Europa,EU
Brussels, 5 April 2005
7789/05 (Presse 78)
Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union
on the conduct of the elections in Zimbabwe
The European Union takes note of the parliamentary elections held in Zimbabwe
on 31 March 2005. The European Union notes that it was not invited to observe
the elections.
The European Union has duly noted Zimbabwe's commitment to complying with the
SADC principles and guidelines governing democratic elections, as well as SADC's
engagement in this context.
There were some improvements in the conduct of the elections compared with
previous polls, and Zimbabwe has made some technical adjustments to the
electoral framework in order to observe SADC's principles and guidelines.
However, the European Union is concerned by a number of serious shortcomings
found in the Zimbabwean electoral system. It also expresses reservations about
the environment in which the voting took place. These are in addition to more
general and more worrying findings concerning the human rights situation.
This assessment and an examination of the application of international
electoral practices and standards do not allow the European Union to conclude
that the elections were free and fair.
The restoration of democracy and the rule of law, respect for human rights
and the adoption of measures to deal with the urgent humanitarian needs of the
population thus continue to be fundamental requirements in Zimbabwe.
The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey
and Croatia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and
potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and the EFTA countries Iceland,
Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, align
themselves with this declaration.
* Croatia continues to be part of the Stabilisation and Association
Process.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, April 08, 2005 2:43 AM
Subject: ZIMBABWE : "Southern Africa's honour publicly stained" -
Open letter to the executive secretary of the Southern Africa Development
Community (SADC) / ZIMBABWE : « L'honneur de l'Afrique australe publiquement
terni » - Lettre ouverte au secrétaire exécutif de la Southern Africa
Development Community (SADC)
English / Français
PRESS FREEDOM / LIBERTE DE LA PRESSE
7 April 2005 / 7 avril 2005
ZIMBABWE
"Southern Africa's honour publicly
stained"
Open letter to the executive secretary of
the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)
Toby Harden and Julian Simmonds of the
London-based Sunday Telegraph have been detained for the past week. Every
day they are exhibited handcuffed and in prison uniform. Reporters Without
Borders calls on the executive secretary of the Southern Africa Development
Community (SADC) in an open letter to use all his influence to have them
released.
Dr. Prega Ramsamy
Executive Secretary
Southern Africa Development Community
(SADC)
Gaborone, Botswana
Paris, 7 April 2005
Dear Dr. Ramsamy,
Reporters Without Borders, an
international press freedom organization, would like to draw your attention to
the government of Zimbabwe's disgraceful treatment of British journalists
Toby Harden and Julian Simmonds of the London-based Sunday
Telegraph, who have been detained for the past week in Norton, 40 km from
the capital, Harare.
They were arrested on 31 March, the day of
legislative elections. Since then they have often been exhibited by the
Zimbabwean authorities for a predictable trial. They are accused of breaking the
immigration laws by not having valid visas, and of violating the sadly notorious
Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), the tyrannical
nature of which we have condemned since it was adopted in 2002.
We
hesitate to discuss the substance of the charges as the legal procedures alone
have been so shocking. Two men whose only crime, in essence, was to go a little
too close to a polling station with a camera risk being unjustly sentenced to
several years in prison. The Zimbabwean authorities clearly want to set an
example for all those inclined to criticize them or at least to look a little
more closely at the catastrophic situation of a country that has taken a
nationalistic, paranoid and repressive course. We are moreover outraged by the
way Harden and Simmonds have been exhibited handcuffed to each other and in
prison uniform, treated as criminals and accused by prosecution witnesses who
are ruling party activists.
Were they in Zimbabwe as tourists or to work
as journalists? It does not really matter, in our view. Two men have been thrown
in prison for asking voters questions and taking photos of what was happening
around them. That apparently constitutes a crime in Zimbabwe, especially if one
has not been approved by the thought tribunal known as the Media and Information
Commission (MIC) and if one "blasphemes" against President Robert
Mugabe.
Leaving aside our clearly negative assessment of the climate in which
this election took place and our disgust at the way Zimbabwe treats independent
and foreign journalists, we would like to ask you to intervene on behalf of
Harden and Simmonds. We urge you as executive secretary of the Southern Africa
Development Community (SADC) to do everything in your power to persuade Zimbabwe
to let them return home as free men as soon as possible. Southern Africa's
honour is being publicly stained at this moment in a prison in Norton.
I
thank you in advance for attending to this
request.
Sincerely,
Robert
Ménard
Secretary-General
-------------------------
ZIMBABWE
« L'honneur de l'Afrique australe
publiquement terni »
Lettre ouverte au secrétaire exécutif de la
Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)
Toby John Harden et Julian Paul Simmonds, de
l'hebdomadaire britannique Sunday Telegraph, sont détenus depuis une
semaine. Ils sont quotidiennement exposés, menottes au poignet, en tenue de
prisonnier. Dans une lettre ouverte, Reporters sans frontières exhorte le
secrétaire exécutif de la Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) à peser
de tout son poids pour les faire libérer.
Dr. Prega Ramsamy
Executive Secretary
Southern Africa Development Community
(SADC)
Gaborone, Botswana
Paris, le 7 avril 2005
Monsieur le Secrétaire Exécutif,
Reporters sans
frontières, organisation internationale de défense de la liberté de la presse,
souhaite attirer votre attention sur le sort indigne réservé par le gouvernement
du Zimbabwe à deux journalistes britanniques du Sunday Telegraph, Toby
John Harden et Julian Paul Simmonds, emprisonnés depuis une semaine à
Norton, une localité située à 40 kilomètres de la capitale, Harare.
Arrêtés le 31 mars 2005, date à laquelle se sont
tenues les élections législatives, ils sont régulièrement exhibés par les
autorités zimbabwéennes pour un procès joué d'avance. Ils sont accusés d'avoir
enfreint les lois sur l'immigration en ne disposant pas de visa en règle, ainsi
que la tristement célèbre loi sur la presse, dite Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), dont nous dénonçons vigoureusement le
caractère tyrannique depuis son adoption en 2002.
Nous hésitons à
argumenter sur le fond de l'affaire, tant la forme est déjà choquante. Deux
hommes, dont le seul tort, en somme, est de s'être approchés d'un peu trop près
d'un bureau de vote avec un appareil photo, risquent d'être injustement
condamnés à plusieurs années de prison. Nous constatons que les autorités
zimbabwéennes souhaitent en faire un exemple pour tous ceux qui seraient
susceptibles de les critiquer, ou à tout le moins de regarder d'un peu plus près
la situation catastrophique d'un pays engagé dans une voix nationaliste,
paranoïaque et répressive. En outre, nous sommes scandalisés par l'exhibition de
Toby John Harden et Julian Paul Simmonds, menottés l'un à l'autre, en tenue de
prisonnier, traités comme des criminels et accusés par des témoins à charge,
militants du parti au pouvoir.
Etaient-ils en voyage touristique ou en
mission journalistique ? Peu importe, à nos yeux. Deux hommes ont été jetés en
prison pour avoir posé des questions à des électeurs et pris des photographies
de la réalité qui les entourait. Cela, au Zimbabwe, constitue apparemment une
infraction, surtout si l'on n'est pas adoubé par le tribunal de la pensée qu'est
la Commission de l'information et des médias (MIC) et si l'on « blasphème » le
nom du président Robert Mugabe.
Au-delà de notre jugement clairement
négatif sur le climat dans lequel s'est déroulé le scrutin, au-delà de notre
dégoût devant la façon dont le Zimbabwe traite les journalistes indépendants ou
étrangers, nous voulons vous interpeller sur le sort de Toby John Harden et
Julian Paul Simmonds. Nous vous exhortons, en tant que secrétaire exécutif de la
Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), à faire tout ce qui est en votre
pouvoir pour persuader le Zimbabwe de laisser ces deux hommes rentrer chez eux
librement au plus vite. L'honneur de l'Afrique australe est publiquement terni
en ce moment, dans une prison de Norton.
Je vous remercie personnellement
de prêter attention à ma requête et vous prie d'agréer, Monsieur le Secrétaire
Exécutif, l'expression de ma haute considération.
Robert
Ménard
Secrétaire général
--
Bureau Afrique / Africa desk
Reporters sans frontières / Reporters
Without Borders
5, rue Geoffroy-Marie
75009 Paris, France
Tel : (33) 1
44 83 84 84
Fax : (33) 1 45 23 11 51
Email : afrique@rsf.org /
africa@rsf.org
Web : www.rsf.org
From: MDC [mailto:mdcinfo@zol.co.zw]
Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2005 9:24
AM
Subject: Preliminary FindingsIndicate Massive Electoral
Fraud
6 April 2005
Preliminary Findings Indicate Massive
Electoral Fraud
Preliminary investigations and analysis by the
MDC has revealed that in 30
constituencies in the provinces of Manicaland,
Mashonaland West, Mashonaland
East and Matabeleland South (see list below),
there are serious and
unaccountable gaps between the ZEC's official
pronouncements on the number
of
votes cast and final totals accorded to
each candidate. This indicates
massive electoral fraud by the ruling
party.
At present we are unable to carry out an analysis of the
accuracy of the
number of votes cast in constituencies in Mashonland Central,
Masvingo,
Matabeleland North, Midlands North and Midlands South as the ZEC
refuses to
release these figures. The ZEC's refusal to release these figures
indicates
widespread irregularities.
Where the MDC was widely
predicted to regain its seats, such as in Harare
and
Bulawayo, very few
discrepancies were identified. This raises further
suspicions that there was
a calculated plan to ensure that the MDC won a
sufficient number of seats to
provide the electoral process, and the end
result, with a veneer of
legitimacy. While little attempt was made to deny
the MDC victory in key
urban areas it is clear that all the stops were
pulled
out to ensure the
MDC made few gains elsewhere.
In 11 constituencies (Kariba,
Manyame, Goromonzi, Murehwa South, Mutoko
North, Seke Rural, Buhera South,
Mutare South, Mutasa South, Mutasa North
and
Nyanga) the deficits between
the ZEC's official pronouncement on the number
of votes cast and the final
total directly account for the Zanu PF
'victories'. In most of these
constituencies the Zanu PF candidate was
either
a senior party official or
a Government Minister.
This analysis does not even take into
account the uneven electoral playing
field, the inflated voters' roll, the
coercion of the rural electorate, nor
the high number of people who were
turned away on polling day.
The findings in question have been
submitted to the SADC and South African
observer missions. Regrettably, these
observer missions have so far shown a
chronic lack of interest in such
compelling statistics and instead have
maintained their respective positions
that the elections reflected 'the will
of the people'. This was clearly not
the case.
We urge the observer missions to fully investigate the
discrepancies
identified by the MDC. Any final reports that fail to take into
account such
discrepancies would be seriously flawed.
The MDC
and the people of Zimbabwe know full well who the real winners are.
This
election was stolen. The results are in no way an accurate
reflection
of
the sovereign wishes of the people of Zimbabwe.
Paul
Themba Nyathi
Secretary for Information and Publicity
Notes for
the editors
Discrepancies:
1. Manyame: ZEC announced the total votes
cast as being 14 812. The MDC
candidate polled 8 312 votes, meaning she had
an unassailable lead.
However,
when results were finally announced the
winning Zanu PF candidate was
reported to have received 15 448 votes, with
543 ballots spoilt. The total
vote count for the constituency becomes 24 303,
with the discrepancy being 9
491 votes.
2. Goromonzi: ZEC announced the
total votes cast as being 15 611. The
MDC candidate, with 8 578 votes, polled
more than half of the votes cast.
However, when results were finally issued
the Zanu PF candidate was
announced
the winner with 16 782 votes, 1 171
votes more than the total number of
votes
cast. The total votes cast for
the 2 candidates, including spoilt ballots,
becomes 26 123. The discrepancy
is 10 512 votes.
3. Kariba: ZEC announced the total votes cast as being 16
676. The MDC
candidate, with 9 540 votes, polled more than half of the votes
cast.
However, when results were finally issued the Zanu PF candidate
was
announced
the winner with 13 1719 votes. The total votes cast for the
2 candidates,
including spoilt ballots, becomes 24 142. The discrepancy is 7
466 votes.
4. Seke Rural: ZEC's total votes cast in Seke are given as 11
344. The
MDC candidate, with 8 843 votes, polled more than half of the votes
cast.
But, when results were finally issued the Zanu PF candidate was
announced
winner with 15 434 votes, which is 4 090 more votes than the total
votes
cast. The total votes for all the candidates, including spoilt
ballots,
mysteriously becomes 24 873. The discrepancy is 13 529.
5. Mutare
South: The ZEC figures for the total votes cast is 14 054.
The MDC candidate
received 12 163 votes. The final result released shows
total votes as being
28 575, with 16 412 of these being for the winning Zanu
PF. This registers a
discrepancy of 14 521.
6. Buhera South: The total ZEC figure for votes cast
is 25 447. The MDC
candidate received 13 893 votes, more than half of the
total votes cast.
When
results were finally issued, the Zanu PF candidate
was announced the winner,
with 15 066 votes. This gives a total of 28 959
ballots cast for the
constituency, leaving a discrepancy of 3 512.
7.
Marondera East: The total ZEC figure for votes cast is 25 193. When
results
were finally issued, the Zanu PF candidate was announced the winner,
with 19
192 votes against 10 066 for his MDC counterpart. The total vote
count for
the constituency is 29 935, leaving a discrepancy of 4 742.
8. Buhera North:
The total ZEC figure for votes cast is 16 795. When
results were finally
issued, the Zanu PF candidate was announced the winner,
with 17 677 votes
against 4 137 for his MDC counterpart. The total vote
count for the
constituency is 22 688, leaving a discrepancy of 5 893.
9. Murehwa South: The
total ZEC figure for votes cast is 8 579. The MDC
candidate received 4 586,
more than half of the total votes cast. However,
when results were finally
issued the winning Zanu PF candidate was announced
to have received 19 200
votes, more than double the number of votes cast.
This gives a total of 24
463. There is a discrepancy of 15 207.
10. Mutasa South: The total ZEC figure
for votes cast is 15 733. The MDC
candidate received 9 380, more than half
of the total votes cast. However,
when results were finally announced the
Zanu PF candidate was reported have
received 9 715votes. The total vote
count, including spoilt ballots, amounts
to 19 573, leaving 3 840 votes
unaccounted for.
11. Mutasa North: The total ZEC figure for votes cast is 10
986. The MDC
candidate polled 6 605 votes, again more than half of the total
votes cast.
But, when results were finally announced the Zanu PF candidate
was reported
have received 10 135 votes. The total vote count, including
spoilt ballots,
amounts to 17 204, leaving 6 218 votes unaccounted
for.
12. Nyanga: The total ZEC figure for votes cast is 13 896. The
MDC
candidate polled 9 360 votes. When results were officially announced,
the
Zanu PF candidate was reported have received 12 612 votes. The total
vote
count, including spoilt ballots, amounts to 22 739, leaving 8 843
votes
unaccounted for.
13. Chimanimani: The total ZEC figure for votes
cast is 23 896. The MDC
candidate received 11 031 votes, while 794 votes
were spoilt. When results
were officially announced, the Zanu PF candidate
was reported to have
received 15 817 votes. The total vote count, including
spoilt ballots,
amounts to 27 642, leaving 3 746 votes unaccounted
for.
14. Makoni North: The total votes cast for the constituency, according
to
ZEC was 14 068. However, when results were officially announced the
winning
Zanu PF candidate received 18 910, with the MDC's candidate polling 6
077
votes, giving total votes for the two candidates as 24 987. There is
a
discrepancy of 10 919 votes.
15. Chipinge North: The total ZEC figure
for votes cast is 23 896. When
results were finally issued, the Zanu PF
candidate was announced the winner,
with 16 047 votes against 10 920 for his
MDC counterpart. The total vote
count for the constituency is 27 576,
leaving a discrepancy of 3 625.
16. Chipinge South: The total ZEC figure for
votes cast is 29 479. When
results were finally issued, the Zanu PF candidate
was announced the winner,
with 16 412 votes against 12 163 for his MDC
counterpart and 2 129 for Zanu
Ndonga. The total vote count for the
constituency is 30 704, leaving a
discrepancy of 1 225.
17. Makoni East:
ZEC announced that 20 454 people voted. When results
were finally announced,
the total votes for the 2 candidates, including
spoilt ballots, amounts to 17
341, leaving a negative balance of 3 113 votes
unaccounted for.
18.
Beitbridge: ZEC announced that 36 821 had voted but the totals
for
the
candidates only add up to 20 602, leaving a negative balance of
16
219 votes unaccounted for.
19. Hwedza: ZEC announced that 23 698 people
voted. The total votes cast
for all candidates, including spoilt ballots,
amount to 26 736, leaving 3
038
votes unaccounted for.
20. Mutare West:
ZEC announced that 18 584 people voted. The total votes
counted for the
candidates, including spoilt ballots, amount to 20 950,
leaving 2 366 votes
unaccounted for.
21. Chegutu: ZEC announced that 19 763 people voted. The
total votes
counted for the candidates, including spoilt ballots, amount to
25 374,
leaving 5 611 votes unaccounted for.
22. Chikomba: ZEC announced
that 18 401 people voted. The total vote
count, including spoilt ballots,
amount to 26 050, leaving 7 649 votes
unaccounted for.
23. Hurungwe East:
ZEC announced that 22 533 people voted. The total
votes counted for the two
candidates is 26 552, leaving 4019 votes
unaccounted for.
24. Mudzi East:
ZEC announced that 12 499 people voted. The total votes
counted for the
candidates is 22 420, leaving 9 921 votes unaccounted for.
25. Mudzi West:
ZEC announced that 10 998 people voted. The total votes
counted for the
candidates is 22 796, leaving 11 798 votes unaccounted for.
26. Murehwa
North: ZEC announced that 17 606 people voted. However, when
results were
finally issued the winning Zanu PF candidate was announced to
have received
17 677, while his MDC counterpart received 4 137. The total
votes counted for
the candidates is 22 353, leaving 4 747 votes unaccounted
for.
27. Mutoko
North: ZEC announced that 10 721 people voted. But, when
results were
finally issued the winning Zanu PF candidate was announced to
have received
16 257. The total votes counted for the candidates is 20 652,
leaving 9 931
votes unaccounted for.
28. Mutoko South: ZEC announced that 15 863 people
voted. But, when
results were finally issued the winning Zanu PF candidate
was announced to
have received 19 390. The total votes counted for the
candidates is 23 481
leaving 7 618 votes unaccounted for.
29. Insiza: ZEC
announced that 20 220 people voted. When results were
officially announced,
the winning Zanu PF candidate was announced to have
received 13 109, while
his MDC counterpart received 8,840 votes. The total
votes announced for the
constituency is 22 099, leaving 1 879 votes
unaccounted for.
30. Gwanda:
ZEC announced that 23 288 people voted. When results were
officially
announced, the winning Zanu PF candidate was announced to have
received 13
109, while his MDC counterpart received 10 961 votes. The total
votes
announced for the constituency is 24 594, leaving 1 300 votes
unaccounted
for.
News24
SA observers blast Zim poll
07/04/2005 20:33 -
(SA)
Cape Town - Based on the present evidence and analysis of the
Southern
African Development Community (SADC) guidelines, Zimbabwe's March
31
elections cannot be pronounced free and fair without qualification, a
South
African observer consortium says.
The Zimbabwe Observer
Consortium comprises the South African Council of
Churches (SACC), the
Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC),
the SA NGO Coalition
(Sangoco), Institute for Democracy in SA (Idasa), the
Centre for Policy
Studies (CPS), and the Institute for Justice and
Reconciliation
(IJR).
The consortium said in a statement on Thursday it had requested,
but was not
afforded, observer status.
However, members of the
consortium did visit the country prior to and during
the elections,
consulting widely with NGO and political groupings in
Zimbabwe, interviewing
a cross-section of Zimbabweans, and following the
election process both from
within and outside of the country.
Zimbabwe had become an authoritarian
state and the election was held within
this context.
"A normal
election remains difficult to contemplate without significant
changes in the
constitutional, legal, institutional and cultural
environment," the
statement said.
Among other things, the governing Zanu-PF had at its
disposal the resources
and privileges of incumbency, which it employed to
its own advantage.
Numerous donations to communities accompanied
government ministers as they
campaigned and were used as vote
buying.
"We consider the politicisation of observation missions, in
particular the
preferential treatment of invited missions in accordance with
their stated
friendship to Zanu-PF to be regrettable.
Morally
questionable
"In particular, conclusions arrived at by the South African
observer
missions failed to address the critical issues affecting free and
fair
elections standards and have thus compromised their role as honest and
non-partisan observers."
The suspension of excessive violence and the
opportunity to vote did not in
themselves constitute a free and fair
election as required by the SADC
guidelines.
The election also fell
short of stringent SADC standards and the African
Union commitment to
democracy.
"Based on the present evidence and analysis of the SADC
guidelines, the
coalition cannot pronounce the elections as being free and
fair without
qualification.
"We particularly regard as morally
questionable the pronouncement by the
South African Observer Mission that
primarily due to the peaceful climate
that prevailed during the elections,
the elections are necessarily free and
fair.
"As to the credibility
and legitimacy of the outcomes, the coalition
believes that this judgement
must and will be made by the people of
Zimbabwe, their courts and their
political parties," the statement said.
News24
Poll chief denies vote rigging
07/04/2005 20:33 -
(SA)
Harare - Zimbabwe's electoral chief Thursday said last week's
polls
reflected the will of voters and dismissed opposition claims that his
commission rigged the elections to hand President Robert Mugabe's ruling
party victory.
"I am very confident the results are a true reflection
of the will of the
people," said Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chair George
Chiweshe.
In a media briefing at Zimbabwe's capital Harare, Chiwashe
said: "The
commission discharged its mandate well and in accordance with the
law. The
claims about discrepancies and rigging are without
basis."
Last weeks key parliamentary elections, which gave Mugabe a huge
victory,
were described by Washington as "heavily tilted" in the
government's favour,
but recognised that the electoral process unfolded
peacefully and orderly.
But the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) accused the ruling
Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front
(Zanu-PF) of stealing last
week's elections describing the elections as "a
massive fraud".
Zanu-PF won 78 seats against 41 won by the
MDC.
The opposition MDC said investigations in four provinces revealed
"serious
and unaccountable gaps between the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission's
(ZEC)
official pronouncements on the number of votes cast and final totals
accorded to each candidate".
Reflecting the will of the
people
But Chiweshe said denied that there was electoral
fraud.
"These are the official figures by which the results of the
elections were
determined. There are no other figures that come into play,"
he said.
From the polling stations, the figures were sent to constituency
centres
where they were recounted before being sent to the national results
centre
for announcement, he said.
"These are the figures counted at
each polling station and authenticated by
the presiding officers and party
agents under the watchful eye of monitors
and observers," said
Chiweshe.
Zimbabweans voted last week for legislative representatives who
Mugabe hopes
will endorse his leadership after 25 years in power.
The
elections were endorsed as "reflecting the will of the people" by
observer
missions from the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
region and
South Africa but the MDC rejected the results alleging electoral
fraud,
intimidation and the use of food by Zanu-PF to gain votes.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Basic commodities run out
Business
Reporters
issue date :2005-Apr-08
MAIZE-meal, cooking oil and sugar
ran out at virtually all the major
supermarkets in the Harare central
business district (CBD) yesterday, as
consumers continued on a frantic
buying spree, amid growing fears of a
looming shortage of the goods.
But
bread remained in supply, though there were pronounced indications that
the
commodity would run out soon, since the supermarkets visited yesterday
were
either running out or frantically struggling to meet demand.
All three basic
commodities that ran out of supply yesterday had been
exposed to
an
unexpected bout of spontaneous price increases, with consumers saying that
the goods in question had all witnessed price hikes of more than 100
percent in the post election period.
However, speculation was still
palpably rampant yesterday that the price of
bread would soon shoot up, in
tandem with the other basic commodities.
In a weekly survey conducted by The
Daily Mirror, the three different
supermarkets visited yesterday - all of
them along bustling Nelson Mandela
Street in the CBD - had run out of
supply of maize meal, cooking oil and
sugar.
The shelves of the three
supermarkets did not have the commodities, while
the prices of other
commodities such as soup, salt and beef reflected some
increases.
In
addition, one of the supermarkets had run out of fine salt by late
afternoon, with one shelf packer at the supermarket pointing out that only
500 gram packets of coarse salt, selling at $700, were in supply.
This
week a bar of soap was going for between $11 000 and $11 450, up from a
maximum of $9 800 exactly a week before the March 31 parliamentary
elections.
It appeared there was no threat of beef running out because
of its high
price.
One explanation for this is that beef has been
vacillating in ranges far
prohibitive to the lower income earners for some
time now, with a kilogramme
costing anything between $39 500 and $56
500.
The following two tables show prices of the basic commodities a week
before
the elections and the second highlights the cost of the same goods a
week
after the elections.
Thursday 29-03-05
Commodity OK
FCG TM Bread $3 500 3 500
3 500 Milk
$5 290 - 3 750 Salt 1kg
$2 200 2
500 2 500 Sugar 2kg $7200 7 200
7 000 C/oil750g
$10,600 10 400
Soap750g $9,150 9 100 9,500 Thursday
07-04-05
Commodity OK FCG TM Bread $3 500 3 500
3500 Milk $5 290 - - Salt500g
$700(cse)1100(fine)1 300 (fine) Sugar2kg -not in supply - -
/oil750ml -not in supply - Soap750g $11 000 11 400 11
450
Economist John Robertson has attributed the price increases to
spiralling production costs caused by the rise in demand of agro-factor
inputs, such as maize and failure to utilise available farmland
optimally.
"The price increases are a sheer function of the mechanics of
supply and
demand of goods and of foreign exchange resources which companies
use to pay
for their factor inputs.
"In addition, notwithstanding the
issue of drought which has resulted in a
fall in agricultural output, the
fact that we are failing to utilise
available farmland to optimality levels,
means we were still headed for
supply shortages," Robertson said.
He
blamed the fall in agricultural production since the advent of the land
reform programme as the main reason behind the sudden rise in demand.
As
a result, more foreign exchange earnings have been channeled to imports
of
food, which the country should be producing domestically, he contended.
Luxon
Zembe, Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) president
basically
highlighted low capacity utilisation in industry as a result of
acute
foreign currency shortages.
Zembe said five issues needed to be addressed for
the situation to return to
normalcy.
"There should be a devaluation of
the Zimbabwe dollar or the equivalent on
the foreign currency floors,
secondly export oriented companies should be
given more tax incentives to
promote their operations. Thirdly normalisation
of international relations
to restore balance of payments support, continued
support from the
productive sector facility and lastly the revival of the
social
contract".
Zembe was however adamant that in the light of the current
commodity
shortages, there should be no to return to the controlled pricing
regime.
"We cannot go back to the controlled pricing regime. It will kill
capacity
utilisation, even if it is as low as it is," Zembe
said.
Meanwhile an unprecedented panic buying of sugar has gripped Mutare
amid
speculation of an imminent scarcity following government's directive
that
retailers revert to old prices this week.
Government had ordered
retailers and manufacturers to revert to old prices
after they had
"unlawfully" hiked the prices of basic commodities by almost
100 percent by
the end of last week.
Fearing for abrupt supply cuts in protest against
government's decision,
consumers had then indulged in hoarding.
Almost
all the city shops had run out of sugar by Wednesday with urban
consumers
rushing to rural areas to procure the commodity in large
quantities.
A
city wholesaler who requested anonymity confirmed the panic buying saying
his outlet had run out of the commodity by Wednesday afternoon.
"Some
clients bought as much as 10 sachets each, resulting in us trying to
limit
quantities but that did not help the situation. Some customers still
managed to cheat by sending different people to buy for them.
"What
worsened the situation was the fact that we had also been receiving
erratic
supplies since a few weeks ago, raising fears of a pending
shortage,"
explained the wholesaler.
Zimbabwe Sugar Refineries (ZSR) chief executive
officer, Pattison Sithole
had this week told The Herald that his company had
not increased the price
of sugar. He also assured the nation of enough
sugar supplies.
Addressing a news conference in Harare on Tuesday, Industry
and
International Trade Minister, Samuel Mumbengegwi assured the nation that
sugar and other basic commodities rumoured to be scarce were available on
the market.
Amongst the foodstuffs in scarce supply were maize-meal, salt
and cooking
oil.
However, suspicions were also high that some
manufacturers had deliberately
hiked prices with the motive of inducing
people to blame government and
trigger food riots.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Chamisa arrested
The Daily Mirror
Reporter
issue date :2005-Apr-08
RE-ELECTED MDC lawmaker for Kuwadzana
and national youth chairman, Nelson
Chamisa, was yesterday arrested on
allegations of inciting public violence
following skirmishes that rocked the
capital's Central Business District on
Monday afternoon.
Wayne Bvudzijena
said Chamisa, who trounced Zanu PF candidate for Kuwadzana
David Mutasa in
the March 31 polls, was locked up at Harare Central Police
Station.
"He
has been arrested for inciting public violence and will appear in court
as
soon as we finish our investigations. We believe he incited the youths to
demonstrate," Bvudzijena said.
Asked how the police were linking Chamisa
to the demonstrations, Bvudzijena
retorted: "We cannot discuss
much."
Chamisa's lawyer, Alec Muchadehama would also not say much about the
arrest
as he was busy with the police.
Police first indicated they were
keen to interview Chamisa soon after the
arrest of suspected MDC
demonstrators.
On Wednesday Bvudzijena advised Chamisa to surrender himself
to the police's
Law and Order Department stressing they were seriously
looking for him.
Eighteen suspected MDC demonstrators were arrested this
week and police
allege they stormed into the capital on Monday and
assaulted members of the
public, stoned shops and distributed fliers urging
people to reject the
results of last week's polls.
Zim Online
Electoral commission at pains to explain anomalies
Thur 7
April 2005
HARARE - Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chairman George
Chiweshe on
Thursday said the opposition was relying on incomplete figures
to back
claims that last week's election was rigged.
Desperate
to quell deepening controversy over conflicting voting
figures, Chiweshe,
who until toady had remained silent over the matter, said
the totals of
people who had voted in some constituencies released by his
commission were
merely incomplete updates.
Chweshe, who is judge of the High Court,
told journalists in Harare
that the figures initially announced by his
commission should be ignored and
people should only rely on the final total
of votes for the winning
candidate, losing candidate and spoilt ballots
released later by the ZEC
last Friday and Saturday.
.
He said: "The correct position is that there is only
one set of
figures to be considered and the only one process to be examined.
These are
the figures counted at each and polling station and authenticated
by the
presiding officers and party agents under the watchful eyes of
monitors and
observers . The question of inconsistencies does not arise.
That in a
nutshell is the position of the commission."
The ZEC
last Friday morning first gave out the total number of people
who had voted
in 76 constituencies before abruptly stopping the
announcements. When the
commission later announced the final results, the
figures it gave out in the
final results did not tally with the totals it
had announced earlier for
each of the 76 constituencies.
The main opposition Movement for
Democratic Change party which won 41
against the ruling ZANU PF party's 78
seats says the differences in the
commission's figures are evidence of a
wider scam where ruling party
candidates were fraudulently awarded
non-existent votes to ensure they won.
ZANU PF has denied the
charge that it won through fraud. A visibly
agitated Chiweshe was unable to
explain how for example in Beitbridge
constituency, his ZEC first announced
that 40 000 people had voted but later
reduced the figure to 22
000.
"This was an update. It was not the final figure," Chiweshe
pleaded
with journalists.
He could however not explain how the
figure for Beitbriudge was
whittled down by almost half to 22 000 only
saying: "Whatever we released
that day was not official. The official
figures are the final one that gave
ZANU PF 78 seats and MDC 41. There was
no rigging. I believe the results
reflect the will of the
people."
Journalists could not help but shake their heads in
disbelief as an
angry Chiweshe stormed out of the room as the press
conference ended.
The African Union observer mission has called on
the ZEC to
investigate allegations of rigging raised by the
MDC.
The United States yesterday also added its voice castigating
what it
said was the lack of transparency in the tabulation of votes and
called on
the ZEC to come open on why its figures were failing to tally. -
ZimOnline
Daily News online edition
AU rights commission to hear Zim media
appeal
Date: 7-Apr, 2005
JOHANNESBURG - The
African Commission on Human and People's Rights
(ACHPR) has agreed to hear a
legal case against the Zimbabwean government,
following an appeal filed by
press freedom and human rights groups.
The human rights body,
which assesses whether countries that have
ratified the African Charter on
Human and People's Rights are living up to
their commitments, will hear an
application filed by three organisations at
its next session in the Gambia,
which runs from 27 April to 11 May 2005.
The Media Institute of
Southern Africa-Zimbabwe (MISA), Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights and the
Independent Journalists Association of
Zimbabwe allege that Zimbabwe's
Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act (AIPPA) violates the
Charter, to which Zimbabwe is a signatory.
The plaintiffs argue
that the AIPPA violates the right to freedom of
expression guaranteed by the
Charter by making it mandatory for all
journalists and media outlets to
register with the government-appointed
Media and Information Commission.
They say mandatory registration interferes
with professional independence
and threatens journalistic autonomy.
Since its entry into law
in 2002, the AIPPA has successfully
undermined freedom of expression in
Zimbabwe, says MISA. The only
independent Zimbabwean daily newspaper, The
Daily News, has effectively been
banned. Dozens of journalists have suffered
legal harassment, mostly in the
form of short-term
detention.
In November 2004, Zimbabwe's parliament passed
amendments to the AIPPA
that lengthened jail terms and increased fines for
journalists caught
working without government
accreditation.
Under the amended act, individuals can be jailed
for up to two years.
The act also restricts accredited journalists to
working for one media
outlet, a stipulation MISA says is aimed at
discouraging freelance
journalists from writing for foreign outlets who are
more critical of the
government than local media.
The Zimbabwean
Grass roots desire for democracy
BY A SPECIAL
CORRESPONDENT
BULAWAYO, EASTER MONDAY - We go to the polls here in
Zimbabwe in three days
time! Those of us who are deeply involved with the
MDC are totally
exhausted, many are hoarse from speaking at meetings two and
three times a
day for weeks, many are both physically and mentally exhausted
by the effort
they have put into the campaign.
The MDC is a Party of the
Poor. If you had visited a Zanu (PF) rally you
would have been astonished at
the variety of vehicles in the vicinity -
army, police, CIO, Mercedes, BMW,
every form of 4x4 and luxury twin cab you
can name and few you probably have
never seen. By contrast at the MDC rally
on Saturday - with 35 000 people
crammed into a stadium that holds 15 000 -
there were a few battered
pick-ups and the now familiar armored twin cab
that carries the
President.
On Wednesday evening we will deploy our own army to their
posts. An army of
peasant farmers, widows, grandmothers and low-income
workers. This army -
numbering 35 000 - have all volunteered to have their
names printed in the
newspaper for all to see, along with their ID numbers
and physical addresses
and will go out to witness and supervise the
elections at 8 300 polling
stations.
In most cases, they will have to
walk to their stations; many will sleep at
the stations they are looking
after because they live too far away. Only a
handful will have their own
transport and the MDC simply cannot move them to
their stations because they
themselves have no "wheels".
They will vary from illiterate people who
cannot write their names to
teachers and headmasters who have defied their
government employers to help.
They will carry small packs - a candle, a box
of matches, some toilet paper,
2 kilograms of maize meal and some form of
"relish" to go with it. Perhaps
some water in a plastic bottle.
They
will have to man their stations for up to 24 hours straight - no
sleep - as
people will vote all day and in some cases well into the night.
They run the
risk of physical violence and intimidation and offers of money
to abandon
their posts or allow the operation of the station to be subverted
while they
are there.
After the election they have been threatened with the loss of
their jobs,
transfers to hostile places and the denial of food and medicine
for their
families. In Masvingo the head of the armed forces said last week:
"bushes
would become soldiers and MDC supporters beheaded".
At their
polling stations they will enter a hostile environment. There will
be police
present, probably youth militia, peasant farmers will be faced
with their
traditional leaders all of who are paid to work for the state and
Zanu (PF).
All the officials will probably be drawn from the army or the
CIO. Even the
staff of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission will be vetted by
Zanu (PF) and
will be proven Zanu supporters.
Into this situation will march our rag
tag army of polling agents - some
barefoot or in sandals made out of old
tyres, wearing their best clothes
because this is an honour. They will be
armed with two pens, some stationary
and their commitment to democratic
principles and a free and fair
environment for our people to vote in. They
will only be allowed one at a
time into the polling station itself and there
they will watch the voting
process. They will be alert for any actions that
may result in the returns
for that station being subverted.
They will
have had a day's training from the MDC and a couple of hours with
the ZEC.
They are the only way we can stop the kind of activity that we
experienced
in 2000 and 2002, which resulted in the election being stolen
from the
democrats. For that is what we are - we are the only democrats in
this race
- for the others, this is not a test of public opinion, it is just
a front
for electoral fraud on a massive scale.
What astonishes me and gives me
hope for Zimbabwe and for Africa is that the
commitment to real democracy at
this level of our society is so strong and
alive. These may be the poor, but
we have found that they not only fully
understand the value of democracy but
also want it to work for them. Ask any
group of poor Zimbabweans if they are
"ready". You do not have to explain,
they know you are asking "are you ready
to vote?" and the answer without
exception is yes!
So here you have
an army of the poor, going once again into battle for their
future, the
future of their children and their country. A battle that they
have fought
twice before and been beaten - not by fair means but by foul. An
army that
has not given up despite propaganda, threats, hunger and worse.
Hundreds
of thousands tortured, hundreds beaten or even killed. They go
against armed
forces numbering 120 000, armed with AK 47's and strutting
with pride and
arrogance. They go against a state-controlled system that has
been designed
and built to frustrate their desires and will.
They are in small groups -
three per station, in lonely places, many
kilometers from the nearest town.
They are armed only with their principles
and pens. They cannot call on
reinforcements if they get into trouble and we
may not even get news of them
for hours after any incidents. But these are
the people who are holding the
line for democracy in Africa and I am so
proud to be one of
them.
The author of this piece, who must remain anonymous for his/her
own safety
until freedom returns to Zimbabwe, is the last surviving
political activist
of the former Centre Party (1968 - 1977) and its
successor the National
Unifying Force (1977-1985). These groups were
re-united in the Forum for
Democratic Reform (1992-1997). Eloquent and
tenacious, s/he vaulted straight
out of the University of Rhodesia to join
us in the maelstrom of opposition
politics in the CP. Then, we were never
successful in those next attempts to
bring democracy to Zimbabwe (former
Rhodesia). At last, Mugabe has succeeded
in doing something for democracy
that we aspiring democrats could never do
before. He has bonded together
Zimbwean democrats of every race, tribe, age
and station against the worst
tyranny the country has ever known - Diana
Mitchell.
Washington Times
Zimbabwe opposition claims proof of
'fraud'
By Geoff Hill
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
JOHANNESBURG
-- Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
yesterday
released vote counts from last Thursday's elections that, it says,
prove
ballot-box stuffing and "massive fraud" by the government of President
Robert Mugabe.
Mr. Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic
Front (ZANU-PF),
which has ruled the country since 1980, won 78 of the 120
contested seats,
compared with 41 for the MDC. One seat went to an
independent candidate.
Yesterday's accusations by the MDC are based on
the government's count
of voters in each electorate. In one region, the
Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC) recorded that 8,579 persons passed
through the polling
station, yet when ZEC's official results were announced,
ZANU-PF claimed to
have received 19,200
votes.
The chairman of the ZEC is
appointed by Mr. Mugabe.
Paul Themba Nyathi, an MDC spokesman, said last
night that "in 30
constituencies, there are serious and unaccountable gaps
between the ZEC's
official pronouncement of the votes cast and the final
totals accorded to
each candidate."
The new figures indicated, he
said, that the MDC had won at least 62 of
the 120 seats.
Discrepancies in the 30 electorates ranged from a few thousand votes to
extreme cases in which the official tally almost doubled when the final
results were released.
The MDC claims that at 7:30 p.m. on election
day, 90 minutes after the
polling stations had closed, a ZEC official began
broadcasting the total
number of voters who had cast their ballots in each
of the 120 electorates.
After voting totals for 72 seats had been
announced on state radio, the
broadcast was abruptly terminated and, by last
night, the ZEC was still
refusing to give figures for the remaining 48
districts.
In the next two days, the winning and losing candidates were
announced -- along with how many votes each had received -- after which the
MDC compared these totals with those from the original broadcast.
The
calculations, Mr. Nyathi said, "indicate massive electoral fraud by
the
ruling party."
According to the ZEC, in Makoni North -- between the
capital, Harare,
and the eastern border with Mozambique -- 14,068 persons
voted. However, ZEC
announced that ZANU-PF received 18,910 votes, with 6,077
going to the MDC.
At Beit Bridge on the South African border, votes
appeared to have been
lost when the ZEC announced that 36,821 persons took
part, but total votes
for both candidates came to just 20,602.
But
the most glaring case was at Murehwa South, 50 miles from Harare.
The final
figures gave ZANU-PF 19,200 in an electorate where only 8,579
persons had
voted.
Yesterday, the U.S. Embassy in Harare criticized the election. A
spokesman said there was particular concern "about the lack of transparency
in the tabulation of vote counts." On election day, U.S. diplomats visited
more than 350 polling stations in 59 areas.
On Friday, Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice, condemned the elections,
saying, "The process had
not been free and fair. ... The electoral playing
field was heavily tilted
in the government's favor."
"Freedom of assembly was constrained, food
was used as a weapon to sway
hungry voters and millions of Zimbabweans who
have been forced by the
nation's economic collapse to emigrate were
disenfranchised," she said
In 2002, Mr. Mugabe won the presidential
election, but many Western
countries, including the United States, refused
to recognize the result
after observers reported widespread violence and
intimidation.
In 1987, Mr. Mugabe granted himself the power to appoint
30 additional
members to parliament, which -- based on the election results
-- will give
his party a two-thirds majority in the 150-seat house. That is
the margin
needed to amend the constitution.
MDC leader, Morgan
Tsvangirai, has called for a rerun of the election.
The Zimbabwean
Editorial comment
Future prospects grim
BY WILF
MBANGA
LONDON - Now that Mugabe has cheated his way back to another five
years in
power, Zimbabweans can expect even more suffering than they have
hitherto
experienced. With no possibility of foreign investment and
continued
draining away of skills and local investment, unemployment -
already at
70% - is likely to reach unprecedented levels.
With the Zanu
(PF) regime spending more on military hardware with which to
repress an
increasingly restive population, hospitals and schools will
continue to
suffer neglect.
Starvation will increase. Drought or no drought, there is
no money for
seeds, chemicals or fertiliser, lack of expertise, support and
knowledge.
We will continue to be a pariah state internationally. The
fraudulent
election results have been condemned by the countries that really
matter in
terms of investment, aid and balance of payments
support.
Most disturbing of all, the government does not seem to have any
turnaround
plan. The now have the two thirds majority necessary to change
the
constitution. But what are they going to do with it? - appoint losers to
the
senate, reward Zanu (PF) functionaries with more farms or access to
state
coffers.
There seems to be no credible plan to revive the
economy. The vision appears
to focus on self-enrichment, repression of the
opposition and little else.
It is likely that one of Mugabe's first post
'victory' acts will be to sign
into law the reviled NGO bill which will make
way for the closure of many
NGOs that have kept the spotlight on human
rights abuses during the past
five years.
Many will be waiting
anxiously for the re-emergence of the Daily News on the
streets of Harare.
It will be surprising if this actually happens. The
supreme court judgment
was simply to appease the observers just prior to the
elections. It did not
strike down the law under which the newspaper was
originally refused a
licence.
The rural masses are undoubtedly dreading the promised
retribution they
bravely stood out against in going to the polls. Now that
the observer teams
have left, the night of the long knives will soon
descend. Areas that voted
MDC can now expect the full wrath of a tyrant
scorned.
Mugabe has always wanted a one party state. It is likely that he
will move
rapidly in that direction.
The Zimbabwean
No recovery without land tenure
BY MUONGORORI
In the
first 20 years of independence, Zimbabwean agriculture was the star
performer. For most of the period it consistently outperformed all other
sectors - except for perhaps tourism, which saw rapid expansion after 1983.
What was important about this growth was that it was linked back into
industry, commerce and finance and meant that these other sectors also saw
good growth and development.
By the year 1997, Zimbabwe was the third
largest producer and exporter of
good quality, flavored Virginia tobacco,
the largest producer of cotton in
Africa and one of the world's largest
producers of white maize. The country
was self-sufficient in all foods and
most significantly; the cost of food
was the lowest in the entire
region.
Samora Machel saw this potential in 1980 and, together with the
President of
Tanzania, publicly advised Mugabe to take care of this
extraordinary
resource. It was extraordinary not for what it achieved, but
because of the
conditions under which these achievements were secured.
Zimbabwe is no
Uganda - it has a harsh climate, poor soils and variable
rainfall.
The first 20 years also saw the gradual emergence of a black
commercial
farmer elite who by the year 2000, owned and operated one third
of all
commercial farms and was starting to make a real contribution to the
performance of the sector.
Then came Zimbabwe's "great leap forward".
An aging oligarchy of political
leaders decided that in order to survive
they had to wipe out the
independent, white, commercial farmer - with a few
exceptions to accommodate
those who were Zanu (PF) supporters. Five years
later, with eight farmers
and hundreds of farm workers dead and many
thousands injured in political
violence and a military style expulsion and
confiscation programme, only a
handful of white farmers remain on the
land.
The impact has been dramatic - food shortages are endemic, food
prices are
now the highest in the region, employment has crashed with over
40 per cent
of all workers losing their jobs. Exports have declined from
US$3,4 billion
in 1997 to US$1,34 billion in 2004 - a fall of 60 per
cent.
In almost every sphere the impact has been negative - more people
are dying
from Aids because their diets are so poor, industrial output has
contracted
by over 40 per cent and is still declining. Faced with no
prospects for
employment and rapidly declining life expectancy (down 25
years in a
decade), a quarter of the total population has fled the country
as economic
refugees.
The key question facing us is what are the
prospects of a turn around and
recovery in this key sector? The answer -
like so many others, is not until
we get political change and new leadership
that can confront the mistakes of
the past. However beyond that there are
other issues - where will the people
come from to fill agricultural jobs?
Decimated by Aids our rural peasant
farmers are now unable to even grow
their own food. Zimbabwe has no choice
but to turn back to large-scale
commercial agriculture to address these
issues. To do so it will have to
make hard decisions about tenure and
security for farmers, because without
security, there can be no recovery.
The Zimbabwean
Should the world take
us seriously?
FROM AN MDC ELECTION
AGENT
BULAWAYO - Well, as
the people requested, the MDC leaders agreed, "with heavy hearts", to
participate in this sham of an election. It was a bewildering scenario, lots of
smoke and mirrors. On the surface everything looked pretty good - less overt
violence, opposition seen in new areas and once the observers arrived the
opposition was even allowed to pay huge sums of money to appear on
TV.
Underneath, however, is
the long memory of what this regime is capable. In addition, Zanu (PF) had
access to huge resources (our taxes) to present an amazing theatrical
production. One sometimes wonders just why they bother, why not just blast all
the opposition to bits, but then you see the South Africans actually wanting to
believe it and realise why the regime bothers.
I was an MDC election
agent. On the day everything was fine, worked like clockwork, very efficient,
everything very transparent, as the presiding officer repeatedly reminded us.
However once the counting at each polling station was done (mine by
9.15pm), the fun started.
Basically the polling office staff and all
party agents were deprived of their cell phones, locked in the hall while the
results were taken off for "verification" - by whom one wonders, especially when
we had just all signed the outcome ourselves and were expecting the results of
each polling station to be pinned on the door outside as per the Electoral Act.
The presiding officer disappeared to his command centre, returned half
an hour later, proceeded to fill in endless forms for us to sign for another
hour and a half, then disappeared again to command centre with us still all
locked inside. I protested long and loud at every opportunity - to no avail. By
2am he was back and starting to move the ballot boxes to his command centre,
still intending to leave us locked in. I refused and forced my way
out.
Everywhere this farce carried on pretty much all night with, as I
learned later, many election agents and polling officials only being "released"
early the following morning. How do such illegal detentions fit in with the
concept of a free and fair election?
Of course, what was happening is
that the results were being communicated to Harare where they could assess the
damage, then rearrange the numbers according to what they and the South Africans
would like to see - majority for Zanu (PF) and a sprinkling for opposition to
show how democratic Zimbabwe has become.
By detaining election agents,
they prevented information on the results reaching the opposition leaders in
time to counter government announcements. Wickedly simple, outrageous and now in
hindsight all done with the complicity of the South Africans.
Once again
they have got away with it. As for the South African observers it was a case of
"See no evil, hear no evil, and you can report a free and fair election" - by
refusing to go deep into the rural areas, by refusing to respond to requests to
witness starving villagers statements or removal of the voting ink, they loudly
proclaimed their allegiance to Mugabe.
Mugabe is predictable but we
expected more from the South Africans with their "10 years of democracy" and
moral high ground. We have been betrayed and the regional liberation mafia
continue to hold sway. This is a dark day for southern Africa and renders the
African Renaissance and Nepad asunder - why should the rest of the world take us
seriously any longer?
VOA
Zimbabwe's Opposition Debates Quitting Parliament
By
Peta Thornycroft
Harare
07 April 2005
Members
of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe's main
opposition
group, are hesitant about their political future when the new
parliament
reopens after last week's general election which delivered
President Robert
Mugabe's ZANU-PF a large majority. The MDC is engaged in
its most serious
debate since it was formed five years ago.
The first debate among MDC
leaders after last week's election is whether
they should return to
parliament.
Several MDC analysts say the opposition's experience in
parliament has been
"futile and agonizing" and that its effort to
democratize Zimbabwe has
failed.
William Bango, spokesman for MDC
President Morgan Tsvangirai, confirmed that
the party was in "intense"
debate. He said that it wasn't only about whether
the MDC goes to
parliament, but whether the party continues to function
inside or outside
government.
Mr. Tsvangirai and others in the top leadership reluctantly
agreed to
participate in the March 31 election after considerable African
and other
international pressure.
Welshman Ncube, MDC
secretary-general, said Wednesday he feels that he wants
to "leave Zimbabwe
and never return." He said as long as the electoral
machinery was controlled
by ZANU-PF there was no possibility of auditing the
system.
He said
the MDC had finally learned a lesson, which was that dictators
cannot run
democratic elections. He also said no political party could
prepare itself
for the level of fraud in the recent election and that he now
realizes that
there is no way of removing dictators democratically.
Opposition
spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi was equally gloomy. He told MDC
members of
parliament that when there were 57 of them in parliament after
the 2000
general election, they made little impact. With only 41 out of 120
elected
seats now, he said the MDC would not be heard at all.
He said the MDC had
opted for what he called "the ballot not the bullet" at
three painful
elections, and it did not bring democracy to Zimbabwe.
Three official
groups of South African observers found the election
reflected the will of
the people. The Southern African Development
Community's observer group made
the same finding, with reservations.
The United States and Britain say
the voting process strongly favored the
ruling party.
Mr. Mugabe
banned traditional observers, such as the European Union and the
Commonwealth from observing this election.
The Zimbabwean
Threats destroy independents
BY OSCAR
NKALA
JOHANNESBURG - The coalition of independent candidates in last week's
parliamentary elections says President Robert Mugabe used a mixture of
threats and bribery to force three of their members to drop their
candidature and rally behind Zanu (PF).
Apart from Professor Jonathan
Moyo in Tsholotsho, all the other independent
candidates performed dismally
in the parliamentary elections last week.
Alliance spokesman Sikhumbuzo
Ndiweni told The Zimbabwean that Zanu (PF) had
embarked on an all-out
campaign of dirty tricks, including bribery and
coercion, to destroy the
alliance since it promised to transform into a
political party in the
post-election period.
Ndiweni said President Mugabe was very keen to
return most of the
independents to the Zanu (PF) fold and make them
politically irrelevant as
he feared the formation of a third party, mostly
out of discontented members
of his own party.
"He still wants to
ensure that a third political force does not arise, which
explains his
pre-occupation with the independents. We have it on good
authority that all
three candidates - Charles Mpofu,Lloyd Siyoka and Otilia
Maluleke - were
approached to drop their candidature in return for posts in
the presidential
appointee posts in parliament and the proposed House of
Senate," said
Ndiweni, adding the coalition was still a loose network where
members could
do as they wished.
Although Siyoka denied the allegations, war veterans
who were spearheading
his campaign against Kembo Mohadi in Beitbridge
confirmed that he held a
closed-door meeting with Mugabe before the rally in
which he publicly
dropped his bid and called on his supporters to vote the
Zanu (PF)
candidate.
"We now know that Siyoka was offered a place in
the Senate. He accepted it
because Mugabe warned him that he would lose the
farms he received during
his tenure as party provincial chairman. He was
also warned of possible
prosecution for some crimes known only to the
party," said a war veteran who
was in Siyoka's campaign
team.
Siyoka's gains from the ongoing land grab include a highly
productive
horticulture farm in the prime commercial farming area of
Esigodini. The war
veterans and Zanu (PF) youth militia who paved the way
for Siyoka's takeover
burnt several farm huts and evicted the owners and the
workers before he
took it over and sold the existing crop.
War
veterans in Beitbridge said the former Matabeleland South provincial
chairman was approached on numerous occasions by representatives of Rido
Mpofu, who was acting on behalf of Mugabe.
"The contacts became more
regular as the date of President Mugabe's rally in
Beitbridge drew closer.
Siyoka was never open and did not consult about his
options although all of
us he was being recalled into Zanu (PF). So when he
told us he would be
attending Mugabe's rally, we all wondered how as Zanu
(PF) does not allow
suspended officials, especially rebels who opt to stand
as independents to
attend party functions," said one war veteran.
On the day of the rally,
Siyoka is reported to have gone into a brief closed
door meeting with
Mugabe. When he emerged he went straight to the rally
where he announced his
withdrawal and called on his followers to vote for
Zanu
(PF).
Maluleke and Mpofu were not available for comment. Siyoka however
denied
having being bought. He said he had returned to Zanu (PF) because the
problems that had separated him from the party had been resolved.
"I
could see that the opposition would win the seat as long as Zanu (PF) was
not organized. That is why I opted to stand as an independent. But those
problems have been resolved now and I am back in the unified party. No one,
including Mugabe can buy me," said Siyoka.
President Mugabe has
promised to appoint primary elections losers from his
party into the houses
of parliament and the proposed House of Senate. The
Senate promise was
dismissed by political analysts and Zimbabwe watchers as
a ploy to unite his
faction-ridden party amid serious divisions that
threaten to split it into
the old tribal factions and cliques of the
pre-independence era.
The Zimbabwean
I had a dream - we were all smiling
BY MAGAISA
IBENZI
WARD 12, PARIRENYATWA HOSPITAL, HARARE - I had a dream. Ah but it was
wonderful! The elections were free and fair! There was no rigging, no
violence, no intimidation. All the election agents were able to watch the
voting peacefully - everybody could see nicely through the clear walls of
the boxes. All the votes were counted nice and carefully and quickly and the
results were announced immediately. The radio and television reported
everything fairly.
I was just smiling and smiling in my dream. Tobaiwa
Mudede was smiling. The
observers were smiling. Everybody was smiling. And
then they announced the
results - landslide victory for MDC! Maiwee people
went mad - there was so
much dancing and shouting and singing. And it began
to rain - and all the
dams got filled up just like that.
And then I
saw Morgan smiling - and shaking hands with Mugabe. And Mugabe
was also
smiling - and Morgan was telling him: "No don't worry mdara (old
man),
nothing will happen to you. You can just relax now and sit in the sun
quietly outside your big house at Zvimba. I promise you nobody will bother
you. You must just say sorry for everything you have done. The people will
forgive you. But you have to give back all the money you have taken and Amai
Chatunga cannot go shopping any more, naika? And the old man was smiling and
saying: "It's alright. It's okay. Ndaneta manje, ndabvuma. (I'm tired now, I
admit it.)" And a date was set for all those who had suffered to come for a
big meeting where there would be confession and forgiveness, and
compensation would be paid and wounds healed.
Ah what a wonderful
dream it was. And then I dreamt that the Chief of Police
and all the army
and airforce commanders came and saluted Morgan and pledged
their allegiance
to him. And he made them give back all the diamonds and
money they had
stolen. And all the farms were taken away from all those who
had been given
who did not deserve them. And a big land conference was held
and all the
land was redistributed again - but fairly this time. Those whose
land had
been stolen were compensated. Everyone agreed to have just one farm
and
those with more sold them to the government for a fair price.
The World
Bank and all the international community gave money to make all
this
possible. Factories were started up again. Schools were opened. There
was
food and books and fertilizer for everybody. All the money was properly
used
- nobody took anything that she or he was not supposed to take.
Then I
saw Mai Chatunga make a speech and she was saying: "I give my lovely
home
Gracelands to be used for an orphanage for all those Aids orphans who
are
roaming the streets of our cities. They must come and stay here and go
to
school and not sniff glue any more." It was too wonderful, I tell
you.
But then I saw some green bombers, and some Zanu (PF) members of
parliament
and some policemen, and a whole lot of CIO officers and they were
shouting:
"No we don't want. We want Mugabe. We want money. We want power."
And
suddenly out of the bushes jumped a crowd of people wearing white coats.
And
they grabbed all these shouting ones and tied them with rope and put
them in
vans and brought them . here! To ward 12! And then they opened the
doors and
told us we could go home because our beds and all the Chinese
medicines were
now needed for these new people. So we packed our things
quickly and they
gave us ten bob each for kombi fares and we went
home.
And you will never guess what I saw when I got to my dear home
sweet home in
Mbare. There, sitting on the verandah, shelling nzungu, was
Amai Boy
herself. But not that same one who beat me up and divorced me and
drove me
mad. No! This was another one - sort of the same but different. And
she
dropped the nuts when she saw me and stood up and held out her arms and
said: "Maiweeee mudiwa wangu - wadzoka here? Titambire!!" (Oh my darling,
have you returned? Come and visit us.) To be continued . please, please
don't
wake me up anybody.
VOA
EU Parliamentarian Criticizes Zimbabwean President's Trip to Vatican
City By
William Eagle
07 April 2005
Zimbabwe's
President Robert Mugabe has flown to Rome for the funeral of Pope
John Paul,
despite a travel ban imposed by the European Union. The state-run
Herald
newspaper reports Mr. Mugabe left late Wednesday to attend the
ceremony
alongside dozens of other world leaders on Friday. EU officials
imposed the
ban on Mr. Mugabe and more than 90 other top officials after
widespread
reports of vote tampering in 2002 presidential elections. Still,
Zimbabwe's
president has attended key summits since then in Europe and
elsewhere.
On Monday, President Mugabe, who is Catholic, attended a
mass in Harare to
mourn the pope. State media quoted him saying he fondly
remembers John
Paul's visit to Zimbabwe during a 1988 tour of African
states. The Vatican,
a sovereign state, is not a member of the EU and has no
airport, but EU
member Italy should normally comply with the travel ban
imposed on Mugabe.
However, under a 1929 pact between Italy and the Vatican,
Italian
authorities agreed not to stop visitors to the world's smallest
state.
According to the South African press, one of Mr. Mugabe's foremost
domestic
critics, Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube, responded to the
news of the
president's trip by calling him "shameless." He's also quoted as
saying
"that man will use any opportunity to fly to Europe to promote
himself."
Also critical is Michael Gahler, a member of the European
Parliament who
often deals with Zimbabwe. He's the vice president of the
EU's development
committee, and a member of its subcommittee on human
rights. He also
observed parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe five years ago,
and was part of
a mission to the country after the contested results of
Zimbabwe's
presidential polls in 2002.
He told English to Africa
reporter William Eagle that the EU would likely
register a formal complaint
with Italy next week for issuing President
Mugabe an entry visa. Mr. Gahler
also complains that some EU members are
reluctant to crack down on Zimbabwe
out of fear the EU will also crack down
on governments in their own
historical sphere of influence in Africa.
"[Robert Mugabe] has blood on his
hands," says Mr. Gahler, "and it's almost
blasphemic that such a guy attend
the funeral of the Pope in Rome. [It would
be better for him to be]
excommunicated than to be let in to attend the Pope's
funeral."
Election Price Controls Back to Haunt Mugabe
Business Day
(Johannesburg)
April 7, 2005
Posted to the web April 7,
2005
Jacob Dlaminiand Dumisani Muleya
Johannesburg
Zimbabwe's
currency, food crisis likely to hobble recovery
THE Zimbabwean
government's policy of keeping foodstuff prices artificially
low for last
week's parliamentary elections has come back to haunt the
ruling Zanu (PF),
with the country experiencing severe shortages this week.
The crisis
looks set to worsen after Zanu (PF) militants blamed the private
sector for
the crisis and vowed to seize "companies creating artificial food
shortages".
The troubled country has been hit by shortages of maize,
cooking oil, sugar
and fuel, with long queues forming in parts of the
capital Harare and other
cities as people scramble to buy basic foodstuffs
and fuel.
The crisis also comes in the wake of attempts by President
Robert Mugabe's
government to force shops and companies to maintain its
electioneering
policy of keeping foodstuff prices artificially
low.
Mugabe's ruling Zanu (PF) won a two-thirds majority in last week's
election.
According to the state-owned Herald newspaper, Trade Minister
Samuel
Mumbengegwi ordered retailers and manufacturers who had raised their
prices
after last Thursday's election to go back to the old
prices.
Mumbengegwi blamed the shortage of maize on "logistical
problems", and said
the situation was now under control.
However,
Brian Kagoro, chairman of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, denied
the
situation was under control and said Zanu (PF) was paying for its
policies.
"The chickens are coming home to roost for Zanu (PF).
Prices were kept
artificially low before the election, and now they are
being reset," Kagoro
said.
Paul Themba Nyati, spokesman for the
opposition Movement for Democratic
Change, said the shortages were a "more
compelling case for people to fight
Mugabe's government".
However,
economist Eric Bloch said the shortages were temporary and the
result of a
"rumour machine", which suggested that there would be
"prohibitive price
increases" after the election.
"The rumour machine created a
self-fulfilling prophecy.
"There were delayed deliveries before the
election and this encouraged
hoarding and profiteering by some people,"
Bloch said.
He said the real crunch would come later this
year.
"The bottom line is that our maize crop is only a third of what the
country
requires.
"The government will either have to import the
other two-thirds or subsidize
maize, something it cannot afford to
do.
"It could choose to allow price increases but that would only refuel
inflation," Bloch said.
The shortage of foodstuffs has been a
perennial problem since the late 1990s
in Zimbabwe and Mugabe's regime often
deals with it by controlling prices.
Price controls were officially
lifted two years ago, but Mugabe's regime
still intervenes politically to
influence prices. Retailers often react by
withholding goods until
government backs down.
The actions of the retailers have resulted in Zanu
(PF) saying it would take
over the running of companies and retail
outlets.
The women's league of Zanu (PF) has asked Mugabe to approve the
seizures and
has formed a consortium for the takeovers, the Herald
reported.
League spokeswoman Nyasha Chikwinya said: "We have been
understudying the
running of the companies from the days of the food riots
and shortages.
Enough is enough. We cannot allow this to go on any
longer."
Xinhua
Black market for basic commodities re-emerges in after-poll
Zimbabwe
www.chinaview.cn
2005-04-08 01:51:35
HARARE, April 7 (Xinhuanet) -- The black
market for basic commodities
has emerged once again in the capital as
speculators take advantage of the
current shortages in the official market,
Zimbabwean officials said
Thursday.
Some people had already
started selling cooking oil and sugar,
which are in short supply, on the
black market at inflated prices.
Zimbabwe National Chamber of
Commerce President Luxon Zembe said
on Thursday that low capacity
utilization in industries was the major
problem causing the shortage of
basic commodities.
"Capacity utilization is very low in
industries due to a critical
shortage of foreign currency," Zembe
said.
Although the black market for the commodities had stopped
in other
areas in the past two years following the introduction of various
measures
by the government and the central bank, the practice is threatening
to come
back, compounded by the drought and foreign currency
shortages.
Zembe said once industries fail to produce enough
commodities,
shortages emerge and people start panic buying and hoarding,
whichin turn
fuels the black market.
He said the problem
creating food shortages was foreign currency
shortages.
Retailers started increasing sharply prices of most basic
commodities over
the weekend, causing many people to hoard the commodities
as rumor was
spreading that more price increases wouldcome after the
election held on
Thursday last week. Enditem
Zimbabwe's Poll Disturbs AU Observers
Business Day
(Johannesburg)
April 7, 2005
Posted to the web April 7,
2005
Jonathan Katzenellenbogen
Johannesburg
THE head of the
African Union (AU) mission that monitored last week's
parliamentary
elections in Zimbabwe has expressed strong reservations about
the poll, and
the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) released
preliminary
findings of massive electoral fraud yesterday.
And more detailed
criticism of the poll also came from the US yesterday.
Speaking when the
AU team made its preliminary observations after the poll,
the AU's Kwadwo
Afari-Gyan gave a much tougher assessment than those of the
South African
and the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
observers.
Afari-Gyan said the allegations of electoral fraud should
be investigated,
and that his team was disturbed by the large number of
people who were
assisted to vote and the number of voters who were turned
away, news website
ZWnews reported.
Yesterday the US embassy in
Harare issued detailed criticism of the poll
based on what it said were its
25 teams observing more than 350 polling
stations in 59
constituencies.
The US administration - along with several other
governments - was not
allowed to send outside observers, but said it had had
accredited diplomats
on the ground.
In a statement, the embassy said
that its teams had observed a number of
irregularities, including a lack of
transparency in tabulation of votes,
police and Zanu (PF) agents having an
inappropriate role in the voting
process, location of some polling stations
in places that were not neutral
and a high percentage of voters turned
away.
Compounding concern over the irregularities, said the embasssy, was
the
silence of the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC) on crucial
issues.
"It has failed to release the voting results of any polling
stations. It has
failed to explain why its initial release of totals of
ballots cast only
included six of the country's 10 provinces, nor explained
why it never
released results for the remaining four
provinces.
"Moreover, it has failed to explain why discrepancies between
its announced
figure for ballots cast in constituencies for those six
provinces differed
so drastically from the subsequently released official
combined vote totals
for candidates in the constituencies," the embassy
said.
Meanwhile, the International Crisis Group, a global crisis
prevention body,
said yesterday that if the election in Zimbabwe was to be
seen as a process
over a number of months, "you cannot come up with a clean
bill of health" as
others had.
The Crisis Group said gerrymandering
of constituencies and manipulation of
the voters' rolls played a large role
in the victory of the ruling Zanu (PF)
party.
After its call earlier
this week for a fresh poll, the MDC, presented
preliminary findings that
suggested massive electoral fraud.
The party said there were
unaccountable gaps between the number of votes
cast and supplied by the ZEC
and the final tallies accorded to each
candidate.
The MDC statement
said that where it was predicted to regain its seats in
urban centres, such
as Harare and Bulawayo, "very few discrepancies were
identified".
In
11 constituencies the MDC said the difference between the number of votes
cast according to the electoral commission and the final total directly
account for Zanu (PF) victories. With Bloomberg
Xinhua
Zimbabwe to launch 24-hour news radio station
www.chinaview.cn 2005-04-08
00:18:16
HARARE, April 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Zimbabwe will soon
launch the New
Ziana 24-hour News Radio Station, an official said here on
Thursday.
The New Ziana head of the Electronic Services
Business Unit,
Happison Muchechetere, said everything was ready for the
launch ofthe Radio
Station with the equipment having been procured and
installed in the studios
in Gweru.
He said recruitment of
staff had been completed and rehearsals for
broadcasting were in
progress.
The Radio Station would also rely on synergies with
its sister
companies, the news agency and the community newspapers, which
have an
abundance of news gatherers, he said.
On the choice
of frequency for the Radio Station, Muchechetere
said short wave was the
best, as it had the longest reach.
"On short wave we will be
accessible to people within Zimbabwe and
those abroad where our signal will
reach," he said.
Muchechetere said the station would provide
news of a Pan-African
perspective 24 hours a day and seven days a week,
targeting everyone in
Africa.
On the justification for
another radio station on top of the four
that the country already has,
Muchechetere said the format was different
from the existing ones, which
provided news after every hour.
"At the moment one has to wait
for an hour to hear updates of
events," he said, citing the example of the
just ended elections, which were
punctuated with musical programs as people
waited for the announcement of
more results.
"With Radio
24-7, within an hour we would have given a lot," said
Muchechetere.
He said the radio station would provide news,
analyses, live
reports from the region and the continent as well as many
other news related
programs.
There was a niche for
providing news 24 hours of the day as people
wanted to keep abreast of
events instead of having to wait for hours, he
said.
Plans
are underway to open up the airwaves to other players andend
the monopoly
that Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings has enjoyed over the years,
he said.
Enditem
JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE OPEN LETTER FORUM, 5th April 2005 OLF No.
355
Email: jag@mango.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
Please
send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to:
jag@mango.zw with subject line "For: Open Letter
Forum".
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thoughts
of the Day:
"Water will continue to flow uphill, until one runs out of
money."
"A drought occurs when there is an absence of
crops."
"Expertise can be acquired by living in the house previously
occupied by an
expert."
by
Sunray.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
RE: Tesco's Morals and correspondence - Donald Gordon
- To all Working for
Peace in Zimbabwe - Colleen Henderson
- RE: Tesco's latest insult -
Linda
- Seeking Phil de la Farque - Phil
Brereton
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LETTER
1:
Hello JAG
When Tesco's morals were first brought into question
in your Open Letter
Forum, I took the time to write a letter to the OLF
explaining that terse
emails or letters are simply wasting your time and
showing your
powerlessness. These would only elict some patronizing response
from some
"Customer Service minion". Instead, I suggested a direct
"unignorable"
public action, with some suggestions of where to find "public
actions" to
copy. "Public actions" get one the news, and cause tummy upsets
at the
highest levels of corporations like Tesco, and cause sudden changes
to
their buying policies.
To my surprise, the Jag OLF declined to
print my letter.
So, Myke Ashley-Cooper, sorry to hear about your
patronizing email response
from Tesco. If the OLF hadn't "lost" my letter,
or chosen not to print it
(could that be possible?), you might have put your
energies in a direction
that would ensure victory. Isn't it about time that
Zimbo farmers actually
had a victory and demonstrated some power?
Come
now folks, time for a little winning strategy, even if it does involve
advice
from a non-Zimbo, non-farmer. You actually have plenty of friends
out in the
world who are willing to assist.
Or you could always stick with writing
curt letters to Tesco and other
profiteers who are making serious bucks out
of the current situation, and
wait eagerly for their responses.
Cheers
all,
Donald
Gordon.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The
original Letter, published below, did not get to us in November 2004 as
it
was sent on our redundant "telco" email address. It is as pertinent, if
not
more so, today, and we apologize for the unfortunate
delay.
Editor.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello
Jag
Thanks for your query. The previous email address that I used was
your
"telco" address, which must be inhabited by Tesco moles, hence the
letter's
vanishing act.
Attached is the original letter, sent Nov
4/04. Plenty of information is
available on-line, on how to conduct such an
information session. Google
the "Ruckus Society" for a start.
Cheers,
Donald Gordon.
-----original message
-----------
Re:Tesco
Yes indeed, it is time for anyone concerned
about the Zim situation - Zimbo
and non-Zimbo alike- to stop wasting time
writing letters to corporate
minions and hand-wringing politicians, and move
on to FOLLOW THE MONEY.
Take a leaf out of environmental campaigns and go
after the corporate
beneficiaries of the current situation. Letters to Tesco
and the like will
be responded to with fatuous comments by some corporate
minion (as your
correspondence shows). However, it is a basic first step, as
it serves as
"a shot across their bow," and they always give you some good
quotes
showing their idiocy and moral bankrupcy that you can later
present
publicly.
The NEXT letter informs them of the impending
"information protest" outside
various Tescos by the (newly-formed) "Citizens
Against Murder, Rape and
Brutality", composed of black and white Zimbos and
others concerned about
corporations profitteering from and supporting a
brutal, corrupt, and
lawless regime. And mention that a copy of this
announcement is being sent
your friendly correspondents for the Telegraph,
Independent, Guardian, and
BBC (of which there are several).
Retail
corporations very susceptible to negative publicity. It makes them
suddenly
conscientious.
Corporate public relations people get nervous when they
envision their
names starting to appear in print. They tend to call their
bosses. So
bosses get nervous too. They know that big shareholders (who
will get on
the phone to them) don't like to open their morning copy of The
Financial
Times to read about a group of polite, dedicated, and effective
folks
gathered outside their stores (but on public property) with
pamphlets,
chatting with potential shoppers, calling for a BOYCOTT of
Tesco.
Which is exactly what you do. And you will be amazed at the
response you
get. Here in Canada, the vast American DIY store Home Depot was
threatened
with a similar boycott for buying wood products from our "Great
Bear
Rainforest" here on the BC coast. The first letter said that they
were
concerned about loggers jobs, consumer's choice, hand-wring,
hand-wring...
But, when they realized the embarrassment they would suffer
trying to
publicly defend the indefensible and resulting share price decline,
they
TERMINATED ALL PURCHASE AGREEMENTS for wood from that area. This cost
both
them, their suppliers, and the provincial government tens of millions
of
bucks, and I'm not talking Zimbucks.
The result? The government and
logging industry has halted all logging in
the area until a comprehensive
species protection plan has been put in
place and endorsed by the various
conservation organizations involved. You
can research this story on-line for
further ideas, such as the need to a)
get your facts right, b) focus your
message, and c) media relations.
People used to think that immense
corporations were impervious to external
pressure demanding change. They
both now know it ain't so. And it likely
ain't so at the highest levels in
Zim either, if it starts suddenly costing
money.
This approach may not
be standard fare for the average ex-Zim farming
family forcibly relocated to
Didcote, but hey, you can't make an omlette
without cracking some eggs. And
it is about time eggs stolen by thieves,
murderers, and thugs were
cracked.
No more letters to ineffective politicians and corporate flacks
whose
actual job is to write fatuous letters to people just like you. Shut
down
the money tree and listen for the sudden squealing as fingers get
burned,
both in the UK and in Zim.
Cheers
Donald
Gordon.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LETTER
2: TO ALL WORKING FOR PEACE & A NEW ZIMBABWE, received 3.4.2005
by
Colleen Henderson
Our thoughts, love, gratitude, and condolences to all
our friends and
comrades, who, as ever, gave their all to the cause of
democracy. Your
service to the people of Zimbabwe has always been beyond the
call of duty.
Our hearts are broken and all our prayers go to all of you
as you now
prepare for the ongoing battle.
Isaiah 41:13 & 40:31 Ps
27
With love & thoughts,
Keith &
Colleen.
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LETTER
3: RE: TESCO'S LATEST INSULT, received 6.4.2005
by Linda
Dear
All
THE LATEST TESCO INSULT
Last week on Friday 1st April 2005, I
went into a supermarket and saw TESCO
washing powder for sale!!! Local brands
are all but unavailable, but you
can always rely on TESCO!!! It was the best
April Fool's joke I have seen
in years.................but who are the
fools??
Linda.
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LETTER
4: SEEKING Phil de la Farque, received 6.4.2005
by Phil
Brereton
Dear Jag.
This last weekend we had a well know actor
staying in our B&B. He was keen
to make contact with friends and a
relative. Phil de la Farque`s sister
Judith was married to Moray Watson`s
elder brother Johnnie. What news of
Phil ? Where is he now Moray`s cousin,
Jeremy Godfrey, ex police, lives in
Bulawayo. Any news of him ? Don`t know
if you can help on this score ?
Yours sincerely
Phil Brereton
JBrerOH@aol.com
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THE
JAG TEAM
JAG Hotlines:
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need advice,
please don't hesitate to
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