[Zimbabwe] The Formation of UZACOM

[J.Hyde]

With the sewer and water problem becoming critical, the smell of baked sewage and excrement in Harare had forced the executive council to move. After informing the Argentinian guard commander at the parliament building that the council was relocating to Mugabe International, they did just that. Not only was the new choice of venue necessary due to the horrific stench, but one of communicative logistics. The main Argentinian base was situated across the runway from the main airport complex, which was also being manned by Argentinians. Situating the council there was the most logical thing to do, since it would have the national government, and any foreign partners involved with salvaging Zimbabwe, within arms reach from each other.

As a result of this decision, The Provisional Executive Council sent messages to their saviours in Spain Bruno, Argentina Naio90, Ireland Drivindeath, Canada Alex, Portugal Strix, and France Logan, that the PEC wished to create a joint communication and planning centre in Mugabe International under the name UZACOM, The Unified Zimbabwe Aid Committee. The structure of the Committee would have Trevor Hawkins, the chairman of The PEC, also be chairman of the committee, with each nation involved with Zimbabwe's rescue having a representative also be present, so that a joint and unified plan for solving Zimbabwe's issues could be agreed, instead of the growing number of countries performing their missions in a solo manner that could cause waste and overlap amongst them.

 

[Naio90]

The argentine contingent would receive the news and offer its facilities to host the meeting. Obviously they would confirm their participation and guarantee all services (security, electricity, communitacions etc. for the meeting).

They would also inform that they will be bringing plans, proposals and projects to discuss.

J.Hyde

 

[Flying Damascas]

The Government of The Kingdom of Belgium would offer the services of Belgian Air and Peacekeepers to maintain order, we shall await the Executive Council's decision in Harare.

J.Hyde

 

[Drivindeath]

The Republic of Ireland would offer it's Air Corps and Peacekeeping Expeditionary Forces, as well as humanitarian aid to include: Pharmaceuticals, Food, and Water.

J.Hyde

 

[Bruno]

The Spanish Government would appoint a formal Representative to the UZACOM to spearhead the discussion and serve as liaison between the Spanish Government and the UZACOM. It would send a message to all parties involved that it would be best to set a task for each nation to complete taking in account their aid direction. It would suggest that the most crucial needs right now would be on the fronts of Food, Water, Health, Sewage Clarence, Electricity and Security of the Capital. And that recruiting from the local population to operate the various infrastructures by learning and being trained by the personnel of all nations involved.

The Spanish government would be ready to provide personnel to operate and train in various needed infrastructures, as well as provide Soldiers for peacekeeping and protection. As well as supplies in the form of food,water, medication and construction materials.


Naio90 , Drivindeath , Alex , Strix , Logan , J.Hyde

 

[Strix]

The Portuguese Government, having voiced its support recently, would send in 2 C-141 Starlifters to help Zimbabwe. On one of the aircraft, 50 people would be on board, 30 of which are appointed members who would aid the Provisional Executive Council, and in turn the newly formed UZACOM, in establishing a formal system of government; most of which are economists, and political administrators. They would be led by Alexandrina Coelho, an avid supporter of the people of Zimbabwe.

20 members, primarily officers, of the Royal Dragoon Regiment would also be sent to Zimbabwe. These are highly trained officials tasked with training the newly reformed Zimbabwean Police or Armed Forces in combating against possible hostile groups popping up due to the power vacuum. They would be wearing their ceremonial dresses, carrying along with their standard-issue uniform. They would also bring their pistol as a form of self-defense.

The second Aircraft would primarily bring supplies, water, and construction materials.

The Portuguese government has informed all parties involved that it would provide a budget of 500 million annually for a period of 4 years in reconstruction efforts, primarily of infrastructure and basic needs. Contractors would be hired to meet these demands. As a sign of initiative, the Portuguese would offer to take charge of repairing the sewage system, in order to provide clean water and keep waste off the streets.

---

Naio90 Drivindeath Alex Logan J.Hyde Bruno

 

[Alex]

The Canadian government is currently sending five CC-150 Polaris transport planes, four to transport personnel and one to transport supplies to Zimbabwe. Once landed the planes will return regularly with additional supplies and personnel as needed. Nearly eight hundred peacekeepers, humanitarians, and medical staff would be arriving to the nation to offer their aid. They would all be lead by Lieutenant-Colonel Weston Tyrell, a military man with previous peacekeeping experience from his early days.

Among the supplies sent would be food, clean water, medical supplies, and construction equipment and materials. All of this, along with the personnel, would arrive within a few days - once re-fueling rights had been granted to them by Brazil and the Zaire.

Naio90 Drivindeath Logan J.Hyde Bruno Strix

 

[Logan]

The French Government would arrange for the use of the Foudre-class ships currently off the coast of Mozambique as well as the durance-class replenishment ship to ferry supplies and personnel to Harare. They would also arrange for the deployment of more Knights of the Military Order of Ste Therese of Lisieux to be flown from the Foudre-class ships to Harare. For their part, the Knight-Commander Richard Delacroix, who had been the commanding officer on the ground for the Knights thus far, as well as the person overseeing the training of new militiamen and knights in Rhodesia, would lead and represent the French Efforts.

 

[Logan]

J.Hyde Drivindeath Naio90 Bruno Strix Alex

 

[J.Hyde]

Logan Drivindeath Flying Damascas Naio90 Bruno Strix Alex

1st Meeting Of The Unified Zimbabwe Aid Committee (UZACOM)​

With the various nations acknowledging, and accepting, the structure of UZACOM, the chairman, Trevor Hawkins, scheduled a meeting for 16:00 GMT+2 on Monday. Advance notice was also given of the potential attendance of a Belgian delegation, due to them expressing interest in assisting Zimbabwe. After securing a conference room in the main Mugabe International Airport complex, Trevor organised seats for the delegations that were already on Zimbabwean soil, and a laptop with video-conferencing software so that delegations that had not arrived in the country could participate via one of the newly inventedwebcams, such as the greyscale Connectix QuickCam or colour Connectix Color QuickCam.

Once the room had been prepared, Trevor awaited his international colleagues to arrive or connect electronically.

 

[J.Hyde]

JJSmithJr

 

[Naio90]

The Commander of the argentine force, plus assistants, would enter the room and await for the rest to arrive.

 

[Drivindeath]

Ireland would be on video conference with two gentlemen in camouflaged uniforms.

After everyone arrives one of the men speaks to everyone.

"Good afternoon my name is Lieutenant Colonel Brett Stevens I'm with the Irish Air Corps and this is my colleague Colonel Ryan Patrick with the Irish Army. We will be in command of Irelands forces in Zimbabwe and will be the representatives for Ireland."

 

[Bruno]

The Spanish representative would also arrive at the meeting, he would start to open his briefcase and go through a few papers and documents.

 

[Strix]

Alexandrina Coelho would join the meeting through a video conference, Personnel would be visible behind her loading the C-141s. They would have to wait for Zaire to offer basing rights before they can securely move into Zimbabwe; at the moment, however, this would do.

 

[J.Hyde]

"Hmmmmm..." Trevor mused as he glanced at the various delegations assembled. "There's someone missing. The country that is instrumental to this entire endeavour."

The chairman began typing frantically on the laptop so that he could get in touch with The Zairian Government JJSmithJr and invite them to the conference.

"The cost of having no assistant, everyone." He remarked. "You end up with so much to keep track of, you inevitably forget important details. Regardless, once the nation that established the air-bridge permitting Zimbabwe to be reached by the rest of the world has joined us, we will be able to begin."

 

[Alex]

The commander of the Canadian forces, Lieutenant-Colonel Weston Tyrell, would join the video conference. "My apologizes for being late." He would begin. "The Canadian forces are prepared and ready. We just need to confirm refueling locations before departing CFB Trenton."

 

[J.Hyde]

Alex JJSmithJr

"I'm glad you could join us, sir!" Trevor greeted. "We are awaiting the arrival of Zaire's delegates, and we can then begin."

 

[J.Hyde]

JJSmithJr

 

[J.Hyde]

Logan Bruno Drivindeath Flying Damascas JJSmithJr Alex Strix Naio90

"While we wait for them to join us," Trevor remarked as the software continued to call The Zaire Government. "I'd first like to thank everyone present in an official capacity, and a personal capacity. Zimbabwe is, at the moment, a literal hell-scape, however it can be a beautiful country. I saw its potential in the past, while its future has been held back by Mugabe. He is now gone, thanks to The French, and Australian, special forces that stepped forth to liberate the nation from his grasp.

I'd also like to apologise for the mistreatment that the Belgian, French, Brazilian, Portuguese, and Australian embassy delegations and their citizens who were in Zimbabwe at the time of Mugabe's overthrow. They were harassed in an unacceptable manner, and the sanctity of their embassies were violated. A gunfight even occurred between police and Belgian security, where deaths occurred. Hopefully, with your help and aid, Zimbabwe can be rebuilt into a functioning, and stable, democracy."

With the opening remarks made, the chairman retrieved a set of papers he had prepared before the conference to read.

"Naturally, the only way that the end goal mentioned can be achieved is through a concerted effort by us all. It will not be easy, that is obvious to us all, but it can be done. In my position as chairman of The Provisional Executive Council of Zimbabwe, I was able to agree a possible course of action with my colleagues regarding how the country can be stabilised quickly, and efficiently. With the input of everyone here, I'm confident that it can be refined into a plan that will bring about meaningful change in Zimbabwe."

Trevor then presented a map for the group's perusal.

"This is Harare Province. It, along with Bulawayo, are one of two major cities in Zimbabwe that have their own provincial status unique from the larger ones, akin to The Belgian Capital Region that encompasses Brussels. The city of Harare, and its outlying metropolitan area, which includes areas like Epworth and Tynwald South, possess around three and a half million people. That is approximately 20% of the total population of Zimbabwe. It is also, currently, the province that possesses the only secure airport in the country.

The entirety of the country has gone dark. There has been no news thus far of a competitor to The PEC elsewhere in the country, which, in itself, is concerning, because there are a number of groups and individuals in this nation that wish for power. Allow me to elucidate on who those individuals are before I talk about the plan The PEC has in mind."

---

"Former General Solomon Tapfumaneyi Mutusva, also known under the alias and nom-de-guerre of; Solomon Mujuru, and Rex Nhongo. He served as Mugabe's top military man during The Bush War. A competent general, he became chief of the army after Mugabe instituted a policy of Africanisation in the various organs of state, such as the military and police. Replacing the white officials with blacks. While most of the people Mugabe appointed to such positions were political cronies, Solomon is an exception. He is a competent military man, who received training from The Soviet Union during The Bush War, and was considered by many to be equal in power to Mugabe. It was theorised that he would, potentially, be Mugabe's successor, however things have changed. Aged 51, he is still very much a man with life left in him. His supporters as both a man of the deposed Zimbabwe African National Union regime, and on a personal level, are vast.

As such, his disappearance in the aftermath of Mugabe's removal from power is worrying. He had retired from his army post in 1992, but he undoubtedly still commands support from all walks of life. It is within the realms of reality that he has fled the country, but it's also likely that he has fled into the interior to begin a Second Bush War."

"Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo, leader of The Zimbabwe African People's Union, or ZAPU. The second insurgent group during The Bush War. Nkomo established ZAPU and received Chinese support, in contrast to ZANU's Russian support. He permitted the merging of ZAPU with ZANU in 1987 after Mugabe instituted a series of massacres against Nkomo's tribal support base, the Northern Ndebele, or Matebele, people, Mugabe's tribal base was the far numerous Shona, or MaShona. Nkomo allowed the merger, so that the genocide would stop.

He served as the Second Vice-President of Zimbabwe under Mugabe, while a ZANU loyalist was the First Vice-President, until Mugabe's removal from power. While Nkomo is 80 years old, he still has influence with former ZAPU members, for obvious reasons. You don't just try to slaughter an entire ethnic group, and then expect them to forgive you when one of their leading characters merges their party with yours. Nkomo's whereabouts are also unknown, and he is unlikely to try and revive ZAPU in a Second Bush War scenario, however he does have a number of notable individuals that might try to."

"Thenjiwe Lesabe, a ZAPU member who served from the very beginning. A strong believer of ZAPU's ideas, she's done everything in her power. Lobbied for support during The Bush War from Zambia, served as the head of The Zimbabwe African's Women's Union, became deputy minister of tourism once ZAPU and ZANU merged. However, she always took the opportunity to fight ZAPU's corner, instead of ZANU's, when it was politically safe to do so. As such, it's likely that she, even though she's 65 right now, might want to restart her former party."

"Philip Valerio Sibanda, age unknown, Emmerson Mnangagwa, aged 55, and Dumiso Dabengwa, aged 58. All three are former ZAPU members, and soldiers. Mnangagwa stopped when Mugabe took power and served as national security minister, where he coordinated the aforementioned genocides, The Gukurahundi. He switched from ZAPU to ZANU before the merger, but he's a militant that has nothing left to lose, since The Hague will probably want to have a few words for him.

Sibanda remained a soldier. He's the only ZAPU member to have achieved the rank of Major General in the army. Finally, Dabengwa, trained in Moscow in intelligence and soldiering. Acted as head of ZAPU's head of military intelligence during The Bush War, He has no love for ZANU, since he was accused of treason, acquitted due to lack of evidence, then detained without charge throughout The Gukurahundi. He was Minister of Home Affairs until Mugabe was deposed, but it's doubtful that he'd use the ZANU banner."

---

"These individuals are, at the moment, unaccounted for in terms of their location, and they do pose a potential threat of organised insurgency. Whether that materialises, I hope not, but it's something that The PEC wishes to inform everyone present, so that they know that there may be resistance in the rural areas. Harare itself has, for the most part, remained relatively peaceful. However, that's recently begun to break down. My colleagues, who are able to mingle more easily with the majority black population, have heard that there has been incidents of looting and burglary. Food had run out, but Argentina has graciously begun distributing food to those that were looking for it, which has effectively stemmed a moment of potential unrest. However, there is undoubtedly going to be a rising trend in crime with people realising that there are no police to keep law and order.

As such, one of the top priorities is to establish policing in Harare, and smother this crime wave before it gains traction. Next is the issue of food, Argentina has begun distribution of food to select parts of Harare proper, but the province is around 960 square kilometres large, and has around 3.5 million mouths to feed. Food is going to be a massive issue, since agriculture in Zimbabwe has never been the same since Mugabe instituted land reform that replaced commercial level farmers with subsistence farmers on racial ground. As a result, imports have been necessary to keep the people fed, and those imports have stopped due to the collapse of the government. That and the local currency was already in a bad place before Mugabe was deposed, it's now literally worthless. Meaning the purchasing of food by people with money has become impossible.

How to address this critical issue? In the short term, The PEC believes that food-water distribution points should be established throughout Harare Province to allow people to be able to obtain clean water and rationed food each day, or week, to tide them over until more sustainable and long-term supplies of food can be obtained. Clean water will be an issue that will require a long-term effort. The sewers, water treatment plants, and water pumps, have always been of low quality. The ability for a toilet to flush was something that could only occur for a few hours every few weeks.

It is easier for the average Zimbabwean to evacuate their bowels in a hole in the ground, or drink water from a well that's contaminated with human faeces, than run a tap for a glass of water, and even then, said tap water usually has raw sewage in it, which makes them sick. In other words, the entire water-sewage network needs to be rebuilt from scratch. There are four water treatment plants in Harare, a fifth just over the provincial border into Mashonaland West. Whether they are still serviceable and able to be integrated into a brand new water network, I do not know, but I believe that informing any engineers and architects of what current major infrastructure sites exist is necessary."

"Even if we can get the plants back online, it's doubtful that they will be able to pump water to homes. The pipes are from before Zimbabwe came into being in 1980. They are useless. However, they could be used to bolster the capacity of the water purification plants Argentina has got deployed in the area."

Trevor then took the time to have a drink, his throat beginning to become a little dry from the prolonged speech.

"Electricity is also an issue. Without it, we cannot run lights, telephones, and other communications infrastructure. Harare possesses a coal-fired power plant at 6 Coventry Road in Harare proper. It was first built in 1955, and has a maximum capacity of 80 megawatts. That is the only power plant currently within reach of Mugabe International, but is usually offline or producing very little electricity due to lack of maintenance and coal shortages. At the moment, Argentina has supplied medical equipment and generators to critical buildings such as Harare's clinics and hospitals, but they will need a constant supply of diesel and petrol. They can't be run on those forever, as I'm sure they will agree, so getting Harare's power plant back online is also a priority.

At this point, I believe I can summarise The PEC plan as this:

1. Establish short-term food and water distribution points throughout Harare Province to feed and water the populace.
2. Bring Harare Power Plant back online to provide power for critical infrastructure, and the populace if capacity allows.
3. Ascertain whether the various water plants can be used to bolster potable water supplies, while performing a complete survey of the sewage-water network in preparation for a full overhaul.
4. Begin immediate patrols of troops, peacekeepers, or other personnel, for policing, while also training officers for a Zimbabwean police force to, eventually, take over that function.
5. Start the creation of a new Zimbabwean army to take over the defence of the country in the future.

I hope, with that summary, everyone else will be able to provide their own suggestions, input, or a completely different plan of action to create a secure safe zone in Harare Province, which can then be the springboard to begin reestablishing control throughout the rest of the country."