MDC PRESS
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 Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission’s (ZEC) 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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
|
CONSTITUENCY
|
MDC
Candidate
|
Zanu PF
Candidate
|
Independent
|
Total
Votes
Cast as Announced
By ZEC
|
Zanu PF
Votes
|
MDC
Votes
|
Independent/
spoilt
Votes
|
Combined Vote
|
Discrepancy
|
|
MASH WEST (13)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chegutu
|
J.N. Zwambila
|
W.
Shamu
|
|
19,763
|
16,542
|
8,286
|
546
|
25,374
|
5,611
|
|
Chinhoyi
|
S. Matamisa
|
F.
Chidarikire
|
|
16,589
|
9,462
|
5,773
|
323
|
15,558
|
-1,031
|
|
Hurungwe East
|
B. Haurobi
|
R
Marumahoko
|
|
22,533
|
19,670
|
6,090
|
792
|
26,552
|
4,019
|
|
Hurungwe West
|
G. Gumbo
|
C.
Gwachiwa
|
|
24,579
|
17,295
|
6,663
|
903
|
24,861
|
282
|
|
Kadoma
|
E. Matamisa
|
J.
Mudauri
|
|
16,983
|
8,740
|
10,023
|
308
|
19,071
|
2,088
|
|
Ngezi
|
F. Hotyo
|
B.
Matonga
|
|
19,731
|
16,801
|
2,404
|
564
|
19,769
|
38
|
|
Sanyati
|
T. Ruzvidzo
|
Z.
Ziyambi
|
|
18,480
|
16,512
|
4,919
|
748
|
22,179
|
3,699
|
|
Kariba
|
N. Makwasha
|
s.
Chandengenda
|
|
16,676
|
13,719
|
9,540
|
883
|
24,142
|
7,466
|
|
Makonde
|
J. Karemba
|
L.
Mugabe
|
|
20,720
|
18,607
|
3,643
|
0
|
22,250
|
1,530
|
|
Mhondoro
|
S. Maya
|
S.
Nguni
|
|
15,305
|
13,966
|
4,015
|
453
|
18,431
|
3,126
|
|
Manyame
|
H. Mafudze
|
P.
Zhuwao
|
|
14,812
|
15,448
|
8,312
|
543
|
24,303
|
9,491
|
|
Zvimba South
|
E. Masimba
|
S.
Mugabe
|
|
16,790
|
17,797
|
2,437
|
796
|
21,030
|
4,240
|
|
Zvimba North
|
P. Chibanda
|
I.
Chombo
|
|
28,905
|
16,140
|
4,834
|
673
|
21,647
|
-7,258
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
|
|
251,866
|
200,699
|
76,939
|
7,532
|
285,167
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MASH EAST (13)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chikomba
|
P. Denga
|
T.
Jokonya
|
|
18,401
|
17,928
|
7,403
|
719
|
26,050
|
7,649
|
|
Goromonzi
|
C. Marimo
|
H.
Murerwa
|
|
15,611
|
16,782
|
8,578
|
763
|
26,123
|
10,512
|
|
Hwedza
|
T. Makoni
|
A.
Chigwedere
|
|
23,698
|
17,680
|
8,314
|
742
|
26,736
|
3,038
|
|
Marondera East
|
Ian Kay
|
S.
Sekeremayi
|
|
25,193
|
19,192
|
10,066
|
677
|
29,935
|
4,742
|
|
Marondera West
|
S Chipangura
|
A.
Mutiinhiri
|
|
19,417
|
16,029
|
4,467
|
766
|
21,262
|
1,845
|
|
Mudzi East
|
. Machemedze
|
R.
Kaukonde
|
T. Marowa
|
12,499
|
18,003
|
2,676
|
1,741
|
22,420
|
9,921
|
|
Mudzi West
|
S. Tsungu
|
A.
Katsande
|
|
10,998
|
18,547
|
3,636
|
613
|
22,796
|
11,798
|
|
Murehwa North
|
A. Mudzingwa
|
David
Parirenyatwa
|
|
17,606
|
17,677
|
4,137
|
539
|
22,353
|
4,747
|
|
Murehwa South
|
A. Kumirai
|
Joel
Matiza
|
|
8,579
|
19,200
|
4,585
|
677
|
24,463
|
15,884
|
|
Mutoko North
|
S. Mandaza
|
D.Chapfika
|
|
10,721
|
16,257
|
3,782
|
613
|
20,652
|
9,931
|
|
Mutoko South
|
D. Muzira
|
O.
Muchena
|
|
15,863
|
19,390
|
3,358
|
733
|
23,481
|
7,618
|
|
Seke Rural
|
M. Bene
|
P.
Chihota
|
|
11,344
|
15,434
|
8,843
|
596
|
24,873
|
13,529
|
|
UMP
|
S. Paeremanzi
|
K.
Mutiwekuziva
|
|
|
31357
|
3289
|
988
|
35634
|
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
|
|
|
243,476
|
73,134
|
10,167
|
326,778
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MAT SOUTH (7)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Beitbridge
|
M. Siphuma
|
K
Mohadi
|
L. Siyoka
|
36,821
|
14,305
|
6,297
|
550
|
21,152
|
-15,669
|
|
Bulilima
|
M. Ndlovu
|
Maj
Nleya
|
|
13,581
|
6,575
|
10,528
|
642
|
17,745
|
4164
|
|
Mangwe
|
E.Mkhosi
|
E Sandi
|
|
16,709
|
5,723
|
10,145
|
546
|
16,414
|
-295
|
|
Gwanda
|
P.T. Nyathi
|
A.
Ncube
|
|
23,288
|
13,109
|
10,961
|
524
|
24,594
|
1,300
|
|
Insiza
|
S.N. Ncube
|
Langa
|
|
20,220
|
12,537
|
8,840
|
722
|
22,099
|
1,879
|
|
Matobo
|
L. Moyo
|
Ananias
Nyathi
|
|
17,882
|
9,572
|
10,074
|
611
|
20,257
|
2,375
|
|
Umzingwane
|
N. Moyo
|
Ab.
Damasane
|
|
10,477
|
8,784
|
13,198
|
638
|
22,627
|
12,150
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
|
|
138,978
|
70,605
|
70,043
|
2,980
|
144,888
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MANICALAND (15)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Buhera North
|
T. Mudzingwa
|
Mutomba
|
M. Mutyasira
|
16,795
|
17,677
|
4,137
|
874
|
22,688
|
5,893
|
|
Buhera South
|
S. Madzore
|
Kangai
|
S. Mbaimbai
|
25,447
|
15,066
|
13,893
|
0
|
28,959
|
3,512
|
|
Chimanimani
|
R. Bennet
|
Undenge
|
|
23,896
|
15,817
|
11,031
|
794
|
27,642
|
3,746
|
|
Chipinge North
|
M. Matewu
|
Sakubaya
|
D.Tuso
|
23,951
|
16,047
|
10,920
|
609
|
27,576
|
3,625
|
|
Chipinge South
|
E.Makotore
|
Porusingazi
|
W.Khumbula
|
29,479
|
16,412
|
12,163
|
2129
|
30,704
|
1,225
|
|
Makoni East
|
P. Muchauraya
|
S.
Chipanga
|
|
20,454
|
9,202
|
7,708
|
431
|
17,341
|
-3,113
|
|
Makoni North
|
E. Mangoma
|
D.
Mutasa
|
|
14,068
|
18,910
|
6,077
|
0
|
24,987
|
10,919
|
|
Makoni West
|
R. Makuwaza
|
J.
Made
|
|
18,365
|
10,436
|
7,964
|
403
|
18,803
|
438
|
|
Mutare Central
|
I. Gonese
|
S.
Beta
|
|
18,619
|
5,088
|
13,289
|
278
|
18,655
|
36
|
|
Mutare North
|
G. Mutsekwa
|
E.
Gwaradzimba
|
|
18,384
|
11,597
|
7,066
|
233
|
18,896
|
512
|
|
Mutare South
|
S.Mukwecheni
|
F.
Kanzama
|
|
14,054
|
16,412
|
12,163
|
0
|
28,575
|
14,521
|
|
Mutare West
|
G. Chiwara
|
C.
Mushowe
|
|
18,584
|
13,260
|
7,065
|
625
|
20,950
|
2,366
|
|
Mutasa South
|
E. Maupa
|
O.
Muchinguri
|
|
15,733
|
9,715
|
9,380
|
478
|
19,573
|
3,840
|
|
Mutasa North
|
E. Masaiti
|
Mike
Nyambuya
|
|
10,986
|
10,135
|
6,605
|
464
|
17,204
|
6,218
|
|
Nyanga
|
D. Mwonzora
|
P.
Kadzima
|
|
13,896
|
12,612
|
9,360
|
767
|
22,739
|
8,843
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
|
|
282,711
|
198,386
|
138,821
|
8,085
|
345,292
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BULAWAYO (7)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bulawayo North East
|
W. Ncube
|
J
Malinga
|
|
12,635
|
2,506
|
10,804
|
179
|
13,489
|
854
|
|
Bulawayo South
|
D. Coltart
|
S Nyoni
|
|
15,864
|
3,777
|
12,120
|
84
|
15,981
|
117
|
|
Lobengula Magwegwe
|
F. Duluni-Ncube
|
|
|
15,570
|
2,892
|
12,606
|
135
|
15,633
|
63
|
|
Makokoba
|
T. Khupe
|
S.
Thebe
|
A. Payne
|
15,344
|
3,483
|
12,138
|
262
|
15,833
|
539
|
|
Mpopoma-Pelandaba
|
M. Gwetu
|
S Ndlovu
|
L. Nkala
|
15,047
|
3,228
|
11,581
|
308
|
15,117
|
70
|
|
Nkulumane
|
G. Sibanda
|
A.
Sikhosana
|
S. Mathe
|
15,174
|
3,243
|
12,392
|
107
|
15,742
|
564
|
|
Pumula Luveve
|
E. Mdlongwa
|
G.
Malaba
|
|
17,625
|
3,527
|
13,810
|
386
|
17,723
|
98
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
|
|
107,259
|
22,656
|
85,451
|
1,461
|
109,518
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
HARARE 18
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Budiriro
|
G. Shoko
|
G.
Hokoyo
|
|
21,388
|
4,886
|
17,053
|
136
|
22,075
|
687
|
|
Chitungwiza
|
F.Mhashu
|
B.
Chirongwe
|
G. Juru
|
20,378
|
8,026
|
12,024
|
425
|
20,475
|
97
|
|
Dzivarasekwa
|
E. Mushoriwa
|
Muchada
|
|
16,975
|
5,014
|
11,617
|
266
|
16,897
|
-78
|
|
Glen Norah
|
P. Misihairabwi
|
V.
Chitepo
|
T. Ziwachi
|
18,860
|
4,868
|
14,841
|
113
|
19,822
|
962
|
|
Glen View
|
P. Madzore
|
S.
Mangwende
|
Clemence Machakaire
|
17,931
|
3,993
|
14,231
|
237
|
18,461
|
530
|
|
Harare Central
|
Zwizwai
|
Chideya
|
Margaret Dongo
|
14,722
|
4,423
|
10,452
|
616
|
15,491
|
769
|
|
Harare East
|
T. Biti
|
M.
Mukarati
|
|
13,132
|
4,353
|
9,259
|
97
|
13,709
|
577
|
|
Harare North
|
T. Stevenson
|
Chikwinya
|
|
15,633
|
5,134
|
11,262
|
174
|
16,570
|
937
|
|
Harare South
|
J. Mushonga
|
Nyanhongo
|
|
22,403
|
11,545
|
10,716
|
0
|
22,261
|
-142
|
|
Hatfield/Epworth
|
T. Mashakada
|
Amos
Midzi
|
|
21,326
|
9,408
|
11,052
|
399
|
20,859
|
-467
|
|
Highfield
|
P.Mungofa
|
Nyandoro
|
Sekai Putire
|
15,970
|
4,296
|
12,600
|
234
|
17,130
|
1,160
|
|
Kambuzuma
|
W. Madzimure
|
S.
Mvurume
|
|
22,564
|
5,555
|
17,394
|
278
|
23,227
|
663
|
|
Kuwadzana
|
N. Chamisa
|
D.
Mutasa
|
L. Chitate
|
19,153
|
5,024
|
13,870
|
332
|
19,226
|
73
|
|
Mabvuku
|
T. Mubhawu
|
P.
Tungamirai
|
|
15,784
|
6,074
|
13,474
|
473
|
20,021
|
4,237
|
|
Mbare
|
Gift
Chimanikire
|
T.
Savanhu
|
D.Makuwaza
|
25,545
|
9,480
|
15,543
|
375
|
25,398
|
-147
|
|
Mufakose
|
Paurina Mpariwa
|
S.
Thembani
|
G. Magaya
|
16,875
|
4,016
|
12,643
|
420
|
17,079
|
204
|
|
St Mary's
|
Job Sikhala
|
P.
Nyaruwata
|
T. Maswata
|
21,052
|
7,498
|
13,369
|
414
|
21,281
|
229
|
|
Zengeza
|
Chimbauya
|
C.
Chigumba
|
E. Muchaiwa
|
21,017
|
8,718
|
12,129
|
289
|
21,136
|
119
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
|
|
347,708
|
112,311
|
233,529
|
5,278
|
351,118
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MDC VICTORY - Despondency?...What causes it and how to cope
The MDC
achieved a resounding victory. The people have spoken. They did what
they had
to do, bravely. However, another election has been stolen but not
our future.
Understandably, most are feeling very let down over these post
election
days.
Please pause for thought on reflections of February,
2004.
Despondency...What causes it and how to cope
Right now, we
are all faced with one of the most important phases of our
lives in our
country.
Against a background of real repression, where there is
virtually no freedom
of speech, association or expression, we are forced to
live in an
information void filled with what our masters want us to hear,
view and
read. This enables them to have the opportunity to have us think
what they
want. That is very dangerous and we must not fall into this
trap.
This is the True Grit phase.
How do we cope with the doom
and gloom, the depression and despondency which
results from this
situation?
The way we think negatively is not necessarily based on fact
but usually as
a result of what others, of us, say! Therefore we all have
the power and
influence to counter this deliberate campaign to convince us of
our failure
and the hopelessness of our plight.
We all have a
responsibility to say what is necessary in the interests of
our joint welfare
and not what suits us as individuals in our moments of
weakness. For the
positive, they are inevitably propping up the negative who
lean heavily on
their shoulders. They are often challenging them with doom
to seek
reassurance in the hope that they receive a positive answer. It's
draining
and tests conviction. The positives are after all human and are
influenced by
others, negative and positive.
By controlling the information we receive
is one thing, the other is to deny
us the truth. This of course leads to a
great deal of guess work and
speculation and so many of us become
experts....at least most of those that
are deliberately negative in their
outlook. We all know that good news
seldom makes the headlines just as bad
news usually attracts interest and
attention. It is the attention seekers who
delight in spreading rumours
which plays directly into the hands of those
that take the opposite view to
the ideals of freedom and democracy. It is
they that have the means and the
power of the Tax Payer to deliver this
unrelenting onslaught against us.
However they can be defeated by Thought
Power, by us!
Those that wish to destroy our lives are creating an
illusion of no hope to
make us give up the fight. They are endeavouring to
convince us that they
are invincible and will be our masters forever - an
attempt to make us
believe that we have lost. Every resource is deployed in
this direction.
We must decide whether we are to be winners or losers.
Which is it? Make
that decision and play to win or play to lose.
Most
of their tactics are symptomatic of those that are about to capitulate,
the
last desperate attempts to thwart our progress towards the victory that
is
ours. Would they be behaving like this if this was not the case? Do not
be
deceived.
There are those that are listening to you when you speak who
are more
insecure and more vulnerable than you. There are those that admire
and
respect you no matter what you might think. Your juniors and seniors.
We
have a duty to choose what we say and how we say it. We must instill
hope
and make them feel better... Unselfish in an opinion or comment
to
positively influence others. Give them strength to carry on. We are
all
exposed to despondency which is a condition of the mind, the result of
mere
words of others uttered mostly from the mouths of unqualified
people.
Discover the passion, that is there, for your country and share
it with
others. Consider its amazing achievements on the international
stage.
Reflect on its incredible beauty. Be proud, as you should
be.
Don't get exhausted in protracted debate or argument with those that
suffer
from self inflicted misery, those that continually shoot themselves in
the
foot. Rather spend your time and energy with those that will listen to
your
point of view and may not necessarily agree. The Yes buts will
always
counter your positivity with a negative consequence of what you have
to say
no matter what.
Remember, it will make you feel better when you
cheer up someone else.
Do not repeat negative, alarmist rumours for the
sake of it. Ask yourself,
will this information (usually unsubstantiated)
help the other person or
create fear and insecurity? Keep the bad news to
yourself and promote the
good. It IS there!! Condition yourself and make it
habit forming to react
to problems in a positive manner. That habit will
ensure that all you want
to do is to solve the matter. It is only positive
people that invent,
discover and create. It is the positive that win and
achieve the
unachievable against seemingly insurmountable odds. A state of
mind!
Are you a fighter? Are you going to win or accept defeat at the
hands of a
most despicable enemy?
Value today. We all know that our
immediate duty is survival. Give yourself
that chance by adopting the frame
of mind that will guarantee you that
chance. Why exasperate matters that are
problematic by re emphasizing the
negative statement or rumour that you have
heard. Gain re assurance by
associating with those that are positive and
strong and you will notice the
difference. This is the same effect that you
can have on others.
For those not committed to prayer, try it and
remember to pray for those
less fortunate than yourself ...you will notice
the difference in your day.
Think of a way to help others in a material way,
how ever small. It will
take your mind away from self pity ..away from your
own predicament and
restore your determination to win through by seeing the
positive effects of
your own actions. The feel good factor.
There is
an end to this battle and we must not be lured into the trap of
believing
there is not. Don't judge your country or your own situation on
the present
bizarre man made circumstances. Look to the realistic future of
prosperity,
peace and happiness that is promised. Plan you next holiday now.
A visit to
friends and family. Set your goals short, medium and long. Focus
ahead and
not backwards. Get on with life and make sure it is as close to
normality as
possible. Defy these cowards. Don't let those that you despise
beat you.
Remember those that need you more than you need them. The old,
sick, lonely
and traumatized. Those that have lost and suffered more than
you. Get
committed for them.
When this is over, be able to reflect on your victory
and be proud of it.
You did not concede and you won! You were part of history
and helped build
the foundation of a great new country.
Think
positive, be positive and create positivity for others.
Simon Spooner,
Bulawayo, Feb 2004
Daily News online edition
US observer mission condemns Zim
Poll
Date: 6-Apr, 2005
HARARE - THE United States
Observer mission to Zimbabwe"s recent
elections has denounced the manner in
which the parliamentary poll was
conducted saying it was fraught with
irregularities irrespective of the
peace that prevailed throughout the
country.
In a press statement, the US Embassy in Harare said
its observers had
noted "several patterns of irregularities that raised
concerns about the
freeness and fairness of the process".
"Of particular concern was a lack of transparency in the tabulation of
vote
counts," the embassy said. "The US observers were excluded from
observing
counts in four polling stations. Where they were admitted,
observers and
officials, including party representatives and neutral
domestic observers
were locked in the polling station and not permitted to
communicate with
anyone outside."
However the US embassy said uniformed
policemen were observed
communicating the vote tallies via radio and
telephone.
The embassy said in several observed instances, the
presiding officer
confiscated the notes compiled by party polling agents and
independent
observers before letting them depart the polling
station.
The concerns of the Zimbabwe embassy of the US
government follows
widespread condemnation of the election result by several
western
governments and the opposition.
Their statement
comes hardly a week after US secretary of State
Condoleeza Rice denounced
the conduct of the March 31 poll as lacking
credibility.
She said although the campaign and election day itself were peaceful,
the
election process was neither free nor fair.
The opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the only
opposition party to contest
in all of the 120 contested constituencies
yesterday reported that it had
established irregularities in 76
constituencies.
The US
embassy said it sent out 25 teams of diplomats accredited as
election
observers by the Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC). They
observed more
than 350 polling stations in 59 constituencies.
They also
queried the roles of Zanu PF agents and the police in the
supervision and
conduct of the polling stations. In the operation of
Zimbabwe Election
Commission (ZEC) tabulation centres, the US office said
the embassy
observers witnessed uniformed
policemen participating in the vote
compilation instead of the ZEC
officials at the respective
constituencies.
Other irregularities the US embassy observed
include the biased citing
of some polling stations, the high number of
voters turned away and the
failure by the ZEC to release the voting results
of any polling station.
In an apparent indictment of the ZEC,
the US Embassy said: "The ZEC
has failed to explain why its initial release
of totals of ballots cast only
included six of the country's 10 provinces,
neither has it explained why it
never released results for the remaining
four provinces.
"Moreover it has failed to explain why
discrepancies its announced
figure for ballots cast in constituencies for
those six provinces differed
so rastically from the subsequently released
official combined vote totals
for candidates in the constituencies."
Daily News online edition
US government challenges African
governments over Zim Polls
Date: 6-Apr, 2005
JOHANNESBURG - The American government has challenged southern African
governments to back up their claims that Zimbabwe's March 31 parliamentary
poll was free and fair.
In a statement today, the US State
Department spokesman, Richard
Boucher, said the American government,
together with Britain, the European
Union, independent local observers and
the defeated opposition, disputed the
election outcome.
"I
would have to ask them what they think their basis is for saying
that. We've
put out what we think is the basis for viewing this election as
seriously
tainted and not free and fair," he said.
President Robert
Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party won a comfortable
majority of the 120
arliamentary seats contested in the poll, according to
the country's
electoral commission, which was set up a few months before the
election, to
meet the SADC protocol on holding free and fair polls, which
Zimbabwe signed
in Mauritius last August.
As a result of the Zanu PF win,
Mugabe, who turned 81 last month, is
now able to appoint 30 additional
lawmakers to the 150-seat legislature.
That will give him the two-thirds
majority he needs to amend the
constitution to further bolster his rule,
according to observers who were
watching the election.
The
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) rejected the
official
results, which gave it 41 seats to ZANU-PF's 78. It called for new
elections, claiming intimidation and ballot-rigging.
Protests, which police were quick to thwart, have so far been held in
Harare
against Mugabe, whose 25-year tenure and controversial land
redistribution
policies have left the former British colony's economy in
tatters.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said his party would
challenge the
results in court.
African governments gave a
thumps up to the election, stating that it
was an indication of the will of
the Zimbabweans. They ignored criticism
from Western capitals, human rights
groups, and many Zimbabweans themselves,
who argued that the whole had been
flawed as it favoured the ruling party
from the onset.
Mugabe, who has been engaged in a verbal war for years with critical
Western
governments, refused to allow Western monitors to observe the
poll.
African Union observers declared the elections
transparent, while
those from regional governments comprising the 14-member
Southern Africa
Development Community (SADC) also said the vote reflected
the will of the
people.
"The poll was peaceful,
transparent, credible and well managed," said
a statement issued by the SADC
observer team, headed by Phumzile Mlambo
Ngcuka, a South African cabinet
minister, who is now facing criticism from
home after she made unacceptable
comments after the poll.
She said all disputes related to the
election had to be dealt with by
Zimbabweans themselves as SADC Observers
did not have time for that because
they were now homesick and wanted to
leave for their respective countries to
rest.
South Africa,
the region's economic powerhouse which provides power to
impoverished
Zimbabwe, also sent a separate team of parliamentary observers.
That team's
leader, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana, who is a lawmaker
from the
ruling African National Congress (ANC), issued a statement saying
"mission
unanimously agreed that the elections were credible, legitimate,
free and
fair," but representatives of other political parties have
distanced
themselves from the verdict.
One of those parties, the
Democratic Alliance, accused the ANC
government of deciding in advance to
endorse the elections.
Criticism also came from Zimbabwean
civil society groups.
A local observer mission, the Zimbabwe
Election Support Network, said
there had been huge discrepancies between the
number of people who voted and
the final vote tallies.
In
some places as many as a quarter of voters were turned away because
they
either did not appear on the voters roll or failed to present proper
identification, said the mission's chairman, Reginald
Matchaba-Hove.
"The polls took place in a climate of fear," he
added.
While it was generally accepted that the campaign had
been less
violent than previous ones in 2000 and 2002, other aspects of the
campaign
and the election itself however drew criticism from the US
Secretary of
State, Condoleezza Rice.
She said the "electoral
playing field was heavily tilted in the
government's favor." As many as 10
percent of voters were turned away from
polling stations due to
irregularities with voter registration rolls, she
said.
Daily News online edition
Foreign journalists complain over Zim
media gag
Date: 6-Apr, 2005
JOHANNESBURG - An
international organization representing the
interests of foreign
correspondents, the Foreign Correspondent's Association
(FCA) has condemned
Zimbabwe for allegedly failing to allow a free and open
media coverage of
last week's
parliamentary poll.
"The FCA believes
that free and open press coverage of elections is a
vital part of the
democratic process. Zimbabwe fell short of that ideal in
these elections,"
FCA chairman Simon Robinson said in a statement.
Zimbabwe
denied several journalists, including reporters from the BBC,
CBS, the
Associated Press, Reuters and the Chicago Tribune, accreditation to
cover
the parliamentary poll.
The FCA's stance against the Zimbabwean
government comes in the wake
of arrests and detention of foreign
correspondents in Harare.
Two British journalists have been
arrested for working inside Zimbabwe
without accreditation while four others
and several other foreign
correspondents were denied accreditation to cover
the controversial poll,
won by President Mugabe's Zanu PF
party.
Stephane Barbier and Fanuel Jongwe from Agence France
Press were
detained for more than an hour on the evening of March 31, after
watching
police arrest around 100 women who had gathered for a prayer
meeting.
At the same protest, a group of journalists including
correspondents
for the Economist, Associated Press and Swedish newspaper
Dagens Nyheter
were threatened with arrest for refusing to leave the area as
police pushed
protesters into their trucks.
On Friday
Swedish journalists Carolina Jemsby and Fredrik Sperling
were detained by
immigration authorities after filming street scenes in
Harare. They were
threatened with prison and told that "people had
expectations of you when
you were given accreditation. You fell short..."
Jemsby was
forced to erase her film but was released and allowed to
continue her
work.
Sperling was accused of earlier filming a farm belonging
to a relative
of President Mugabe. Sperling had not set foot on the farm but
was accused
of trespassing.
He had his accreditation
withdrawn, was forced to leave the country
immediately and was declared a
prohibited immigrant.
The FCA expressed concern for Britain's
Sunday Telegraph journalists
Toby John Harnden, 37 and photographer Julian
Paul Simmonds, 46.
They were arrested and charged with
violating media and immigration
laws.
"While the FCA
recognises that the men did not hold accreditation to
work in Zimbabwe and
were there illegally, it is concerned that they will be
made an example of
under the draconian Access to Information and Protection
of Privacy Act,"
Robinson said.
Zim Online
ZANU PF unleashes massive violence against MDC
supporters
Thur 7 April 2005
HARARE - Retribution is quietly gathering
pace days after Zimbabwe's
disputed election with several dozens of
opposition supporting families
denied food or beaten up and forced to flee
their homes, ZimOnline has
established.
In the town of Karoi in
Mashonaland West province, ruling ZANU PF
party militants have told all
perceived supporters of the main opposition
Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) party that they will intensify attacks
against them once foreign
election observers have left the country.
At least 10 villagers
from Kazangarare rural area in the province have
sought refuge in Karoi
after fleeing ruling ZANU PF militias on Monday, who
were threatening them
with unspecified punishment for supporting the MDC.
"They (ZANU PF
militants) said we should come here to Karoi where the
MDC is supported,"
one of the villagers Innocent Tavoyi told ZimOnline.
The
villagers are staying at the Karoi home of Biggie Haurovi the MDC
candidate
in last Thursday's poll. Haurovi lost Hurungwe East constituency,
under
which Karoi and Kazangarare falls, to ZANU PF's Reuben Marumahoko. But
the
opposition candidate had more votes in Karoi town.
In Gwanda, in
Matabeleland South province, 45 MDC supporters were
beaten up and told they
will no longer be allowed to buy maize from the
state Grain Marketing Board,
the only supplier of the staple food in the
hunger stricken
district.
MDC officials in Matabeleland South said retribution
against their
supporters, which they said they feared could become more
brutal in coming
days, began last Saturday a day after the final results of
the poll won by
ZANU PF by 78 seats against the MDC's 41.
In
Mutare city, in the east of the country, six MDC supporters are
holed up at
the opposition party's provincial headquarters in the city after
fleeing
their homes in Makoni East, about 100 km north-west of Mutare.
"They (ZANU PF militants) are threatening everyone known to have been
campaigning for the MDC. The police are aware and insist we be beaten up
first and then report later as there would be evidence," Tendai Gonese who
was campaigning for the MDC in Makoni East said.
Gonese and his
MDC colleagues, Nixon Injisi, Langton Chifamba, Future
Musindo, Thomas
Handireki and Rosemary Chimombo said they will only go back
to their homes
if they are assured of protection from ZANU PF militants.
But MDC
officials in Mutare and in other parts of the country where
retribution is
going on against opposition supporters said they had reported
the attacks
and denial of food to opposition supporters to the police but to
no
avail.
MDC deputy spokesman in Matabeleland South, Petros Mukwena
said: "Most
of the people have suffered beatings .they have (also) taken
advantage of
their control of maize distribution to deny our supporters a
right to buy
the commodity. We have told the police about these activities
many times in
the past few days but they have not done anything about
it."
In Karoi, the MDC's Haurovi said MDC supporters there were
living in
fear as ZANU PF militants freely roam the area terrorising
suspected
opposition supporters while the police had by yesterday not taken
any action
against the ruling party militants.
Haurovi said: "I
am surprised that the police are not arresting ZANU
PF members involved in
brutal attacks against MDC supporters, people are
living in fear
here."
But Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi and ZANU PF officials
denied
there was any campaign of retribution by ruling party militants
against MDC
supporters.
"I am not aware of that. If the MDC has
such problems, which I do not
believe are happening, they have not reported
to the police," Mohadi said.
In Mashonaland West province, under
which Karoi falls, acting ZANU PF
provincial chairman John Mafa said: "We
have not sent anyone to go around
beating up people and we as a party we
have not received any reports of any
of our supporters beating people for
voting for the MDC."
Human rights and pro-democracy groups warned
of a vicious backlash
against the opposition after Zimbabwe's poll and urged
observer missions to
remain in the country a little longer after polling to
help ensure there
will be no victimisation of government
opponents.
It was not possible to immediately establish when the
South African
government, Southern African Development Community and Africa
Union observer
missions, all still in Zimbabwe, planned to leave the
country.
Meanwhile, MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi said in a
statement
yesterday that deputy Transport Minister Andrew Langa last Sunday
fired
shots to scare MDC supporters as ZANU PF militants brutally attacked
them at
Avoca rural business centre in Insiza constituency in Matabeleland
South
province.
"In Insiza, Andrew Langa, the "winning"
candidate for Insiza fired at
people at Avoca Business Centre last Sunday (3
April 2005). Langa arrived at
Avoca business centre and ordered the youths
he led to randomly beat up
people at the centre. When people tried to defend
themselves and forced the
youths to retreat, Langa fired at the people, but
no one was hit," Nyathi's
statement read in part.
Several
people were injured during the attack and were treated at
Avoca Hospital
while a man, Dumisani Mthunzi, who suffered serious injuries
was transferred
to Bulawayo Central Hospital where he is still receiving
treatment,
according to Nyathi.
Nyathi said police at Filabusi police station
in the area however
allowed the ZANU PF youths to go scot-free and instead
arrested some of the
victims.
More MDC supporters were also
attacked in Shamva in Mashonaland
Central province and in Harare's Mufakose
low-income suburb according to
Nyathi.
ZimOnline was not able
to independently verify the incidents reported
by Nyathi. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
MDC demands explanation on voter figures
Thur 7 April
2005
HARARE - Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC)
on Wednesday threatened to take the country's elections body to court
over
conflicting voting figures as the United States expressed concern over
lack
of transparency in tabulation of votes in the just ended
poll.
MDC secretary general Welshman Ncube in a statement said the
Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC) should explain glaring discrepancies in
the final
tally of votes cast in the disputed parliamentary election won by
ZANU PF by
78 seats against the MDC's 41. One seat went to an independent
candidate.
The ZEC first announced the total number of people who
had voted in 76
of the 120 constituencies before abruptly stopping the
announcements without
explanation. When the ZEC however released the final
total numbers in each
of the 76 constituencies of people who had voted for
the winning and losing
candidates plus spoilt ballot papers, there were
glaring differences with
figures the commission had earlier
released.
The commission has to date remained mum on the
discrepancy. Ncube
said: "We urgently seek an explanation from you as to the
reason for these
disparities. We have reason to believe that these
disparities are as a
direct result of manipulation of numbers to achieve
ZANU PF victories in
constituencies where they had lost."
Ncube
spoke as the United States embassy in Harare, which was able to
observe the
election, issued a statement also querying the disparities in
the ZEC
figures.
In addition to conflicting statistics of the number of
people who
voted, the US, whose team visited 350 polling stations in 59
constituencies
said some of the polling stations were located in areas that
could have been
intimidating to voters such as near police stations or ZANU
PF offices.
The statement reads in part: "Compounding concern over
the foregoing
irregularities is the silence of the Zimbabwe Election
Commission 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 ten
provinces, nor explained why it
never released results for the remaining
four provinces.
"Moreover, it has failed to explain why
discrepancies between its
announced figures 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."
ZEC chairman George Chiweshe could not be reached
for comment on the
matter.
The African Union observer mission
has also called on the ZEC to probe
allegations of irregularities over
voting figures pointed out by the MDC.
But the South African
government and Southern African Development
Community observer missions gave
the poll the thumbs up saying it was held
in a peaceful environment and that
its results were reflective of the wishes
of Zimbabweans. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
SA bank governor meets Harare officials, demands more
reforms
Thur 7 April 2005
HARARE - South African Reserve Bank governor
Tito Mboweni met Zimbabwe
government officials this week to press for
greater economic reforms and
also to inform them that Harare might be
initially left out of a planned
regional economic union, ZimOnline has
established.
Impeccable sources said Mboweni, among the few senior
officials in
Pretoria to openly criticise President Robert Mugabe, quietly
slipped into
Harare earlier this week and held talks on Monday and Tuesday
with Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono and other top
officials of the
Harare administration.
"The message was that
Zimbabwe is letting the region down, and the
region is not going to wait for
Zimbabwe to shape up," said a senior RBZ
official who spoke anonymously for
professional reasons.
According to the source, Mboweni also
indicated to the Zimbabwean
officials that their crisis-sapped country could
be initially excluded from
the proposed economic union for Southern African
Development Community
(SADC) countries.
Proponents of the new
union, led by South Africa, want the bloc in
place by 2008.
A
key demand for entry into the union, modeled along the European
Union, is
that a country's inflation rate must be below 10 percent and that
each
country maintains a slim budget deficit.
Inflation is running at
127.6 percent in Zimbabwe, the highest
inflation rate in the SADC region and
one of the highest in the world.
It was not possible last night to
get comment on the matter from
Mboweni, RBZ or Zimbabwe's Ministry of
Finance.
Zimbabwe's economic decline has seen international
investors becoming
increasingly jittery about investing in the SADC region,
fearing a spillover
of Zimbabwe's problems into the region. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Panic-buying as basic goods vanish from shops
Wed 6
April 2005
HARARE - Basic commodities have vanished from most shops in
Zimbabwe while
the few supermarkets still selling mealie-meal, milk, soap,
sugar, cooking
oil or other essential goods have hiked prices by up to 100
percent as the
country plunges deeper into crisis days after a disputed
election.
Bread and fuel were still available but also showing
signs of running
short with for example, most garages in the southern
Matabeleland region
visited by ZimOnline reporters yesterday saying they had
no or little stocks
of diesel and petrol left.
The state-funded
Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) told ZimOnline
yesterday that
panic-buying by consumers trying to stock up as much as was
possible in case
the country runs out completely of basic commodities was
only helping worsen
the situation.
The council said it was still investigating the
cause of the shortages
but said preliminary inquiry showed that the staple
mealie-meal was in short
supply because most milling companies did not have
maize.
"Millers have run out of maize and this is exacerbating
mealie-meal
shortage. Cooking oil is in short supply because of a shortage
of soya
beans, a key ingredient in cooking oil production," a CCZ official
said.
The official, who did not give his name because
the council does not
allow employees to be quoted by name by the Press,
added that a vicious
black market was fast emerging with most of the goods
out of stock in shops
easily available on the black market at more than
double what they cost in
shops.
President Robert Mugabe, his
grip on power firmer than before after
his ZANU PF party won a landslide
victory in last Thursday's ballot, told
the South African Broadcasting
Corporation at the weekend that his
government had the means to ensure no
Zimbabwean starved.
Social Welfare Minister Paul Mangwana yesterday
also insisted Zimbabwe
had enough food including basic commodities such as
sugar, soap or cooking
oil. Mangwana instead blamed shortages on
panic-buying and on pro-opposition
manufacturers whom he said were creating
artificial shortages in a bid to
incite people against the
government.
"Everything is available and the country has enough
food." Mangwana
said. He added: "This (shortage) is caused by panic buying
and machinations
of the opposition party. These manufacturers are opposition
supporters and
are causing the artificial shortages."
In a snap
survey in Harare, most of the city's leading supermarket
chains were not
selling cooking oil, mealie-meal or popular laundry soap
brand saying they
had not received supplies from manufacturers.
In the shops were
some of the commodities were Available, prices had
been hiked by between 50
and 100 percent.
Independent economic analyst John Robertson
predicted the situation
will get worse unless the government devalued the
Zimbabwe dollar to help
exporters who generate foreign currency needed to
pay foreign suppliers of
some of the essential commodities or ingredients
required to manufacture
them.
He said: "Price increases will
continue from now and this condition
will make it difficult for exporters.
Unfortunately, we need to devalue the
dollar to help exporters whom we
expect to bring in foreign currency."
Some political analysts had
expected last week's controversial poll to
help usher in a democratic
solution to Zimbabwe's crisis.
But the poll appears to have
worsened Zimbabwe's isolation by key
international players after the
European Union, United States, Britain,
Germany and Australia rejected the
March 31 election as neither free nor
fair. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Irate tobacco farmers withhold crop
Wed 6 April
2005
HARARE - Irate farmers protesting over low prices yesterday forced
Zimbabwe's biggest tobacco auction floors to suspend trading as the
country's
crucial tobacco selling season started off on a sour
note.
Farmers, who described as ridiculously low yesterday's season
opening
price of US$0.25 to US$0.45 per kilogramme of tobacco, refused to
sell their
tobacco and blocked trading at the privately-owned Tobacco Sales
Floors
(TSF).
The TSL was paying between US$2 and US$3 per
kilogram of tobacco at
the close of the selling season last
year.
There are two other floors but the TSF is by far the biggest
with the
bulk of Zimbabwe's biggest single foreign exchange earner traded
there.
Tobacco prices generally tend to firm up as the selling
season
progresses with better quality leaf being delivered. But farmers,
most of
them black smallscale producers, told ZimOnline yesterday they would
go
bankrupt if they accepted the prices that
were being
offered.
"We cannot allow these people (TSF) to rip us off like
that. We would
rather burn the tobacco than sell at such contemptuous
prices," said
Lovemore Mutambo, a small-scale farmer from Nyamajura area,
250 km east of
Harare.
"Tobacco is an 18 month cycle crop that
is both labour and capital
intensive. The prices will have to be right
before we allow trading to start
here," Mutambo added.
Another
farmer from Selous about 80 km west of Harare, Brian Hitchman,
said he had
yesterday brought 300 bales of tobacco to the auction floors but
was
withholding it until "the right prices are offered."
"How are we
going to repay our loans? I will withhold my crop for
now," Hitchman
said.
TSF managing director David Machingaidze said 1 000 bales of
tobacco
had been booked for trading yesterday but only 300 had been disposed
off by
the time the floors were closed.
"By the time we stopped
the selling we had sold about 300 bales out of
the 1 000 that were booked
... We are hopeful that a solution would be found
maybe by tomorrow
(Wednesday)," Machingaidze said.
But TSF officials, who did not
want to be named, said farmers were
being offered lower prices because of
the poor quality of leaf which was
unlikely to fetch much on the
international market.
The price wrangle mirrors deep-seated
problems threatening the
viability of the mainstay tobacco industry after
President Robert Mugabe
seized land from white farmers who accounted for the
bulk of Zimbabwe's
tobacco.
Production has dropped from 236
million kilogrammes produced in 2000
before farm invasions had completely
destabilised the agricultural sector to
the 85 million kilogrammes expected
to be sold this year.
Although there have been some sign of
recovery from 69 million
kilogrammes in 2004 to the 85 million kilogrammes
expected this year, the
leaf quality has drastically dropped as most of the
black peasants settled
on white farms lack the expertise or financial
resources to maintain
production of good grade tobacco.
Proceeds from tobacco sales, which last year totalled US$220 million,
are
eagerly awaited to pay for vital imports of fuel, electricity, essential
medical drugs and to pay off debts. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
FEATURE: Exiled Zimbabweans say only confrontation will
achieve results
Wed 6 April 2005
JOHANNESBURG - From the sixteenth floor
of a residential apartment in
central Johannesburg, a bloodied Zimbabwean
flag flaps lazily in rhythm with
the slow but bitingly cold
wind.
Even the continuous drizzle has failed to wash off the blood,
and the
words written on the flag stand out prominently: "Mugabe and ZANU PF
= Death
by slow poison. Do not swallow."
Another dripping line
reads "Mugabe: The tsunami is still destroying
Zimbabwe."
To
Joel Maphosa and his friends, the bloody flag tells a story: that
President
Robert Mugabe's parliamentary election victory last week was not
free and
fair but was achieved against a background of bloodshed over the
last five
years.
Although last week's poll was peaceful as compared to the
2000 and
2002 elections, the opposition and Western states insist that
conditions
were not conducive for a free and fair election and were heavily
tilted in
ZANU PF's favour.
Maphosa said he is still waiting
for somebody to tell him that news of
the ZANU PF victory was one bad April
Fools' Day joke.
"I was busy listening to the election results last
Friday. For most of
the morning, ZANU PF succeeded in making everyone
believe the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party would win
the election.
"Just as we were getting ready for a great weekend
celebration, ZANU
PF covered so much ground that we could all see who would
win. We were
bluffed from the beginning and I still believe that somebody
forgot to tell
us that what we heard was just an April Fool's Day joke,"
said Maphosa.
Even here in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa,
where an estimated
three million Zimbabweans fled the political and economic
meltdown back
home, the final results plunged the community into a state of
shock and
mourning.
The ruling ZANU PF party won 78 of the 120
contested seats with the
MDC winning a paltry 41 seats to clinch a
two-thirds majority.
Former government propaganda tsar Jonathan
Moyo, who fell out with
Mugabe after seeking to block the rise of Joyce
Mujuru to the
vice-presidency, won the highly contested Tsholotsho seat on
an independent
ticket.
Tsvangirai has rejected last week's
results, describing the election
as a "disgusting massive fraud." He cited
discrepancies between the number
of voters and the final figures announced
by the Mugabe-appointed Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission which was in charge of
running the election.
A largely despondent Maphosa, said the shock
result could signal the
beginning of the end for the MDC and democracy in
Zimbabwe.
"The opposition and the citizens' clamour for democratic
change are
all but dead. I had hoped to return home in the event of an
opposition
victory but I cannot go there to face ZANU PF-inspired hunger and
starvation. ZANU PF has once again robbed us of victory," he
said.
A section of the Johannesburg community here feel
participating in the
electoral process under the present set up is a sheer
waste of time and
effort. They called for an end to all attempts to remove
ZANU PF through the
ballot box.
Anele Moyo, a shop manager in
Berea who left Zimbabwe four years ago
said: "We have said over the years
that political dinosaurs like ZANU PF
understand only one language and that
is war. ZANU PF came to power through
the barrel of the gun.
"Mugabe has used the gun and outright electoral fraud to win elections
in
the past. This result must let all realise that it is not possible to
dislodge ZANU PF from power through an election. We must seek other
means."
Nkosinathi Tshuma, of Heal Zimbabwe Trust, a civic group
dealing with
Zimbabwean refugees in South Africa is however of a different
view.
"I do not see how mass action or pushing for a new
constitution can
make things better. If anything, the situation is likely to
get worse if the
opposition opts for mass protests.
"Trying to
change the constitution when ZANU PF enjoys a two-thirds
majority can only
produce a more draconian, ZANU PF and not a people-driven
constitution,"
said Tshuma.
But for the majority of Zimbabweans here in South
Africa, they are
thoroughly disillusioned with the electoral system which
they say is
designed to ensure only one outcome - victory for ZANU PF. The
solution,
they say, lies in taking the regime head on, outside Zimbabwe's
electoral
framework. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
South Africa says not aware of ill-treatment of jailed
mercenaries
Thur 7 April 2005
HARARE - The South African embassy in
Harare has denied any knowledge of
severe ill-treatment and torture of 62
mainly South African mercenaries who
are jailed in an infamous Harare
prison.
Kingsley Sithole, South Africa's deputy ambassador in
Harare, said the
embassy was not aware of any ill-treatment and torture as
alleged in recent
press reports.
"These are new allegations. We
have no record of such complaints. No
one has brought them to our
attention," said Sithole.
Last week, a South African newspaper said
the mercenaries were living
in terrible conditions at Chikurubi Maximum
prison in Harare saying the
mercenaries have been without running water for
more than a month.
The newspaper also reported that the mercenaries
were starving in jail
with the little food they were fed lacking any
nutritional value.
A lawyer representing the jailed South Africans,
Alwyn Griebenow,
yesterday told Zimonline that living conditions at the
security prison were
"horrible".
"Sometimes they each have a
small cup of water with which to wash,
shave, brush their teeth and drink
from," Griebenow said.
The 62 were arrested last year at the Harare
international airport on
their way to stage a military coup in Equatorial
Guinea. They are
languishing in jail after earlier attempts to secure an
early release on the
grounds of good behaviour hit a brick wall. -
ZimOnline
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Tobacco farmers agree to sell under
protest
Farming Reporter
issue date :2005-Apr-07
TOBACCO
merchants yesterday offered slightly higher prices at auction floors
in
Harare and farmers who had boycotted selling their crop the previous day
agreed to sell, although under protest.
When sales commenced in the
morning merchants were offering a minimum of
about US27c (Z$1 600) and a
maximum price of US$2,20 per kilogramme at the
Zimbabwe Tobacco Centre
(Zitac) before sales closed in the afternoon.
Sales at the other auction
floors - Tobacco Sales Floor (TSF) and Burley
Marketing Zimbabwe (BMZ)
averaged US40c (Z$2 500) per kilogramme.
Smallholder farmers were the hardest
hit as they did not have any
alternative other than to sell, although
clearly under protest, as they
lacked transport to ferry their produce back
home.
On Tuesday, the opening day of Zimbabwe's 2005 tobacco selling season,
merchants at BMZ and TSF offered as little as US15c with the highest bid at
US$1,65 per kilogramme. During a tour of BMZ and Zitac, The Daily Mirror
observed that most farmers had sold their crop by 11:00 am and were waiting
to receive payment.
Nevertheless, most tobacco growers expressed
disappointment over the prices
and said they intended in future to divert to
other cash crops.Although the
spokesperson for Zitac Irene Chakanyuka-Ushe
could not be reached for
comment, a senior auctioneer at the company said
most smallholder farmers
who had brought their tobacco crop on Monday had
opted to sell their crop,
even though under duress.
"Most of the
smallholder farmers that delivered their crop at any of the
three auction
floors decided to sell their produce," said the auctioneer.
"Most
large-scale commercial farmers returned home with their crop hoping
that the
situation would stabilise."
A large-scale tobacco farmer from the Odzi, John
Machiri, bitterly
complained over prices and said such a scenario would
discourage farmers
from growing the crop next season.
"We believe
government should urgently chip in this season to provide an
acceptable
support price to keep farmers in the sector or else they may be
forced to
abandon tobacco growing," Machiri said.
Most smallholder farmers who came
from Mashonaland Central and West
provinces agreed that they had no option
but to sell their crop citing
transport problems that would hinder them from
taking their produce home.
A smallholder farmer from Mt Darwin, Timothy
Gurupira said: "I found it
difficult to ferry my crop back home as it is
costly to do so since I do not
have transport."
Giving a breakdown of
expenses he incurred, Gurupira said he hired a
three-tonne truck for $3
million. His tobacco weighed about 600 kilogrammes,
which he sold at an
average of US40 cents.
"Although I have been paid a support price, I will be
going home without any
money," he said."I still have other commitments to
meet that include paying
workers, particularly hired labourers who are
waiting for their money."
Meanwhile technocrats in the tobacco sector said
that most new farmers
lacked adequate training in the production of the
crop. Farmers had been
warned in advance that they should follow rules and
regulations in crop
production.
The Zimbabwe Association of Tobacco
Growers (ZATG) warned as early as
September that farmers should have planted
tobacco by mid-November, saying
that the quality of late planted crop would
be poor.
Most new farmers planted tobacco during mid-December as they
received inputs
like fertilisers late, given the country faced a serious
shortage of top
dressing fertiliser particularly at a time it was required
most.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Zim lawyers send poll report to
Geneva
The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-Apr-07
A WEEK
after the March 31 polls won by the ruling Zanu PF and endorsed by
the
African Union, Sadc and many other observer teams as free and fair, the
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has produced a damning report on
the election-which it has already sent to Geneva.
Reasons for sending the
report, which castigated operations of the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission
(ZEC), to Geneva still remain hazy.
ZLHR's board member Mordecai Mahlangu,
claimed that ZEC failed to provide
adequate, impartial and informative
voters' education.
Said Mahlangu: "This contributed to an unacceptable high
number of voters
being turned away from polling stations and also an
unacceptable number of
spoilt papers throughout the country but especially
in rural areas."
He said the change in constituency boundaries were not
sufficiently made
known to affected voters leading to a number of voters
being turned away on
polling day.
This is despite the fact that
demarcations were done and announced three
months before the elections were
held as required by the Constitution,
giving the electorate ample time to
find out whether they had been affected
or not.
This has always been the
procedure in previous elections.
ZLHR also accused the Registrar General's
office of failing to carry out a
transparent and efficient voter
registration and inspection exercise despite
the deployment of officers from
the Electoral Supervisory Commission
throughout the country to conduct voter
education.
Other non-governmental organisation under the Zimbabwe Election
Support
Network were part and parcel of the voter education programme.
It
must be noted that the MDC had held their supporters at ransom while
playing
hide and seek with the ruling party on whether or not they would
take part
in the elections, political observers said.
Then the MDC took the decision to
participate "under protest" when the voter
registration exercise was almost
complete.
However, Mahlangu went on: "This is borne out by the high number of
voters
turned away from polling station on grounds of invalid registration
documentation, names not appearing on the roll and voters attending in the
wrong constituency following boundary changes."
The report also attacked
the Electoral Court alleging it was susceptible to
executive manipulation
and that ZLHR was unable to fully express confidence
that it would deal
effectively, independently and timeously with cases
lodged with it.
It
must also be noted that there have not been any cases known brought to
the
Electoral Court after the polls.
ZLHR noted that political tolerance was
higher and violence lower than in
2000 and 2002 polls.
Yesterday ZEC
maintained it conducted the election in a professional manner.
"As ZEC we did
what we were supposed to do and we have not received a single
complaint from
anyone up to today," Utoile Silaigwana, the commission's
spokesperson
said.
Police chief spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena said it was the
responsibility of
ZLHR to support and substantiate their allegations instead
of blowing hot
air.
Bvudzijena challenged the lawyers' grouping as he did
with National
Constitutional Assembly boss Lovemore Madhuku to produce
evidence of their
claims he said were meant for the international
gallery.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Parks probe spreads to China
Shame
Makoshori
issue date :2005-Apr-07
THE probe into allegations of
corruption at the Parks and Wildlife Authority
has spread to China and South
Africa after the investigating team unearthed
a syndicate of elephant trophy
and game smuggling linked to the two
countries, The Business Mirror has
learnt.
Investigations by this newspaper have indicated that the Parks
Authority has
been advised by the investigating team who pried through the
parks records
to move into South Africa and trek an unnamed Chinese firm
that acted as a
conduit for the corrupt activities.
Documents leaked to
this newspaper also revealed that after completion of
investigations
implicating former operations director Vitalis Chadenga, a
further probe
would be commissioned.
The probe would centre on a Chinese firm that helped
in the illegal
exportation of 74 elephant trophies to that country by yet to
be identified
Parks top brass.
"The investigations also unearthed
information that 400 sables were smuggled
into South Africa while 63 lions
mysteriously disappeared into the same
country," a source close to the
investigations said.
In Kariba, the probe would focus on the corrupt issuance
of fishing permits
to white owned commercial fishing companies whose
directors are fighting a
bitter war to get indigenous companies out of
business.
The white owned companies are alleged to be conniving with Parks
officials
to be awarded extra permits at a fee or in exchange for
shareholding.
In an earlier interview, Kapenta Producers Association of
Zimbabwe president
Stanford Mafa told The Business Mirror that the industry
was concerned in
the manner in which the permits were
distributed.
Several indigenous fishing companies, this newspaper
understands, were
awarded between two and four permits while the most
established white firms
have up to 20 permits, some of which are not
utilised.Among the companies
clamouring for more permits, according to
sources, include Chalala, Mulange,
Mvurazhinji, Nyanyana and Zvatakarwira in
Kariba and Chunga Fishing company
in Binga.
The sources further alleged
that several black business have been waiting
for permits since1992 after
they had been promised that a quota system would
be implemented where
permits would be taken from companies with more and be
redistributed to the
awaiting new firms.
Also under investigation include the awarding of 32
illegal professional
hunting permits, 40 elephants that were allocated to
Parks staff in the
Charara area but were later devoured by clients after the
allocations were
corruptly made for trophy hunting.Two ranches, Bishopstone
and Mujingwe, all
in Beitbridge would also be investigated for possible
canned hunting with
South African operators with the aid of Parks
staff.
The investigators also recommended that the director of operations,
who has
since been suspended, be further investigated for the alleged
approval for
an operator known as Coetzee to hunt lions and hippos in areas
not in his
quota.
Investigations also revealed corrupt rhino hunting in
the Bubye areas by
several companies such as Out of Africa and Game
Management Africa, which
are also under investigations.
Game Management
Africa has since been served with a letter of suspension,
according to
documents at hand.
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
Next Step for
MDC
Opposition party says it intends to use its seats in parliament to
expose
government "nonsense".
By Marceline Ndoro in Harare (Africa
Reports: Zimbabwe Elections No 26,
06-Apr-05)
The opposition Movement
for Democratic Change, MDC, will take up the 41
parliamentary seats it won
in the country's recent elections, in spite of
its protests that the vote
was rigged.
In an interview with IWPR, MDC secretary-general Welshman
Ncube said his
party rejects its overall defeat in the election, which he
said was
"engineered by widespread fraud".
But the MDC's successful
MPs, elected mainly in urban areas, won their seats
fair and square, he
said, and the party would build on these successes to
publicise what he
described as the ZANU PF government's corruption,
mismanagement and
misrule.
"We intend to use the seats in parliament to expose government
nonsense...
in whatever way possible," said Ncube, who himself won the
Bulawayo East
constituency for the MDC.
He said the MDC would not
appeal to Zimbabwe's courts as the main way of
challenging the results, but
would intensify its protests in other ways. He
declined to expand on how
this might be done but promised that the strategy
would soon become
clear.
In the wake of parliamentary elections in 2000 in which the MDC
won 57
seats, the party contested ZANU PF victories in a further 30 seats.
The
appeals are still stuck in the supreme court, which President Robert
Mugabe
has packed with judges personally loyal to him and the ruling
party.
Immediately after the results of the latest parliamentary election
were
announced on April 2, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai urged people to
"defend
their vote", which he said could include some form of mass
action.
But Ncube said the party's resort to Zimbabwe's judiciary would
be more
limited this time round.
"We are going to go to the courts to
challenge certain selected glaring
[results]," he told IWPR. "Our lawyers
are currently working on the papers.
Unlike in 2000, when we challenged
almost all of the seats we lost, this
time we are selecting just a few and
these will be enough to expose Zanu
PF's rigging."
Constituencies
likely to be challenged are Manyame and Mhondoro in
Mashonaland West; Harare
South, Goromonzi and Marondera East in Mashonaland
East; and Chivi North in
Masvingo, whose final declared results did not
tally with the numbers of
voters counted at polling stations.
In Manyame, for example, President
Mugabe's nephew Patrick Zhuwao reportedly
received 15,448 votes, beating the
MDC candidate Suka Hilda Mafudze who
apparently secured just 8,312. But the
combined total of these results
suggests 23,760 people voted in the
constituency, nearly 10,000 more than
the actual figure announced as having
completed ballots at the polling
stations.
A senior MDC official said
the party might now push for full international
sanctions against Zimbabwe
as opposed to the targeted sanctions on senior
government and party
officials currently enforced mainly by the European
Union, United States,
Canada and Australia.
The official declined to be named - calling for
sanctions against Zimbabwe
might be counted as treason, an offence
punishable by hanging.
Marceline Ndoro is the pseudonym of an IWPR
contributor in Harare.
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2005 1:33 AM
Subject: ZIMBABWE: Govt plans to replace DOTS
ZIMBABWE: Govt plans to replace DOTS
[This report does not
necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 6
April (IRIN) - Zimbabwe plans to introduce a new combination of drugs to treat
tuberculosis (TB) early next year, an official in the Ministry of Health and
Child Welfare told IRIN.
Owen Mugurungi, a senior officer with the
ministry's HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis programme, told IRIN that the Fixed
Combination Dose (FDS) would replace the existing Directly Observed Treatment
Short-course (DOTS) strategy.
"The new dose will combine a number of the
tablets that patients are currently taking separately, to produce one powerful
combination that will be tolerable to patients and more effective in combating
all TB strains," Mugurungi explained.
He said FDS would also reduce the
daily tablet intake from 14 to eight, resulting in fewer patients abandoning the
treatment because of the large doses, as had been the case in recent
years.
TB patients who skipped doses "have always returned to health
institutions exhibiting signs of new, highly resistant TB strains that are hard
to treat. We also expect the new dose to reduce some of the TB strains we have
seen developing in patients who take the DOTS combination for a long time," said
Mugurungi.
The launch of FDS has been delayed from June to early next
year, as the medication is awaiting approval from the Medicines Control
Authority of Zimbabwe.
TB has emerged as one of the major opportunistic
killer infections among HIV/AIDS positive people. According to the World Health
Organisation, more than 19,000 Zimbabweans - most of them HIV positive - died of
TB in 2003, almost five times the number of deaths from the disease in
1990.
[ENDS]
Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs 2005
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Integrated Regional
Information Network (IRIN) - 1995-2005 ten years serving the humanitarian
community
Christian Science Monitor
from the April 07, 2005 edition
HOWARD BURDITT/REUTERS
Is it
ethical to visit 'outpost of tyranny'?
Zimbabwe's wildlife industry
struggles as many tourists steer clear of the Mugabe regime.
By Stephanie
Hanes | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor
VICTORIA FALLS,
ZIMBABWE – Not long ago, travelers longing for adventure and wildlife in Africa
had an obvious destination: Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.
This small city on the
Zambezi river not only boasted the mile-wide falls - its own "wonder of the
world" - but game parks full of elephants, safari guides aplenty, and hotels
catering to everyone from backpacking bungee-jumpers to would-be colonialists.
It was a regional tourism center.
That was before Zimbabwe's collapse -
before President Robert Mugabe encouraged the takeover of white-owned farms,
closed independent newspapers, and restricted political opposition.
Last
week, Mr. Mugabe's party trounced the opposition in a parliamentary vote that
international observers have decried as rigged. The country faces severe food
shortages and the US government has labeled Zimbabwe an "outpost of
tyranny."
So now, travelers face a more difficult decision: Is it ethical to
vacation in a country where tourist dollars help fund repressive leaders? A
traveler might pay the hotel, but Zimbabwe's government collects taxes from
tourism-related business.
Or does abandoning the country worsen problems
faced by individuals who have nothing to do with politics?
Particularly in
the region around Victoria Falls, people depend on tourists for jobs, money, and
food - all of which are scarce these days. Conservation programs also rely on
tourist-generated income.
"As a traveler, you'd want to define your purpose,"
says Paula Mirk, vice president for education at the Maine-based Institute for
Global Ethics. "What are the core values supporting that purpose? Do they
conflict with the values of democracy?"
Close to a dozen tourists interviewed
recently in Victoria Falls said the financial boost they give locals outweighs
any unintentional funding of Mugabe.
"From the ground level, you're
supporting individuals who have done nothing wrong," says Oscar Moseley from
England, who has been traveling through Africa.
But many vacationers have
opted out of Zimbabwe, either for ethical reasons or because of concern that the
March 31 election could have turned violent.
Victoria Falls looks like an
abandoned mining town, crawling with desperate hawkers who swarm the few
sightseers.
A young Zimbabwean who runs an art gallery says he used to sell
five to 10 stone sculptures per day, mostly to Americans. Now he sells only one
or two per week.
Across the street, men in second-hand clothing clamor to
sell carved wooden animals. Many of them came to Victoria Falls for jobs in the
tourist sector. But with some estimating unemployment at 55 percent, hawking is
the one of the few options.
In the nearby township of Chinotimba, home to
many of the city's black workers, a man named Zuka chiseled a piece of wood,
crafting an elephant. Selling curios to tourists is his only income, he says,
but business is down. He says he can afford only two meals a day - tea and bread
in the morning, a starchy staple known as "sadza," or corn meal, in the
evening.
The wood he whittles was probably chopped down from national
parkland, according to conservationists. Deforestation has become one of the
main environmental concerns in western Zimbabwe, as people who can't get jobs in
hotels or gift shops fell trees to make carvings. Conservationists fear the
habitat that draws visitors is being destroyed.
"It's going to take
generations to replace these trees," says Charles Brightman, who runs the
Victoria Falls Anti-Poaching Unit, which combats environmental degradation while
giving locals employment. He says poaching has also increased. People are
hungry, so they are more tempted to hunt impala and other game in protected
parks.
Two hours down the road, rangers at the Hwange National Park say
they have seen the same trend. Of the 30 rangers based at the once-popular Main
Camp, most are dedicated to antipoaching efforts.
With hardly any tourists,
no one needs to stick around camp to lead game drives and walks. Recently, a
camp log book showed it had been weeks since the last visitor took a
ranger-guided hike.
Without tourist dollars, national parks are strapped for
funds. According to a ranger, Hwange cannot afford to run the man-made water
holes that attracted animals to this park in the first place. Conservationists
tell stories of landowners, desperate for money, allowing unscrupulous hunters
to shoot protected animals.
"There has been just wholesale destruction of
large game," says Brian Gratwicke, who runs ZimConservation, a Washington-based
online community of scientists and conservationists interested in
Zimbabwe.
But it is unclear whether more tourism would mean improved
facilities and less poaching. Much of the money earned by the park system goes
to the central government, which distributes it at will. The landowners rumored
to allow full-scale poaching are said to be well connected.
Doug Wilson, a
tourist from Ontario, says he suspected much of the tourism-generated revenue
went to Mugabe. "He's strangling the country," he says. But he feels comfortable
traveling and spending money in Zimbabwe. "It's for each person to decide their
own ethics," Mr. Wilson says. But with the tips he gave to locals and the crafts
he bought, he says, "I think it probably does more help than harm."