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You can hear my speech at the Heritage Foundation here.

—————–
Speaker(s):
The Honorable David Coltart
Shadow Justice Minister and Member of Parliament for Bulawayo South,
Republic of Zimbabwe
Host(s):

Brett D. Schaefer
Jay Kingham Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs,
The Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom,
The Heritage Foundation
Details:

Location: The Heritage Foundation’s Allison Auditorium

The decline of Zimbabwe over the past decade is tragic. When President Robert Mugabe came to power in 1980, Zimbabwe was rightly regarded as one of the bright lights in Africa. President Mugabe inherited well-developed manufacturing and mining sectors, a competitive agricultural sector, a thriving tourist industry, and sound infrastructure. Zimbabwe was also blessed with rich mineral resources and unique natural resources that led to a thriving tourist industry. Beginning in the late 1990s, however, Mugabe began facing serious challenges to his authority. In response to the growing opposition, he initiated a ruthless, seven-year campaign to maintain political power. During that time, Mugabe has targeted his opponents for abuse, legal harassment, and economic punishment, and used his authority to reward allies. Property rights and the rule of law have been severely weakened. Ruinous economic policies have led to hyper inflation and widespread poverty.

With elections scheduled for March 2008, what are the prospects for a free and fair poll? What are the prospects for policy changes that would arrest the economic decline? What are the prospects for long-term democracy and economic growth in Zimbabwe? Please join us as The Honorable David Coltart, Shadow Justice Minister and Member of Parliament in Zimbabwe, weighs these questions

Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Zimbabwe MP David Coltart

Yesterday afternoon the Mercatus Center sponsored some brief remarks by Zimbabwe opposition MP David Coltart (wikipedia entry) who is in Washington trying to gain gain assistance for his beleaguered nation. Mr. Coltart is an interesting character, at least to American eyes: a white Zimbabwean, a former supporter of the Mugabe administration, an anti-apartheid rabble-rouser who was asked to leave South Africa in the early 80s while he was attending U. Cape Town. Nobody asked the question, but I can imagine its difficult being one of the faces of the opposition while being white. He is almost certainly dismissed by many as just the second coming of Ian Smith. His credentials would indicate otherwise.

His talk focuses primarily on the humanitarian crisis: AIDS, hyper-inflation, a lack of food, malnutrition, lowest life expectancy in the world (lower than Sudan), all coupled with a fairly consistent lack of attention by the international community. He blames this, at least in part, on the fact that the crisis is almost totally non-violent. Mercifully, the MDC has set aside violence as an option so far, although I question how long they can keep a lid on things given current conditions.

Coltart described his country as suffering under ‘fascism’ for too long: both the white-led fascism of Ian Smith and others, as well as the Zanu-PF fascism of Robert Mugabe. His talk then degenerated into a play-by-play description of the SADC/Mbeki-led negotiations to come-up with a new constitution and transition into a post-Mugabe world. That, combined with the internal MDC politics was all a bit ‘inside baseball’ (or should I say cricket?) for me. I was there primarily for anything on the hyper-inflation and a description of the ways people survive on a day to day basis. Unfortunately, he did go down that path. But I thought it was a fascinating presentation and a personal (if political) view into Zimbabwe.

Washington Times

By David R. Sands
January 26, 2008

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is expected to win a sixth term during early elections in March — despite ruinous policies that have led to the world’s highest inflation rate, estimated at 50,000 percent.

Zimbabwe’s opposition parties will almost certainly take part in elections set for March 29, a leading opposition figure said yesterday, even though President Robert Mugabe has “reneged” on a promise to put off the vote until key constitutional reforms had taken effect.

David Coltart, a senior member of parliament from the anti-Mugabe Movement for Democratic Change, told a Washington audience he doubted the presidential and parliamentary votes would be free or fair, but said it was unlikely the MDC and other opposition forces could agree on a total boycott of the election.

“We’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t” take part in the election, said Mr. Coltart, a lawyer and leading human rights activist in the southern African country.

The opposition and many international monitors have condemned past elections in the country, charging they were rigged by the president’s ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party. MDC rallies have been violently disrupted by the government’s security forces.

“My own view is that we have little choice but to participate unless we can organize a total boycott of the process,” Mr. Coltart said in remarks to the Heritage Foundation think tank.

Over opposition objections, Mr. Mugabe’s aides yesterday confirmed the vote will be held at the end of March. The 83-year-old president has ruled the country since it won independence from Britain in 1980 and will be seeking a sixth term through 2013.

Business Daily (Nairobi)
OPINION
22 January 2008

By Ochieng’ Oreyo

A lot has been written about Brand Kenya. I am doing that again. Why? Because I want this country to move from writing to doing something about the idea. My writing is directed at every Kenyan, who I remind this country is our motherland. The respect we accord it should match what we extend to our own mothers at home.

I will start by addressing the Office of the Government Spokesman, whose head today is Dr Alfred Mutua. He has been doing a good job until it hit me that daktari was at most times denying, or “talking tough” to remind others about the existence of the Government. Being in charge of telling the public what’s on, Dr Mutua’s office should help Kenyans and the people we, as a country, deal with to know better about Brand Kenya without necessarily dismissing them - like the development partners.
This is the one office that should thumb through wads of Government documents to arrive at facts and figures that our customers and potential visitors in the tourist circles want to know about Kenya.

This office should put emphasis on interpreting data from the Government, its agencies, and even private entities to better inform our markets and publics. Dr Mutua should work day and night, literally, to put into context the political statements that fly from MPs and ministers who want to add their voices to ongoing debates.

Example: When the country was expecting former UN secretary-general Mr Kofi Annan to help with mediation in the current political crisis, and others before him, it should have been the business of the Government to ensure that it has only one voice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Nobody else.

By Craig Timberg
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, January 18, 2008

JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 17 — South African President Thabo Mbeki traveled to neighboring Zimbabwe on Thursday to pressure leaders to complete negotiations that have brought the government and the opposition to the brink of a deal after years of political stalemate, officials from both countries said.

The two sides have deadlocked in recent days over the timing of upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections and when to implement a new constitution, sources familiar with the negotiations said. Mbeki flew to Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, with a compromise plan, raising hopes that a deal might be imminent.

Negotiators representing Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and the two wings of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change have made substantial progress in recent months, including a deal for a new constitution with a bill of rights guaranteeing expanded political freedoms.

“What I saw of an earlier draft constitutes a substantial improvement over what we’ve got,” said David Coltart, an opposition member of parliament.

Agreements between Mugabe and opposition leaders also have led to the easing of restrictions on journalists and political gatherings, and steps have been taken to make the electoral commission more independent.

But the timing of the elections, tentatively scheduled for March, has emerged as a divisive issue. Mugabe favors keeping the vote on schedule, with a promise to implement the new constitution soon afterward. The opposition is demanding that the constitution, with its new freedoms, be implemented before any national vote.

“Having an election would just be a farce if they happen in March,” said Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the wing of the opposition party led by Morgan Tsvangirai.

The Telegraph

By Sebastien Berger and Byron Dziva in Harare
Last Updated: 2:28am GMT 16/01/2008

Robert Mugabe is to face a challenge from within his own Zanu-PF party at a presidential election in March. It is the greatest threat to his rule since he came to power almost 30 years ago.

Mr Mugabe was unanimously endorsed as the ruling party’s presidential candidate at a stage-managed congress last month. But the public show of unity behind the octogenarian leader failed to repair deep divisions in the organisation between modernisers, who believe its mismanagement has gone too far, and radicalisers, who think that the solution to Zimbabwe’s impoverishment is more of the same.

Senior sources within Zanu-PF told The Daily Telegraph last night that dissident party members will nominate Simba Makoni to stand against Mr Mugabe.

Well-regarded and considered atypical of the country’s political elite, Mr Makoni, 57, studied chemistry at Leeds University in the 1970s before going on to do a doctorate at Leicester Polytechnic.

He was the youngest minister in the first post-independence government when he was appointed deputy minister of agriculture.
A party insider said Mr Mugabe would hit back with “the ferocity of a tsunami” and those behind the “putsch” had “better hold their own before the worst comes”.

Rather than forming a breakaway party of their own, the rebels intend to bring in as much as they can of the Zanu-PF machine - which would severely restrict Mr Mugabe’s ability to rig the election.

The move has been born out of “frustration” with Mr Mugabe, the source said, and he predicted a “landslide” victory at the polls. “It’s the end of him,” he said.

The Age, Australia

David Coltart
January 15, 2008

Oppositions should continue to use the rule of law in their struggles.

KENYA’S opposition must challenge disputed election results in the courts if
it wants to strengthen democracy, weaken autocracy and defuse violence. Even
in Zimbabwe this has shown our citizens and the world that there is still
hope for that very foundation of freedom, the rule of law.

Our experience applies wherever elections cannot be trusted and wherever the
rule of law is shaky.

Court proceedings do not have to replace peaceful street action. Martin
Luther King said: “Direct action is not a substitute for work in the court
and the halls of government … Pleading cases before the courts of the land
does not eliminate the necessity for bringing about the mass dramatisation
of injustice in front of a city hall. Indeed, direct action and legal action
complement one another; when skilfully employed, each becomes more
effective.”

Courts are slow and frustrating in any country and are unlikely to remove
the party in power. But cases do have to be filed to demonstrate a
commitment to legitimacy. In Zimbabwe, of the 39 parliamentary election
challenges after the June 2000 election, not one had been concluded by the
end of that term in 2005. The same applied to the 2002 challenge to Robert
Mugabe’s election — his term ends in March this year and that case is
nowhere close to being concluded.

Was going to court a pointless exercise? I do not believe so: through the
systematic presentation of facts before courts over several years we were
able to show all neutral observers that Zanu PF did not enjoy a mandate from
the Zimbabwean people. All this has helped create international pressure
against the Mugabe regime.

VOA

By Peta Thornycroft
14 January 2008

As of last Friday, Zimbabwean citizens who are also journalists no longer need accreditation or a license to work in their profession. Peta Thornycroft reports for VOA that a number of amendments to existing security, media and electoral regulations have become law.

The laws that published last Friday were a result of eight months of South African facilitated negotiations between the ruling Zanu PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

Under the revised regulations, Zimbabwean journalists no longer have to be accredited. If they want a license they can apply, and if granted they could cover events inside the legislature and at State House. But if they choose not to seek accreditation they can no longer be prosecuted as criminals for working in their profession.

Foreign journalists will have to apply to a media commission in some cases, but that commission has not yet been set up.
The previous media laws saw scores of journalists arrested and newspapers closed down in the last five years.

Analysts say the amendments put the clock back to early 2000, before President Mugabe realized that the then new opposition party, the MDC could use the issues to score points against his ruling Zandu PF in elections.

MDC founding legal secretary David Coltart said Sunday that the amendments just published were an “improvement” to the law, but he called the changes “insufficient. In any event, he said, there was not enough time between now and the upcoming elections for them to have much affect on the polls.

10th January 2008

Dear Friends,

There can be no strong economy without democracy

Since being elected by you in June 2000 if I have had one consistent message it has been that we will not restore and develop Zimbabwe’s economy unless we turn Zimbabwe into a genuinely democratic state. Indeed I have been saying this ever since I returned to Zimbabwe from University in 1983. As far back as May 1991 – 17 years ago! - I gave a speech in Bulawayo (which was then published in the Financial Gazette) in which I said:

“Economic liberalization and political protectionism are incompatible.
It goes without saying that trade liberalization and structural adjustment cannot work in a vacuum. The experience of the world is that genuine democracies have the strongest economies. Economic liberalization will not work in Zimbabwe unless Government abandons its policy of political protectionism. I need to stress that I am not saying that economic liberalization will not work in Zimbabwe. I am simply saying that unless Government is encouraged to bring about genuine democracy in Zimbabwe and liberalize the political environment the long-term economic outlook for Zimbabwe will be bleak… Without the free flow of information even if controls in the economy are relaxed corruption will continue to flourish. Corruption can only be stifled if there is a free flow of information, through ongoing investigative reporting which exposes corruption. I believe that corruption is an epidemic which if allowed to continue will undermine the entire economy and it is therefore imperative, if trade liberalization is to work, that it be brought under control… The history of Africa and other developing countries shows that undemocratic Governments are inevitably followed by increased corruption, increased inflation and eventual economic decline. The only people who flourish are the Government Ministers, the externally based shareholders of multi-nationals and the privileged few Chief Executives of locally based companies who have managed to illegally obtain foreign currency. Because of this I believe that if we are genuinely interested in a future in Zimbabwe and a sound economic outlook we need to take a serious long term view and consider what we as business people can do to ensure that economic liberalization is accompanied by political liberalization… I believe that unless these points are seriously considered … a bright economic future in Zimbabwe will at the least be severely retarded if not reversed completely.”

The New York Review of Books
Monday 7th January 2008

In the Pit of Africa
A Review by Joshua Hammer

At the beginning of Peter Godwin’s enthralling memoir, When a Crocodile Eats the Sun, the author, a foreign correspondent living in New York City, returns home to the bush of Zimbabwe, back to the town where he was born and spent his childhood and teenage years. The year is 1997, and the black liberation struggle that ripped apart the country during his youth is a distant memory; the future seems bright for blacks, and Zimbabwe’s roughly sixty thousand white residents, not only farmers but well-to-do business people and professionals, remain in a separate world of prosperity and security. Godwin and his girlfriend, an Englishwoman new to Africa, drive through the countryside, marveling at the tranquillity of a place so recently scarred by war. At one point they encounter “a ragged crocodile of small black children jogging back from school,” he writes. The sight of this threadbare procession prompts contrary reactions from Godwin and his girlfriend (now his wife):

She sees ill-fitting, hand-me-down clothes and scuffed shoes or the bare feet of kids who walk miles to and from school….But what I see are functioning schools: pens and paper and near-universal education producing Africa’s most literate population. She compares up, to the First World, where privileges are treated as rights. I compare down, to the apocalyptic Africa that presses in around us, where rights are only for the privileged. After covering wars in Mozambique, Angola, Uganda, Somalia, and Sudan, Zimbabwe feels to me like Switzerland.