution

More than 93 000 people urgently need food aid in Masvingo and the number is expected to increase as the drought begins to take its toll in the province.

The increase of the number of people in urgent need of food aid in Zimbabwe has coincided with the banning of 30 NGOs in the country. This reflects how grave the situation is, considering that a number of people had been sorely relying on these NGOs.It can happen that the Government might even fail to manage the effects of drought in the country.Athough the government has introduced the grain loan scheme, there is no guarantee that this system will be efficient enough to curb the effects of drought in the province and other parts of the country facing similar drought effects. The government grain loan scheme will not be helpful to this large number of people who are affected by drought when its operating on its own. It needs the help of several NGOs who will assist in providing food aid to the people. Therefore, Titus Maluleke’s ( Masvingo Provincial Governor) decision of banning NGOs in this situation when a number of people in the country are in urgent need of them was a nonsensical and a selfish move. I think that the introduction of the government loan scheme might not be the only perfect solution right now. What the people need most is help from various NGOs operating in the country. 
Sunday News-18-24/03/12

IS SADC GIVING UP?

I have realised that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) no longer has the same punch it once had in dealing with the political crisis in Zimbabwe. Gone are the days when it imposed its toughness on the Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe and displayed that it will not tolerate the 88 year old leader’s behavior. Characterising its summit last year were media reports that former Zambian President Rupiah Banda even told Mugabe to “shut up and stop talking nonsense.”However a year after, the SADC seems to have lost its firm attitude towards Mugabe and his Zanu Pf party, Mugabe has once again emerged as the “hero” amid all the crisis. He has vowed that the elections are going to take place this year, with or without reforms and he seeks to dissolve the SADC proposed government of national unity, violence has been perpetrated in urban areas by the Zanu PF’s Chipangano group, 30 NGOs in Zimbabwe have been banned and journalists have been arrested. All these indications reflect that Zimbabwe is sliding further into an irresolvable political catastrophe and the SADC appears passive in all this. This can be a sign that the SADC is fed up with the ongoing squabbles between Mugabe and his Zanu pf party and the MDC parties. The SADC seems to be giving up and letting them to sort out their own problems.

http://www.businessday.co.za/toolpages/thumbnail.aspx?id=385002&type=img 

UNEDUCATED COUNCILLORS EXPOSED

BCC has exposed most of its councillors as academically challenged and having attained only standard 6 passes and driver’s licences as their only qualifications. This follows local government Minister, Ignatius Chombo’s attack in January, against MDC-T councillors when he described them as “dull and incompetent”.

Over the years I have witnessed a number of politicians and those in powers of authority who are highly educated and have Doctorates and Masters’ degrees complementing their academic qualifications but then proved to be incompetent and failed to live up to the people’s expectations. They failed to professionally carry out their assigned duties and in the end exposed themselves as corrupt, greedy and selfish individuals. This made me wonder if academic qualifications really matter in the political field or what matters rather is an individual’s moral character, whether he or she has the people’s needs at heart and whether the individual naturally has the qualities of a good leader . The BCC and Mr Chombo’s concerns might not make any difference, it might happen that the people they believe are gifted academically might disappoint them once they  have been appointed. The BCC has since ordered all 29 ward councillors to submit their current CVs to facilitate the selection of committee chairpersons.

MALEMA IN A DILEMMA

Julius Malema is in a tight situation as his future looks uncertain.If his 5year suspension from the ANC is upheld or worse, if he is eventually expelled, the 30 year old ANC youth league president might be left out on his own in the cold.Malema was one of the ANCYL officials who were found guilty by the ANC's national disciplinary committee in November for creating chaos and sowing division in the ANC party.The tragedy that Malema might face is that his political "friends" will in the end realise that Malema is no longer of any use to them and will surely drop him.Malema's friends who supported him politically and even financially will all become history to him.In February the  ANC's appeals committee announced that the attempts by Malema and the other party officials to have the guilty verdicts against them overturned had been dismissed.Malema's future looks bleak.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/55008000/jpg/_55008648_012758762-1.jpg
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/news-7351-Minister+Malema+expulsion+a+%E2%80%98tragedy%E2%80%99/news.aspx 

NO JUSTICE IN ZIMBABWE

The justice delivery system in Zimbabwe is crippled

Zimbabwe has witnessed for so many years a number of some top Zanu PF officials and activists who have committed murders and other hideous crimes but have not been arrested or tried instead they are seen walking freely .

One example I can give to raise my concern is the issue on Joseph Mwale, a CIO agent who allegedly brutally murdered two top MDC-T activists who were burnt to ashes in a petrol bombing in 2000.In 2006 the police are said to have brushed away the written order from the Attorney General’s office to arrest Mwale.In the same year, although the high court judge Justice James Devitte ordered Mwale to be brought to trial, that has not taken place up to now.

What bothers me is that Mwale, an alleged murderer has reportedly been promoted within the CIO ranks and has been recently been given the honour to being a part of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s security team. Up to now, Mwale has remained free, his co-accused was indicted to two counts of murder in 2004 but he was never arrested. The other three Zanu PF activists who are also accused of being the perpetrators of the murder alongside Mwale are still free on bail and there is no sign that the case will proceed. Their crimes have just been swept under the carpet and Mwale has suddenly emerged as an innocent man without even a smear of blood on his hands.

The form of justice delivery system in Zimbabwe is crippled, those in power can easily get away with murder without being made accountable for their crimes. That makes me wonder if there would ever be any justice in Zimbabwe, where every individual who commits a crime is made to face the full wrath of the law regardless of class, race or gender. If that would ever happen then it would have taken a big step needed for a positive change.

http://cleverjustice.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Criminal-Justice.jpg
http://www.newsday.co.zw/article/2012-02-27-tsvangirai-dines-with-fugitive-spy