From BBC News, 27 April
Every day hundreds of Zimbabweans cross into South Africa
desperate for
work, and many of them head for the farms near the border. The
BBC News
website's Justin Pearce went to the border region to look at what
awaits the
migrants.
There is a new wall at the Musina police
station. More than two metres high
and topped with barbed wire, it surrounds
a small yard within the police
compound in South Africa's northernmost town.
The wall is there to keep the
migrants in - about 100 pass through the
facility each day, according to
station spokesman Inspector Jacques du
Buisson. A leafy tree is all that
shades them in temperatures that regularly
rise above 40C here in the
Limpopo valley. But they do not stay long.
Several times a day, a large
white truck with mesh on the sides drives the
Zimbabweans, 30 at a time, the
16km to the Beitbridge border post, and drops
them off at a police station
across the Limpopo River in Zimbabwe. Inspector
du Buisson confirms that
many of the deportees have already been deported
previously, and are likely
to be back in South Africa sooner or later. "I
don't think we can contain
the numbers - the numbers are so vast, and the
area is so vast," Inspector
du Buisson says. Police do regular identity
checks in the town, on the roads
and in the surrounding bush, stopping those
who look suspicious, he says.
"You can often tell by the clothing or the
bags they are carrying -
sometimes they have on three or four T-shirts at
once, and that's all the
clothing they have."
Outside the holding
area an Ethiopian Bible lay tattered in the dust,
apparently dropped by
someone who had passed through recently. Aside from
the Zimbabweans,
Inspector du Buisson says the station sees up to 10 people
of other
nationalities each week. "We've found people from Egypt, Somalia,
the
Democratic Republic of Congo, coming over from the Zimbabwean side." But
Zimbabweans are by far the biggest group. "I crossed in the forest two days
ago," said Blessings, 22, who was trying to hitch a ride from one of the
trucks that roared past on the road south from Musina, looking for "a job,
money and a good life". "I don't have the papers to work on the farms, and I
want to stay for six months." It is not hard to find where people like
Blessings crossed the river, usually late at night. Drive out of Musina and
along the Limpopo River, and the border defences look impenetrable: Three
parallel fences, each over three metres high and topped with barbed wire
coils, running along the river bank. But the fences come to a halt where the
Sand River, a usually dry tributary, joins the Limpopo. Beyond that, there
is a single rickety fence with a generous gap at the bottom where the tarred
road surface has been eroded away.
From there, some like
Blessings will try to hitch a ride to the towns
further south, while others,
like Justice, 23, will go in search of a job
with a nearby farmer who is
prepared to get them a work permit after they
arrive. "Even if they give us
peanuts we'd appreciate that," said Justice,
who despite having passed A
Levels is now pruning fruit trees. He began the
job without knowing how much
he would be paid - a practice that Shirhami
Shirinda of the Nkuzi
Development Association says is common where non-South
African labourers are
concerned. Mr Shirinda says there are clear reasons
why South African
farmers are giving jobs to Zimbabweans rather than local
South Africans.
"They want to exploit them and avoid the amendments to the
Labour Relations
Act," he says. These changes brought South Africa's labour
legislation into
line with the human rights provisions in South African
constitution, not all
of which apply to non-citizens. "Those Zimbabweans, if
they were South
Africans with the skills they have, they wouldn't be working
on farms."
Peter Nicholson, a farmer in the region, says there is a shortage
of South
African labourers in an area that was historically under-populated.
He says
the Zimbabweans are protected by the same wage legislation as South
African
citizens, but agrees that the migrants are willing to take what is
on offer.
"The Zimbabweans are going to entry-level jobs because they are
prepared to.
It's normal economics, an absolutely natural situation. What is
not natural
is the political situation in Zimbabwe that is forcing them
out."
From SW Radio Africa, 26 April
By Tererai Karimakwenda
Despite the
government's current claim that it is serious about reviving
agriculture and
developing a new land initiative, illegal evictions of white
commercial
farmers have escalated in the last couple of weeks. Officials,
including the
land and security minister Didymus Mutasa, have told the press
that the
government is willing to take back under-utilised farms from blacks
who have
not produced and return it to white farmers who can prove they have
the
skills to feed the nation. The Commercial Farmers Union confirmed to us
they
had submitted 200 applications from their members who want to
participate in
this 'land deal.' But it's hard to take the government's
rhetoric seriously
when pressure on the remaining white farmers to leave
their properties
within days has intensified. 20 farmers in the midlands
were this week given
48 hours to vacate their farms and leave everything
behind. The farm workers
have also been ordered to leave. Justice for
Agriculture (JAG), which
represents the majority of evicted farmers, has
criticised the CFU for
cooperating with the government on this new
initiative and pointed out
serious flaws with the plan. Constitutional
Amendment #17 of last year
dictates that all agricultural land now belongs
to the state. JAG's John
Worsley Worswick explained that the farmers will
therefore not be given
title deeds. This means they will not be able to get
capital for inputs like
fertiliser and seeds. Worswick said the government
cannot even help to
subsidise production because it is broke and has failed
to fund its own
input programme. The maximum lease period allowed is
currently 10 years. Yet
the government is promising CFU members that they
would eventually get 99
year leases. Worswick said farmers would be "insane"
to accept this
government offer and JAG was advising their members not to.
Asked if
he had any idea why the CFU was going along with it, Worswick said:
"We are
under no illusions as to why this is happening. The CFU has been
around for
78 years and has done some great work gaining huge credibility.
We will need
the CFU in the future to reconstruct our agricultural systems.
But the
leadership is still on their farms and have politically been left
alone.
Some individuals in the CFU have expanded their operations on the
back of
this crisis acting as agents for the government. They have chosen to
go this
lucrative route at the demise of their members." Worswick added that
CFU
membership has been dwindling and there are approximately only 300-350
members left. CFU chairman Trevor Gifford told us last week they were
cooperating with the government because they want to help produce food and
foreign currency for the nation. He said they have a long history of
producing and have proved they have the skills. Asked why they should trust
the government after so many disappointments, Gifford said: "Nothing
ventured nothing gained." He added that he hoped the government would keep
its word. We will follow events in the midlands where 20 farmers have been
ordered to leave. The farm workers will immediately lose their jobs and will
have nowhere to go with their families. By accepting this illegal and cruel
treatment of farmers and their staff, the government is not giving any
reason why this new offer should be taken seriously.
Reuters
By
Stella Mapenzauswa
HARARE, April 27 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe has raised
salaries of civil servants
and military personnel by up to 300 percent,
state media reported on
Thursday amid rising worries over possible protests
by citizens hit by an
economic meltdown.
The move to expand the
payroll budget is likely to provide fresh fuel for
Zimbabwe's galloping
inflation, which at more than 900 percent is the
highest in the
world.
"Government has seen it fit to bring about relief to all public
servants to
ensure that they are able to meet their daily needs," the
state-run Herald
quoted Mariyawanda Nzuwa, chairman of the Public Service
Commission (PSC),
as saying.
The salary hikes, which will be valid
for at least eight months, mean the
lowest grade government worker will now
earn the equivalent of about $150
per month, while the lowest paid member of
the security forces will gross
$272, Nzuwa said, without giving
comparisons.
The Herald said teachers, long singled out among the most
underpaid
government workers, would now get a minimum gross monthly salary
equal to
$332. This would see the lowest-grade teacher taking home at least
$272 a
month, up from $100.
"We would have wanted to do more, but
that can have an unacceptable impact
on the programme of economic
turnaround," Nzuwa told state radio. He and
other PSC officials were not
immediately reachable for comment on Thursday.
PRICE INCREASES
The
salary hikes follow huge increases in the prices for basic commodities
and
services. Private doctors recently doubled their charges and this week
government hospital fees soared. On Thursday the Herald said water costs in
the capital Harare would go up by 10 times next month.
Local media
have reported that Zimbabwe's security chiefs have urged
President Robert
Mugabe to increase the salaries of the armed forces to
ensure their loyalty
against protests threatened by the main opposition.
The Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) has vowed to press ahead with the
demonstrations,
which Mugabe has said would be ruthlessly crushed.
Political and economic
analysts say the protests could find support among a
broad range of
Zimbabweans, who have seen the country's once thriving
economy collapse with
breaking sewer systems, water and electricity cuts,
uncollected garbage and
roads riddled with potholes.
Mugabe's critics blame the catastrophe
largely on government policy,
including its move to seize white-owned farms
to give to landless blacks --
a step which gutted the once-key commercial
agriculture sector.
Mugabe, now 82 and in power since independence from
Britain in 1980, denies
mismanaging the country and says Zimbabwe is the
victim of domestic and
foreign enemies bent on thwarting his efforts to
redress the inequities left
by colonialism.
($1 = 99,201 Zimbabwe
dollars)
Zim Online
Fri 28 April 2006
MASVINGO - Former Zimbabwe Defence
Forces commander and a senator of
the ruling ZANU PF party Vitalis
Zvinavashe on Thursday called for openness
about food shortages affecting
the country.
In a thinly veiled attack on President Robert Mugabe
and his Cabinet
who in the past have claimed that the country had enough
food when it did
not, Zvinavashe said: "We have to be open about the food
situation. We have
heard people saying I have so many tonnes of food but if
you go to the Grain
Marketing Board there is nothing."
Zvinavashe was the top military commander of the ZDF, comprising
Zimbabwe's
national army and air force. He retired in 2003 when the current
ZDF
commander Constantine Chiwenga took over.
The Zimbabwe government
is sensitive and highly secretive on issues
regarding food security in the
country. The Harare authorities, for example,
last week barred the Food and
Agricultural Organisation (FAO) from making an
independent assessment of
food requirements in the country which is again
expected to harvest less
food this year.
Mugabe and Agriculture Minister Joseph
Made last year falsely said
Zimbabwe had a bumper harvest of maize, its
staple food, in a bid to portray
the government's controversial land reforms
as successful.
The land reforms under which the government seized
productive farms
from whites for redistribution to blacks are blamed for
destabilising the
mainstay agricultural sector, causing a 60 percent drop in
food production.
Zimbabwe, once a regional breadbasket, has largely
survived on food
handouts from international donor groups since the farm
seizure programme
began six years ago.
Zvinavashe, who is also
a member of the ruling ZANU PF party's inner
politburo cabinet, said it was
critical to be truthful and transparent about
the country's precarious food
situation if the government is to be able to
plan and provide solutions to
hunger.
"If there is hunger lets make it clear so that the
government will
plan properly. To be honest there has been hunger in the
past agricultural
season. People have been starving," the retired general
said.
Zvinavashe's remarks are a clear sign there is no unanimity
in the
government or ZANU PF over the food crisis that political analysts
say is
pushing public anger against Mugabe and his Cabinet to dangerous
levels. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri
28 April 2006
HARARE - The Combined Harare Residents Association
(CHRA) has told a
parliamentary committee that the city could be hit by a
fresh outbreak of
cholera and dysentery due to the deteriorating conditions
in the capital.
In submissions made to the Parliamentary Portfolio
Committee on Local
Government, Public Works and Urban Development on
Tuesday, CHRA chief
executive officer, Barnabas Mangodza said the "city was
sitting on a
time-bomb" that could explode any minute.
"Harare
is a time bomb for cholera and dysentery outbreaks. The
experiences of
yesteryear are a classical point," said Mangodza.
The association
warned that uncollected garbage and burst sewer pipes
in poor suburbs like
Mbare and other suburbs in Harare, were posing serious
health hazards to
residents.
"Municipal sweepers dump refuse between blocks of flats
in Mbare
attracting swarms of flies, increasing the chances of the
residents'
contracting communicable diseases like cholera and
dysentery.
"Sewer bursts are almost everywhere with sewerage
flowing from the top
floors down, posing serious health hazards to
residents," Mangodza told the
committee.
Harare is in a state
of semi-decay after years of under-funding and
mismanagement. Burst sewer
pipes and heaps of uncollected garbage because of
a severe six-year old fuel
crisis, are now a common sight in Harare which
was once adored as one of the
model cities in Africa in the early 1980s.
Earlier this year, 14
people including some from Harare's poor suburbs
died of cholera with
several others being hospitalised after suffering from
the disease. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 28 April
2006
HARARE - Southern African countries say they will push the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank to help Zimbabwe deal with
a six-year old economic crisis which is threatening to affect the rest of
the region.
Speaking at the end of the IMF and World Bank
Spring Meetings in New
York*, Botswana's Finance Minister Baledzi Gaolathe
said Southern African
Development Community (SADC) countries must help
mobilise resources to haul
Zimbabwe out of the economic crisis.
"If any member within SADC has economic or whatever other problem, all
of us
are affected, and therefore we have to work co-operatively to try to
solve
those," Gaolothe said.
"In this respect, we will be asking our
international co-operating
partners to support Zimbabwe in its efforts to
get out of the problems it is
confronting now," he said.
The
Botswana finance minister said SADC ministers will soon meet in
Windhoek,
Namibia to help thrash out mechanisms to help Harare.
"I think
Zimbabwe was having a problem of arrears (with the IMF) which
they have now
sorted out. It is our hope that in the coming months, the two
sides will
make some progress because one of the hindrances to recovery for
Zimbabwe is
a shortage of foreign exchange, balance of payments problems,
where IMF can
play a major role," he said.
Zimbabwe, battling a severe economic
crisis since 1999 after the IMF
and the World Bank stopped
balance-of-payment support to the country,
earlier this year averted
expulsion from the IMF after it cleared its debts
to the Bretton Woods
institution.
The economic crisis worsened after Mugabe began
violently seizing
white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks in
2000, disrupting
the key agriculture sector which was the country's biggest
foreign currency
earner. - ZimOnline
[ This report does not necessarily reflect
the views of the United Nations]
HARARE, 27 Apr 2006 (IRIN) - Media
organisations and internet service
providers (ISPs) in Zimbabwe are up in
arms about the government's planned
introduction of a bill to regulate
cyber-communication in the "interests of
national security".
"It [the
bill] was born out of a realisation that the internet has been used
to
destroy the image of Zimbabwe, and that this was made possible by the
lack
of regulation in cyber-communication," Deputy Information Minister
Bright
Matonga, told IRIN.
The Interception of Communications Bill (ICB) seeks
to empower the minister
of information to "issue an interception warrant to
authorised persons where
there are reasonable grounds for him to believe
that a serious offence is
committed or that there is a threat to safety or
national security".
Apart from infuriating civil society organisations,
who fear the bill paves
the way for government snooping of private email
communications, the bill
has angered ISPs too. If the bill is passed into
law, ISPs will have to pay
the costs of surveillance.
Section 3 of
the proposed act states: "A telecommunication service provider
is required
to install hardware and software to enable the interception of
communication." ISPs contend they cannot afford the required surveillance
equipment for state security agencies to monitor
communications.
Matonga dismissed the ISPs complaints, warning:
"Businesses that do not want
to accept their role in implementing this bill
may as well pull out because
this is how they will operate once that bill
becomes law."
As the government prepares to push the bill through
parliament on Friday,
media houses, ISPs and civil society organisations
said they were prepared
to take the government to court if it was
passed.
"All stakeholders agree that we should begin now to fight the law
being
proposed: first by engaging ZANU-PF [the ruling party] leading
legislators
before it is signed into law. It is also imperative to petition
President
Robert Mugabe. If it is passed, the last resort would be to fight
it in
court," an ISP representative who preferred not to be identified
said.
According to lawyer Chris Mhike, the proposed bill was
unconstitutional and
infringed on basic freedoms, including the right to
receive and impart ideas
free from interference as guaranteed by Section 20
of the constitution.
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the
views of the United Nations]
HARARE, 27 Apr 2006 (IRIN) - The
Zimbabwean government has announced hefty
salary increases for the security
services, which some analysts claim is a
political decision ahead of a
threatened civil disobedience campaign by the
opposition.
The 200
percent salary rise for the army, police and prison services follows
a
promise made by President Robert Mugabe last week during independence day
celebrations to review their pay. Teachers will also benefit from the
increase.
Political commentator Tendai Murambiwa alleged the salary
hike was designed
to retain the support of the security forces. "Remember,
MDC [Movement for
Democratic Change] president, Morgan Tsvangirai, only
recently told the
armed forces that they were suffering like everybody else
and needed to side
with the people," Murambiwa said.
Senior
government officials and military officers have voiced concern over
the
impact of Zimbabwe's economic crisis on the armed forces, with reports
of
increased desertions, robberies, and soldier sent home because of a lack
of
food in the barracks.
With the new increase a junior soldier will earn
around US $270 - still way
below the poverty datum line of $350. In the past
few days there have also
been hikes of more than 1,000 percent in hospital
fees, electricity and
water tariffs, and school and university rates have
also galloped upwards.
Rejuvinated Opposition
As the cost of
living worsens, commentators suggest Tsvangirai's call for a
"short, sharp
programme of action" to challenge the government through a
series of illegal
street demonstrations has growing appeal in urban areas,
the traditional
stronghold of the MDC before it split into two factions late
last
year.
By comparison, barely two weeks after assuring South African
President Thabo
Mbeki they were the future of opposition politics in
Zimbabwe, the MDC
faction led by Arthur Mutambara is reeling from defections
by senior
officials.
Mutambara's former allies said they had decided
to quit following
"consultations" with grassroots supporters. Cynics contend
the defections
have been triggered by the realisation the majority of MDC
supporters have
remained loyal to Tsvangirai, the founding party president,
and approve of
his more militant stance.
The MDC, which has weathered
intense pressure by the ruling ZANU-PF since it
was formed in 1999, split
over a decision by Tsvangirai to ignore a narrow
vote by party leaders to
participate in senate elections.
Tsvangirai argued that the overall
membership of the party were opposed to
participating in polls the MDC could
not hope to win, given the alleged
unevenness of the playing field. The
pro-senate faction responded that a
boycott would hand ZANU-PF victory even
in parts of the country that were
opposition held, and in ignoring the
decision by party leaders, Tsvangirai
had ditched democratic
procedure.
The two factions confirmed the split when they held two
separate congresses
at the beginning of this year. Tsvangirai, a former
labour leader, was
retained as president by his faction, and since then has
addressed large
crowds at rallies across the country promising to confront
ZANU-PF with
popular protest to force it from power.
The pro-senate
faction elected Mutambara, who boasts an impressive CV as
student leader
turned respected academic, but he has seen his support slip
over the last
few weeks. National chairman Gift Chimanikire and two MPs have
left his
group to rejoin the senate boycotters.
"I think the internal squabbles in
the MDC have actually rejuvenated the
opposition because Tsvangirai's
popularity has been confirmed by the large
number of people that have been
turning up at his rallies," said acting
secretary general of the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions, Collin Gwiyo, a
key Tsvangirai ally.
The
government, however, has repeatedly warned that any unrest would be
dealt
with ruthlessly by the police. "Organs of security are there to
maintain
security and no sane government in this world will keep its
security organs
in the camps while some mischievous elements destabilise the
country, even
threatening to remove a democratically elected government by
force," State
Security Minister Didymus Mutasa was quoted as saying this
week.
Taking It To The Streets
The MDC's track record in
organising civil disobedience campaigns has been a
dismal one. The party
blames its failure on strict public order laws, and a
partisan police and
army that have remained loyal to Mugabe. The last
significant protest action
in 2003 - dubbed the "final push" - was a damp
squib.
"People have
been thoroughly intimidated and frightened of what the regime
can do,"
commented political science lecturer John Mukumbe, a long-standing
critic of
the government. However, he said a new element was public anger
over the
yawning gap between salaries and prices.
Tsvangirai is "playing on the
fact that people's suffering is much more
intense now; the system has
basically collapsed, the cost of living is
unbearably high and people are
getting desperate for change", alleged
Mukumbe.
Zimbabwe has been in
recession for eight straight years. Unemployment is
close to 80 percent,
inflation scaled 900 percent in March, and shortages of
food, foreign
exchange and fuel have become a fact of life. The government
blames the
hardships on western "sanctions" as punishment for its land
reform
programme, which expropriated commercial farms and redistributed them
to new
black farmers. Critics say it was wrong policies that created the
crisis.
The economic pinch is being felt by government and opposition
supporters
alike. "The situation is bad for everybody, including those in
the MDC and
ZANU-PF, and the challenge is for all Zimbabweans, including
civil society,
to embark on a national effort to bring about change,"
remarked political
analyst Heneri Dzinotyiwei, a lecturer at the University
of Zimbabwe.
However, Mutasa has dismissed suggestions that security
force personnel were
increasingly disillusioned, and could not be relied
upon to crackdown on
protestors. He reportedly said: "Do you think
disciplined forces like the
CIO [Central Intelligence Agency], the army and
the police would not listen
to orders or let Tsvangirai have his
way?"
Despite the hardships faced by Zimbabweans, Mukumbe said he did not
believe
ZANU-PF would be swept away by street protests anytime soon. Its
leadership - which fought for the country's independence - has ruled for the
past 26 years through the ballot box, although the opposition insists its
election defeats have been due to rigging and intimidation.
No Date
Set
"It's difficult to get 100,000 people on the streets of Harare [the
capital], it's a problem to even get 10,000," Mukumbe acknowledged.
"Zimbabweans need to be able to experience pain without flinching, and I
don't think we're there yet."
Tsvangirai told IRIN over the weekend
that after addressing rallies in the
towns, his campaign would shift to
rural areas. "The democratic resistance
will not be done in urban areas
only. It will be in all the streets, the
townships and the villages, and
that is our next port of call."
No date has been set for the start of the
civil disobedience campaign. Few
civic organisations have publicly supported
the call for action, but behind
the scenes there has been backing for a more
robust challenge to a
government seen as weakened by the economic crisis and
debate within ZANU-PF
over who will succeed Mugabe, 82, when he retires as
expected in 2008.
Mukumbe believes that Tsvangirai cannot turn back after
calling for mass
action, whatever turnout he manages to attract onto the
streets. "He has
already distinguished himself from the other faction of the
MDC by saying he
will take action against the dictator, and if he doesn't do
it will be to
his discredit."
Secretary-general of the pro-senate
faction, Welshman Ncube, said he was
doubtful that Tsvangirai would be at
the forefront of any demonstrations, as
he has promised. "I wish them well
but I doubt if any of them will lead from
the front. I have worked with them
before ... I doubt if anything will take
place soon."
VOA
By
Carole Gombakomba
Washington
27 April
2006
Though it vowed earlier this year not to raise civil service
salaries, the
Zimbabwean government said yesterday it will increase
public-sector wages by
up to 300%.
Public Service Commission Chairman
Mariyawanda Nzuwa said the increase would
be the last for at eight months.
The raise, which kicks in May 1, got mixed
reactions, with some
representatives of public employees saying the increase
was too
small.
Government Workers Association Executive Secretary Emmanuel
Tichareva told
reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe
that public
workers remained the lowest paid in the the country despite the
increase,
but said he hoped talks with the government would yield more money
for his
25,000 members.
Zimbabwe Teachers Association CEO Peter
Mabhande said his members were not
happy with gains of 150% to 175%.
Mabhande said prices of goods and services
are soon going to rise as well,
rendering the latest increment meaningless,
so his group also wants to bring
the government back to the negotiating
table.
Progressive Teachers
Union President Takavafira Zhou said the pay increases
were insufficient to
ensure his 12,000 members could meet basic living
costs.
Economists
like Anthony Hawkins, a professor at the University of Zimbabwe
Graduate
School of Management, expressed concern that the raises would stoke
inflation.
VOA
By Ashenafi Abedje
Washington, DC
27 April
2006
Zimbabwe's government says it is ready to allow the return
of white farmers
who were driven off their farms under the land reform
program. The
announcement was made by agriculture minister Joseph Made. He
denies that
the new openness toward white farmers marks an about-face in the
land reform
policy of president Robert Mugabe. The policy has been blamed
for the
downward spiral of the country's economy. Fewer than 600 farmers
remain on
their properties in Zimbabwe, once considered the breadbasket of
southern
Africa.
John Worswick is the chief executive officer of
Justice for Agriculture - a
group that represents thousands of Zimbabwean
farmers and farm workers. In
an interview with English to Africa reporter
Ashenafi Abedje, he reacted to
the government's latest announcement. "We
don't see this as a way forward,
as it espouses state ownership of land. We
realize that you cannot build a
new 99-year tenure system on the back of an
existing seriously infringed
tenure system.
The government maintains
it undertook the initial land reform measure to
redress the imbalances in
land ownership inherited from the colonial era.
Worswick says neither the
commercial farmers nor the farm workers disagree
with the need for land
reform. "Our bone of contention is how the policy
has been driven, with
the government having failed to follow their own legal
process. This has
resulted in the destruction of production and an economic
meltdown."
Worswick says the government first needs to address
outstanding issues
pertaining to dispossessed commercial farmers. He says
these include
compensation and damages owed to the evicted farmers. "Beyond
that," he
says, "our organization requires a return to the rule of law, an
expansion
of the tenure system into the communal areas where there is a huge
restriction on production, all based on the individual ownership of land."
He says "this is the only way to free the people of Zimbabwe and empower
them."
Daily Times, Malawi
BY PETER GWAZAYANI
11:13:03 - 27 April 2006
Civil society
organisations on Monday put it point blank to President Bingu
wa Mutharika
when they met that unless he grants them an opportunity to talk
to
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, they would proceed with their planned
demonstrations.
According to sources that attended the meeting,
Mutharika warned the civil
society groups that he would hold them
accountable for any eventualities
that may arise from the
demonstrations.
Confirming the development, one of the top civil society
figures Rafiq
Hajat, who is also Executive Director for Institute for Policy
Interaction
(IPI) said in a spirit of give and take, the civil society
demanded an
audience with Mugabe.
Hajat said State House is yet to
communicate if such arrangement would be
possible.
He said Mutharika
was concerned with the demonstrations, saying some people
with evil
intentions may take advantage of the protests and hijack the whole
process
and the end result would be chaos.
The IPI executive director said having
understood Mutharika's concern in the
four-hour meeting, the civil society
groups demanded that a meeting be
arranged with Mugabe once he visits the
country so that they can grill him
on various issues happening in
Zimbabwe.
"But we will see what to do if this arrangement fails," said
Hajat.
Hajat observed that the civil society groups were divided into two
on the
issue.
He explained that what Programme Manager for Church of
Central African
Presbyterian (CCAP) Blantyre Synod Billy Mayaya told the
press after they
met Mutharika were views of one section of the
grouping.
Hajat said a good number of civil society groups were not aware
that Mayaya
was holding a press briefing in one of the rooms at State House
on the
matter where he told the media they have backtracked on their
position to
oppose and demonstrate against Mugabe.
Mayaya, during the
press briefing, described the NGOs' earlier stance to
oppose and demonstrate
as a product of lack of information.
Last week, civil society
organisations that included IPI, Civil Liberties
Committee, Centre for Human
Rights and Rehabilitation, Active Youth for
Social Enhancement, Gender
Support Programme and Church and Society
Programme (Blantyre Synod) during a
press conference in Blantyre, warned
government of serious consequences
should it go ahead with plans to invite
Mugabe and name Midima Road after
him.
They also questioned Zimbabwe's human rights record and atrocities
Mugabe
has committed in his country.
The group argued that it would
be a mockery to name Midima road after such a
leader.
The NGOs
wondered what Malawi was honouring Mugabe for.
They then vowed to do
everything in their powers to protest against both the
visit and naming of
the road after Mugabe.
However, after the meeting with Mutharika, Foreign
Affairs and International
Security Minister Davis Katsonga said government
had told the NGOs that it
was equally concerned as over 5.2 million
Zimbabweans of Malawian origin are
also suffering.
Katsonga said as
such, government would like to engage the political
hierarchy in Zimbabwe
into discussions.
Finance24
27/04/2006 17:37
PM
Harare - Angered by poor returns on their crops, Zimbabwe's
struggling
tobacco farmers have threatened to stop production, the official
Herald
newspaper reported on Thursday.
The tobacco selling floors
opened on Monday but farmers say the prices
they are getting are
"uneconomic", the Herald reported.
On Wednesday tobacco was selling
for an average price of US$1.35 per
kilogramme. Farmers are paid in local
Zimbabwe dollars at a controlled rate
of 99 000 to the greenback, around
half what the US is fetching on the
lucrative parallel market.
"The prices are ridiculous and the exchange rate is depressed and we
feel as
if we are just doing a community service. We are no longer
interested,"
farmer Godwin Chigogora from the western farming district of
Karoi told the
paper.
Tobacco used to be Zimbabwe's main foreign currency earner
but since
the launch of a controversial land redistribution programme in
2000,
production has plummeted.
This year's tobacco crop is
estimated to reach between 50 and 55
million kilogrammes, down from more
than 200 million kilogrammes produced
six years ago.
What has
further annoyed some farmers is an apparent U-turn by the
Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ), which had promised a support price of
US$1.80 per kilogramme
of tobacco earlier this year.
"We believe we were sold a dummy so
that we would bring our tobacco to
the floors," said one farmer who refused
to be named.
"Once we were here after packaging and carrying the
tobacco all the
way to Harare, we are told a different story. RBZ knows that
we can no
longer carry back our tobacco to our farms, so we are forced to
sell and get
the little that is available," he added.
A farmer
from the prime tobacco growing district of Centenary in
northern Zimbabwe
told the Herald that instead of tobacco "I would rather
start maize
production or cotton next season." - Sapa-dpa p>/am
The Chronicle Newspaper
(Lilongwe)
April 27, 2006
Posted to the web April 27,
2006
Dickson Kashoti
Lilongwe
Minister of Foreign Affairs and
International Cooperation Davis Katsonga has
joined the international
community in condemning Iran's uranium enrichment,
sharply contradicting
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe who hailed the
programme as a move in a
right direction.
Mugabe, who will be visiting the country this Wednesday,
told Iran's
ambassador to Zimbabwe recently that Iran should not be moved by
threats
from the United States of America, Britain and other Western
countries on
the uranium enrichment programme which can eventually lead to
nuclear
manufacturing.
Katsonga said: "Malawi is against the
escalation of nuclear weapons in the
world. The president (Bingu wa
Mutharika) recently visited Japan.
Whilst there, he visited Hiroshima
where the first atomic bomb was dropped.
"He lamented lack of serious
commitment by the World to reduce the amount of
nuclear weapons, especially
in rich countries like America, Israel, Britain,
India, and Pakistan. There
is no need for us to keep the weapons," said
Katsonga in an
interview.
He however said there is no harm for a country to have uranium
for energy,
saying but there should be laws that govern the uranium
deposits.
On accusations that Mutharika has invited Mugabe who is accused
of human
rights abuses in his own country, Katsonga said: "The President of
Mainland
China is visiting America. This does not mean that America agrees
with what
China does. We are not taking on board Zimbabwe's foreign policy
and
Zimbabwe is not taking Malawi's foreign policy. "Zimbabwe has more
Malawians
than any other country in the world.
Zimbabwe is Malawi's
greatest trading partner. Geographically, socially,
economically, we cannot
remove ourselves from Zimbabwe," says Katsonga in
reaction to reports that
the civil society intends to stage demonstrations
against the Zimbabwe
leader when he comes in this country this Wednesday.
He said Malawi
should not be controlled by countries "with different
agenda." Katsonga
cited an example of former head of state Kamuzu Banda's
visit to Britain in
the 1990s when he was criticised of human rights abuses
in Malawi yet Queen
Elizabeth warmly welcomed him. "On Zimbabwe, I am not
competent enough to
comment on those allegations (of human rights abuses).
But we have huge
interests in Zimbabwe which we want to protect," said
Katsonga.
Mugabe is accused of human rights abuses in his country,
with repressive
laws which critics says were formulated to oppress media
freedom and the
opposition and Mugabe's critics.
New Zimbabwe
By Dr Alex
Magaisa
Last updated: 04/27/2006 22:12:04
IT IS often said that people get
the leadership they deserve. This claim is
unlikely to be warmly received in
Zimbabwe, where citizens in various
quarters would undoubtedly argue that
they do not deserve the current
national leadership, which they would argue,
has plunged the country into a
deep quagmire of misery. Efforts to extricate
the country, if any, have so
far failed to yield any tangible
result.
Nonetheless, on closer inspection of the attitude and reaction of
citizens
to recent political developments in the opposition movement reveals
that
such a claim could apply with equal force to the Zimbabwe situation.
This
article argues that unless citizens exercise greater vigilance towards
those
that claim positions of political authority the culture against which
they
are fighting is set to continue and consequently they will have no
person to
blame except themselves.
Citizens who willingly surrender
their authority without setting and
protecting the rules and principles
according to which that authority is
exercised deserve what they get when
the leadership misbehaves. It is
arguable that Zimbabwe deserves the
leadership that it presently has because
from the early years of
independence, the citizens who constituted the
majority surrendered their
authority to politicians and either actively or
passively consented to the
monopolisation of democratic space and the
marginalisation of minorities.
When they sought to reclaim it, the
politicians were too entrenched to give
it back. Sadly, this time within the
realm of the MDC, we seem to be
witnessing an encore of that song of the
1980s. In a case of having learned
nothing and forgotten nothing, the
salient lessons of the early 1980s that
formed the basis of the current
national plunge at the national level have
not been heeded. A number of
issues arise in this context.
There is a
potentially dangerous attitude that has emanated within the
opposition
movement which is reflected both in sections of the leadership
and the
citizens themselves. The MDC split in the wake of the November 2005
Senate
elections has produced two factions - one led by Morgan Tsvangirai
and
another by Prof. Arthur Mutambara. Going by recent media reports the
Morgan
Tsvangirai faction appears to be attracting more people to its
rallies. If
these attendances are taken to be indications of voter support,
then it
would appear that the Tsvangirai faction presently stands in the
majority.
The primary point of concern arises in respect of the
relationship between
the majority and the minority. Considering the
opposition bloc on its own,
how better has it fared compared to ZANU PF in
the way that the majority
reacts to and deals with minorities? This, at the
very least might provide a
measure as to whether we have moved from the
politics of old, the ideas,
culture and practices that have stifled
democratic space over the years.
Basically, in a democracy it is of
crucial concern how the majority relates
to the minority or simply, those
holding different opinions. Democracy is
often simplistically defined in
terms that privilege the majority with
rhetoric often laced with clichés
such as "people's power", "majority rule",
etc. It often portrays a picture
in which the minorities are non-existent.
They are obliterated and at best
appear only on the penumbra. This is a
flawed and dangerous conception of
democracy.
Minorities manifest in various forms - ethnic, racial,
political opinion,
gender, etc. A single individual can belong to the
minority on one issue
even though he may be in the majority on another. As
such every individual
must be concerned with the plight of the minority
because everyone is
potentially a minority. The way in which the leadership
and the citizens
constituting the majority over any issue react toward the
minorities that is
therefore significant.
The problem is that the
leadership can be dismissive and contemptuous and in
some cases can even
unleash violence against the minority. A responsible and
mature leadership
should perhaps be more tolerant of a difference in
opinion. As many would
recall, the 1980s were characterized by unnecessary
violence against those
in the minority - defined along indices of ethnic and
political opinion.
Those supportive of the likes of Muzorewa, Nkomo and a
host of other parties
suffered at the hands of ZANU PF, which commanded a
huge majority. Lest we
forget, in the 1980s ZANU PF and President Mugabe
attracted huge turnout
figures at their rallies. But what did the citizens
in the majority do in
the face of these violations against minorities?
The conduct and attitude
of citizens in the majority matters because it is
conduit through they
impliedly or expressly give authority to their
leadership that drives and
gives comfort to that leadership to behave in a
particular manner. If the
leadership abuses its popular mandate it is often
because it has the consent
of the citizens in the majority. There are at
least two ways by which this
consent is given: First, the citizens in the
majority can actively consent
by encouraging their leadership to and
sometimes participate in bashing the
minority. Second, they can give passive
consent by doing nothing in the face
of abuse of the minority. In each case,
the majority shows intolerance
toward the minority, which is unhealthy for
the development of a mature
democratic culture.
These points are important in the context of the
developments in the
opposition MDC party. It is good that people have their
chance to exercise
their choice and follow their desires in relation to the
two factions. The
part that raises concern is that which raises echoes from
the past,
indicating intolerance towards members of the other faction who
hold a
different opinion and presently appear to be in the minority. What is
worse
though, is the tendency to bash any person who dares to make any
critical
assertions against the leadership of the majority faction. We have
forgotten
that the problem of leadership arrogance in ZANU PF is essentially
a
creation of citizens who behaved in similar fashion in the early years of
independence - citizens who chose to become angry on behalf of the
leadership whenever anyone chose to make critical comments. When all
criticism is interpreted as unnecessary opposition, there is cause to worry
regarding the seriousness of the movement to avail democratic space.
Democractic space is not only for those who say, "Yes" but also for those
who challenge the dominant order.
There is also a worrying tendency
to propagate exclusionary politics mainly
because of a deliberate choice to
ignore the gravity of history of political
resistance in Zimbabwe. This is
no more evident than in the choice by some
leaders of the MDC and analysts
who claim legitimacy and positions of
superiority on the ground that they
are founders of a struggle that began in
1999, when that party was formed.
The idea of demarcating the commencement
of the struggle at that point is
arguably to perpetuate the primacy of the
leadership that was installed at
that time. Framing the parameters of
struggle in that way forms the basis of
questioning for example any person
who was not part of that leadership. It
is an argument that has been used to
challenge the claims of citizens like
Professor Mutambara, leader of the
other faction of the MDC.
But to
frame the struggle in that manner is as narrow and short sighted as
it is
dishonest. It also brings echoes of ZANU PF approach to the liberation
struggle evident for example in the manner in which it selects national
heroes - that if you differed with the party at some point, then you are not
a hero of the struggle, regardless of your contributions in the general
struggle. Fast forward and picture a scenario where the MDC gains power at
some point and creates its own roll of honour - will those who have differed
be eligible on that roll? Will those, like Margaret Dongo who carried the
torch of resistance before the MDC be eligible or will it be argued that
they were not part of the struggle that "commenced" in 1999?
The fact
is that the MDC did not start anything new - it simply resuscitated
and
rejuvenated a spirit and process of resistance against abuse of power
that
had been present all along. Long before the MDC and the current crop of
leadership, there had been others who kept the process of resistance going
and they too deserve a chance to be heard even outside the framework of the
dominant faction of the MDC. The fact that they may be in the minority does
not disable them from claiming democratic space. Indeed the ability of the
majority faction to accept and tolerate difference without descending into
the politics of old, would strengthen its credentials within and outside the
country.
It is anticipated that there will be the usual voices that
will argue that
this article unfairly criticizes the MDC faction enjoying
popular support.
But that is exactly where the problem lies - our
capitulation to what
appears to be popular opinion and failure to understand
and appreciate the
value of critical opinion. This article is simply a
cautionary note to the
effect that unless citizens are careful, by their
passive or active consent
they risk creating a similar regime and culture
akin to that from which they
are seeking to escape. If they do not take
heed, they will deserve what they
get and the will have very little cause
for complaint. The beauty of
democracy lies in the fact that while you may
be in the majority on one
issue, there is always a chance that you may
occupy the minority position on
another point. As such, it is always vital
to ensure that there are
safeguards that protect minorities against the
tyranny of the majority.
Those safeguards are as much in constitutions as in
the manner in which
citizens and leaders react and behave towards each
other.
Finally, there are lessons to be learned from the sweet science -
boxing.
After twelve rounds of pulverizing each other, the victor and
vanquished
often embrace. The victor will often show respect for the
vanquished
describing him as "a brave man, a fighter, a true warrior". The
vanquished
will congratulate his tormentor, even though he might grumble
about this and
that. He will probably ask for a rematch. Everyone else has
something to say
but only those two men know what it was like in the ring
and for that reason
they respect each other. They salute bravery. They know
too that at any
moment it could have gone the other way. Maybe it is why so
often the victor
shows magnanimity in victory. Perhaps those in the
political ring might
learn one or two things from old game - Respect toward
each other. And
perhaps too - that anything can happen and dominating the
initial rounds is
no guarantee of success after the twelve.
Dr
Magaisa is a lawyer and can be contacted at wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk
Business in Africa
Posted
Thu, 27 Apr 2006
Harare - The Central Bank in Zimbabwe on Wednesday again
hiked interest
rates as it continued its unsuccessful battle against raging
inflation,
which is rapidly approaching 1 000 percent.
Interest on
unsecured borrowing went up from 785 percent to 850 percent, and
secured
borrowing from 750 percent to 800 percent.
The last interest hike was
last month, and the bank said the latest increase
was in response to new
inflation data which showed that inflation had gone
up to 913.6 percent in
March.
The bank is making borrowing expensive in an attempt to stifle
speculative
activities, such as currency trading, importation of luxuries,
which it
blames for fuelling inflation.
The bank hopes that
manipulating interest rates would help to contain
inflationary pressures.
-panapress
Reuters
Thu Apr 27, 2006 10:49 AM GMT
By Ingrid
Melander
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A senior European Union official sparked
controversy by
meeting Zimbabwe's finance minister in Brussels on Wednesday
despite EU
sanctions on the African country.
EU Aid and Development
Commissioner Louis Michel met Herbert Murerwa just
three months after the
bloc extended for another year a series of measures
against Harare,
including an arms embargo and travel ban on its officials.
The 25-member
bloc accuses Zimbabwean officials of violating human rights,
freedom of
speech and freedom of assembly.
Belgium has granted Murerwa a visa to
attend a meeting of ministers from
Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific on
Thursday and Friday in Brussels.
Some EU diplomats said that although
granting the minister a visa for a
conference was allowed under the terms of
the EU sanctions, holding an
official meeting with him was not.
"A
number of (EU) member states have said that this is not in line with the
EU
policy," a Swedish diplomat told Reuters, adding that they were concerned
that the European Commission was applying a policy different from that of
the EU countries.
Another EU diplomat also said it was clearly
against the EU's position.
A spokesman for Michel, a Belgian, said the
meeting did not signal a change
of policy.
"The EU's position has not
changed and will not change until Zimbabwe
changes its policies ... the
meeting was aimed at helping Zimbabwe move in
the right direction," he
said.
The EU sanctions were initially triggered in 2002 by Zimbabwe's
land
redistribution plan, which confiscated white-owned commercial farms,
and
President Robert Mugabe's disputed re-election.
Since then, EU
aid to Zimbabwe has been suspended, except for health and
education
projects, to which 70 million euros were allocated last year,
Michel's
spokesman said.
Mugabe and more than 100 ministers and officials are
targeted by EU visa
bans and asset freezes.
Plans for an EU-Africa
Summit have been postponed since 2003 because Britain
and several other EU
countries refused to attend if Mugabe was invited.
Zimbabwe is mired in a
deepening economic crisis, with shortages of foreign
exchange, fuel and
food, the world's highest inflation rate at over 900
percent and 70 percent
unemployment.
Critics say the land seizures have cut Zimbabwe's
commercial agriculture by
40 percent. White farmers said last week they had
been invited to apply for
land, a move that could mark a shift by the
government, which had vowed not
to return seized farms.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily
Mirror Reporter
issue date :2006-Apr-28
ZIMBABWE is one of the five
countries in the world with the highest
proportion of orphaned children, a
report has said.
The report was published recently by the National
Institute of Health
Research in the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, WK
Kellogg Foundation,
Biomedical Research and Training Institute and the Human
Sciences Research
Council.
According to the report, estimates made by
UNAIDS in 2002 suggested that 17
to 18 percent of all children under the age
of 15 lost one or both parents
in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho and
Rwanda.
"In Zimbabwe, this amounts to just over one million orphans, out of a
child
population of around 5,8 million in a total population of 12 million,"
the
report read.
The report noted that in Zimbabwe, national policies and
laws establishing
the legal infrastructure for the co-ordination of orphans
and other
vulnerable children programmes and services had not been
implemented because
of lack of financial, material and human
resources.
"Anecdotal evidence shows that due to the lack of full policy
implementation
protecting children's rights, orphaned and other vulnerable
children service
providers report an alarming increase in cases of child
abuse.
"Furthermore, the widespread lack of birth certificates prevents
children
from accessing basic services and rights and children, particularly
orphaned
and other vulnerable children, lack the ability to participate in
decisions
that affect their lives," the report added.
The report said
there was lack of children's participation in legal and
policy
issues.
"The extent of the orphan problem and the new phenomenon of
households
headed by children and grandparents was not anticipated when the
laws were
framed, and therefore gaps and contradictions are evident," it
said.
Legal issues pertinent to children in Zimbabwe are subject to
interpretation
according to a dual legal system, comprising customary law
and codified,
general law found in the constitution and statutes.
The
existence of these two systems could result in situations where one
system
can pre-empt or contradict the other.
Moreover, existing legislation aimed at
protecting children against abuse is
often fragmented, generally requiring
access to legal advocacy to ensure
that the law is carried out in favour of
the child.
The economic problems currently bedeviling the country have
worsened the
plight of children in general and the life expectancy has
dropped from 61
years in 1990 to 43 years in 2003.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily
Mirror Reporter
issue date :2006-Apr-28
PUBLIC hospitals in Harare and
Chitungwiza this week said they will not
accommodate bodies of people who
would have died elsewhere in their
mortuaries because they do not have the
capacity to cope with mortalities
outside their institutions.
This
comes as a blow to many people in the low income bracket who resorted
to
public hospitals mortuaries because they were cheaper compared to funeral
parlours that charge an average of $7,5 million a day to accommodate a body,
while the former cost $1 million.
In an interview with The Daily Mirror
yesterday, the chief executive officer
of Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals,
Thomas Zigora, said the mortuary at the
hospital had a capacity to
accommodate 52 bodies and hence cannot
accommodate corpses from outside the
hospital.
"At the moment we are not able to extend our hospital mortuary and
until we
do so we are unable to accommodate corpses from outside our
premises.
"Our hospital accommodates 700 admitted patients and with a
mortuary that
can only accommodate 52 bodies there is no way we can accept
bodies from
elsewhere.
"Our mortuary is not just big enough and that's
why we have asked people
through the press to quickly come and collect their
relatives' bodies,"
Zigora said.
Zigora added that the problem of
refusing to accommodate bodies of people by
hospitals was a national issue
that needed to be addressed by the
responsible authorities.
The chief
executive officer of Chitungwiza hospital, Obadiah Moyo,
encouraged people
to use the services of funeral parlours, as the hospital's
mortuary was too
small.
"The problem we are facing is that firms engaged by the Ministry of
Public
Service Labour and Social Welfare to do pauper burials are taking
long to
bury the bodies and this leads to congestion of our mortuary which
only has
the capacity to accommodate 30 bodies.
"We encourage people to
use
private parlours rather than come to us," Moyo said.
He added that in
cases of desperation they could only accommodate corpses if
there is
verification from the police.