Dumisani Muleya
20 November 2008
ZIMBABWE has sent a team of investigators to Botswana to probe an alleged plot of banditry involving Botswana authorities and opposition MDC activists, raising the diplomatic tensions between the two states.
The investigation into claimed acts of destabilisation came at a time when diplomatic relations between Harare and Gaborone -- uneasy neighbours -- were seriously strained by the issue which has been discussed at the regional level.
Diplomatic sources said Zimbabwe's investigation team is led by Foreign Affairs permanent secretary Joey Bimha. The sources said the mission also includes other Foreign Affairs officials and state security officers.
It is said the team arrived in Gaborone on Tuesday night. It was expected to meet government officials and other stakeholders between Wednesday and today to "investigate circumstances surrounding training of MDC activists in banditry activities".
Efforts to get a comment from government were unsuccessful last night. Zimbabwe is claiming that Botswana is providing MDC activists with military training on its territory to destabilise the country.
"A group of MDC activists were recently arrested and allegedly coerced to admit training and recorded in the process in a bid to create evidence for the trumped-up charges," a source said. "The whole plot is similar to the charges against Joshua Nkomo and PF Zapu officials such as Dumiso Dabengwa and Lookout Masuku (in the early 1980s). It is also similar to cases involving Ndabaningi Sithole and (MDC leader) Morgan Tsvangirai."
Government has since 1980 been making similar allegations, arresting and torturing the accused, but later failing to prove its claims. Before just about every election identical allegations are raised and people arrested and tortured mainly on false charges.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa recently accused Tsvangirai of trying to be like the late notorious Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi and his Unita movement.
The MDC dismissed this saying Tsvangirai had no reason to do so when he could defeat Mugabe in any free and fair election. The MDC also said it had no cause to turn to rebel activities when it has the largest number of MPs in parliament.
Botswana has also dismissed Zimbabwe's allegations as "nonsensical and absurd". It invited a full investigation.
Botswana President Ian Khama has refused to recognise Mugabe as the legitimate president, saying he won the second round of elections in June via a brutal campaign of violence and murder. Khama has also refused to attend official Sadc meetings with Mugabe, arguing he is not a legitimate head of state.
The Botswana leader has said if power-sharing talks between Zanu PF and the MDC factions fail, there should be fresh free and fair elections under international supervision. Mugabe's regime reacted angrily, saying this was an "extreme act of provocation".
Zimbabwe and Botswana have had difficult relations since 1980 due to trade and political disputes.
Mugabe recently tried to calm down Khama, claiming he was a "friend and even a relative".
Last week, after the Sadc summit in South Africa, Botswana's Foreign Affairs minister Phandu Skelemani said if the power-sharing talks fail his government would "go back to square one" by not recognising Mugabe as president.
Skelemani said his government was "shocked by the baseless and absurd charges" made by Harare regarding acts of banditry and destabilisation.
Zimbabwe first officially made the allegations at the extraordinary meeting of the Interstate Defence and Security Committee held in Mozambique on November 5.
"The allegations that the Government of Botswana would wish to train foreign nationals on its territory to effect regime change is ridiculous," Skelemani said.
"All those who are aware of Botswana's longstanding commitment to the principles of good neighbourliness, non-interference in the internal affairs of others, and peaceful resolution of disputes in our region and elsewhere would no doubt attest to this."
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Mugabe and his cronies have now run out of ideas and are now afraid of their own shadows.Who on this earth would take these allegations seriously? I thank Botswana for having the spine to say their minds out and even alloe the idiots to make their stupid fact finding mission.Where did they get the foereign currency to buy the air tickets yet the country is bleeding and people are dying of cholera ? Why not put that money to buy medication? youb see how stupid and unconciderate Mugabe is
Carnivores are slightly more intelligent than their herbivorous prey. They know how to kill prey. Mugabe is a rare breed much more intelligent than all the world leaders, and he knows how to outwit them all the time. Now we can talk abut banditry for years while the current generation in ZImbabwe passes away. Mugabe deserves accorlades in being smarter and more intelligent than anyone else on the globe, only that he uses his gifts for the wrong things.In next article I will give tips on how to make Mugabe appear less intelligent than he has been to date.
being a dictator does not translate into intelligence, Elder you are talking about abuse of power here. Canivores do not kill what they don't eat and they are not bullies, they prey they don't murder. Mugabe is the most stupid and dump person in Africa, even a child of 5 years would have known the smell and sound of failure that Mugabe refuses to acknowledge. He is mad. Just another dog with rabbies, that's what he is. Do you call using state security to kill ordinary people intelligence, Elder? You should be some chairman in the ranks of SADC. Always pretending that Mugabe is fighting against the world. Wake up Elder, you can not say Mugabe is one of the cleverest leaders around the Globe! He is just killing Zimbabweans, that's what he is good at. Zimbabwe does not have anything to offer the world that the world does not have, it only needs to be competitive! And no head of state elsewhere is interested in being more clever than Mugabe. Do not take the fight from the homeground to the world arena to prove that Mugabe is tough with the world. In fact, Zimbabwean people are the ones tougher, able to survive a decade of destruction at home. Until you come back to reality people like you Elder, will cost the life of more Zimbabweans by thinking that Mugabe is some kind od of legend. He is a mad old dog.
@ elder,
Based on what I read, you seem like a well schooled person but lacking deductive reasoning. I hope you are not drinking water straight from the facet because there is a high probability of contacting Typhoid; water borne disease that causes memory loss. Mugabe is a master lolly gagger which means everything he says adds up to nothing, the city of Harare is floating in sewage and he still thinks he is smart? “The wheels have come of” and he still insists he is on the driver’s sit. Damage created by him and his gangsters will take more than 25years to repair, murdered people can’t not come back, there is no intelligence in dictatorship. Whenever you say anything in favor of this serial killer remember the defenseless Matabele women, children and elderly, your smart man has an insatiable appetite for extreme violence
Will205, Each time I read your post I think of the many blacks who were killed from the time of occupation in 1890, the freedom fighters who were killed by Rhodesian superimacists at Chimoio, Nyadzonya, Mkushi, Tembwe, and innocent Zimbabweans who were killed in cold blood throughout the country. Rhodesians, wherever they are, are evil and should not be entertained. I get sick when they celebrate the subjugation they put us through during nearly 100 years of oppression.
PLEASE IGNORE ANY POSTS FROM TAKUNYA_NDEBVU AND MABHIZA. THEY ARE BOTH THE SAME PERSON AND PAID BY THE ZANU PF'S MINISTRY OF INFORMATION (PROPOGANDA DEPARTMENT) TO POST AS MUCH PROPOGANDA ON THE WEB AS POSSIBLE TO PROMOTE THE MURDEROUS AND THEIVING ROBERT MUGABE. IF YOU READ ANY OF HIS POSTS YOU'LL SEE THAT HE MAKES THINGS UP AND CONTINUALLY LIES FOR THIS AIM. HE HAS NO CREDIBILITY WHATSOEVER AND SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY. HE WILL CONTINUNALLY CLAIM THAT TSVANGIRAI HAS CALLED FOR SANCTIONS AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE. THIS CLAIM IS 100% FALSE AND DESIGNED TO ALIENATE TSVANGIRAI FROM THE MAJORTIY OF THE PEOPLE IN ZIMBABWE THAT SUPPORT HIM. HE HAS NO EVIDENCE OF THIS, AND WILL TRY TO TELL YOU THAT THIS HAPPENED ON BBC HARDTALK. IF YOU LOOK UP TSVANGIRAI'S INTERVIEW ON HARDTALK THROUGH YOUTUBE, YOU WILL SEE THERE ARE NO MENTION OF SANCTIONS AT ALL. IT IS SIMPLY A LIE, LIKE THE REST OF HIS POSTS. HE IS ALSO UNABLE TO NAME A SINGLE SANCTION THAT SITS AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE AND HAS NO EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT ANY OF HIS CLAIMS AND LIES BLATANTLY ON A CONSTANT BASIS. HE WILL ALSO CALL ANY PERSON WHO IS AGAINST THE TRYANNY AND GENOCIDAL REIGN OF MUGABE WHO ARGUES WITH HIM ANY NAME UNDER THE SUN IN AN ATTEMPT TO DISCREDIT THEM. SO PLEASE DONT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH TAKUNYA, HE IS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER ARGUE WITH A (SELF PROFESSED!)IDIOT. HE'LL ONLY BRING YOU DOWN TO HIS LEVEL AND BEAT YOU WITH EXPERINCE. Here are some facts (and you cant argue with facts!) why.. 1) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza work for the Herald, are paid by the ZANU PF to spread propaganda and lies, and to twist the truth in the ZANU PF's favor on the internet.
2) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza are one and the same person.
3) I "killed people and others suffer during slavery. You killed people and made others suffer during colonialism. You are killing people today and making others suffer because they want to have control of their own resources."
3) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza have stated that Mugabe is the most democratic leader in Africa. Seriously!
4) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza have stated that "in a bid to tarnish the image of Zanu pf, MDC went on a killing spree and murderered 130 MDC and Zanu pf supporters in the process."
5) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe there were " over 200 CIA operatives criss-crossing the country during the elections."
6) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe "Even the British are not happy with Tsvangirai's leaning towards the Americans when it was their (regime change) project in the first place.
7) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe that "Prem and Awt_independent, Phiri … are hired by the MDC establishment. Infact they are the brains in MDC hence are the ones strategising attacks on the Zimbabwean people be it via violence or sanctions." So now I work for the CIA, MI5 (see below) and the MDC.
8) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe that war veterans and police officers should be allowed to bar the MDC from distributing food to starving orphans.
9) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe that freedom of speech should not exist in Zimbabwe and newspaper editors should be monitored to ensure they subscribe to the Zanu PF government's policies.
10) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe that the US and Britain have openly stated that they are working with Zimbabwean journalists for "illegal regime change"
11) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe the west "created the HIV virus and injeted it into the African people. They then turned around and alleged that HIV originated in Africa"
"virus was created in a lab by some American scientist and injected into selected African families and this is proof enough that their experiments have not ended and this time they are using the HIV virus to exterminate the Africa race."
12) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe the MDC has a "dictatorial leader who does not allow alternative voices". Rather ironic that one.
13) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza both support the use of violence, murder, rape and torture by Mugabe against the people of Zimbabwe.
14) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza both believe that Bush is responsible for atrocities in Iraq, and this justifies Mugabe's atrocities in Zimbabwe, including the genocide of 20,000 Ndebele people and the murders of over 100 MDC supporters during this years elections.
15) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza should be ignored because none of their posts are truthful and they are always misleading.
16) If you say anything against Mugabe, Takunya and Comical Mabhiza may say that you are paid by the CIA and MI5 to write here.
17) I do not work for the CIA
18) The CIA does not pay me. If they do, please give them my bank account details, all cards accepted. :-)
19) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza will also resort to childish name calling when they have no factual evidence based argument.
20) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza both believe that Tsvangirai called for sanctions against the people of Mugabe.
21) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza should be ignored because non of their posts are truthful and they are always misleading.
22) Tsvangirai never called for sanctions against the people of Zimbabwe.
23) When confronted and asked for evidence of this, Takunya and Comical Mabhiza have none.
24) The Sanctions faced by Zimbabwe are not against the people of Zimbabwe.
25) The Sanctions faced by Zimbabwe are only against the government and its ministers, and 4 companies, including one that makes military uniforms.
26) None of these Sanctions are faced by the people of Zimbabwe.
27) Tsvangirai is not responsible for these sanctions.
28) If Tsvangirai did not exist, there would still be sanctions on Zimbabwe (as described above).
29) Therefore Tsvangirai is 100% independent of Zimbabwe being sanctioned as above.
30) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza should be ignored because non of their posts are truthful and they are always misleading.
31) Biti and Ncube, and Tsvangirai had no input into the drafting of the American sanctions bill.
32) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe the west wants to recolonise Zimbabwe.
33) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe the west wants to invade Zimbabwe.
34) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza should be ignored because non of their posts are truthful and they are always misleading.
35) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe the west wants to poison aid and kill Zimbabweans.
36) Tsvangirai has never denied aid to the Zimbabwean people, only Mugabe has done this.
37) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza should be ignored because non of their posts are truthful and they are always misleading.
38) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe that Zimbabwe only has partial independence and that the fight against colonialism still goes on.
39) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe that Tsvangirai called for sanctions whilst being interviewed on BBC HardTalk in 2000.
40) Tsvangirai never appeared on BBC HardTalk in 2000. More lies.
41) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe that the British want to bomb Zimbabwe.
42) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe that the west wants to inject AIDS into aid to give to the people of Zimbabwe.
43) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe that west want to destabilize Zimbabwe and "make it ungovernable for eventual American and British takeover just like in Iraq and Afghanistan."
44) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe that Tsvangirai didn’t attend the meeting of SADC heads in Swaziland because he refused to go, and that he had a valid passport tor travel. This is after the Zim government clearly stated that Tsvangirai wasn’t issued a passport because there was no paper to make passports due to paper being under sanction.
45) Paper is not under any type of sanction.
46) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe that Zimbabwe does not need any outside help.
47) Takunya and Comical Mabhiza believe that Bush is tainting Genetically Modified Foods with Aids and delivering it to Zimbabwe. Is this even possible?
48) Takunya and comical Mabhiza believe that Tsvangirai boycotted the Swaziland summet in favour of a round of golf.
49) For saying these things, Takunya and Mabhiza have tried to discredit me by saying that "You have supported the American war on Iraq and Afghanistan. You have supported the torture of suspected terrorists by the CIA as it practises its extraordinary randition around the world. You have supported the rape of women and girls by the American soldiers many times. You have supported the use of chemical weapons on civilians in Vietnam many times on this forum. You are a CIA agent. You have been exposed as a bitter former white commercial farmer who got recruted by the CIA. You are totally against the land reform do not lie. You were part of the killing machinary that massacred our comrades at Chimoio, Nyadzonya, Mkushi etc."
All of this is simply propaganda made up by Takunya and Mabhiza to discredit what I say in my posts. And obvious as such to everyone with a brain. And I wouldnt be campaigning so strongly for the people of Zimbabwe who are subject to such practices at the hands of the Butcher of Harare if any of this were true. Water off a ducks back to me though.
PS did everyone spot the 4 spelling mistakes in that piece of nonsense. Someone needs to learn how to spell too. :-)
So just ignore Takunya and Comical Mabhiza, and let these facts speak for themselves.
Thank you for your time.
The probe into such allegations is welcome for we do not want accusations without basis and evidence of arguments. The 2500 “violent political activists” intercepted should be given a fair SADC trial. However we should also be aware of matters of national security. Botswana has been bombarding Zimbabwe’s head of state recognised by ALL political parties here and Botswana’s frustration in failing to remove Mugabe from power has been subject of amusement here at home. All what Botswana has been venting about does not improve our economic situation for we damn know how we have been economically segregated to push for a Mugabe ouster. As for regional security Botswana is a shame to a united southern African region. On matters of security Zimbabwe will contain this tiny nation forthwith; I only hope that the semi-desert gvt has not dreamt too far in sponsoring banditry because the response will be more than that for Rwanda in the DRC.
See all comments (25).
Mugabe and his cronies have now run out of ideas and are now afraid of their own shadows.Who on this earth would take these allegations seriously? I thank Botswana for having the spine to say their minds out and even alloe the idiots to make their stupid fact finding mission.Where did they get the foereign currency to buy the air tickets yet the country is bleeding and people are dying of cholera ? Why not put that money to buy medication? youb see how stupid and unconciderate Mugabe is