The Osterley Times: Mugabe rush to be sworn in as Africa turns against him.

There were reports yesterday on BBC radio that the Zimbabwean election had a very low turnout and a record amount of spoiled ballot papers, but none of that is stopping Mugabe from claiming a resounding victory in what must have been one of the bloodiest and most controversial elections in African history.

But Mugabe's claims of victory have been greeted around the world with anger and incredulity:

Washington called the vote a sham and said it will seek a UN Security Council resolution this week to send a 'strong message of deterrence' to Zimbabwe's leader. The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, said Washington 'will use everything in our power for appropriate sanctions'. The US is also expected to press for an arms embargo on Zimbabwe and a travel ban on its officials.

Gordon Brown yesterday said that Zimbabwe had reached a new low point with the election. 'We will work with international partners to find a way to close this sickening chapter that has cost so many lives,' the Prime Minister said.

The head of one foreign election observer mission, Marwick Khumalo, who leads the Pan-African Parliament monitors, said that many Zimbabweans had voted only out of fear and that the turnout was in truth 'very, very low' after Tsvangirai withdrew from the race because of the violence.

Khumalo also suggested that many voters deliberately defaced their ballots after they were intimidated into going to the polls. He said that at one polling place in rural Matabeleland nearly 40 per cent of the ballots were spoilt, and that at another in Harare the combined numbers of opposition and spoilt ballots matched the vote for the President. 'There was a lot of intimidation for people to vote,' said Khumalo, a parliamentarian from Swaziland. 'You can tell people just wanted to get the indelible ink [on a finger to prove they had voted] to protect themselves from the hooligans.'

So, as many people went into the ballot box and then deliberately spoiled their paper simply to send the message that they did not want Mugabe to be their president, as the amount who actually voted for him.

Mugabe is now anxious to be sworn in so that he can attend the AU with what I can only presume he imagines is a position of strength. I think he's in for a rude awakening when he gets there, as many African nations have turned against him.

Desmond Tutu, the former Archbishop of Cape Town, urged African states to declare Mugabe an illegitimate leader and impose a blockade on Zimbabwe. Mugabe said last week that he will tell his critics that many of their elections are worse than Zimbabwe's.

The AU is divided. While countries such as Nigeria, Botswana, Kenya and Tanzania have all criticised the poll to some degree, there is less inclination for a confrontation with Mugabe from South Africa and his allies, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola. The AU commission chairman, Jean Ping, has urged compromise.

Mugabe's Foreign Minister, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, attempted to forestall a debate on Zimbabwe at a preparatory meeting on Friday and asked to be allowed to read a statement. But there were strong objections from a number of countries, including Liberia, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

As usual, South Africa, led by Mbeki, seeks to give Mugabe political cover, but with both the ANC and Mandela having spoken out against Mugabe, Mbeki's position - even within South Africa - is becoming an isolated one.

The genie is out the bottle as far as most Africans are concerned and Mugabe will not be able to put it back in. He has been seen as what he is: a vile dictator who uses brutality to intimidate his people.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions has issued a statement:

The 27 June presidential election was not an election, but a declaration of war against the people of Zimbabwe by the ruling party. Dozens of people have been murdered due to politically motivated violence. Thousands of others have been threatened with death, beaten, tortured and harassed for supporting the opposition political party.

The congress therefore supports the decision of our fellow trade unionists in the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions not to accept the outcome of any flawed election, and demands that the leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union make a clear public statement that the 'election' held on 27 March was a cruel sham, and to withdraw their recognition of a government that has no mandate to rule following its defeat, but is clinging to power by brute force.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called for intervention, by force, if necessary:

The former Cape Town archbishop said he would support the deployment of a UN force to restore peace in the country.

Africa has turned against Mugabe, and even Mbeki won't be able to legitimise his deeds now.

UPDATE:

Certain Tory front benchers are said to have investments in Zimbabwe which might be helping prop up Mugabe's regime.

Blood money: the MPs cashing in on Zimbabwe's misery.

Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve heads a list of Tory MPs with sizeable shareholdings in companies accused of propping up Robert Mugabe's regime, The Independent on Sunday can reveal today.

Three of David Cameron's frontbenchers are among six Conservatives – and one Liberal Democrat – with investments together worth more than £1m in firms trading in Zimbabwe. The revelations will embarrass the Tory leader, who has sought to take the moral high ground over the crisis in Zimbabwe.

Mr Cameron has called on all companies and individuals with "any dealings" in Zimbabwe to examine their consciences and ensure that they are not keeping Mr Mugabe in power.

The companies include Anglo American, the mining giant rebuked last week for pushing ahead with a new £200m platinum mine in Zimbabwe, Rio Tinto, Standard Chartered, Barclays, Shell and BP.

It just shows there's money to be made out of slaughter, and Cameron's supposedly "new" Tory Party have the faces in the trough. Disgusting.

UPDATE II:

There is a petition that you can sign demanding that Mbeki and other African leaders find a democratic solution to Zimbabwe's problems.

It reads:

Petition to Thabo Mbeki and other leaders of Southern Africa:

We call on you to hold an emergency meeting of Southern African leaders, to work by all means necessary for a legitimate Zimbabwean government that reflects the will of its people, and to decisively isolate those who stand in the way of a peaceful, democratic future for Zimbabwe.