From the News: Nice meeting

From The Sunday Times (SA), 16 December: Zanu PF sticks to the script

They came in Hummers, Mercedes-Benz MLs and BMW 7- series wearing Gucci, Georgio Armani, Hugo Boss and suits from London’s exclusive Savil e Row and gorged themselves at a lavish banquet. All to honour a man who has beggared his country. While most Zimbabweans continued their desperate scramble to eke out a living this week, 10000 of the country’s ruling Zanu PF party ignored the economic and political abuses of President Robert Mugabe’s 27-year reign to, once again, anoint him their presidential candidate for next year’s elections. Under a leaden sky, the 83- three-year-old Mugabe and his young wife, Grace, arrived at the City Sports Centre in Harare in a newly imported, armour-plated black Mercedes-Benz S600 — sporting a number plate reading ZIM-1. While the first couple made their way into the hall bedecked with portraits of Mugabe, no- one, not even Mugabe’s trusted lieutenants, was allowed to park next to his vehicle. In fact, a sentry stood guard over it for the duration, occasionally using a cloth to wipe off raindrops that dared to fall on the vehicle.

Disdaining the designer gear so beloved of the party’s elite, Mugabe and Grace sported Zanu PF regalia emblazoned with his face . Their appearance at Zanu PF’s special congress sent delegates into a frenzy, causing them to chant "Gushungo, Gushungo", Mugabe’s tribal name. With his eyes firmly focused on the elections in 2008, Mugabe did not waste time when given the podium. He immediately dangled the black economic empowerment carrot in front of the impoverished party faithful. "We have given you land, now we want you to have majority stakes in the mining sector, which is still in the hands of imperialists," Mugabe told party supporters, causing delegates to chant Mugabe’s name and proclaim that he was a godsend, and the only person fit to rule Zimbabwe. "You must not be used as fronts by whites when we give you shares in these mining companies. We want blacks to at least own 51% shares in all the foreign mining firms," he continued. ...