Hello,
Om te begin wil ek graag die woord, cornucopia, vervang met die woord, notas. Ek lees hierdie naweek dit is op 'n lys van mees gehate woorde.
In die naweek se London Sunday Times is daar 'n artikel met die titel, 'Diamonds ensure Mugabe is for ever' en kan hier gevind word.
Die artikel is agter 'n betaalmuur en is daarom nie geredelik beskikbaar nie en het die plaaslike media nog nie na die artikel verwys en begin om daaruit te put nie. In die konteks daarvan word slegs die belangrikstes temas uit die artikel aangehaal om binne die perke van redelike gebruik te bly.
THE president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, used £500m of diamond money to rig the country’s elections, intelligence documents obtained by The Sunday Times reveal.
The documents, dated June 3, detail how Chinese and Zimbabwean diamond companies pumped cash into a war chest used by Mugabe to manipulate the results of the election and intimidate the population. The classified documents reveal how Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party received $800m (£523m) from two diamond mining companies controlled by Chinese investors and senior military commanders in the Zimbabwean army, police and intelligence services. Joseph Kabila, president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, allegedly gave $85m and the government of Equatorial Guinea gave $92m to the slush fund.
Zanu-PF used the money to pay an Israeli firm, which the documents name, to rig the electoral roll, according to the documents. The company requested $3bn “to secure 50% of the adult vote” for Mugabe. The debate about the extent to which Mugabe rigged the elections has centred on an elusive document contained in 1,958 ring binders and weighing more than two tons — the electoral roll.
In many areas, particularly in places considered to be Zanu-PF strongholds, the number of registered voters far exceeded the adult population.
“How is this possible?” asked one political adviser with strong links to the government, before bursting into laughter. “Zanu-PF created millions of ghost voters they then used to swing the elections in their favour.”
A leaked copy of the group’s damning report states that more than 2m potential voters under the age of 30, an age group more likely to vote for the MDC, had been left off the electoral roll. The investigation also discovered that more than 1m dead people had been registered, along with more than 116,000 people over the age of 100. One of those is a 135-year- old army officer.
That same electoral roll has about 900,000 duplicate names with identical addresses and dates of birth but different ID numbers. The intelligence documents reveal that Mugabe hired an Israeli company to add duplicate names, allowing Zanu-PF supporters to vote many times in different wards. The intelligence documents show that a member of the Chinese Communist party liaised with the Middle Eastern firm and the registrar-general’s office to “neutralise hostile votes” in urban areas by under-registering young voters and over-registering older ones.
The documents also show that Zanu-PF bought the loyalty of election observers. The documents state that “. . . 33% of the budget will cover regional diplomacy to drum up support for poll credibility before, during and after elections”.
A Chinese investor, Sam Pa, who is chairman of one of Zimbabwe’s largest diamond mining operations, provided Zanu- PF with 2m campaign T-shirts and other election regalia.
Another company, which allegedly wants to buy concessions in the diamond mining sector, provided 500 vehicles to the president’s campaign for “transport and mobilisation”, the documents state.
The documents show China provided Mugabe’s government with short-wave jamming equipment to shut down local radio stations deemed to be pro-MDC.
Fears are rising that Mugabe’s landslide could split the MDC, which held emergency meetings yesterday to decide how to tackle the crisis. A divided opposition would further strengthen Mugabe’s 33- year rule which, critics say, has been characterised by crippling economic mismanagement and human rights abuses.
Now that Mugabe has a commanding majority, many fear that he will seek to amend the constitution. “He’ll try to strengthen the presidential powers that were weakened by the new constitution,” said a government adviser.
Others fear the country will slip back into the economic chaos that saw hyperinflation reach 213,000,000%.
“Mugabe’s now got a licence to loot,” said Paul Collier, director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University.
Hierdie land wat nommer 10 is op Foreign Policy se 2013 lys van "Failed States" en kan hier gevind word en is 'n gedeeltelike beskrywing soos volg:
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe saw a significant improvement on the 2013 FSI moving from 5th place in 2012 to 10th this year, the fourth year of consecutive improvement.
The economic situation in Zimbabwe improved as the European Union (EU) lifted sanctions on members of government, though not President Mugabe himself. The biggest improvement came at the end of the year as the EU lifted further restrictions and began giving foreign assistance directly to the Zimbabwean government. Although sanctions against the government were relaxed, there was not immediate reports of improvement in the economic situation on the ground for regular Zimbabweans.
Widespread human rights violations continued throughout the country. The violations included arresting members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise during peaceful protests on human rights and economic conditions. Other groups considered threats to the government were also harassed. Overall, although its score did improve in 2012, the country remains extremely fragile and much of its population in dire circumstances.
1 113.9 Somalia
2 111.9 Dem. Rep. of the Congo
3 111.0 Sudan
4 110.6 South Sudan
5 109.0 Chad
6 107.0 Yemen
7 106.7 Afghanistan
8 105.8 Haiti
9 105.3 Central African Republic
10 105.2 Zimbabwe
Daar kan glad nie bevestig word of hierdie waar is nie en is die hoop dat verdere ondersoek soos dit deur die res van die media opgetel word meer besonderhede sal bring en daarmee ook bevestiging. $800 miljoen vir so 'n arm land is 'n tragedie en is apart van die moontlike totale koste van $3000 miljoen aan omkoopgeld, teenoor 'n BBP van ongeveer $10 000 miljoen, maar kon dit nie bevestig word as die korrekte syfer nie sonder enige twyfel nie.
Baie dankie
Wouter
Kommentaar
Ek herhaal die volgende sin deur Jaco Fourie: "Jou [Wouter se] bydraes mbt enige onderwerp hier op die net is meerendeels ander se nagevorste sieninge wat jy copy paste, in die trant van jou copy paste van [Londoan Sunday Times], Der Spiegel en Financial Times hierbo sonder enige oorspronklikheid van jou kant af nie, en ook gewoonlik buite konteks, soos hierbo, aangehaal. "
En dan Wouter Ferns se bevetigende opmerking daarvan aan die einde van sy vervelige copy & paste (spoeg en plak): Daar kan glad nie bevestig word of hierdie waar is nie en is die hoop dat verdere ondersoek soos dit deur die res van die media opgetel word meer besonderhede sal bring en daarmee ook bevestiging ..., maar kon dit nie bevestig word as die korrekte syfer nie sonder enige twyfel nie. Baie dankie Wouter".
Nou wat de hel; waarom in die eerste plek dit as deel van sy bydrae hier plaas? Is hy soos gewoonlik net te lafhartig om bloot sy eie standpunt omtrent Robert Mugabe te maak?
Dis duidelik dat Wouter Ferns op ander se golwe probeer ry om daarmee slim te probeer lyk. Dit het inderdaad ook reeds 'n groot indruk op Trienie Mahne, Dolf en selfs Kobus de Klerk, gemaak.
Met alle respek en tot alle lesers hier; wat my reeds verby weersin in Wouter se bydraes strek, is die feit dat Wouter Ferns waarskynlik nie eens besef dat daar regtig ander mense ook is wat sy slimjannie-boewery en onsin lees nie. My algemene belangstelling bring my daartoe; ek wens net Wouter Ferns wil genade begin toon en sy marteling minstens kort hou.
Nie te danke nie,
Cornelius Henn