Mail and Guardian
Minister 'deathly silent'
on Zim conservation problems
Cape Town, South
Africa
25 April 2005
01:00
Reports that up to nine elephants in
Zimbabwe were
killed and used as meat for Zimbabwe's recent independence
celebrations
should serve as a wake-up call to Minister of Environmental
Affairs and
Tourism Marthinus van Schalkwyk, says the South African official
opposition
Democratic Alliance.
DA MP Gareth
Morgan said that "despite repeated
calls" for the minister to speak up about
the state of conservation in
Zimbabwe, "particularly those areas that are
due to be integrated with the
Kruger National Park to form the Great Limpopo
National Park, he has
remained deathly silent and his own officials have
said there is nothing to
worry about".
Morgan
said the killing of these elephants, "four of
which are reported to have
been killed by Zimbabwean National Parks Board
scouts, is not an isolated
incident. Over the last five years, Zimbabwe's
national parks have been
decimated by poaching."
He said in Gonarezhou
National Park, due to form
part of the transfrontier park, "there are
reports that there are now more
cattle in the park than wild animals, due to
the destruction of fences".
"Private
conservancies around Gonarezhou are
reporting that Zanu-PF strongmen are
frequently demanding that land owners
allow Zanu-PF supporters to hunt
animals for food. Further, large portions
of these conservancies have been
invaded by human settlers.
"On March 4 2005, I
asked acting environmental
affairs director general, Pam Yako, whether her
department had any concerns
about the future of our cross- border
conservation initiatives with
Zimbabwe.
"She
replied curtly that she personally did not have
any reservation about the
ability of Zimbabwean officials to manage
conservation.
"In light of the killing of
these elephants, she may
wish to reconsider her statement. I have already
submitted a question to the
minister asking whether he agreed with the
acting DG's opinion.
"Van Schalkwyk must ask
himself whether he really
wants to do business with Zimbabwe at this time.
The integration of
Zimbabwean conservation areas into the Kruger park will
place South African
conservation at risk."
Morgan said: "Unfortunately, the minister will not
even speak about the
issue. The minister has joined his comrades in becoming
a Zimbabwe
denialist. His silent diplomacy with Zimbabwean officials, if
there is any
diplomacy at all, is not dissimilar to the silent diplomacy of
the president
[Thabo Mbeki].
"As minister of environmental
affairs, Van Schalkwyk
is allowing himself to be treated as a junior
minister. By doing so, he does
an injustice to our environment." -- I-Net
Bridge
Hi Everyone,
I wrote to most of you over a year ago, telling you about
a good Samaritan in Malelane(other side Nelspruit), who works tirelessly &
selflessly for the Zim Pensioners' Support Fund. Several times a year Hannes
Botha takes a truckload of supplies up to Zim. & the goodies get distributed
to pensioners in centres all over the country. He struggles to source the stuff
needed, & then the next hurdle is doing battle with the crooked officials at
Beit Bridge in order to get the stuff thru'!! But he does it over &
over again.
This is really SUCH a good cause, because SO many
pensioners in Zim.(IN FACT MOST OF THEM!) are destitute.......specially those
whose families have left the country.....mistakenly believing that pensions
would take care of their aged parents. Most of these old folk are just too proud
to ask far off relatives for help. ALL our friends still living in Zim
with surviving parents are now totally responsible for their parent's
financial welfare. But there are many unfortunate old people who haven't got a
safety net. A domestic worker in Zim now earns close to Z$1 million.....whilst
most pensioners get only a few thousand dollars(some only a few
hundred!!!)..because pensions just haven't kept pace with the rocketing
cost of loving!! And because of the unbelievable COL, & the fact
that many of them lost their money invested in banks & finance houses which
have crashed, the old age homes themselves are in dire financial straits!
The 'state' gives absolutely no help at all, & with costs continuing to
spiral out of control, most of these institutions now depend on private
contributions.....so thank God for the ever generous Zimbabwean private
sector........however, the small remaining pool of faithful donators continues
to shrink by the day!
Please give these Oldies a thought & contribute to
Hannes Botha's worthy cause. He needs medical supplies, toiletries,
non-perishable foods, blankets, clothes & jerseys etc etc etc. Cash
contributions are also welcome, because Hannes can then simply buy whatever is
in greatest demand. Please dig deep & help Hannes to help the
pensioners....either in your private capacity or thru' your church or a
community service. Phone him on 084-598 3221 or email him on bothah@tsb.co.za. He leaves for Zim. on May
10th 2005, so time is of the essence. If you make a cash donation(& every
cent counts, no donation is too small!!!) send it to Zimbabwe
Pensioners Fund, FNB, Malelane, Br code 270952, a/c nos 62058668230. Please
supply contact details so Hannes can get back to you.
Please pass this request on to anyone you think will
help.
Thanking you in anticipation,
Colleen.
CORRECTION
Hi Everyone!
When I sent out the request for donations to Hannes
Botha's worthy cause, I made an error with his cell nos...the correct nos is 084
5893221(got the 8 & 9 the wrong way around). Also....his land line is
013-7900934.
Sorry for the inconvenience. Remember he leaves on
his next trip on 10th May...so don't delay. The trip after
that will be in August.
Thanks,
Colleen.
IOL
Fuel shortage piles pressure on Zim
April 25 2005 at
08:14PM
By Stella Mapenzauswa
Harare - Zimbabwe's fuel
crisis worsened on Monday with most garages
in the capital Harare saying
their supplies had run dry, adding to the
misery of erratic electricity and
water supplies.
The crisis-ridden southern African state has seen
an upsurge in
commodity shortages since soon after March 31 parliamentary
elections which
returned President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party to power
amid opposition
cries of rigging.
"We haven't had petrol here
for days and the diesel delivery we had
over the weekend ran out within
hours," said an attendant at a Harare garage
which gets its supplies from
state oil importer NOCZIM.
The government revoked NOCZIM's
previous monopoly on imports a few
years ago, allowing a slew of mostly
black-owned new companies to bring in
their own fuel, but these have been
stymied by a persistent foreign currency
crunch.
Residents in
the second city of Bulawayo, host later this week to a
week-long
international trade fair, also said they struggled for weeks to
fill up
their car tanks.
Zimbabwe has suffered erratic fuel supplies since
1999, when key
donors led by the International Monetary Fund withdrew
support over policy
differences with the government.
Critics
say Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980,
has crippled a
once-vibrant economy through skewed policy decisions
including the
controversial seizure of white-owned commercial farms for
landless blacks, a
programme they say has destroyed the mainstay agriculture
sector.
Foreign cash inflows are a trickle as exporters
struggle to stay in
business in a harsh climate, and analysts estimate that
foreign exchange
auctions controlled by the central bank are only meeting
about 8 percent of
importer demand.
The foreign currency crisis
has also affected electricity supplies, 35
percent of which state power
utility ZESA has to import from neighbouring
countries.
Last
Friday ZESA said it was unable to access its electricity imports
from the
Democratic Republic of Congo due to a transmission failure, and
that lack of
spares for maintenance of some of its generators had also hit
supplies.
Cash-strapped ZESA has struggled to import enough
power from its
neighbours in past years, leading to frequent power cuts that
have disrupted
industrial production.
On Monday the
private-owned Daily Mirror newspaper said Zimbabwe's
central city of Kadoma
had experienced water supply problems in the past
week due to power cuts by
Zesa.
The paper quoted residents as saying they feared an outbreak
of
disease as electricity-powered pumps failed to draw adequate water to the
town.
Mugabe denies misruling the country over the past 25
years, arguing
the economy has fallen victim to domestic and foreign
opponents of his farm
seizures.
From The Guardian (UK), 25 April
The tourist trap
Tom de
Castella on the risks of being an undercover reporter in Zimbabwe
At
Linquenda House, Harare's gloomy immigration department, the official
inspecting my visa extension form asks me what I do. "I'm a wineseller," I
lie. "You're not a news seller?" he shoots back, his eyes watching me
mischievously. "What's that?" I say, trying to be innocent, but taken aback
by his apparent mind-reading. "A journalist," he answers. "Oh, no, I'm not
one of them" I say, trying to laugh. He chuckles and explains that "some of
your fellow countrymen are attempting to come in and make trouble," before
stamping my passport. That was in 2002, but on subsequent trips I have been
a birdwatcher, architect and cricket fan. Such is life for the "tourist" in
Zimbabwe, where lying to strangers and suspicion of others becomes second
nature. You know that you could be jailed for up to two years, but you are
also aware that unaccredited journalists caught by the authorities are
usually deported. But now, the trial of two Sunday Telegraph "tourists"
arrested at a polling station during last month's parliamentary election has
changed all that. It is true that Toby Harnden and Julian Simmonds were
acquitted of working without accreditation and are now safe in the UK. But
without a judge who insisted on proper standards of evidence - by no means
certain in Zimbabwe - they could have been spending the next two years in a
crowded, disease-ridden jail cell.
Since Zimbabwe's new media
laws came in three years ago, the state has
sought to stop journalists from
the BBC, and other news organisations it
terms "agents of imperialism", from
entering the country. The British
media's answer has been to send in the
"tourists" - an army of men and women
keen to see the elephants, visit
Victoria Falls and, of course, write about
Mugabe. It is a peculiar
existence, and one that looks increasingly
dangerous. I have spent three
periods working in Zimbabwe without
accreditation. Each time you arrive you
promise yourself that you will keep
risks to a minimum. There are the
obvious steps. Keeping a pile of tourist
guides, birdwatching books and half
written postcards about your person, not
talking to strangers about
politics, not taking notes in public, ensuring
your emails are not being
read over your shoulder, keeping phonecalls short
and discreet, and
listening to the advice of locals you trust. But despite
one's good
intentions, journalistic instincts are hard to suppress. Casual
questions
become more focused, feigned ignorance disappears, your eyes light
up and
before you know it, your notebook is out and you are scribbling away.
The
bottom line is, if you are going to do the job properly you cannot avoid
taking risks. When deciding whether to interview people you constantly have
to ask yourself: "Do I trust this person?" Not in the traditional sense, but
on whether they will turn you in. It comes down to calculated
risks.
A year after the murder of white farmer Terry Ford, I visited
his farm to
see what had happened to it and the "war veterans" who had taken
over there.
Local farmers warned me the killers were still there and did not
welcome
visitors. My heart thumped as I introduced myself as an aid worker
and
showed them a business card belonging to someone I had recently
interviewed.
But the risk paid off - their desperation meant they wanted to
believe me.
They were hungry, the farmhouse was an empty shell. I took notes
and photos
but did not hang around when one of them tried to ring their
"boss" for me
to interview. At the junction of the dirt track back to the
main road I came
across a couple of police Land Rovers, apparently waiting
for me. My blood
ran cold. "This is it," I thought, as I saw the box-shaped
vehicles parked
at the side of the road. But they ignored me, I turned onto
the Harare road,
and slowly my adrenaline levels returned to normal. There
are many such
moments in Zimbabwe for the "tourist" hack. In the township of
Kuwadzana
during the 2002 election I was followed by plain-clothes police.
The most
malevolent-looking officer bade me farewell, succinctly: "If I see
your face
again I will shoot you." It was probably just a threat, but in a
place like
Kuwadzana, you do not hang around to find out. You can never
totally relax
and constantly worry about being followed or whether your
phone is tapped.
Ultimately you rely on the goodwill of most Zimbabweans and
the incompetence
of Mugabe's police state. So why do we do it? If
journalists take the famous
William Randolph Hearst maxim as their creed -
"News is what someone does
not want you to print, the rest is just
advertising" - then Zimbabwe is the
apotheosis of news. But after the Sunday
Telegraph's close shave, it might
be only freelances who are willing to take
the risk.
Business Day
Posted to the web on: 25 April 2005
Plotting the decline
of a tyrant
Tim Hughes
TYRANNY is rule by fear. The government of
Zimbabwe is a tyranny. Tyrannies
lack legitimacy and popular consent,
relying rather on the abuse of state
power to remain in
office.
Insofar as the state has a virtual monopoly on the instruments
and use of
force, this presents a potent weapon in the hands of a tyrant.
Tyrannies
deftly and crudely manipulate the discourse and institutions of
democracy
while simultaneously occluding its space.
Under tyrannies,
sycophantic parliaments pass immoral legislation; jurists
preside over its
application and the police enforce its adherence. For their
duration,
tyrannies are in authority, but lack authority, particularly moral
authority
on which to draw in times of crisis.
When the fig leaves of democratic
legitimacy shrivel, tyrannies rely on
structural violence, state repression
and privatised intimidation, such as
hit squads, vigilantes and youth
militia, to ensure quiescence. Tyrannies
not only occupy the office of
government - such office is subordinated to
vicarious personal whim.
Democrats are repulsed by such regimes, thugs are
drawn to
them.
Tyrannies are deceptive and ambiguous regimes, however, being
at once
forceful and vulnerable. The Mugabe regime is both. After 25 years
of rule
by an evil political genius, how much longer can the Zimbabwean
tyranny
continue?
Absent the death of its leader, four key
characteristics presage the fall of
tyranny. The first is the appearance of
fissures, then factions and then
fractures in the ruling oligarchy. This is
often preceded by schisms,
inconsistencies and oscillations in governmental
language and sloganeering.
Furthermore, tyrannies construct proto-ideologies
and justificatory
discourses that simultaneously create, or recreate,
perceived external
threats.
Nazism used Zionism, Stalinism used
Fascism and apartheid used both African
nationalism and communism. The Zanu
(PF) tyranny has used white racism,
neocolonialism, capitalism, farmers,
Britain, British Prime Minister Tony
Blair, the church, the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and
now the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) and World Bank structural
adjustment programmes, to blame for the
(now officially acknowledged)
economic crisis.
But whereas the
symbolism of white settler racist exploitation has been a
potent instrument
for galvanising support for Robert Mugabe, the very
extirpation of this
threat, inter alia, through land seizures has,
perversely, exhausted its
political utility. The external "threat" of Blair,
or indeed the culpability
of the IMF or World Bank, simply has little
galvanising currency for
Zimbabwe's 40%-60% impoverished and unemployed.
Beyond the rhetoric
of crisis, however, the ruling bloc in Zimbabwe is
exhibiting fissures, if
not yet signs of fracturing. Mugabe's firing of
previously trusted and
prominent cabinet ministers, most notably former
information minister
Jonathan Moyo, the marginalisation of former
parliamentary speaker Emmerson
Mnangagwa, pre-election purges within Zanu
(PF) and the increasing reliance
on the Zezuru clan elite for appointment to
positions of trust, particularly
in the military and intelligence hierarchy,
are all clear indictors of
regime weakness, not strength.
That Moyo and Mnangagwa felt confident
enough to launch their respective
leadership succession bids before this
year's election campaign demonstrates
a confidence derived of a perception
of relative Mugabe weakness.
A second portent of tyranny collapse is a
deepening crisis of the state.
This has a number of dimensions. The most
important is economic: the
Zimbabwean economy, which is now 30% smaller than
it was five years ago; its
parlous agricultural production, mine closures,
chronic energy shortages;
the world's highest inflation rate and a currency
that is practically
untradeable but still overvalued, are the clearest
indicators of a
structural, if not terminal, economic crisis that is placing
a tourniquet on
the Zimbabwean fiscus and treasury. This fiscal and revenue
crisis threatens
the viability of state employee salaries and pensions, most
notably those of
the security services.
To date, the Mugabe
government has been able to placate the security forces
with massive pension
payouts, the distribution of seized farms and the
spoils of war in
Democratic Republic of Congo. Against the background of
heavy international
debt, the country has reportedly already securitised its
sugar and other
agricultural production to Libya and China in recent years.
More visibly,
state infrastructure is decaying. This in a country whose
state sector was
the envy of all Africa. The regime is running out of
revenue, capital and
options.
The third harbinger of tyranny failure, and one that is
distinctly absent
from the current Zimbabwe scenario, is that of external
threat.
Historically, tyrannies fail when they have engaged in wars of
expansion, or
have been invaded. In the 1990s the elite of the Zimbabwean
regime inverted
this thesis by materially benefiting from its military
intervention in the
Congolese war. The spoils bolstered the wealth of the
senior ranks of the
military and made some politicians and businessmen
fabulously rich, but the
invasion also resulted in political sanction from
the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) under pressure from SA in
particular. Despite
the reported recent purchase of six Chinese fighter
aircraft to protect
Zimbabwe from "imperialist aggression", there is no
foreign military threat
to the regime.
This outpost of tyranny will
not be invaded. Nor will any SADC state permit
antigovernment forces to
operate from its soil against Zimbabwe. No, the
only external threat to the
regime is sanctions. These may be passive
sanctions in the form of
curtailing international finance and credit
facilities, or smart sanctions
of the type imposed on the regime and its
leadership by the US and the
European Union. In either event, neither form
of sanction will have any
telling effect on the ruling bloc in Zimbabwe over
the short to medium
term.
The fourth and sharpest weapon in the struggle against tyranny
is that of
internal opposition. Yet despite its political dominance in the
cities and
overwhelming support in Matabeleland, the MDC shows no signs of
effectively
challenging the Mugabe regime at any level. The MDC has failed
to maximise
its comparative advantage and mobilise unions, workers and the
urban youth
in a concerted campaign of rolling mass action. Nor has it shown
the
stomach, or inclination, for armed struggle, yet. The lessons of SA have
not
been learnt.
Thus, despite a weakening state and subterranean
rumblings from a discordant
Zanu (PF), the terms of the end of tyranny in
Zimbabwe lie not with the
ambitious "sleepers" within the oligarchy, and
less still with the battered
and bruised comrades of the MDC, but rather,
for the time being at least,
with southern Africa's most infamous old tyrant
himself.
?Hughes is parliamentary research fellow for the South
African Institute of
International Affairs.
Business Day
Posted to the web on: 25 April 2005
Being Zimbabwean may
cost Makoni the African Development Bank presidency
Jonathan
Katzenellenbogen
International Affairs Editor
SIMBA
Makoni, a former Zimbabwean finance minister, could be a serious
contender
to become president of the African Development Bank, but he has a
problem in
the campaign - his nationality.
When he was in Washington last week to
lobby industrial country treasury
officials, he was told it would be very
difficult for them to vote for him
because he comes from Zimbabwe. With
"smart sanctions" against some members
of ruling political elite of
President Robert Mugabe's Zanu (PF), it would
be politically tricky for
European Union members and the US to vote for
Makoni.
Makoni says
that, in his talks with treasury officials from around the
world, he made it
plain that, "I'm not going to represent Zimbabwe or
Mugabe."
It would
be "very sad if I'm not elected for political reasons", Makoni said
in an
interview in Johannesburg last week on his way back to Harare from
Washington.
Non-African countries have a stake of 40% in the bank,
with the Group of
Seven largest industrial economies owning 28% of
that.
SA, with a stake of a little more than 4%, is the bank's
fifth-largest
shareholder after Nigeria, the US, Japan and Egypt.
Up
until abut a year ago it was widely suggested that Makoni, who is a
fit-looking 55, was the man Pretoria was keen to see succeed Mugabe, but
with speculation that he lacked a widespread support base - something he
denies. That idea has somewhat waned and, with the ascendancy in Zimbabwe of
Mugabe's Zezuru sub-clan, Makoni is not thought to be in the
running.
Makoni remains a member of Zanu (PF)'s governing body, the
politburo, but he
will not be drawn on recent developments, saying only that
change will come
from within the party.
And neither will he be drawn
on what he would change at the African
Development Bank. "I'm a strategist
and a pragmatist," says Makoni when
asked about development. "I'm not an
ideologist. I believe it is important
for families and countries to live
within their means."
He also says he is a strong believer in
entrepreneurship.
Makoni's academic background is in chemistry, but his
senior position at the
Southern African Development Community in the early
1980s, and several
ministerial appointments in Zimbabwe, give him the
technical and
international type of experience for running the
bank.
Makoni says he was able to speak to Mugabe quite freely and tell
him the
truth when he was finance minister in 2000-02, as he could always go
back to
his business. At the moment he runs a consulting firm for private
companies
and sits on a host of boards.
SA and others in the region
nominated Makoni to lead the bank, but he is up
against some tough
competition in the poll next month to succeed Moroccan
Omar Kabbaj, who has
had the job for 10 years.
Kingsley Amoako, a Ghanaian and a former World
Bank staffer who now heads
the United Nations Economic Commission for
Africa, is well respected among
in treasuries on the continent and
abroad.
Negerian Olabisi Ogunjobi has been at the bank for 27 years and,
with
backing from his home country and a number of other west African
countries,
he could be a safe bet for those countries who want shake-ups at
the
institution.
Cameroonian Theodore Nkodo works for the African
Development Bank and has
worked at the World Bank. He is the only candidate
with his own website for
the campaign. But with backing only from his home
country and Burundi, his
chances may not be too strong.
The other
candidates are Ismaiel Hassan from Egypt, Casmir Oye-Mya from
Gabon, and
Rwandan Donald Keruka.
Makoni's campaign pitch revolves around his policy
and business background,
and the bank's failure in its 40 years to become a
leader in development
banking on the continent or in generating
ideas.
He wants the bank to be "an innovation and ideas bank" so it can
be African
countries' "the first port of call for development problems",
rather than
the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank.
Business Report
Zimbabwe runs out of power
April 25,
2005
Zimbabwe's state power utility, Zesa, was unable to access its
electricity
imports from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) due to a
transmission
failure, it said on Friday, and a lack of spares for
maintenance of some of
its generators had also hit
supplies.
Cash-strapped Zesa has struggled to import enough power from
its neighbours
in recent years, leading to frequent power cuts that have
disrupted
industrial production as the country battles its worst economic
crisis in
decades.
"Due to a transmission failure in the DRC, on the
line through which we
import electricity into Zimbabwe, Zesa is unable to
access its 100MW power
import from Snel of the DRC," it said .
"At
the same time, we have lost generators at Kariba power station ... due
to a
shortage of spares for maintenance and overhauls," Zesa said, adding
that
the resultant loss of 470MW of electricity had interrupted supplies
throughout the country.
Zesa warned that the southern African region
had run out of excess power to
export to net importers like Zimbabwe, a
situation likely to worsen in the
coming winter peak period when demand
would increase.
Zimbabwe imports 35 percent of its electricity from South
Africa,
Mozambique, Zambia and the DRC but has battled to pay for imports as
a
result of biting foreign currency shortages.
As a result Zesa has
been forced to import 30 percent of its electricity on
a strenuous
prepayment scheme.
But on Friday state media reported that Zesa had
cleared outstanding debts
to Mozambique and the DRC after sourcing foreign
currency from the Reserve
Bank and might now be able to negotiate new supply
contracts.
In January, Iran said it would help Zimbabwe to upgrade the
Kariba power
station at a cost of $250 million (R1.5 billion) to increase
electricity
output under a drive by the government - estranged from the West
over
controversial land reforms - to bolster ties with Muslim and Asian
nations.
Zesa says it has secured loans from China under $1 billion
investment deal
signed last year to upgrade the country's power plants.
Business Report
Mugabe fails to rescue economy
April 25,
2005
Harare - Deepening foreign currency shortages and spiralling
domestic debt
in Zimbabwe threaten President Robert Mugabe's plans to halt a
long-running
economic crisis, analysts say.
The Zimbabwean government
has increasingly relied on domestic credit to fund
gaping deficits in the
budget as foreign currency shortages take their toll
on the economy, which
has shrunk by more than a third over the past six
years.
Mugabe set
up a "development" cabinet after the March 31 parliamentary polls
that he
said would tackle the problems, but analysts said rising domestic
debt and
the foreign exchange crunch cast doubt on an expected recovery in
2005.
"There is a financial crunch and the government does not have
enough to pay
for its needs," said Rongai Chizema, an economist at financial
services firm
Intermarket Holdings.
Zimbabwe says the economy has
turned the corner after six years of recession
and would grow by up to 5
percent this year on a rebound in agriculture and
mining that is set to
boost forex inflows to $3.7 billion (R22.3 billion),
from $1.8 billion last
year.
But analysts doubt these forecasts.
"Government forecasts look
unattainable because industrial and agriculture
production are lower than
forecasts, which should see another gross domestic
product decline this
year," said University of Zimbabwe professor Tony
Hawkins.
"I believe
the government is already revising its forecasts ... but of
course they will
not admit it." Officials did not comment, but a big part of
the problem is
rocketing debt.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe says government domestic
debt jumped to Z$7.9
trillion (R7.7 billion)) on April 15 from Z$2.3
trillion as of February 18.
In January 2004, domestic debt stood at Z$576
billion.
Analysts say the trend is being driven by government borrowing
to plug gaps
in its budget and fund state enterprises as revenues subside on
plunging
taxes.
Xinhua
Chinese civilian planes exported to Zimbabwe
www.chinaview.cn 2005-04-25
08:43:59
BEIJING, April 25 -- Two China-made MA60 aircraft were
officially
handed over to Zimbabwe on Saturday in Xi'an, capital of
Northwest China's
Shaanxi Province, showing the plane has successfully
entered the
international market.
The MA60 is a new
turbo-propeller passenger plane, designed and
manufactured by Xi'an Aircraft
Industry Group (XAIC) in accordance with
international
standards.
Using advanced technology, levels of safety, economy
and comfort
reach, or nearly reach, standards attained by planes made by
foreign
companies, according to Gao Dacheng, president of the
firm.
"However, the price of the MA60 is much lower than
similar planes
made by other countries and its running costs are 10 to 20
per cent lower
than those of foreign-made planes. So it is very competitive
in the
international market," Gao said.
Last November,
China No 1 Aviation Industry Company signed a
contract with Zimbabwe's
Communication Ministry to supply it with two MA60
planes, the first export
contract for the Chinese passenger plane, according
to Liu Gaozhuo, the
Chinese firm's general manager.
Besides Zimbabwe, Fiji has
signed a lease contract for the MA60,
and Eritrea also wants to buy the
planes, the general manager said.
According to the company's
market developing plan, 50 MA60 planes
will be exported by 2007 and 100 are
expected to be sold overseas by 2010,
Liu said.
The firm
started to design and manufacture the MA60 in 2000. With
60 seats and
weighing 21,800 kilogrammes, the plane can travel 1,600
kilometres,
according to Gao Dacheng.
XAIC is China's largest aircraft
research and production firm as
well as the production base of large- and
medium-sized military and civilian
planes, Gao said.
The
company started its global operations in 1989 when it
specialized in the
production of spare parts for foreign aircraft
manufacturers, including
Boeing and Airbus.
In 1995, the company signed a contract with
Boeing to produce
1,500 vertical rear fins for the Boeing 737-700 planes.
And by 2001, the
company had delivered some 4,000 assorted parts to Boeing
and other foreign
aircraft manufacturers, Gao said.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
MDC takes ZEC head on
The Daily Mirror
Reporter
issue date :2005-Apr-25
IN ADDITION to challenging about 16
seats in last month's parliamentary
polls, the extremely litigious MDC has
also resolved to drag to court the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) over
the elections results the
opposition party is viciously disputing.
The
Daily Mirror reporter Takunda Maodza reports that the MDC secretary
general
Welshman Ncube yesterday said ZEC had not responded to the MDC's
letter in
which the opposition sought clarification over alleged
discrepancies in the
results initially announced by his commission.
Once again, the MDC says the
elections were stolen, a sentiment echoed by
the Americans and the
British.
Ncube said the MDC would seek the intervention of the courts to
force ZEC to
provide explanation on the alleged discrepancies.
"They
have not responded to our letter in which we were urging them to take
the
issue seriously. We will not let this matter rest and will take them to
court for an explanation if they are not prepared to voluntarily give us the
information we want," Ncube said.
He added: "If ZEC is taken to court and
asked to explain how they got those
figures, they must respond and I do not
see how they would avoid that in a
court of law."
The lawmaker for
Bulawayo South repeated allegations of bias against the MDC
by the judiciary
saying: "we are painfully aware of the bias in the judicial
system and we
know they are against us."
Yesterday, ZEC spokesperson, Utloile Silaigwana
said he needed time to look
at the facts of the matter before he could
comment.
The MDC approached ZEC-which has since said the results were a true
reflection of voting and the opposition party should not confuse updates
with the final figure- seeking clarification on alleged
irregularities.
Zimbabwe's main opposition party has since produced a 56-page
dossier dubbed
"Stolen" highlighting alleged rigging of the polls by the
ruling party,
sentiment analysts and regional observers have
dismissed.
The opposition claims in its heads of arguments that there was
flagrant
rigging by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) in favour of the
status
quo.
It demanded that ZEC, among other things, immediately release
the voter's
roll in electronic form and polling station returns for an
independent audit
of the election outcome.
The MDC also claims that ZEC
had refused to announce total vote figures for
48 of the 120 contested
constituencies or to allow the MDC access to the
original polling station
returns and was unwilling to cooperate in
addressing the alleged
irregularities. It reiterated its claim that the
total voter tallies
finalised by ZEC at 7.30 pm on election night did not
match the collective
count for the candidates announced on the day following
day.
ZEC
chairperson Justice George Chiweshe has since argued that their work was
professional and independent of ant political influence.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Brain drain crippling health sector:
Kadenge
The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-Apr-25
THE
chairman of the Hospitals Association Trust (HAT), Lovemore Kadenge has
said
the brain drain that has hit the country's public health institutions
has
resulted in a single doctor doing the work normally done by at least
seven
doctors.
Commending the medical practitioners
for handling the situation
under trying times Kadenge said: "Although brain
drain has
greatly
impacted negatively on our hospitals, people should appreciate the
services
offered by the few remaining staff complement.
Some departments supposed to
have
an establishment of at least seven doctors are only served by a single
doctor showing
that they are doing extremely good work."
He added that
lack of drugs and
equipment at most council clinics has also resulted in
people seeking
treatment directly from referral centres resulting in a huge
workload
"These hospitals are supposed to be referral centres but it is no
longer
the situation. People are now seeking treatment direct from the
referral
centres," Kadenge said.
Giving an example of Chitungwiza Central
Hospital, where his
committee together with members of the business community
recently toured,
Kadenge said an average of eight doctors and 246 nurses are
serving to at
least 250 patients admitted in the hospital wards.
He also
said a single doctor was attending to at least 300 patients at both
the
casualty and the outpatients departments of the hospital.
Harare Central
Hospital was recently reported to be reeling under a serious
shortage of
doctors with some having to work overtime to address the issue
of staff
shortage.
Kadenge said the administrative
work at most public hospitals
casualty
and outpatients departments was not
computerised exerting
pressure on available despite the fact that
hundreds of patients have to be
served
daily.
"Patients should bear with staff at
hospitals because of
the increased workload and the commitment they have
shown by continuing to
serve people in Zimbabwe. Some have failed to do so
and fled the
country.
"We just hope that the Health Services Bill will come up with a
package to
retain our medical practitioners. We have an obligation to make
sure that we
assist government when it fails to address some of these
challenges," said
Kadenge.
The Zimbabwe Hospitals Association has so far
toured two central hospital
namely Harare and Chitungwiza.
Kadenge said
they were however looking forward to visit other hospitals in
different
provinces in-order to come up with a 'shoplist' of what hospitals
in the
country need before they start to implement their projects.
He however, said
preference
would be given to referral and provincial centres.
Kadenge also
appreciated the move by Zimbabweans in the Diaspora who have
pledged to
assist in the health delivery system of the country as a welcome
development.
"There are a group of Zimbabweans who have showed interest
in revamping the
health system of the country," he said.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Water woes hit Kadoma
The Daily Mirror
Reporter
issue date :2005-Apr-25
THE city of Kadoma has been
experiencing water supply problems in the past
week due to power cuts by
Zesa Holdings, the city's executive mayor, Fani
Phiri said
yesterday.
Concerned residents of the city phoned The Daily Mirror
yesterday
complaining that the erratic water supply was going to result in
an outbreak
of diseases.
"The whole of this week, we have been
experiencing water problems and we
have gone in some instances for the whole
day without water," said Oscar
Kavhu, a resident in the city's Waverley
high-density suburb.
Another resident from Rimuka, one of the oldest suburbs
in the country, said
he feared the situation would result in an health
endemic.
Phiri acknowledged the existence of the problem saying the power the
city
has been experiencing in the past week had resulted in pumps at their
water
works failing to operate at full capacity.
"The problem is due to
power cuts we have been experiencing and this has
resulted in the pumps
failing to operate at normal capacity. There was no
electricity for the
greater part of yesterday (Wednesday) and as we speak
there is no
electricity," he said.
An official at Zesa Holdings office who could not be
named for professional
reasons confirmed that there were disruptions in the
power supply due to
routine maintenance work.
"We have been carrying out
routine maintenance work at our sub-stations and
we expect to complete the
exercise before the end of the week," he said.
Last year the city also
experienced water problems due to old age of its
equipment and early this
year the city authorities purchased a new water
pump to replace the old
one.
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2005 7:25 AM
Subject: ZIMBABWE VIGIL – STOLEN ELECTIONS DEMONSTRATION – 30TH
APRIL
Press Advisory
25th April 2005
ZIMBABWE VIGIL – STOLEN ELECTIONS DEMONSTRATION –
30TH APRIL
Zimbabweans in the
UK are to stage a demonstration outside the Zimbabwe
Embassy in London from 14.00 – 18.00 on Saturday, 30th
April in protest at the stolen parliamentary elections on 31st
March. Reports indicate massive vote
rigging but Zimbabwe’s neighbours have, nevertheless, approved the
elections.
The demonstration will mark the launch of a campaign
by Zimbabweans in the diaspora – estimated at a quarter of the population – to
join forces to achieve change in Zimbabwe.
Support will be canvassed for a new
petition:
“NO SHAKING HANDS WITH MUGABE - The latest elections
in Zimbabwe were once again stolen by the Mugabe regime with the
connivance of its neighbours.
Retaliation is now being meted out to people who supported the
opposition. We urge the British
government to end Mugabe’s reign of terror and halt his drive for legitimacy: 1)
bring the matter to the UN Security Council, 2) make it a priority during term
as President of the EU and G8 (group of leading industrial nations), 3) put
pressure on South Africa to allow democracy in Zimbabwe, 4) extend targeted
sanctions against Mugabe’s cronies.”
POTO OPPORTUNITIES:
Dancing demonstrators with posters, flags and
drums
INTERVIEWS: Arranged with demonstrators and
torture victims
Contact details
Rose Benton, 07970 996 003
Email: zimbabwevigil@yahoo.co.uk
Website: www.zimvigil.co.uk
Vigil
co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe
Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to
18.00 to protest against gross violations of
human rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in
October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair
elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk
Xinhua
Chinese civilian planes exported to Zimbabwe
www.chinaview.cn 2005-04-25
08:43:59
BEIJING, April 25 -- Two China-made MA60 aircraft were
officially
handed over to Zimbabwe on Saturday in Xi'an, capital of
Northwest China's
Shaanxi Province, showing the plane has successfully
entered the
international market.
The MA60 is a new
turbo-propeller passenger plane, designed and
manufactured by Xi'an Aircraft
Industry Group (XAIC) in accordance with
international
standards.
Using advanced technology, levels of safety, economy
and comfort
reach, or nearly reach, standards attained by planes made by
foreign
companies, according to Gao Dacheng, president of the
firm.
"However, the price of the MA60 is much lower than
similar planes
made by other countries and its running costs are 10 to 20
per cent lower
than those of foreign-made planes. So it is very competitive
in the
international market," Gao said.
Last November,
China No 1 Aviation Industry Company signed a
contract with Zimbabwe's
Communication Ministry to supply it with two MA60
planes, the first export
contract for the Chinese passenger plane, according
to Liu Gaozhuo, the
Chinese firm's general manager.
Besides Zimbabwe, Fiji has
signed a lease contract for the MA60,
and Eritrea also wants to buy the
planes, the general manager said.
According to the company's
market developing plan, 50 MA60 planes
will be exported by 2007 and 100 are
expected to be sold overseas by 2010,
Liu said.
The firm
started to design and manufacture the MA60 in 2000. With
60 seats and
weighing 21,800 kilogrammes, the plane can travel 1,600
kilometres,
according to Gao Dacheng.
XAIC is China's largest aircraft
research and production firm as
well as the production base of large- and
medium-sized military and civilian
planes, Gao said.
The
company started its global operations in 1989 when it
specialized in the
production of spare parts for foreign aircraft
manufacturers, including
Boeing and Airbus.
In 1995, the company signed a contract with
Boeing to produce
1,500 vertical rear fins for the Boeing 737-700 planes.
And by 2001, the
company had delivered some 4,000 assorted parts to Boeing
and other foreign
aircraft manufacturers, Gao said.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
MDC takes ZEC head on
The Daily Mirror
Reporter
issue date :2005-Apr-25
IN ADDITION to challenging about 16
seats in last month's parliamentary
polls, the extremely litigious MDC has
also resolved to drag to court the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) over
the elections results the
opposition party is viciously disputing.
The
Daily Mirror reporter Takunda Maodza reports that the MDC secretary
general
Welshman Ncube yesterday said ZEC had not responded to the MDC's
letter in
which the opposition sought clarification over alleged
discrepancies in the
results initially announced by his commission.
Once again, the MDC says the
elections were stolen, a sentiment echoed by
the Americans and the
British.
Ncube said the MDC would seek the intervention of the courts to
force ZEC to
provide explanation on the alleged discrepancies.
"They
have not responded to our letter in which we were urging them to take
the
issue seriously. We will not let this matter rest and will take them to
court for an explanation if they are not prepared to voluntarily give us the
information we want," Ncube said.
He added: "If ZEC is taken to court and
asked to explain how they got those
figures, they must respond and I do not
see how they would avoid that in a
court of law."
The lawmaker for
Bulawayo South repeated allegations of bias against the MDC
by the judiciary
saying: "we are painfully aware of the bias in the judicial
system and we
know they are against us."
Yesterday, ZEC spokesperson, Utloile Silaigwana
said he needed time to look
at the facts of the matter before he could
comment.
The MDC approached ZEC-which has since said the results were a true
reflection of voting and the opposition party should not confuse updates
with the final figure- seeking clarification on alleged
irregularities.
Zimbabwe's main opposition party has since produced a 56-page
dossier dubbed
"Stolen" highlighting alleged rigging of the polls by the
ruling party,
sentiment analysts and regional observers have
dismissed.
The opposition claims in its heads of arguments that there was
flagrant
rigging by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) in favour of the
status
quo.
It demanded that ZEC, among other things, immediately release
the voter's
roll in electronic form and polling station returns for an
independent audit
of the election outcome.
The MDC also claims that ZEC
had refused to announce total vote figures for
48 of the 120 contested
constituencies or to allow the MDC access to the
original polling station
returns and was unwilling to cooperate in
addressing the alleged
irregularities. It reiterated its claim that the
total voter tallies
finalised by ZEC at 7.30 pm on election night did not
match the collective
count for the candidates announced on the day following
day.
ZEC
chairperson Justice George Chiweshe has since argued that their work was
professional and independent of ant political influence.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Brain drain crippling health sector:
Kadenge
The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-Apr-25
THE
chairman of the Hospitals Association Trust (HAT), Lovemore Kadenge has
said
the brain drain that has hit the country's public health institutions
has
resulted in a single doctor doing the work normally done by at least
seven
doctors.
Commending the medical practitioners
for handling the situation
under trying times Kadenge said: "Although brain
drain has
greatly
impacted negatively on our hospitals, people should appreciate the
services
offered by the few remaining staff complement.
Some departments supposed to
have
an establishment of at least seven doctors are only served by a single
doctor showing
that they are doing extremely good work."
He added that
lack of drugs and
equipment at most council clinics has also resulted in
people seeking
treatment directly from referral centres resulting in a huge
workload
"These hospitals are supposed to be referral centres but it is no
longer
the situation. People are now seeking treatment direct from the
referral
centres," Kadenge said.
Giving an example of Chitungwiza Central
Hospital, where his
committee together with members of the business community
recently toured,
Kadenge said an average of eight doctors and 246 nurses are
serving to at
least 250 patients admitted in the hospital wards.
He also
said a single doctor was attending to at least 300 patients at both
the
casualty and the outpatients departments of the hospital.
Harare Central
Hospital was recently reported to be reeling under a serious
shortage of
doctors with some having to work overtime to address the issue
of staff
shortage.
Kadenge said the administrative
work at most public hospitals
casualty
and outpatients departments was not
computerised exerting
pressure on available despite the fact that
hundreds of patients have to be
served
daily.
"Patients should bear with staff at
hospitals because of
the increased workload and the commitment they have
shown by continuing to
serve people in Zimbabwe. Some have failed to do so
and fled the
country.
"We just hope that the Health Services Bill will come up with a
package to
retain our medical practitioners. We have an obligation to make
sure that we
assist government when it fails to address some of these
challenges," said
Kadenge.
The Zimbabwe Hospitals Association has so far
toured two central hospital
namely Harare and Chitungwiza.
Kadenge said
they were however looking forward to visit other hospitals in
different
provinces in-order to come up with a 'shoplist' of what hospitals
in the
country need before they start to implement their projects.
He however, said
preference
would be given to referral and provincial centres.
Kadenge also
appreciated the move by Zimbabweans in the Diaspora who have
pledged to
assist in the health delivery system of the country as a welcome
development.
"There are a group of Zimbabweans who have showed interest
in revamping the
health system of the country," he said.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Water woes hit Kadoma
The Daily Mirror
Reporter
issue date :2005-Apr-25
THE city of Kadoma has been
experiencing water supply problems in the past
week due to power cuts by
Zesa Holdings, the city's executive mayor, Fani
Phiri said
yesterday.
Concerned residents of the city phoned The Daily Mirror
yesterday
complaining that the erratic water supply was going to result in
an outbreak
of diseases.
"The whole of this week, we have been
experiencing water problems and we
have gone in some instances for the whole
day without water," said Oscar
Kavhu, a resident in the city's Waverley
high-density suburb.
Another resident from Rimuka, one of the oldest suburbs
in the country, said
he feared the situation would result in an health
endemic.
Phiri acknowledged the existence of the problem saying the power the
city
has been experiencing in the past week had resulted in pumps at their
water
works failing to operate at full capacity.
"The problem is due to
power cuts we have been experiencing and this has
resulted in the pumps
failing to operate at normal capacity. There was no
electricity for the
greater part of yesterday (Wednesday) and as we speak
there is no
electricity," he said.
An official at Zesa Holdings office who could not be
named for professional
reasons confirmed that there were disruptions in the
power supply due to
routine maintenance work.
"We have been carrying out
routine maintenance work at our sub-stations and
we expect to complete the
exercise before the end of the week," he said.
Last year the city also
experienced water problems due to old age of its
equipment and early this
year the city authorities purchased a new water
pump to replace the old
one.
Daily News online edition
Gwanda mayor assaulted by deputy
minister
Date: 25-Apr, 2005
GWANDA - The Deputy
Minister of Environment and Tourism, Andrew Langa,
allegedly assaulted
Gwanda's Mayor Thandeko Mkandla, saying he had belittled
him.
According to Mkandla, he was assaulted after he called
the Deputy
Minister "jaha", which means young man in SiNdebele. Mkandla, the
former
Gwanda Secondary School headmaster who beat Zanu PF's Rido Mpofu for
the
mayorship on an MDC ticket, alleged that the incident occurred last week
on
Sunday at the provincial governor's hall.
He said
Matabeleland South Governor and Resident Minister Angeline
Masuku could have
heard the "altercation" as she was chairing a committee
meeting on
Zimbabwe's Silver Jubilee festivities when the incident
happened.
Mkandla said he was taken aback by Langa's alleged
"hooliganism" after
he greeted him.
The mayor said he suspected
that the deputy minister, who is also the
Member of Parliament for Insiza,
felt offended by his greeting him as "jaha".
"He (Langa) was in
the company of the Provincial Administrator, David
Mpofu, and District
Administrator Adam Mbango Dube. I greeted him in
Ndebele - "Unjani jaha"
(How are you young man?) -- but he became angry
because I had called him a
young man. In full view of everyone who was at
the hall, he held me by my
upper left hand and shoved me away," narrated
Mkandla.
The
mayor of the provincial capital of Matabeleland South questioned
Langa's
credibility as a public figure, since the deputy minister had
behaved "like
a bull in a China shop, bulldozing and paying no due regard to
society". He
called for justice to take its course against Langa for the
alleged
assault.
Langa, however, has dismissed Mkandla's charges as
cheap lies.
Daily News online edition
Chilly winter looms as ZESA power
fails
Date: 25-Apr, 2005
HARARE - Zimbabweans
should brace for a chillier than normal winter
season as the country's power
utility, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority (ZESA), might fail to
supply enough electricity due to a
transmission failure and lack of spares
for the maintenance of some of its
generators.
In the past
few days, the cash-strapped ZESA has failed to import
enough power from
neighbouring countries, leading to frequent power cuts
that have disrupted
industrial production as the country battles its worst
economic crisis in
decades.
This resulted in Harare, the capital, going without
electricity for 12
hours on Friday, bringing work to a
standstill.
"Due to a transmission failure in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, on
the line through which we import electricity into
Zimbabwe, ZESA is unable
to access its 100 MW power import from SNEL of the
DRC," ZESA said in a
statement.
"At the same time, we have
lost generators at Kariba power station due
to the critical shortage of
spares for maintenance and overhauls," it added,
saying the resultant loss
of 470 megawatts of electricity had interrupted
supplies throughout the
country.
ZESA also warned that the Southern Africa power pool,
from where it
buys its electricity, had run out of excess power to export to
net importers
like Zimbabwe, a situation likely to worsen in the coming
winter peak period
when demand for power would increase.
Zimbabwe imports 35 percent of its electricity from South Africa,
Mozambique, Zambia and DRC but has battled to pay for imports as a result of
biting foreign currency shortages. As a result, ZESA has been forced to
import 30 percent of its electricity on a strenuous pre-payment
scheme.
On Friday last week, state media reported that ZESA had
managed to
clear outstanding debts to Mozambique and DRC after sourcing
foreign
currency from the Reserve Bank and might now be able to negotiate
new supply
contracts.
In January, Iran said it would help
Zimbabwe to upgrade one of its
Kariba power station units at a cost of US
$250 million to increase
electricity output.
ZESA says it
has secured loans from China under a US$2,4 billion
investment deal signed
last year to upgrade the country's power plants.
Daily News online edition
Jokonya wants better relations with
media
Date: 25-Apr, 2005
HARARE - Expectations are
high for a positive revamp of the Zimbabwean
media after the appointment of
a new Minister of Information and Publicity,
who has promised that the
government will be more tolerant to domestic and
foreign media and consider
protests at draconian controls imposed through
the media
laws.
Tichaona Jokonya, a career diplomat, was appointed
minister to replace
Prof. Jonathan Moyo, who had turned the Zimbabwean media
into a minefield
and his private playground, which saw the closure of four
newspapers in the
past two years.
Jokonya, who summoned all
editors from the private and public sector
to a meeting on Friday last week,
told them that his ministry would work
toward inculcating a culture of trust
between all media houses and the
government.
But he said
the draconian Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act (AIPPA)
media laws would remain and warned journalists against
demonizing President
Robert Mugabe, who he said was often unfairly blamed
for all of Zimbabwe's
problems.
Jokonya's deputy, Bright Matonga, a one time
columnist for the
state-controlled Herald newspaper and later chief
executive officer of a
state-owned bus company, ZUPCO, also attended the
meeting. He said the
government would stop harassing the international media
and allow it to
operate freely in Zimbabwe.
Since 2002, six
foreign correspondents have been expelled and many
news organizations
refused permission to send representatives to Zimbabwe to
cover key events,
such as the recent parliamentary elections.
.
The
meeting was attended by the editors of three surviving
privately-owned
weekly newspapers as well as Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980)
Limited, the large
state-owned media group which includes two daily papers,
and Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Holdings, which runs the national ZBC radio and
television
broadcasting service.
A senior executive of one of the
independent media houses, speaking on
condition of anonymity, said Jokonya's
message had been that the government
would in future enforce the information
act less ruthlessly where necessary
but it would be more open to foreign
reporters.
During the March 31 voting for a new parliament, two
British
journalists were detained near a polling station at Norton, about
40km west
of the capital, and held without bail for two weeks before being
deported.
They were deported after a court had acquitted them on charges of
operating
without accreditation and overstaying.
Zimbabwe's
major independent daily newspaper, The Daily News, remains
banned but a
meeting of the licensing authority is due to consider its fate
this
week.
Last Thursday, the editor and a reporter of the
privately-owned
Standard were charged with publishing falsehoods and trying
to incite public
violence over their post-election coverage.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
GMB boss fired
Clemence Manyukwe
issue
date :2005-Apr-26
THE Grain Marketing Board (GMB) Midlands regional
manager based in Gweru,
Goodwill Shiri, has been fired for allegedly
politicising food aid in the
run-up to the ruling Zanu PF's highly emotional
and potentially divisive
primary election.
Shiri lost the right to
stand in Mberengwa East to newly appointed Economic
Development Minister
Rugare Gumbo.
At the time, Gumbo was Minister of State for State Enterprises
and
Parastatals.
Shiri was accused of abusing the GMB's grain and trucks
in an effort to win
the party primary polls and possible entry into the
sixth Parliament of
Zimbabwe which was sworn in about a fortnight
ago.
GMB chief executive Retired Colonel Samuel Muvuti yesterday confirmed
Shiri
had indeed been sacked from the parastatal.
"As far as I know he
was fired for corruption. We take such allegations
seriously (politicising
food aid). The GMB does not use food for partisan
political gains," said
Muvuti.
He said statistics show that the southern provinces where the MDC
hold sway
had received more grain from the GMB than elsewhere.
Initially,
Shiri was declared winner of the poll, but the outcome was later
overturned
after Gumbo appealed, arguing counting had not been conducted at
one polling
centre.
Shiri then unsuccessfully challenged Gumbo as an independent in the
March 31
parliamentary polls.
In February, GMB investigators visited
Mberengwa and concluded that Shiri
had a case to answer.
Shiri could not
be reached for comment yesterday, but he recently told The
Daily Mirror that
Gumbo was the architect of his woes as a punishment for
challenging him in
the primaries.
Gumbo has vehemently denied those charges, while at the same
time
maintaining that Shiri had a case to answer.
"In Mberengwa, it is
there in black and white that he (Shiri) committed a
crime, so should I
ignore it because I fought him in the primaries? Not only
Shiri, but anyone
else who abuses government property must be punished,
because we cannot
accept that kind of corruption," Gumbo said then.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Exchange rate fails to bolster fuel
inflows
Business Reporter
issue date :2005-Apr-26
CONCESSIONARY
importation exchange rates that have been worked out by the
Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority (Zimra) to boost the inflows of petroleum
products have failed to
trigger sufficient inflows of the product, with the
country enduring erratic
shipments in the past month.
The official rate for the local currency against
the main currency, the
United States dollar, is benchmarked at $6
200.
However government has prioritised the petroleum sector and for about
five
months, Zimra had been computing the exchange rate for fuel importers
at $3
875 to minimise their burden.
As of Friday last week, the local
currency was trading at $1 003 against the
South African rand but
petroleum-importing firms were accessing the rand at
the rate of
$584.60.
The Botswana pula was officially trading at $1 350 to the local
currency on
Friday but this has also been deliberately slashed to $802.90
for fuel
importation.
Petroleum importing companies have, despite the
concessions, struggled to
import sufficient stocks to power both industrial
and domestic consumption,
especially in the period preceding the March 31
general elections.
In what analysts described as a deliberate ploy by the
companies to inflict
further economic damage in protest of the results of
the plebiscite won by
the ruling Zanu PF, winding fuel queues suddenly
sprung in major cities
after the elections.
This came amid rumours that
government had failed to pay a cumulative US$2.5
million to importers, a
condition that has affected the companies'
creditworthiness.
Petroleum
companies argued that although their importation rates had been
deliberately
controlled, demand for foreign currency at the central bank's
foreign
currency auction floors was outstripping supply.
A survey carried out by The
Business Mirror over the weekend revealed that
motorists in Harare were
battling to fuel their engines.
Reports said the situation remained the same
even at most entry points like
Beitbridge where officials at Zimra said
operations were further crippled by
power cuts and telecommunication
interruptions.
The crisis has also plagued other urban centres such as
Kadoma, Gweru,
Mutare, Bulawayo and Chegutu.
Commuter operators responded
by hiking fares with some routes in Harare
costing up to $5 000 while fuel
prices were at black market levels.
Most commuter omnibuses were last week
grounded and this affected workers
commuting to work daily.
Newly
appointed Industry and International Trade Minister, Obert Mpofu was
quoted
at the weekend as saying government was working towards improving
supplies.
"All stakeholders are working towards arresting the fuel
problem," he told a
weekly newspaper.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Governor apologises to Gwanda mayor
The
Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-Apr-26
THE Resident Minister
and Governor for Matabeleland South, Angeline Masuku,
has reportedly
apologised to Gwanda executive mayor Thandeko Mkandla who was
assaulted by
Environment and Tourism deputy minister Andrew Langa recently.
Mkandla, who
was assaulted on the eve of Zimbabwe's Silver Jubilee
festivities, told The
Daily Mirror the Governor had officially apologised to
him over Langa's
conduct.
Langa is the legislator for Insiza constituency.
He said by phone
from Gwanda on Saturday that he met Masuku on Friday over
the matter and
that the Governor apologised to the mayor on behalf of her
office and
province.
Mkandla said: "I met Governor Masuku on Friday and she apologised
on behalf
her office as she was the one who had organised the meeting. (The
Silver
Jubilee preparations meeting). Masuku acknowledged Langa's behaviour
was
unbecoming. She also said that State functions knew no religion, tribe
or
political party."
Masuku, would neither deny nor confirm meeting
Mkandla instead referring all
relevant questions to the deputy minister and
the mayor.
"Ask bona abatshayanayo (Ask the culprits), I was not there," she
said
before her phone went dead.
Mkandla, a former headmaster in the
area, maintains that Langa assaulted him
for belittling him when he referred
to him as ijaha (young man).
The alleged incident occurred on April 17 2005
at the governor's hall and
was reportedly eye-witnessed by many.
The
mayor Governor Masuku could have heard the "altercation" as she was
chairing
a committee meeting on the 25th celebrations when tensions
heightened.
Narrating his ordeal last week the mayor said: "He (Langa)
was in the
company of the provincial administrator, David Mpofu, and
district
administrator Adam Mbango Dube. I greeted him in Ndebele -Unjani
Jaha (How
are you young man?) but he was angry because I had called him
young man.
"In full view of everyone who was at the hall, he held me by my
upper left
hand and shoved me away."
Langa, who reportedly also
threatened the Gwanda Town Clerk with unspecified
action, is denying the
charges.
Langa confirmed attending the jubilee meeting, but denied ever
assaulting
the mayor.
"He is lying. There is nothing like that which
happened. We met, we talked
and we parted ways and those who were there can
tell you that. There was
never such an incident. He knows the law and should
have gone to the
police."
But Mkandla opted to approach Masuku instead
of the police.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Blood bank still below minimum level
Mirror
Reporter
issue date :2005-Apr-26
ZIMBABWE's blood bank is still below
the required optimum level of 3 000
units although the current level has
greatly improved compared to the same
period last year, the National Blood
Transfusion Services (NBTS) has said.
NBTS spokesperson Emmanuel Masvikeni
attributed the increase to a new
strategy - donor follow-up. This is
involves the institution following up
former high school regular donors at
universities and tertiary colleges as
well as the annual ladies galas, which
promote blood donation.
Said Masvikeni: "This (donor follow- up) was helpful,
considering the fact
that most of the same students were donors at high
school. University blood
donors would (as they did) help increase
collections during school holidays
since they would be open then." So far,
NBTS has collected safe blood from
five universities namely: Catholic,
Chinhoyi, University of Zimbabwe, and
Masvingo and Midlands State
Universities.
Masvikeni said in pursuance of a similar scheme, plans are
underway to
follow-up on voluntary school leaver blood donors now serving in
the
uniformed forces if permission is granted.
He said this year's ladies
galas in Bulawayo, Gweru, Harare and Masvingo
contributed greatly to blood
level increases which had lowered because major
donors, pupils, where
on
holiday.
"This strategy, if well promoted is likely to offer a solution
to shortages
during school holidays," he said.
He said the major
challenge faced by NBTS was reluctance by adults to donate
blood.
Masvikeni said plans were underway to intensify adult donor
recruitment
drives with particular emphasis on tertiary institutions and
industries.
Call to boycott elections
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the
views of the United Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 25 Apr 2005 (IRIN) - A
Zimbabwean NGO, the National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA), has urged
political parties to boycott
elections until the country gets a new and
democratic constitution.
NCA chairman Lovemore Madhuku made the call
after the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC) issued a press statement
calling on voters to check their
names on the voters' roll as the country
prepares for by-elections in 17
districts and urban centres.
Madhuku
alleged that any election held under the present constitution would
allow
the ruling ZANU-PF party to subvert the will of the people.
"The NCA
still believes that any elections held under the current
constitution should
be boycotted - the next by-elections will be as much of
a fraud as all those
held in Zimbabwe since independence. The country needs
a new, all-inclusive
constitution and independent electoral management
bodies," Madhuku
said.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has already
filed papers
challenging ZANU-PF victories in 13 constituencies in the March
parliamentary elections, based on alleged disparities in the voters' roll
and irregularities in the vote count.
Brian Kagoro, chairman of the
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, said
constitutional change was vital to
holding free and fair elections, and any
election using the current voters'
roll would produce the same results - a
victory for ZANU-PF.
"ZANU-PF
will win any election under the present constitution, and as long
as the
Zimbabwe Electoral Act stays. Without an independent electoral
commission,
we can expect ZANU-PF to claim more discredited victories - it
is up to
Zimbabweans to stop the elections and demand a new constitutional
order
before any fresh election is held," Kagoro commented.
Daniel Molokela, a
Zimbabwean political analyst based in Johannesburg, told
IRIN that nothing
new would come from elections held under the current
constitution.
"The constitution is the centre of all the problems in
Zimbabwe: it
virtually surrenders the people to the wishes of one party and
its
president. Anything done under the current order will only serve the
interests of the president and the ruling elite," said Molokela.
MDC
spokesman Paul Themba-Nyathi said the party's position was that there
were
enough glaring irregularities on the voters' roll to discredit it. He
could
not say whether the party would participate in the by-elections, the
dates
of which are yet to be announced.
However, Registrar-General Tobaiwa
Mudede said the voters' roll was in good
order. Complaining about the
voters' roll had become a post-election
occupation for the opposition, and a
boycott would not stop the upcoming
by-elections.
"As far as we are
concerned, the voters' roll is in good order. We have
relied on it to hold
democratic elections since 1980; we shall be using it
as it is for the
by-elections as advertised. The MDC complain when they lose
elections, but
hold victory celebrations when they win others under the same
conditions,"
Mudede noted.
"Is that not funny enough to show there is something hollow
with their
complaints? Are they suggesting that there was a different roll
in the
constituencies they won than where ZANU-PF won?" he asked.
Health Hazard Looms At School
The Herald (Harare)
April
23, 2005
Posted to the web April 25, 2005
Harare
A HEALTH
hazard looms at Chitate Primary School in Murehwa where toilets
were
extensively damaged by heavy rains which fell in the area last
February.
The toilets curved in and collapsed after strong winds and
an accompanying
heavy downpour hit the area.
Staff and pupils have
had to switch over to use an old and disused toilet to
ensure lessons
continue.
In an interview the headmaster, Mr Denis Kasawaya, said at
least $30 million
was needed to reconstruct the sanitary facilities and
ensure public health
is not threatened.
He made an appeal for
assistance to build a Blair toilet for the more than
400 pupils enrolled
there.
"We are appealing for at least $30 million to build a 20-squat
hole Blair
toilet to replace the cracked and collapsed toilet," he
said.
He said the community would provide the bricks, dig the 20 spiral
holes and
hire builders and painters.
The $30 million, he said, was
for cement, asbestos, paint and fly screens
for the vents.
LANDMINE EXPLOSION KILLS 2 ZIMBABWEAN CLEARING EXPERTS ON KINMEN
2005-04-25 20:20:39
Taipei, April 25 (CNA) Two landmine
clearing experts from Zimbabwe
were killed Monday when they accidentally
triggered a powerful explosion
while removing landmines on the Republic of
China-held Kinmen Island,
according to police.
The police
report also listed another technician, also a
Zimbabwean, who was seriously
injured in the accident.
Initial investigations show that the
accident happened when the
demining experts were handling landmines being
removed, police said, adding
that it remained unclear what triggered the
explosion.
A British firm has sent 12 experts, all from
Zimbabwe, to clear
landmines at the site near Liaoluo Bay, where a reservoir
is to be built.
Kinmen, which is controlled by the Republic of
China but lies
closer to Taiwan than to China, was heavily mined in the
1950s to fend off
communist Chinese attempts to seize
Taiwan.
With tension easing between the two sides of the Taiwan
Strait,
the Ministry of National Defense has demined 16 areas of Kinmen
since 1998
in response to demands from Kinmen residents.
The ministry has also decided to demine 12 additional areas on
Kinmen in the
next few years. A British firm has won the contract to clear
landmines at
the Kinmen Waterworks' new reservoir construction site.
Police
said an investigation into the cause of the explosion was
continuing.
(By Sofia Wu)
Cops Bust Fake Money Ring
The Herald (Harare)
April 23,
2005
Posted to the web April 25, 2005
Freeman
Razemba
Harare
POLICE yesterday bust a drug trafficking and
counterfeit money syndicate in
Harare and recovered mbanje, a pistol, fake
bearer cheques and genuine
travellers' cheques - all worth billions of
dollars.
In a pre-dawn raid, police officers, acting on a tip-off,
arrested four
suspects and recovered 375 kilogrammes of mbanje, counterfeit
bearer cheques
with a face value of $38,5 million and fake notes amounting
to US$200.
They also recovered genuine travellers' cheques worth 10,6
million rand, 700
euros and 2 200 British pounds. At least $1,1 million in
genuine cash was
also recovered.
Investigating officers believe that
some of the travellers' cheques were
stolen at a local freight company
sometime last year.
Assistant Commissioner Elliot Simbi yesterday
confirmed the arrest and said
detectives have intensified investigations
into the origins of, especially,
the fake bearer cheques.
"We can
confirm that the four suspects were arrested, but we are further
investigating the case to establish the extent of its depth," he
said.
The Herald understands that the suspects had - over a long period -
been
using fake bearer cheques to buy foreign currency at the busy Roadport
International Bus Terminus along Fifth Street where thousands of
cross-border travellers arrive and depart on a daily basis.
The four
are believed to have duped several illegal dealers who have
established
their base at the teeming terminus to buy and sell foreign
currency. Money
exchanges hands quickly to avoid detection by the police, a
state of affairs
the suspects took advantage of.
They, however, ran out of luck this time
when they used fake bearer cheques
to buy R20 000 from an unsuspecting
illegal dealer.
As soon as the dealer noticed that he had been swindled,
they sped off in a
car.
The enraged man gave chase in his own car but
lost control of the vehicle at
the intersection of Mazowe Street and Cork
Road, where he rammed into a
prefabricated wall and broke both
legs.
Still determined to recover his money, the man alerted police who
then rang
the mobile phone numbers the gang had used in communicating with
their
victim about the foreign currency transaction.
A trap was
subsequently set resulting in the arrest of the four men
yesterday
morning.