Prayer for Zimbabwe

[Roelof]

(Lord I pray that You remove Mugabe from his position of power - Roelof)

Families in a once agriculturally rich land are living – and dying – on a diet of nuts and berries as food shortages threaten up to five million Zimbabweans.

Father Peter stopped his truck beside a cluster of thatched mud huts deep in the arid, baking bushland of western Zimbabwe. A stick-thin woman, barefoot and dressed in rags, approached with her two young children.
“Please. We’re desperate for food,” she told him, and lifted up her children’s filthy T-shirts. Their stomachs and belly buttons were grotesquely distended by kwashiorkor, a condition caused by severe malnutrition that just a few years ago was unheard of in this once bountiful country.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle5295655.ece

[Roelof]

London - President Robert Mugabe would be out of power within two weeks if Zimbabwe's neighbours starved his armed forces of fuel for their vehicles, Botswana's foreign minister said on Saturday.
Phandu Skelemani said the outbreak of cholera in Zimbabwe showed more pressure should be put on fellow members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to stop propping up Mugabe's administration.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/...438399,00.html

[Roelof]

Zimbabwe's central bank sacked executives at four banks accused of illegal foreign currency trading, state media reported on Saturday, as international criticism of President Robert Mugabe's government increased.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown added his voice to condemnation of Mugabe, saying the world should tell the 84-year-old ruler "enough is enough". He urged coordinated international action to help Zimbabwe overcome food shortages and a cholera epidemic.

http://www.reuters.com/article/homep...0485._CH_.2400

[Roelof]

Zimbabwe’s panicking government is cracking down on its army and has placed the country on high alert following a riot by soldiers this week and increasing calls for President Robert Mugabe to be forcibly removed.

Unconfirmed reports yesterday claimed that 20 soldiers — fingered as the instigators of Monday’s rampage — had been summarily executed as Mugabe desperately tries to control the discontent.

His priority is the internal unrest. Military officers told the Sunday Times on Friday that an inquiry into the soldiers’ protests had been launched.

http://www.thetimes.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=900059

[Roelof]

(Lord, in 28 years Mugabe has destroyed this beautiful neighbour of us, please remove him from his position of power. Amen)

The bodies of illegal panners pile up as Mugabe desperately tries to find money to pay the troops who keep him in power

AS A military helicopter hovered over the diamond fields of Chiadzwa in eastern Zimbabwe, police on horseback moved in with attack dogs to remove thousands of illegal diggers who had poured in, hoping to get rich.
The diggers resisted, attacking the dogs with iron bars. The police opened fire from the helicopter, routing them. By the time it was all over, dozens lay dead.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle5299061.ece

[Roelof]

Built consistently throughout the period from the 11th century to the 15th century, the ruins at Great Zimbabwe are some of the oldest and largest structures located in Southern Africa. At its peak, estimates are that the ruins of Great Zimbabwe had as many as 18,000 inhabitants. The ruins that survive are built entirely of stone. The ruins span 1,800 acres (7 km²) and cover a radius of 100 to 200 miles (160 to 320 km).

Today in 2008, Zimbabwe is in ruins again, but in the modern idiom. There is no running water in the capital Harare. Shops are empty, one US dollar cost a million Zim dollars. Kids eat rats, 75% of the population has no food to eat. The soldiers started this week to rob shops because they have no food in their camps. More than 13 000 people have cholera because of burst sewage pipes which are not repaired and other very low hygienic conditions in the country. Hospitals have no medicine and people are dying because there are no medical personnel.

Mugabe, a power hungry tiran has turned one of the food baskets of Africa within 28 years into a modern ruins.

Lord, I pray that You remove Mugabe from his position of power please.

[Roelof]

Nairobi - Foreign troops should prepare to intervene in Zimbabwe to end a worsening humanitarian crisis and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe should be investigated for crimes against humanity, the Kenyan prime minister said on Sunday.
Raila Odinga urged the African Union to call an emergency meeting to authorise sending troops into Zimbabwe.
"If no troops are available, then the AU must allow the UN to send its forces into Zimbabwe with immediate effect, to take over control of the country and ensure urgent humanitarian assistance to the people dying of cholera," he said. More than 500 Zimbabweans have officially died of the disease since an outbreak in August but health officials fear the toll may be much higher. They warn deaths could spiral into the thousands due to the complete collapse of Zimbabwe's health system, the scarcity of food and the oncoming rainy season, which may help spread infections.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/...438684,00.html

[Roelof]

Harare - Influential former statesmen gave a damning verdict on Zimbabwe on Sunday, saying President Robert Mugabe's government cannot lead the nation out of its humanitarian crisis after a cholera outbreak killed nearly 600 people.
"There is bitter disappointment in the current leadership. This government has not demonstrated the ability to lead the country out of its current crisis," former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan said, according to a statement by The Elders group. "The process of transition to an inclusive government must be accelerated and I urge SADC (Southern African Development Community) leaders to play a more active role in pressing for that to occur," he said in a report released on the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/...438742,00.html

[Roelof]

Paris - France's president says that Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe "must go".
Nicolas Sarkozy has taken a very tough tone in his assessment of Zimbabwe's president. He says of Mugabe: "You have taken your people hostage."
Sarkozy holds the rotating presidency of the EU. He spoke on Monday in a speech marking the 60th anniversary of Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
European Union foreign ministers were preparing to tighten sanctions against Zimbabwe's government in a fresh bid to force Mugabe to step down.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,,2-11-1662_2439096,00.html

[Roelof]

It is bewildering for a distant observer, such as I am, to read the reports coming from Zimbabwe. For some time, now, they have been saying that unless something drastic is done, the country will collapse.

In a land with, effectively, no currency, where four out of five people don't have work, where half the population is hungry, where there is no legitimate government, where sickness stalks the land unchecked, where the capital is frequently without water and electricity, where an average pay packet can't buy a loaf of bread, where you can be beaten or worse for having the wrong politics and where the right to property has become an ephemera ... what exactly would constitute "collapse"?

As is all-too plain to see, the situation is dire in the land so many remember as one of the best places to feel the welcoming spirit of Africa, despite its history; and remember it as a rich garden that, despite disparities, provided for all. And yes, it seems pointless to wonder how much further it can fall and how it can get any worse.
Yet the story of Zimbabwe is not over. There will be much yet to tell and it is worth asking now what the rest of the story might involve. What happens next?

http://www.politicsweb.co.za/politicsweb/view/politicsweb/en/page71619?oid=112064&sn=Detail

[Roelof]

(If Mugabe’s government can only return running water and repair leaking sewage pipes – Roelof)

Harare - Zimbabwean authorities have warned residents against shaking hands at weddings and funerals to curb spreading a cholera outbreak which has already claimed nearly 600 lives, state media said on Monday.
"People should watch out for weddings, funerals and other social gatherings which are agents of the spread of cholera," Health Minister David Parirenyatwa said on Sunday, according to The Herald newspaper.
"We should avoid shaking hands and uphold high standards of hygiene," he said.

http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/Zimbabwe/0,,2-11-1662_2438911,00.html

[Lefty]

Praying for God to stop the spread of disease, provide Zimbabwe with just leadership and open doors for needed relief to come in. It's been a 28 year nightmare.

[Roelof]

(Lord, I pray that You please remove Mugabe from the presidency - Roelof)

War, disease and starvation: the three ugly faces of conflict. And often it's disease that determines who wins and who loses the battle for power.
A case in point: Robert Mugabe could not be dislodged by an election he allegedly lost, allegations of genocide, sanctions, rampant starvation among citizens and a complete currency collapse. But it looks as if cholera might provide the final push.

http://www.health24.com/news/General...-915,48982.asp

[Roelof]

Praying for God to stop the spread of disease, provide Zimbabwe with just leadership and open doors for needed relief to come in. It's been a 28 year nightmare.

Lefty

Thanks for your prayers

[Roelof]

(Zuma is protecting his comrade of the struggle - Roelof)

International efforts to end Zimbabwe's misery by forcing President Mugabe out of office were blunted yesterday when a key African leader urged further mediation despite the power-sharing impasse in Harare.
As President Sarkozy of France called for a swift end to the Mugabe regime, Jacob Zuma, the head of South Africa's ruling ANC party, insisted that dialogue was still the best way forward.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle5310007.ece