http://www.reuters.com
Sun Apr 26, 2009 2:08pm
EDT
By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON, April 26 (Reuters) - The
African Development Bank said on Sunday
Zimbabwe needs to do more work
before the country's full scale reengagement
with the global community, a
sign that foreign funding to rebuild its
shattered economy will be tough to
secure.
ADB President Donald Kaberuka told reporters the bank was working
together
with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to ensure
Zimbabwe
normalized its relations with the international
community.
"There are many things to be done for full scale
reengagement," said
Kaberuka, side stepping the issue of whether the ADB
would step in with some
form of funding.
Zimbabwe's new unity
government has asked for international funding to
rehabilitate an economy,
once described by the World Bank as the fastest
shrinking outside a war
zone. Over 90 percent of the country's working
population is unemployed and
the government is broke.
Despite the formation of the new government
early this year by political
rivals Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai,
donors remain reluctant to lend
money. More worrying, farm invasions, at the
root of the collapse of the
once vibrant economy, have
continued.
Policy differences with President Mugabe's government,
including the often
violent seizure of white-owned farms for the
resettlement of landless
blacks, have left it without international funding.
The land seizures
started in 2000.
The IMF, which suspended
Zimbabwe's voting rights in 2003, said on Friday
the country had to clear
its arrears with the fund, now amounting to $130
million, before it could
get any money. The World Bank, which is owed over
$600 million, has
maintained a similar stance.
There had been speculation that either the
ADB or the Southern African
Development Community could arrange a bridge
loan to pay off Zimbabwe's
arrears with the IMF. However, Kaberuka's remarks
appeared to pour cold
water on suggestions that a rescue package was in the
works.
"I don't think the strategy of making Zimbabwe dependent on
foreign aid is
the right one. What we need to do with Zimbabwe is to work
with them to
establish business confidence, rehabilitate their
infrastructure and ensure
that skilled Zimbabweans come back to their
country," he said.
"I very much welcome the political arrangement in
Zimbabwe. It may be
imperfect but it represents a chance for that country's
recovery and return
to its previous prosperous status."
The U.S. has
indicated it is not yet ready to give money to Zimbabwe.
(Reporting by Lucia
Mutikani; Editing by Neil Stempleman)
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Own
Correspondent Monday 27 April 2009
HARARE - Western countries
should combine current "targeted sanctions"
against senior members of
Zimbabwe's unity government with "smart support"
for reformers within the
power-sharing regime, a Dutch democracy support
group has said.
The
Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD) said the
international
community should support reformers within the unity government
between
President Robert Mugabe and former opposition leader Morgan
Tsvangirai,
particularly in the work towards restoring democratic rights,
the holding of
fresh elections and efforts to rebuild Zimbabwe's collapsed
social
sectors.
Rich Western nations with capacity to bankroll Zimbabwe's
reconstruction
have demanded "genuine reforms" in the southern African
country before they
resume aid to the unity government formed by President
Robert Mugabe and
former opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai in
February.
NIMD said the world should not punish all members of the new
Zimbabwe
government for the sins of the previous regime whose members are
accused of
human rights abuses and plundering state
resources.
Western countries, led by the United States and Britain, have
since 2002
imposed "targeted sanctions" against more than 200 members of
Mugabe's ZANU
PF party for their alleged role in human rights abuses in
Zimbabwe.
The officials are not allowed to travel to the US and Europe or
to hold
assets in these countries.
"Shouldn't we also think of
providing 'smart support' for government
officials responsible for providing
the essential services, such as food,
health and education, and those who
press for the restoration of democratic
rights, a revised constitution, and
new elections," the institute said.
Zimbabwe requires about US$8.3
billion to rebuild its economy and the
Southern African Development
Community (SADC) has pledged to contribute
about US$2 billion towards the
reconstruction effort.
SADC finance ministers were expected to push for
the resumption of economic
aid for Zimbabwe when they met officials from the
International Monetary
Fund, World Bank and International Finance
Corporation at the weekend.
Zimbabwean Industry Minister Welshman Ncube
and Investment Promotion
Minister Elton Mangoma visited the Netherlands at
the weekend on a mission
to market Zimbabwe as a safe investment
destination.
While in The Hague, the ministers were expected to discuss
the possibility
of receiving support for democratic reforms and the
reconstruction of
Zimbabwe with politicians and aid agencies.
They
were also scheduled to meet the Dutch Minister for International
Cooperation, Bert Koenders. - ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Norest
Musvaba Saturday 25 April 2009
JOHANNESBURG - Britain has
pledged an immediate £15 million humanitarian aid
package for Zimbabwe's
unity government, International Development Secretary
Douglas Alexander
announced on Thursday.
Alexander said the humanitarian aid would mean
increased support for the
country's health system, greater access to clean
water and more support for
the southern African country's struggling
farmers.
"The UK remains committed to providing humanitarian support,
which is why I
am announcing £15 million in additional assistance to ensure
that people
have food to eat, and access to life-saving health services,"
said
Alexander.
Once a model African economy Zimbabwe has suffered a
severe economic crisis
that is marked by record unemployment, deepening
poverty and outbreak of
killer diseases, while the country has avoided mass
starvation only because
relief agencies were quick to chip in with food
aid.
Critics blame the crisis on misrule by President Robert Mugabe who
has
presided over the southern African nation since its 1980 independence
from
Britain.
Mugabe denies ruining Zimbabwe and instead blames his
country's problems on
economic sabotage and sanctions by Westerns
governments opposed to his rule.
A power-sharing government formed last
February by Mugabe and Prime Minister
Morgan at the instigation of the
Southern African Development Community
(SADC) has appealed for aid amounting
to US$10 billion to help kick-start
the economy whose industries have been
operating at less than 10 percent
over the past years.
The package
from former colonial power Britain will help address a number of
urgent
priorities identified by the unity government and builds on existing
UK
support, which amounted to £49m last year.
"The welfare of the people of
Zimbabwe remains a major concern, with the
humanitarian situation continuing
to cause great hardship for millions,"
Alexander said.
"The creation
of a more inclusive government represents a real opportunity
for much-needed
change. We welcome efforts by the new government to deliver
economic, social
and political reform. Credible progress will attract
increasing support from
donors and other partners to tackle the root causes
of Zimbabwe's
problems."
According to Alexander the UK assistance which is channelled
and used
alongside other international donors, will support the new
government's
Short Term Emergency Recovery Programme (STERP) which
highlights priorities
in terms of improving food security, tackling disease
and strengthening
health systems, addressing water and sanitation problems
and improving
capacity to provide basic services to the people of
Zimbabwe.
"This package is aimed at supporting these government
priorities but no UK
money will pass through government of Zimbabwe systems
or through the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe," Alexander said.
Harare has
undertaken to end the country's international isolation and
repair ties with
Western countries including the European Union (EU), the
Commonwealth
grouping of former British colonies, International Monetary
Fund (IMF) and
the World Bank for possible resumption of financial support.
"The UK
provided £49m towards humanitarian and other essential support in
2008/09.
We expect to provide a similar amount in 2009/10, although this
amount may
be revised upwards as the new government of Zimbabwe demonstrates
its
commitment to democratic governance, the rule of law and sound economic
reform," Alexander said.
Britain and other Western nations have said
they want Harare to implement
comprehensive political and economic reforms
as well as respect for human
rights and the rule of law before they can
provide support as well as lift
targeted sanctions against Mugabe and top
officials of his ZANU PF party. -
ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Andrew Moyo
Friday 24 April 2009
HARARE - A leading African economic
think-tank, Africainvestor, will in June
host an investment summit in Harare
to showcase business opportunities in
Zimbabwe and on the continent, in a
sign of growing confidence in the
country fowling formation of a unity
government two months ago.
The Pan-African Investment Climate summit
conference that will run from June
23 to 25 and will include a "Zimbabwe
day" devoted to assessing and
exploring investment opportunities in the
country and possible ways to raise
funding for such projects.
"With
the recent inclusive government between MDC and ZANU PF, several
international development finance institutions and investment funds are now
actively assessing projects in Zimbabwe, making this the perfect opportunity
for astute investors operating in SADC to assess the situation on the ground
and secure early mover advantage," Africainvsetor said in statement last
this week.
"A Zimbabwe donor round table will take place as part of
the Zimbabwe day,
offering investors insights on new funding available for
projects in
Zimbabwe," the think-tank added.
Africainvestor is a
specialist investment communications firm advising
governments,
international organisations and businesses on communication
strategies for
capital market and foreign direct investments in Africa.
The think-tank
also publishes a magazine on investing and investments in
Africa, The
Africainvestor, which is widely regarded as the leading
international
newsstand magazine for Africa's investment decision makers.
Analysts see
the conference that will bring Africa's rich and leading
investment advisors
to Zimbabwe only weeks after a Common Market East and
Southern Africa
(COMESA) summit to take place in Victoria Falls in the first
week of June,
as a huge boost for investment confidence in the country.
According to
Africainvestor, the June summit is supported by the United
Nations
Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the NEPAD Business
Group,
NEPAD, SABC International, China Africa Business Council, and
Association
for the Promotion of Tourism to Africa (APTA), World Business
Council for
Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and SA Direct TV.
Among leading figures
expected to address the summit are M'Hamed Cherif,
head of ACP Business
Climate, Savannah Maziya, Director of WBHO, Paul Runge,
Managing Director of
Africa Project Access, Trevor Ward, Managing Director
of W Hospitality Group
and Mawuli Ababio, Managing Director of African
Venture Capital
Association.
Once a model African economy, Zimbabwe is in the grip of an
unprecedented
economic and humanitarian crisis marked by acute shortages of
food, hard
cash, deepening poverty and record unemployment.
A unity
government formed by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and President
Robert
Mugabe last February has ignited hopes Zimbabwe could finally end
years of
decline to regain its former status as a regional breadbasket.
However
failure by the new government to attract direct financial support
from
Western donor countries has raised fears the administration could
fail. -
ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by
Nokuthula Sibanda Friday 24 April 2009
HARARE - Zimbabwe's
civil society monitoring implementation of the
power-sharing agreement
between President Robert Mugabe and the two
formations of the MDC has
accused both the police and Attorney General (AG)
of being
partisan.
"The ZRP (Zimbabwe Republic Police) continues to enforce the
law in a
partisan manner, and the culture of impunity for police who are
perpetrators
of human rights violations remains intact," the Civil Society
Monitoring
Mechanism (CISOMM) said in a report released on
Wednesday.
"There were documented accounts of police involvement (from
the command
level to individual police officers) in the continuing assault
on the farms.
Police have failed to investigate, arrest, and prosecute known
and/or
identifiable perpetrators of politically-motivated retributive
violence
described previously," CISOMM added.
The civil society group
said there is need to allow experts from civil
society to revise police
training curriculum so as to inculcate in the
officers an awareness of human
rights issues.
"Demands remain for the training curriculum for uniformed
forces to be
urgently revised with inclusion of experts from civil society
for the
process or re-orienting members to commence."
Recruitment,
training and discipline of police officers continue to lack
transparency and
accountability, CISOMM said.
"Of particular concern is the use of weapons
of war during the course of
ordinary policing. The immediate cessation of
routinely arming the police
with automatic weapons by the police is of
paramount importance, and a
consequent return to civilian
policing."
The 11-page report also said there has been no transformation
on the
executive arm of government, adding that there has been no sign of a
change
in mindset in relation to the streamlining of government in line with
available resources for its proper and continued functioning and
accountability to taxpayers and other funding partners.
The
contestation over the appointment of AG Johannes Tomana continues to
remain
unresolved, the report said.
"Both the office of the AG, and the AG
himself, have consistently failed to
demonstrate independence, impartiality
and non-partisanship," said CISOMM,
adding: "There are documented cases of
interference by the office of the AG
in the role and function of the police
and the judiciary (particularly the
Magistrates' Courts) in relation to the
ongoing farm invasions and violence
which has ensued thereon.
"The
role of this office in inciting defiance of the ruling of the SADC
Tribunal
on spurious legal grounds was also noted."
Mugabe and then opposition
leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara
formed an inclusive
government on February 13 under a power-sharing
agreement brokered by the
SADC.
Mugabe remains an executive President while Tsvangirai also enjoys
some
executive powers as Prime Minister and Mutambara who leads a faction of
the
MDC is Deputy Premier.
The unity government deal that was
clinched after several months of tense
and sometimes acrimonious
negotiations says that Tsvangirai will be in
charge of the day-to-day
running of government business. But the former
trade unionist is required to
keep Mugabe, who still chairs the Cabinet,
"fully informed". - ZimOnline
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Friday, 24 April 2009
Many
thousand farms were looted during farm invasions
HARARE - Thirteen
Dutch farmers kicked off their prime Zimbabwean
farms under President Robert
Mugabe's controversial land reforms have been
awarded Euro 8 220 000 as
compensation by the International Centre for
Settlement of Investment
Disputes (ICSID).
The ICSID Tribunal, sitting in Paris, France,
ruled in favour of the
farmers in their case against Zimbabwe on Wednesday
last week but due to
interests of 10 percent compounded every six months the
award had ballooned
to 16 million euros or about US$21 million as of 22
April 2009.
Counsels Chuck Verrill of Wiley Rein, Matthew Coleman of
Steptoe &
Johnson and Boyd Carr of Coghlan Welsh and Guest, who
represented the Dutch
farmers, said in a statement that they hoped the
ruling will encourage other
farmers who were dispossessed of their
properties despite being protected
under bilateral agreements to seek
assistance from the ICSID.
"The award is fair, measured and decisive
and is the culmination of
many years of work on the part of our firms,
Valuation Consortium and Agric
Africa," the counsels said in a joint
statement.
"We congratulate the claimants in having the courage,
patience and
tenacity to see through this claim and we hope it encourages
others to come
forward and bring claims under the bilateral investment
treaties," they
added.
The lawyers said the effect of the ICSID
ruling and past rulings by
the SADC Tribunal, which has also ruled against
President Robert Mugabe's
controversial land reforms, would ultimately help
to show the Harare
authorities that the rule of law and international
obligations must be
respected.
They said they hoped that the award
to the Dutch farmers will make
Mugabe realise that eventually he will have
to compensate all farmers -
regardless of their nationality - from whom he
seized land.
In the submissions to the ICSID, the farmers said by
seizing their
farms without paying Mugabe's government violated a bilateral
trade and
investment protection agreement signed with the
Netherlands.
Mugabe has refused to pay for land seized from white
farmers which he
says was in the first place stolen from indigenous
blacks.
The Zimbabwean leader has said farmers should be paid only for
improvements on the land such as dams, road and buildings. Even then, the
government has failed to pay for these and in cases where it has attempted
to pay the sums offered were way below market value.
Under the
bilateral agreement with the Netherlands, the Zimbabwe
government is
required to compensate in full the Dutch farmers for the
farms, including
the land.
The Tribunal noted that Zimbabwe had admitted that it had
expropriated
the farms concerned and had not paid compensation. It further
held that
applicable law governing the dispute under the Treaty was public
international law, not Zimbabwean law.
It said the date of
expropriation was held to be the date the section
8 (eviction) orders were
issued, or in cases where no section 8 order was
issued and the farm was
invaded, the date of the enactment of the Rural Land
Occupiers (Protection
from Eviction) Act, which prevented the removal of
invaders.
The
level of compensation payable was that as determined by public
international
law, which is the market value of the properties and all other
losses
arising from the expropriations.
Zimbabwean law and procedures had no
part to play in determining the
level of compensation due, the ICSID
ruled.
The tribunal also noted that claimants' experts methodology of
valuing
each of the farms as a production unit as at 2001/2002 was correct
and that
the government's method of valuation was "not computed properly
according to
[international] law" and the government's valuations "are
obviously too
low".
The Tribunal did not consider that a defence of
necessity had been
factually or legally established by Zimbabwe and noted
that no state of
emergency was ever declared.
Further, the tribunal
refused to discount the damages on the basis
requested by Zimbabwe, which
was that the expropriations were part of a
large scale nationalisation; the
"number and aim of the expropriations"
were, according to the Tribunal, not
relevant.
The victory by the Dutch farmers is likely to open floodgates
for
similar claims in international courts by former white commercial
farmers
who lost their properties during the land reforms.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=15796
April 26, 2009
Zimbabwe's
security chiefs from left: Paradzayi Zimondi of prisons, Perrence
Shiri,
commander of the Air Force, Constantine Chiwenga, commandeer of the
Zimbabwe
Defence Forces and police chief , Augustine Chihuri.
HARARE (The Zimbabwe
Standard) - An MDC official facing terrorism charges
believes that some
hard-liners in Zanu-PF bent on derailing the GNU are
behind his continued
detention.
MDC-T director of security Chris Dlamini and Gandhi Mudzingwa,
a former aide
to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai are receiving treatment,
under police
guard, for torture related injuries sustained when they were
abducted by
state security agents late last year.
They stand accused
of involvement in the alleged bombing of CID Headquarters
in Harare, Manyame
River Bridge in Norton and the Harare Central Police
Station last
year.
The two, who were held together with freelance journalist Shadreck
Andrison
Manyere, were released on bail two weeks ago. They were however
re-arrested
after security agents said the two had been improperly
released.
In an interview with The Standard last week Dhlamini blamed the
pair's
continued incarceration on a "cabal of military officials and
individuals in
Zanu PF" who are determined to destroy the inclusive
government.
Dhlamini said the cabal were benefiting from the economic and
political
disarray that characterised the country before the unity
government. Some of
them fear punishment for crimes they committed against
humanity. "I feel
there is a cabal of military and intelligence which does
not want the
inclusive government to work. They are throwing spanners in the
works," he
said.
Dlamini said the cabal had become so powerful that
it now controls the
organs of the state such as prisons, army intelligence,
police and the
judiciary.
Dlamini said that the hard-liners wield so
much power in the GNU and are
detrmining its pace. "There is too much to one
side and that side ia sbusing
it," said Dlamini, who however exonerated
President Robert Mugabe.
"I doubt if he knows what these guys are
doing."
The MDC security director said the hard-liners survived on
misinforming
Mugabe whenever they want to "loot the national purse" by
telling him that
he was under threat. He said a lot of money, which could
have been used to
develop the country, was spent on trying to destroy the
MDC.
He cited the trial of Tsvangirai for allegedly plotting to unseat
Mugabe as
well as the arrest and killing of MDC activists.
Scores of
MDC and civic activists are facing charges of plotting to
overthrow the
previous Zanu PF-led government.
"They came with 10 cars to arrest me and
took me to Goromonzi prison several
kilometres away instead of the nearest
police station. How much fuel and
manpower was used?" said Dlamini, who
added that the inclusive government
was the only way out of the country's
crisis.
Commenting on their re-arrest, human rights lawyer Alec
Muchadehama last
week said as far as he is concerned his clients were
properly released and
no fresh charges have been made against
them.
He had been to the High Court and Supreme Court to find out if
there had
been any warrants for his clients' arrest and found
nothing.
Muchadehama said what is happening was unlawful and "this is
just a case of
yet another abduction of my clients who had been
released".
The MDC maintains that seven party members who were also
abducted in similar
circumstances by state security agents last year are
still missing.
http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=311155
2009/04/27
SOME
years ago I wrote about the plight of ex-Rhodesian pensioners living in
SA
after their cheques were dishonoured when funds at Standard Bank's
Braamfontein branch ran dry.
Not surprisingly, nothing
changed after Gideon Gono, the personal banker of
the Robert Mugabe and his
wife, Grace, whose spending power surpasses that
of Donald Trump, took over
as governor of the bank.
Who is Gono? Well, in February Angus Shaw wrote
for Sapa-AP that Gono
admitted that he took hard currency from the central
bank accounts of
private businesses and foreign aid groups without
permission. His defence
was that he was trying to keep his country's
cash-strapped ministries (and
probably the First Lady's too)
running.
Pleading for his career, Gono said it was time "to let bygones
be bygones"
now that Zimbabwe had a new government dedicated to reversing
its economic
decline.
Gono said he gave the money he took as loans to
various ministries, and
those private accounts would be reimbursed when the
ministries repaid the
loans. Gono's theft of taxpayers' (if there are still
such people in Zim)
monies first surfaced when the international aid agency
Global Fund
threatened to cut off funds to Zimbabwe for fighting HIV/Aids,
tuberculosis
and malaria unless money taken from its account was returned.
It must be
added that the central bank returned 7.3m to Global
Fund.
Gono is also the man who slashed 25 zeros from the local currency,
printed
more local money without backup reserves or assets, and distributed
agricultural equipment to many in President Robert Mugabe's party who were
given farms seized from whites.
The man has no conscience. Writing on
newzimbabwe.com, Bonny Schoonakker
last year described how he personally
raised thousands of US dollars to fund
Grace Mugabe's foreign shopping
sprees when he was chief executive of one of
the country's largest
commercial banks. A leopard does not change his spots,
or more aptly put,
once a thief always a thief.
Among the more notable transactions in a
list of 1250 deals over a
five-month period is one on January 11, 2002 in
favour of "Mrs G M".
Gono, who built himself a 112-roomed mansion with
four helipads in Harare's
plush suburb of Borrowdale (how appropriately
named), personally issued and
authorised the order to raise US100000 on
behalf of Grace Mugabe on January
11, 2002. The cash "was invariably
collected by one of Mugabe's aides in a
leather briefcase".
The cash
was delivered to Gideon Gono's office and booked to Gono's special
account,
which was basically his slush fund. Schoonakker wrote that the
illegal
transactions required by the Mugabes, his family and his officials
were
booked to this account and used to finance a trip to London, including
a
visit to Harrods. Gono's role as financier of the extravagant spending
trips
is exposed in a list of so-called "parallel market" deals carried out
by the
Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (now known as Jewel Bank). According to
Schoonakker, Jewel Bank's biggest single shareholder is Absa, which owns
26%. The Zimbabwean government owns 20% and the Libyan government, whose
sales of oil to Zimbabwe are financed by the bank, also owns a significant
stake.
But, wrote Schoonakker, Absa's Louis von Zeuner said his bank
was "quite
satisfied with its current position . we have no doubt that the
good work
was started under the leadership of Dr Gono."
Former
Zimbabwe Reserve Bank employees, who like most banking staff belong
to the
Bankmed medical aid, may not agree with Von Zeuner.
This week after I
enquired, Bankmed communications manager Faith Gwedashe
confirmed that the
medical aid group had not been receiving medical aid
contributions for
pensioners previously employed by Gono's bank since July
last
year.
"Since then no further payments have been made despite numerous
attempts to
contact the bank by Bankmed," she said.
Now, in terms of
the rules of the scheme, those members who wish to be on a
medical aid are
responsible for all the contributions.
Thank goodness for Tito
Mboweni.
Eddie Botha is Daily Dispatch Investigations Editor
I have not bought a
Herald newspaper for at least 10 years. The reasons are
many but mainly
relate to the fact that for as long as I can remember your
paper has been an
apologist for the government and what in the past has been
called the
'ruling Party'.
However on Wednesday this week some colleagues said that
I had to read an Op
Ed that appeared in your newspaper that morning. I
borrowed a copy and with
disbelief at first and finally anger, I read what
you had written on the
front page of the paper about the American and the
British Ambassadors. An
article under a pseudonym on the centre page of the
paper further compounded
this.
Firstly I am disgusted by this blatant
example of how your paper, under your
leadership, continues to flagrantly
violate the fundamental tenants of your
profession and the terms of the
Global Political Agreement signed in
September last year in an attempt to
restore some pride and dignity to this
broken nation.
Secondly I
think this was a cowardly act in that there is no way that either
of these
two men, at the pinnacle of long and distinguished careers can
respond or
defend themselves in any way. You are secure in this knowledge
and the fact
that the corrupt and distorted legal system in this country
would not allow
them to take legal action against you for slander as I am
sure would be
possible in more balanced and just societies.
But my criticism goes way
beyond this in our present situation. Both men are
due for reassignment and
in the case of the US Ambassador, retirement after
his term in office. They
are therefore our guests, honoured guests,
representing at the highest
level, their countries and their own people in
Zimbabwe. As guests, our own
culture demands that we respect them and make
them welcome, even if their
views differ from our own. In fact, when you
insult Mr. McGee, you insult
the President of the United States of America,
Mr. Obama and that is a
stupid thing to do.
On purely political grounds, these Ambassadors speak,
not for themselves,
but for their Governments, when they demand that we
adhere to the principles
and values that guided the liberation movements and
the world community in
the struggle for justice and freedom in Zimbabwe. I
defy you to defend, in
public, the continued denial of these freedoms and
rights to the people of
Zimbabwe by the Zimbabwe government.
On
Wednesday I sat next to the new Director of the World Food Programme in
Zimbabwe. He told me that from January to March 2009, Zimbabwe had the
largest food aid programme in the world. In fact, over those three months -
the hunger months in our country, the international community, without
fanfare or publicity, fed an astonishing 7.1 million people. Nobody was more
responsible for this amazing feat than the two men you now slander at the
end of their tenure.
Both Ambassadors have overseen a doubling of
official development assistance
and humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe during
their terms of office. Only this
week I was informed that Britain will
double its aid again this year and I
am informed that the US has agreed to a
massive increase in assistance to
help get our small scale farmers producing
food for themselves next summer.
Last year Zimbabwe received the equivalent
of 15 per cent of our Gross
Domestic Product in aid; this is among the
highest ratios of official
development assistance and humanitarian aid in
the world.
Nobody, nobody was more responsible for this than the two
Ambassadors who
worked tirelessly to persuade a sceptical watching world
that we were worth
the effort. I would like to take you (the Editor) to any
part of Zimbabwe
and introduce you to hundreds of people who would tell you
that they owe
their lives to the aid agencies. Then I would take you to the
offices of the
agencies doing this amazing work and we would ask them who
was funding them.
In half these cases you would be told it is American Aid.
Between Britain
and the USA they provide over two thirds of all aid reaching
this country.
I would like to take you to a clinic in my constituency
where I would show
you a clinic, which 6 months ago was derelict and
overgrown, with few staff
on duty and no drugs. Now you would find it
spotless - cleaned by staff who
are suddenly able to come to work. You would
see lines of people receiving
health services, much of it free. Ask them
what has made the difference and
they will tell you it is the allowances
they are receiving from an
organisation funded by DIFID - the aid arm of the
British Government. The
Ambassador is personally responsible for this
initiative where they are
trying to help us retain staff in the medical
field. I spoke to the CEO of
the Bank that handles these payments and they
did not even know that the
millions of dollars they were handling came
mainly from the UK.
By slandering and abusing these men you are failing
in your duty as Editor
of the largest daily in Zimbabwe to tell the truth
and to work for the
people who pay your salary. But more than that, you fail
to recognise their
unsung efforts for our country and our people. You make
it more difficult
for the dedicated men and women who work for these
diplomatic missions and
who are trying to do their best to support us as a
nation.
You must know that key decision makers in many capitals will have
read this
piece of writing in your newspaper. It will have been read by
Susan Rice at
the United Nations, by the new Under Secretary of State for
Africa - himself
a former Ambassador to Harare and a black American like
James McGee. It
makes Tendai Biti's job in Washington this week that much
more difficult. It
makes Elton Mangoma's task in Holland less achievable
this weekend.
Donors from foreign lands are today spending US$3 million a
DAY in Zimbabwe.
In January, the total tax receipts of the Zimbabwe
government were US$4
million. In 2009 foreign donors, led by dedicated
Ambassadors like Jim McGee
and Andrew Pocock, will match every dollar we pay
in tax with a dollar
raised from taxpayers in their own counties. Your
actions in writing what
you did last Wednesday put all of that in jeopardy.
If I had been the Prime
Minister on Wednesday morning, I would have called
your Chairman and asked
for your head. You owe your liberty to the fact that
the Prime Minister is
trying to make this thing work but believe me you are
on borrowed time.
Eddie Cross
24th April 2009
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=15818
April 27, 2009
By Mxolisi
Ncube
JOHANNESBURG - Zimbabwean Refugees currently living in
Johannesburg's
Central Methodist Church say that they now prefer to be
repatriated to their
home country, as uncertainty continues on what will
happen to them at the
expiry of the lease period at the shelters to which
they are now being
moved.
The Gauteng local government department
last week began relocating the about
4 000 refugees to various shelters in
Rosettenville, but information
obtained by The Zimbabwe Times is that the
lease period in those shelters,
which are all privately-owned, is only three
months.
Godfrey Charamba, chairman of the Methodist Refugee Community,
told The
Zimbabwe Times Sunday that following uncertainty over their
continued stay
at the new places, most refugees especially economic
immigrants who fled
their country's decade-long economic crisis, now had
"second thoughts" about
remaining in South Africa.
"This relocation
issue has affected us badly," said Charamba in an
interview.
"We have
not been told on what will happen to us at the expiry of the lease
period in
those shelters, meaning that our chances of remaining there after
that three
months period are very slim."
Charamba said that most refugees had
already made it known to both the
church authorities, Gauteng Local
Government and the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
that they now wished to return to
Zimbabwe.
"A team comprising UNHCR,
the mayor's office and local government officials
came here last week and
asked whether we wanted to be relocated locally or
to be taken back to
Zimbabwe," said Charamba. "Most people said that they
wanted to return
home.
"In fact, more than 800 refugees have said they prefer to be
repatriated and
now we are waiting for that to happen, because our stay in
the new shelters
will be short-lived."
Charamba, who also attended
that meeting, added that besides the three-month
lease at some of the
shelters, rentals there were so expensive that it would
be unsustainable for
the refugees to remain there.
"We were told that accommodation alone will
cost as much as R36 million a
month, which we believe is just too much and
unsustainable," added Charamba.
"With that kind of money, the United
Nations should just repatriate those
that are willing to return to Zimbabwe,
so that they remain with very few
whose upkeep they will
afford.
"That will be the wisest thing to do because even if people are
forced to go
to the new shelters, they will be back here within a few months
and the
situation will even be worse than it already is."
Qedani
Mahlangu, a spokesperson for the Gauteng Local Government Department,
confirmed that some of the refugees indicated their desire to be repatriated
to their home country.
"There are some of the displaced persons who
have indicated that they would
want to return to their home country, after
failing to find employment
here," said Mahlangu.
"However, that will
be done at a later stage because there are some
procedures to be followed
and that will be done by the UNHCR, not local
government.
"Our aim as
local government is to create a better environment at the church
while at
the same time bettering the daily lives of the displaced persons."
She
would however, not give the actual numbers of those refugees that had
indicated their desire to go back to Zimbabwe, saying only that the number
was significant.
"We will still have to find out how many of them
want to be repatriated,
after quite a number seem to prefer to go back to
their home country after
failing to get work here in South
Africa."
Sources within local government said that there were also doubts
over the
huge accommodation bill at the new shelters, where they put the
total
monthly rentals at above R20 million.
"The United Nations says
that it will be prepared to pay rent for only one
month, while also wanting
that money to be reduced to at least R20 million a
month and so far the
property owners are not accepting that," said an
official, raising fears
that the refugees could soon become homeless.
Bishop Paul Verryn, who
runs the Methodist Church, however, said that he did
not know what would
happen after the three months period, as government had
not kept him
updated.
"Some of these things I only read about in the press, as there
has been very
little update to me from local government," said Bishop
Verryn.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=15820
April 27, 2009
By Geoffrey
Nyarota
LAST week I had occasion to read a BBC article with the same
level of
incredulity that readers usually associate with less enterprising
purveyors
of news and information on the Internet.
The gist of the
article put out by the BBC on Friday, April 17 was that
early reports from
an investigation by the MDC into the traffic accident
that killed Mrs Susan
Tsvangirai, the spouse of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai suggested that
the car crash might not have been accidental,
after all.
The BBC
quoted senior MDC officials as having told World Affairs Editor John
Simpson
that evidence which had so far come to light in the MDC
investigation had
led the party's officials to believe that the whole affair
was highly
questionable.
Simpson had apparently just returned to London after a
visit to Harare where
he presumably met the MDC officials in question. The
story was most
intriguing, to say the least. Zimbabwean journalists,
including those who
string for foreign news organisations, had apparently
all missed this
particular scoop.
I have no idea of the identity of
the MDC investigators or of their
credentials for this particular
assignment. Come to think about it, I can't
be the only observer who has no
idea up to now of the identity of the driver
of the Prime Minister's Toyota
Land Cruiser.
Like my fellow Zimbabweans, I am anxiously waiting,
therefore, for the
outcome of the MDC investigation. I am perhaps even more
excited about the
pending report by the official police investigators. Both
investigations
will inevitable rely on the same witnesses, no doubt. The two
teams of
investigators will either reach identical conclusions or they will
submit
reports that are radically different.
I was, therefore,
somewhat dismayed that the MDC had decided that the BBC in
London was the
best medium through which to make an announcement of such
national
importance. I was suddenly reminded that President Robert Mugabe in
his
heyday was quite contemptuous of Zimbabwean journalists and used to
favour
foreign news organisations with exclusive interviews. That was with
the
notable exception of one journalist from ZTV once a year, during the
month
of February.
"The MDC stands to gain hugely in political terms if it can
prove that it
was all a deliberate attempt to kill Mr Tsvangirai," the BBC
article stated.
I was shocked by the bluntness of this statement and the
attendant disregard
for its obvious potential to completely undermine the
MDC investigation. Any
speculation that the party might engineer its
investigation to reach a
preconceived conclusion for political gain could
result in new strife
between the MDC and Zanu-PF.
As I mulled over
the implications or dire consequences of the BBC's
published insinuations,
the MDC immediately released a statement.
"The reports are false," the
party's secretary for information and
publicity, Nelson Chamisa,
said.
I was immensely relieved.
"I do not know where the press is
getting this from," Chamisa went on. "As a
party, we have not arrived at
that conclusion. Our investigations are still
going on and results will be
revealed when we are ready and when it is most
appropriate."
I hope
once the dust has settled Chamisa, who is the Minister of Information
Communication Technology, will launch an internal investigation within the
MDC to establish the identity of officials who made this particular
disclosure to the BBC. Concerns have been expressed in media circles that
the MDC is served by too many spokespeople.
I write this article on
Sunday night at the end of a day on which I had
occasion to publish a story
amid much uncharacteristic trepidation. In fact
had the story not been filed
by a well-respected international news agency,
Reuters, I would most likely
have placed the article on hold, fully
expecting a new statement from
Chamisa to say MDC President and Prime
Minister of Zimbabwe, Morgan
Tsvangirai, had been misquoted by a careless
journalist.
There has
been no comeback on the story in question so far, much to my
renewed relief.
I have finally come to terms, therefore, with the reality
that the Prime
Minister spoke as quoted when he said, "We respect each
other, although we
may disagree. There's nothing Mugabe does without me
approving and there is
nothing I do without him approving."
Judging by the outpouring of anger
at this wholly unexpected statement of
GNU affairs, Tsvangirai might have to
issue a follow-up testimonial to
confirm that it is indeed a fact, that at
this juncture there is indeed
nothing that President Robert Mugabe does
officially without consulting or
seeking the approval of the Prime
Minister.
The MDC leadership has created in the public mind the
impression that the
President of Zimbabwe had resorted to certain arbitrary
actions against the
spirit of the Global Political Agreement signed by
Zanu-PF and the two MDCs
on September 15, 2008.
Tsvangirai may now
find himself compelled to explain to the satisfaction of
an anxious public
the circumstances surrounding the re-arrest only last week
of two senior
officials, Gandhi Mudzingwa and Chris Dlamini, only days after
they had
finally been granted bail after five months in remand prison while
being
denied both bail and access to medical attention. The nature of their
incarceration was such that they have of late been remanded in a hospital
ward for treatment of torture injuries.
If the re-arrest that shocked
Zimbabwe was fully endorsed by Tsvangirai,
after all, then that is a
grievous matter. Alternatively, the implication of
the Prime Minister's
statement could be confirmation of the existence of a
third force that acts
independently of both Mugabe and Tsvangirai, which
would be an even more
alarming state of affairs.
On a different note, the image of the
government of national unity has
recently been seriously tarnished while its
expectation of foreign aid has
been grossly undermined by the new wave of
farm invasions embarked on by
senior officials of Zanu-PF. It surely cannot
be the case that the Prime
Minister approved the invasions that Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara
described as immoral during a recent tour of
affected commercial farms.
"There will be no holy cows. Our country is
trying to attract investment,
attract foreign aid. We can't afford to be
damaging business confidence in
this country."
Paradoxically, it is
Tsvangirai himself who assigned Mutambara to visit the
farms in the Chegutu
area to assess the extent of the damage being caused by
the
invasions.
Tsvangirai is a popularly elected leader. It is only because
of Zanu-PF's
superior post-electoral strategies that the MDC president now
plays second
fiddle in government to a man who lost the presidential
election to him a
year ago.
It is amazing in those circumstances that
the Prime Minister now somehow
feels compelled to ingratiate himself with
the President, even to the extent
of embarrassing or humiliating himself in
public. The majority of the
citizens of Zimbabwe reposed their faith in the
MDC and in Tsvangirai to
rescue them from a decade of political strife and
economic morass caused by
Zanu-PF.
The GNU did not receive popular
approval, but in the eyes of the majority it
has become the best hope for
the future well-being of Zimbabwe. In the
prevailing circumstances it is
incumbent upon the MDC to make every effort
to ensure the coalition
government becomes a genuine success.
From cricinfo, 25 April
Board left with questions to ask
Former
Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu has been acquitted of assaulting
Esther
Lupepe, Zimbabwe Cricket's general finance manager, after Harare
Magistrates' Court found "glaring inconsistencies" in the prosecution's
evidence, describing it as discredited and unreliable. Taibu had been
charged with assaulting Lupepe in an incident at a travel agents in Harare
after he claimed that he was owed money by the board. He strenuously denied
the accusations. But Tapiwa Godzi, the magistrate, said the court was still
in doubt as to how the assault was alleged to have been perpetrated. "It's
either this case was fabricated or the testimony of the witnesses is grossly
exaggerated to the extent of making it unbelievable," Godzi said. "In the
premises, the application for discharge at the close of the state's case is
hereby granted. The accused is accordingly found not guilty and acquitted.
It would be futile to put the accused person to his defence."
The
collapse of the case will be yet another embarrassment for Zimbabwe
Cricket.
Taibu had always maintained that Lupepe's actions were part of a
wider
conspiracy by the board aimed at preventing him going public over its
finances and treatment of players. Only last week an ICC report, referring
to the poor relationship between board and players, mentioned the ongoing
case. While the board has sought to distance itself from the trial, several
sources close to it have told Cricinfo that there were glaring
inconsistencies in the allegations and rumours have continued to do the
rounds that Taibu's counter-claims had merit. Taibu has had a fractious
relationship with senior board officials since he walked out in 2005 after
claims that senior officials had made open threats against his family. He
subsequently returned, but following the accusations by Lupepe he has been
openly at odds with ZC. He was only persuaded at the last minute to join the
national squad when it headed to Canada for a quadrangular Twenty20
tournament last October, and missed recent matches after his kit was
mislaid.