• ‘Ghost voters unearthed’
• Police quell skirmish at ZANU PF meeting
• ESC ordered to submit report on alleged blocking of nominations
• Payments row stalls ‘A’ level exams marking
• Women demand say in ZANU PF-MDC talks
• Shrinking economy sends professionals fleeing
• Wake up and smell the coffee
• ZANU PF leaders about to slaughter Zimbabwe’s remaining ‘cash cow’
• No aid before political deal
• Mugabe makes new proposals
• Zim seeks expert advice on fiscus
• Zanu PF snubs church-led talks
• Ministry sends wake-up call to cabinet
• $75b farm equipment vandalised, stolen
• Farm evictions cripple research stations
• Civics want accountability on human rights abuses
• UN renews probe into plunder of DRC resources
• Mugabe agrees to devalue
• Donors needed to rescue economy
• Chissano lets cat out of the bag
• Everyone hedging against inflation
• Huni, Hungwe: sober up and get real
• Banks should destroy old notes
• Armed robberies and carjackings haunt Zim
• Public accounting
• Opposition says no to Mugabe unity government
• 'Zim should remain suspended'
• Land reform audit final report expected out soon
• Mugabe attends CPTM talks

      MacDonald Chirunga, an official with the opposition party’s elections
directorate, told the Daily News that several potential voters in the city
had been disenfranchised, while non-residents of Gweru were being registered
under non-existent residential addresses.

      "We bought the voters’ roll from the RG’s (Registrar-General’s) Office
for the Gweru municipal elections and carried out a physical audit of the
voters’ roll by checking names against given addresses," he said.

      "It has been proved beyond reasonable doubt that there are close to 6
000 anomalies. This reduces our chances of a convincing win as ZANU PF can
benefit by about 20 percent through bussing in people and ghost voters."

      It was not possible to secure comment from Registrar-General Tobaiwa
Mudede, who was yesterday reportedly attending meetings.

      But ZANU PF secretary for information and publicity Nathan Shamuyarira
said those who doubted the credibility of the electoral system should go to
court so that ghost voters could be disqualified from voting on the basis of
available material evidence.

      "The registration of voters is an ever-continuing process, but one
must be resident in a particular constituency to be registered," Shamuyarira
said.

      "One has to give his name and physical address before they can be
registered.

      "The MDC should take that matter forward through the legal system and
those illegally registered will be disqualified.

      "No one knows better how to go to the courts than the MDC. Let them go
to the courts and appeal against that."

      Chirunga said the MDC had discovered several ghost names under
incomplete or non-existent physical addresses, while another 723 phantom
voters were registered at state institutions such as police stations,
hospitals and military camps.

      The MDC officials said names such as that of Laison Morgan Tonera
appeared on the voters’ roll in Ward 3 without a physical address.

      Chirunga said disenfranchised voters included one Janet Bafana of 206
Makina Square in Senga of Ward 5, who is registered under the Ward 3 voters’
roll.

      Other names appearing on the voters’ roll included Agnes Kudzai
Matarise

      of Ward 3, Cecilia Jakachira and Inosi Matora, both of Ward 12, whose
physical addresses indicated that they were residents of Silobela and Gokwe
South constituencies.

      Electoral Supervisory Commission spokesman Thomas Bvuma yesterday
admitted that there were problems arising from the voters’ rolls, mainly due
to the continued movement of people from one area to another.

      He said: "I have not heard such reports and l have not seen any
letters raising those issues from the MDC. Some people may have been
registered a long time ago and people are moving to new areas like
resettlement schemes.

      "Those are factors which should be considered by people going through
the voters’ rolls. If there are any anomalies, one has to consider when that
registration occurred. In fact, people are moving to new residential areas
without effecting transfers on the voters’ roll with the RG’s Office.
Several names will, in the process, remain registered in an area they have
since moved from. That’s a general problem that exists."

      Meanwhile, MDC officials in Mutare said more than 50 opposition party
supporters were injured on Wednesday night in clashes with suspected ruling
ZANU PF activists ahead of this month’s urban council elections.

      The injured included two aides of MDC Mutare mayoral candidate Misheck
Kagurabadza.

      The two, Peter Buzuzi and Shamiso Obert Mubango, sustained serious
injuries from stabbings on Wednesday night, MDC officials said. MDC
provincial spokesman Pishai Muchauraya yesterday said Buzuzi and Mubango
were admitted at a privately-run city hospital after they were attacked by
about 60 people dropped off by three Nissan Hardbody vehicles marked "ZANU
PF Manicaland Province" and another marked "ZANU PF Mutasa DCC". Muchauraya
said those attacked were among about 400 people gathered at Sakubva’s Ward 2
near Sakubva District Hospital at Kaburabadza’s campaign rally. Muchauraya
said Kagurabadza escaped unhurt, but the windscreen of his Nissan vehicle
was smashed. "Buzuzi and Mubango were stabbed while protecting Kagurabadza
from being assaulted by the youths with missiles," Muchauraya said. He added
that the police officer commanding Manicaland, Ronald Muderedzwa, whisked
Buzuzi and Mubango to hospital. Muderedzwa yesterday confirmed that he had
been called to the scene. "Yes, I heard about that, but can you call the
Officer Commanding Mutare District, Emilia Moyo? " Moyo could not be reached
for comment yesterday. By Precious Shumba Senior Reporter

      Some of the provincial executive members attending the meeting
allegedly sought refuge in the toilets when the marauding party youths
threatened to assault them on Wednesday.

      Ruling party sources said the youths were seeking the reinstatement of
an executive member who was allegedly fired recently.

      The incident is believed to be part of the factionalism that has
threatened to tear the party apart in the country’s second largest city.

      The sources said riot police were called to the party’s offices at
Davies’ Hall and they swiftly responded and defused the situation.

      They said no one was arrested or injured during the disturbances.

      Sources said ZANU PF candidates for the forthcoming municipal
elections were present during the skirmishes.

      An official who answered the telephone at the party offices yesterday
refused to disclose his name but only said: "That has nothing to do with
you."

      Some of the party’s provincial executive members alleged that the
ousted provincial chairman, Jabulani Sibanda, was responsible for the
incident.

      However, Sibanda yesterday denied having a hand in the skirmishes and
said he was not aware of the incident.

      He said: "The allegations are nonsense. They have got their problems
because they are trying to run the party for their own selfish reasons
without considering the party constitution.

      "They are using personal level politics to guide the party instead of
the constitution. I’m not involved in that at all."

      Several ZANU PF executive members in Bulawayo have been fired or
resigned in the last few months in what party insiders say is part of a
leadership wrangle.

      Provincial party spokesman Sikhumbuzo Ndiweni resigned after he
allegedly differed with the party’s old guard on his intentions to include
youths in the provincial leadership. Yesterday, he confirmed resigning but
refused to disclose the reasons.

      "I can confirm that I resigned, but I cannot tell you the reason," he
said.

      Own Correspondent

      The affected opposition contestants had petitioned the High Court to
order Tobaiwa Mudede, the Registrar-General, to consider their nominations
for urban council elections scheduled for the end of this month.

      On Thursday last week, the same judge reserved judgment on the matter,
saying he required time to consider the submissions by the parties.

      Justice Hlatshwayo said officials from the ESC were present at the
Nomination Court at the Chegutu Town House on 21 July, "therefore their
views and observations would be critical to the finalisation of this
matter".

      He said lawyers representing the MDC candidates, ZANU PF and Mudede
would be given up to Monday afternoon to respond to the ESC’s report.

      The opposition party candidates, who said they were attacked and
chased away from the Nomination Court by ZANU PF youths, complained that
Mudede and the police failed to ensure that the nomination process was
conducted in a free and fair manner.

      Seven of the aspiring candidates and six party activists submitted
affidavits through their lawyer, Sheila Jarvis of Atherstone and Cook,
detailing how they were allegedly attacked with sticks and stones,
sustaining various injuries.

      One of the candidates, Shepherd Jack, was allegedly attacked outside
the Chegutu Town House after he tried to sneak into the Nomination Court
with his nomination papers tucked under his jacket.

      Revai Mahano, who wanted to contest in Ward One, said he sustained
injuries on his face and back when a gang raided his home and attacked him
before making off with his national identity card and other personal
documents.

      Chegutu Executive Mayor Francis Dhlakama said despite his persistent
appeals to the police to provide adequate security and the police’s own
pledge to maintain order at the Nomination Court, rowdy youths invaded an
open space surrounding Town House.

      Dhlakama said: "The general atmosphere was tense and threatening and
the Town Clerk and I phoned the officer-in-charge at Chegutu Central (police
station) and asked him to deploy officers to clear the Town House and its
environs as previously arranged. The police then deployed 10 officers to
monitor the situation.

      "However, shortly after that, I found that again the venue for the
court and the premises of the Town House were full of people who were in a
large crowd and challenging anybody carrying papers," he added.

      Patience Nyabadza of the Attorney-General’s Office, representing
Mudede, and ZANU PF’s lawyer, Joseph Mandizha, said there were no
disturbances inside the Nomination Court and that no complaints had been
made to officials from Mudede’s office.

      The lawyers suggested that the MDC candidates could have filed their
nomination papers earlier since there was provision in law for candidates to
submit their papers in advance.

      The police admitted there had been disturbances outside the Nomination
Court and that the MDC candidates had approached them seeking escort to gain
entry into the Nomination Court.

      They said by the time they accompanied the candidates, the Nomination
Court had closed.

      Nyabadza and Mandizha did not dispute that the opposition candidates
had asked for police protection on the day the Nomination Court sat.

      Court Reporter

      Local teachers, who are supposed to mark the exams, said the rates the
stipulated by ZIMSEC were too low.

      Progressive Teachers’ Association of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president
Takavafira Zhou said ZIMSEC had not increased its rates despite soaring
inflation, which rose 364.5 percent in the year to June and is expected to
top 500 percent in the next few months.

      "They are paying last year’s rates of $172.22 per script marked and
the teachers have said the rate is unattractive," Zhou said.

      He said in a memo dated 29 July 2003, ZIMSEC had indicated that it
would also pay each marker $3 626.03 as co-ordination fee for the marking
which is scheduled to begin on 17 August and end on 31 August.

      The ZIMSEC assistant director (examinations administration), who was
identified as C B Murira, yesterday would not comment on the issue.

      "I do not speak to the media. You cannot have my comment. Talk to the
director, Mr Ndanga," Murira said.

      It was, however, not possible to secure comment from ZIMSEC director
Oswald Ndanga, whose secretary said he was out of the office on business
yesterday.

      But Zhou said the unattractive remuneration offered to teachers was
likely to compromise the outcome of the June "A" Level results.

      He said after consultation over the proposed rates, many PTUZ members
had resolved to snub the invitation to mark the examinations.

      Zhou said those teachers who had accepted the offer were likely to
adopt a "helicopters view" approach to the marking, that is, they would go
through as many scripts as possible in order to generate higher earnings.

      The PTUZ president said this was likely to compromise the examination
results.

      Parents of students who wrote their "A" Level exams in June told the
Daily News that the delay would derail plans they were making for their
children to further their education.

      They said some students would lose out on scholarships.

      ZIMSEC has been hit by controversy in the past few years, with several
of its officials being implicated in a serious examination scam under which
candidates were issued with certificates for exams they had not written.

      The government is planning to merge the organisation with the body
responsible for administering exams for tertiary education institutions.

      Own Correspondent

      Crisis in Zimbabwe (CZ), a consortium of non-governmental
organisations (NGOs), has called for the greater participation of women in
the proposed talks, arguing that any negotiated settlement between the
government and the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
would lack legitimacy if women were excluded from the process.

      "Today women in Zimbabwe find themselves at the confluence of the
political, economic and HIV/AIDS crisis. It is imperative that any future
dialogue between the government and the MDC includes women as key players,"
CZ spokeswoman Everjoice Win told IRIN.

      In a recent paper, Crisis in Zimbabwe: A Women’s Perspective, the
advocacy group noted that the current economic crisis had left scores of
women without work, while the high cost of living had "very specific gender
dimensions".

      "To illustrate just how affected women are by the crisis, all one has
to do is consider that a packet of eight sanitary pads now costs, on
average, Z$5 000 (about US$6 at the official exchange rate). Most domestic
workers only earn $5 000," Win said.

      The price of a packet of three female condoms – more commonly used by
women to prevent pregnancy and HIV infection – is now Z$2 000 (about US$2).
"Women are having to compromise their own health, just so that they can feed
their families," Win noted.

      CZ also drew attention to the effects of government legislation on the
ability of women’s groups to organise themselves. For example, the
introduction of the Public Order and Security Act had reversed many of the
gains women had made in the first years after independence.

      "Women’s organisation that have outreach activities in communities are
finding it difficult to reach the women, thereby denying women space to
participate in their own development programmes," the NGO said.

      There were also concerns over increased sexual violence. The
organisation said the rape of women by ruling party militia was well
documented.

      "Poor black women have borne the brunt of this violence; in the
townships, on commercial farms, and in the rural areas. Documentation by the
NGO Human Rights Forum shows that scores of women have been raped,
gang-raped, beaten up, taken into forced concubinage by state-trained and
sponsored Green Bombers, and young women in particular now face the prospect
of HIV/AIDS infection," the paper alleged.

      Win said talks between the MDC and ZANU PF should focus on revisiting
the Constitution.

      "It is imperative that a comprehensive constitutional review takes
place, and in that process women want to represent themselves. We want to
see a constitution that guarantees our right as Zimbabweans."

      – IRIN

      It was not a job he anticipated when he graduated eight years ago with
an engineering degree from the University of Zimbabwe. Until two years ago,
he was working at a beverage firm, struggling along in the depressed formal
economy, when the economic crisis and rising cost of living made him
reassess his future.

      "The salaries were so small, and we were working shifts as a result of
reduced production. This meant our salaries were sometimes cut," explained
35-year-old Chirova.

      In the meantime, government price controls on basic commodities had
created a booming black market. He decided to resign and take his chances
there.

      Now he supports his two children by selling fuel illegally on the
street to desperate motorists, on behalf of dealers who have licences from
the authorities to import the scarce commodity, while keeping an alert eye
on the police.

      They are trying to stamp out the black market as it diverts fuel from
the official outlets, where it is more than three times cheaper than the
street price of $1 500 (US $1.80) a litre, but seldom available.

      The fuel shortage resulting from the government’s crippling lack of
foreign exchange has kept Chirova in business. Despite the risks, he has
been able to buy an old pickup truck with his earnings.

      "It’s better than nothing, and I almost earn five times what my
colleagues I left at that firm do," he said.

      Tabeth Zuze, 25, made a similar decision to try her hand in the
parallel market. She graduated from a teachers’ training college in Zimbabwe
’s second city of Bulawayo only last year, but did not relish the idea of
working in the rural areas, living in a one-roomed house with no transport,
no clean water – and worse – no teaching aids, including even chalk.

      She now owns two flea market stalls in Harare’s city centre, selling
plasticware and china imported from South Africa.

      "I earn enough to pay rent and buy food. I can [turn over] up to $200
000 [US $244] a month," she said.

      Teachers in Zimbabwe earn an average of $150 000 (US $183). A recent
report by the Scientific and Industrial Research and Development Centre has
shown that nearly 500 000 Zimbabwean professionals have left the country
since 1990 in search of better opportunities overseas.

      But an internal movement of skilled Zimbabweans is also under way,
robbing the country of much-needed capacity, and shrinking the government’s
tax revenue base.

      Both Chirova and Zuze represent the phenomenon of the "internal brain
drain" – trained professionals who have remained in the country but chosen
not to utilise their skills in formal careers.

      The impact is felt throughout the professions. One lawyer told IRIN
that his firm lost two junior lawyers this year alone.

      "The guys are now cross-border traders, selling sugar, cooking oil and
clothes to Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia. They say they earn at least US $5
000 (Z$4.12 million) every month," he explained. The average salary for a
junior lawyer is $450 000 (US $549).

      Social worker Michael Phiri said Zimbabwe’s formal sector is
increasingly understaffed as professionals seek opportunities elsewhere.

      In many rural communities where he has worked, clinics were manned by
orderlies because nurses drifted to urban areas to look for alternative
jobs, or joined the legion of Zimbabwean health care workers employed
abroad, typically in Britain or South Africa.

      "Education is no longer a guarantee of employment, nor a good salary,
as the economy is now more and more informal," Phiri said.

      Chirova and Zuze deliberately opted out of formal employment. But for
most Zimbabweans, the country’s shrinking economy has left them with little
other choice.

      Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate is estimated at 75 percent and is
expected to reach 90 percent by the end of 2003. According to George Making,
a human resources consultant, 400 companies closed in 2002 alone, leaving at
least 350 000 people jobless. Estimates put the number of formal jobs lost
at over 800 000 since 2000, employment agent Tapiwa Chikudo told IRIN. The
losses were mainly in the agriculture, construction and manufacturing
industries. In addition, over 250 000 school leavers join the job market
every year. One independent researcher believes Zimbabwe’s decline has been
so severe that the economy would need to grow by an unprecedented 25 percent
over five years to achieve a reasonable recovery. "For Zimbabwe to recover
to levels where it can generate sufficient jobs and wealth to ensure the
repayment of loans on one hand, whilst allowing a significant improvement in
the conditions of life for a poverty stricken and AIDS-ravaged population,
the economy must sustain a minimum of a 25 percent economic growth rate over
a space of not less than five years," said the researcher with an NGO, the
Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development. – IRIN

      Indeed, nothing illustrates the callousness and insensitivity of the
government to the plight of tormented Zimbabweans than its obscene
preoccupation with fixing "official prices" of basic commodities that are
not available except from the cut-throat black market.

      Needless to mention that no one, including the very same government
fat cats and their hangers-on, observes or cares a hoot about the so-called
official prices.

      Industry and commerce, already on its knees just like everything else
in once proud and prosperous Zimbabwe, must suffer more losses because there
is no fuel.

      And Zimbabweans must endure more hardships because of the biting fuel
shortage, all because the government is still haggling with private oil
companies over what "official price" fuel companies should be allowed to
charge for petrol or diesel they would have imported using their own money!

      In which country does the government of Zimbabwe live, we ask?

      There are virtually no more queues for fuel at garages across the
country, not because the precious liquid is suddenly in abundance in the
country, but because people are buying diesel and petrol in dark alleys and
at night from black market suppliers.

      The prices black market traders are charging for petrol and diesel are
more or less the same with what private fuel importers want to be allowed to
charge for their product.

      Surely, it should be obvious, even to the dimwits at the Energy and
Power Development Ministry, that letting black market dealers supply
Zimbabwe’s fuel needs, as is the case now, does not make fuel any cheaper
than allowing companies with proven track records to source the commodity
for the country.

      But even this might be too difficult to grasp for a government that
first allows political thugs to chase productive farmers off the land and
when the country is threatened with starvation, takes its sweet time to
appeal for food handouts from international donors.

      Zimbabwe’s economic crisis, created by the government, and by the
government alone, is an abnormal situation that requires a serious, well
thought-out and holistic approach.

      This is what Chissano, when he visited Zimbabwe this week, meant when
he said: "On the economic side, I’m under the impression that there are
still some serious problems."

      Too much has been allowed to go wrong in this country because it was
politically expedient at that time.

      Tinkering with prices of goods or promulgating new and tougher laws in
the foolish hope of legislating the crisis away is not going to work because
in the economic Gehenna called Zimbabwe, there is only one law and that is:
survival of the most brutal and meanest.

      Mugabe and his government should wake up to this sad reality created
by their own illustrious handiwork in the last 23 years, or God save
Zimbabwe.

      As nothing more than a plan to try to win urban support for the ruling
ZANU PF party, the plan is ill-conceived.

      It is among the rash, spur-of-the-moment decisions which have plunged
this once beautiful country into ruins.

      Clearly, the plan, if brought to fruition, would see businesses close
by the hundreds, and a further mass exodus of the businessmen who have
earned foreign currency for the government’s insatiable needs. Pay as You
Earn (PAYE), sales tax and company tax revenues will dwindle and thousands
more workers will be found unemployed on the streets chasing less and less
jobs.

      The scheme cannot afford to discriminate, which would mean that all
registered companies will have to follow suit.

      Farmers would again be affected as all farms are run through
registered companies. Parastatals like the Cold Storage Company, Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority, National Railways of Zimbabwe and National Oil
Company of Zimbabwe would have to be included in the scheme or workers would
cry foul.

      The civil servant too must be included and be given a 20 percent share
of government’s losses. Not to do so would see massive migration of workers,
skilled and unskilled, from the civil service and parastatals to the private
sector.

      Black businessmen will not be exempt, and neither will the new breed
of ministerial weekend farmers. What about a firm of auditors which employs
a large number of black, white, coloured and Indian clerks all on the same
salary scales? Is it only the indigenous workers who get shares?

      When will our leaders realise that they cannot buy their way out of
the present fiasco? We need solid, brave, well-thought-out decisions to
reverse the downward slide of the economy and, more importantly, we need to
fix the problem instead of always tackling the end result.

      Workers would be more than happy if the current spiralling prices were
brought back to normality by the benefits of international recognition and a
new democratic government.

      Companies must surely have a right to compensation for disposal of
shares, and who is going to fund this purchase? I hope its not the British
government!

      The foreign currency earners of tourism and farming have already been
killed off, and now the last remaining "cash cow", commerce and industry,
which provides vast company tax revenues and foreign exchange from exports,
is about to be led to the slaughter.

      This move will make the farm seizure fiasco look like a "Sunday
picnic". Gukurahundi was accepted as "an act of madness" – this idea will go
down in history as the third "act of madness".

      They say when you find yourself in a hole, the best thing to do is to
stop digging, and get out there. Mark these words!

      Surely our President, if he is serious about vacating office soon,
must realise that it is time to grasp the nettle, make hard decisions and
only two factors need to be done immediately: give the country freedom and
justice and all else will follow.

      Only then would he be able to depart with a modicum of dignity and
respect.

      B R Charsley

      Bulawayo

Western diplomats this week said traditional donors would only come to
Zimbabwe's assistance if there was a settlement on the political front.

"There will be no relief from donors or multilateral lenders until there is
evidence of political consensus in the country," a senior diplomat told the
Independent.

Bernard Mokam, the UNDP act-ing resident representative, confirmed on
Wednesday that the meeting would be held to consider requests from
countries, including Zimbabwe, for humanitarian assistance.

"Indeed, we are planning a donors conference, provisionally set for
September 15 but still subject to revision," said Mokam.

"The purpose is to present appeals to the international community based on
the requests made by governments in the region for humanitarian assistance."

The UNDP's intervention, diplomatic sources said, was crucial in mobilising
international support to alleviate Zimbabwe's crisis. Last month United
States Secretary of State Colin Powell said his country was working with the
United Nations and other partners to clear the country's political logjam.

Diplomatic sources said the donor community would seek "tangible evidence"
of progress in talks on Zimbabwe's crisis before committing themselves to
providing support to the country which is experiencing economic meltdown.

Harare has already requested 600 000 tonnes of food aid, a large variety of
medicines, as well as $885 billion for the revival of the agricultural
sector from the donor community as immediate needs.

The UNDP, sources said, was keen to convince international financiers that
more funds would be required to rebuild the country during its transition to
democracy. The UNDP still hopes it can secure Western donor support for
another land conference after the failure of the 1998 Harare meeting. But
this all depends on the prevailing political situation.

Sources this week said UNDP/government relations had to improve for
co-operation to take place. The government has used the state media to make
veiled attacks on the UNDP. The UNDP was recently accused of aiding white
commercial farmers' relocation to neighbouring countries instead of
mobilising funds to support the land reform exercise.

Asked about the UNDP's role in finding a settlement in Zimbabwe, Mokam
admitted that the international community was worried by the situation in
the country and wanted it solved.

"I agree that the crisis is a cause for concern. However, our primary

objective is to deal with the humanitarian situation," he said.

"Of course, a forum to discuss the political side is on. Political processes
and dialogue are taking place. The (political) initiatives that are underway
need and indeed have our full support," he said

The UNDP itself has started local efforts aimed at bringing the political
contenders into resolving the current standoff, albeit at a primary level.

Last week the UNDP organised a workshop in Kariba for Zanu PF and MDC MPs on
conflict resolution and negotiating through dialogue.

Delegates who attended the workshop disclosed that the focus was on the
Zimbabwean crisis.

"We covered all concepts of conflict resolution specifically focusing on the
Zimbabwean crisis," one delegate said. "Much emphasis was put on the need
for political parties to compromise on positions and differences for the
sake of an amicable settlement that would make the country accepted by the
international community."

Mokam confirmed the workshop took place but insisted that it was merely "a
capacity building project".

The sources said Mugabe wants an amendment to the current constitution or
the drawing up of a new one that would provide ring-fencing measures to
protect him from prosecution for human rights abuses. It is understood
Mugabe would, if the talks restart any time now and progress is made,
relinquish the Zanu PF leadership in December during the party's annual
conference but remain as head of state until fresh elections are held by
June next year.

The June time frame for fresh polls emerged after United States President
George Bush's meeting with South African President Thabo Mbeki on July 9.

Contemplated changes would also revive the post of prime minister enabling
Mugabe to retain the ceremonial post of head of state while conceding
day-to-day authority to either his designated successor as party leader or
an MDC official.

Mugabe recently said he did not mind which system of government was in place
although he preferred the American-style presidential system. Thabo Mbeki
who has been trying for the past three years to broker a solution to
Zimbabwe's seemingly intractable crisis was said to have indicated to a
senior regional official recently that Mugabe wants to retire as Zanu PF
leader in December.

Mbeki has of late been trying to placate Mugabe to ensure he remains on the
path to dialogue. In July Mbeki was reported to have engineered Mugabe's
appointment as one of the five deputy chairs of the African Union in
Mozambique as part of a wider propitiation policy.

Sources said Pretoria would also ensure Zimbabwe is not discussed at the
forthcoming Sadc meeting in Tanzania and the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting in Nigeria in December, thus removing Mugabe from
divisive and unflattering controversy.

The constitutional debate has now moved to the centre of the ongoing
dialogue between the two parties aimed at breaking the political impasse.
Zanu PF now wants to table the constitutional issue currently being
considered informally when talks that broke down in May last year officially
resume. The MDC is amenable to constitutional change but its position is
that there has to be an interim document instead of a final one to
facilitate transition to democratic legitimacy.

Although Zanu PF is pressing for a signed and sealed constitutional deal in
a bid to secure immunity guarantees for Mugabe, the MDC is resisting the
idea because it says only a popularly elected government can bring about a
genuine new constitution. The MDC's position is similar to the African
National Congress's stance at the Convention for a Democratic South Africa
(Codesa) from 1991-93.

The opposition, whose civic society allies are anxious to ensure
constitutional reform before a new political dispensation, recently raised
the issue in its report to church mediators.

"A programme for comprehensive constitutional reform is necessary and must
be agreed upon so as to remove some of the major sources of political
instability and contestation in the country," the MDC said. "Such
constitutional reform should guide us in returning to legitimacy."

The constitutional reform initiative is seen as the only way out for Mugabe
now. The MDC's ally, the National Constitutional Assembly, has argued that a
constitutional review should take precedence over politics, as it is the
only route towards the restoration of democracy upon which political and
economic stability rest.

Numerous reports by the Comptroller and Auditor-General have highlighted
incidents of profligacy and the need to tighten monitoring mechanisms.

But the tender document says the government had decided to hire a consultant
because of "a lot of changes which affected the application of the Treasury
financial and legal instruments".

"In an effort to address the changes, the Ministry of Finance and Economic
Development has been reviewing the legal framework on a piecemeal basis
through issuing of circulars and guidelines," the tender document said.

Ministry of Finance sources this week said the tender had not yet been
awarded although the bid closed in June.

Analysts have however pointed out that while the current treasury
instructions needed to be repealed, the real problem was government's
failure to implement its own laws. This they said had resulted in
overspending by line ministries, failure to recover monies loaned to
parastatals and the ballooning of debt

A 2000 report by the Auditor-General on the management of debt said the
government should not commit itself to loans whose conditions are not
feasible.

"The government should not commit itself on these loans whose conditions are
not feasible," the Auditor-General said.

"The ability to fulfil the loan conditions on time should be highly
considered in the negotiation of loans since some lenders' requirements
might be difficult to meet," he said.

Former civil servant and economic consultant Samuel Undenge said if
implemented well the proposed changes should help manage debt.

"It (the hiring of consultant) is a realisation by government that we cannot
stick to outdated laws," said Undenge. "If implemented well the laws might
help manage the bloated debt."

"Government has waited for things to be out of hand before taking some
action. The problem might be whether the state will effect the proposed
regulations with the diligence they require. Failure will result in a
worse-off situation," he said.

The envisaged legal regime should help the government to control and monitor
expenditure in line ministries by minimising fraud and misappropriation of
public funds. The government also hopes to put in measures to enhance
efficiency of donor fund accounting and to standardise procedures and
transactions across ministries.

The legislation would also enforce compliance on financial management
legislation and Treasury Instructions.

The ruling party, which was expected to submit proposals last week, is said
to be suspicious of the church delegation that seeks to revive dialogue for
an end to the political crisis gripping the country.

"There is nothing to say about that," said Zanu PF spokesman Nathan
Shamuyarira. "The teams have not even met to discuss the proposals. There is
nothing to talk about."

Zanu PF's chief negotiator Patrick Chinamasa has publicly dismissed the
church leaders as "insincere brokers" and supporters of the MDC. It is
thought he was piqued by the publicity given to the church-led talks. His
discussions with the MDC team headed by Prof Welshman Ncube are regarded in
government circles as the official negotiations initiated by Presidents
Thabo Mbeki and Olusegun Obasanjo last year.

Chinamasa's outburst against the clerics could also have been directed by
hostility from President Mugabe himself and officials in his office.

Sources said the church initiative, involving Bishop Sebastian Bakare of the
Zimbabwe Council of Churches, Bishop Patrick Mutume of the Zimbabwe Catholic
Bishops Conference, and the Reverend Trevor Manhanga of the Evangelical
Fellowship of Zimbabwe, was jeopardised when they issued a joint statement
on July 17 condemning human rights abuses and instability prevailing in the
country.

The statement apologised for previous inaction by church leaders and called
on government to address the economic malaise afflicting the country.

When the church leaders met Mugabe on July 25 he is said to have had a copy
of their statement on the table in front of him.

The sources said Mugabe was keen to send out the message that talks would be
held according to his rulebook and not the church's or the opposition's.

"The church has to start to mend bridges with Zanu PF which is a major
drawback to its mediation thrust," a source said.

The church leaders held meetings with both Zanu PF and MDC leaders last
month, after which they proclaimed having received assurances from both
sides on their commitment to the resumption of dialogue. But it now seems
the government would prefer to concentrate on its direct talks with the MDC,
abandoning the "unofficial" church mediators, at least for the time being.

The Zanu PF delegation that met the church leaders comprised Mugabe,
Shamuyarira, vice-president Joseph Msika and national chairman, John Nkomo.

The church leaders had been waiting for written proposals from both sides.
The MDC submitted its proposals three weeks ago. Zanu PF has been dithering
on submission of its agenda because it has "reservations over the church in
as far as what the party expects from the dialogue is concerned", a senior
ruling party source said.

Manhanga yesterday said the church troika was organising a meeting with Zanu
PF to better understand the party's position.

"It appears there is some misunderstanding," said Manhanga.

"We will probably understand when we meet with Zanu PF. We can't comment on
what they feel about us or statements issued by the church because the party
has not made any official position to us," said Manhanga. "It will be
difficult to proceed without Zanu PF submitting its agenda or stating a
clear position."

The Independent recently disclosed that the political rivals have been
holding informal talks behind the scenes, and sources this week said that
the ruling party has opted to pursue this "official" route. A regional
delegation with the blessing of South African President, Thabo Mbeki, would
be expected to come and mediate the talks once there is evidence of
progress.

"The two parties are committed to dialogue," said a source privy to the
ongoing manoeuvres. "In fact, they have been covering some ground. But the
issue is that of the (church) mediator. Zanu PF has agreed to ignore the
church's initiative because of the suspicion it has of the church leaders."

The officials said the crux of the proposals involves a review of the
exchange rate policy and the crafting of policies that would restore
confidence in the farming and business sectors while at the same time
seeking to bring spiralling inflation under control.

The proposals are part of the quarterly review of the performance of the
economy that is sent periodically to cabinet for consideration.

The officials said some of the proposals forwarded to cabinet seek to
address the currency crisis plaguing the country.

"The proposals centre on recommendations for a revision of the country's
exchange rate against the US dollar from $824 to $1 350," said one official.
"Although this still falls far short of the black market rate it will help
boost the import and export sectors."

The officials said if government implemented some of the proposals,
especially the devaluation of the Zimbabwe dollar, this would boost
production while curbing the country's thriving black market.

Former Finance minister Simba Makoni fell out of favour with President
Robert Mugabe after he suggested that the dollar be devalued against the
greenback.

"In September 2002, farmers estimated looted and vandalised equipment at $23
billion," Crawford said.

"This figure has since risen to approximately $75 billion to date. The
figure is probably below the actual value of assets because many of the
farmers had been evicted from their properties and were not available to
estimate the value of movable property damaged or stolen."

Crawford said farmers' major concern is the widespread theft and damage of
irrigation equipment, tractors and stationary engines vital in the
production.

"There is no doubt that the interruptions to farming operations resulting
from theft and damage to equipment will result in lower than expected
output," he said.

The agricultural sector has been in free-fall since February 2000 as
government implemented its chaotic land reform programme.

The programme resulted in government forcibly acquiring a total 11 million
hectares, most of which is sitting idle as the resettled farmers cannot
fully utilise it.

The programme brought the formerly vibrant commercial agricultural sector to
ruin, which has resulted in acute food and forex shortages while the
downstream effects have destabilised the whole economy.

Production in general tumbled by over 70% over the three seasons with areas
planted being drastically reduced.

The Independent this week also heard that government-owned research
institutions were facing collapse due to poor funding.

Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) president Doug Taylor-Freeme at the farmers'
congress last week said land invasions had seriously jeopardised the
research programmes, especially in seed multiplication, cattle breeding
schemes, and skills training throughout the country.

"Research has become an area of concern," Taylor-Freeme said.

"In the past growers used to be levied and supported by donors in funding of
extensive and regionally recognised research programmes."

Officials at the Agricultural Research Trust (ART Farm) said they have
stopped all off-station trials for the new seed varieties since the farmers
who used to grow the seeds have been evicted.

"Seed research activities are now restricted to only three stations," one of
the officials said.

"Farmers who used to pay levies to sponsor the trials are no longer
contributing or involved in the farming business and as a result the new
varieties are no longer being tested in the different regional climatic
conditions in the country. The new farmers have not yet attained the status
to meet the stringent measures needed in seed production."

The stations that are still functional are ART Farm sponsored by the CFU,
Rattray Arnold in Enterprise, and Kadoma research stations. The last two are
both sponsored by SeedCo.

Taylor-Freeme said the Commercial Cotton Growers' Association had been
managing on-farm trials for the Cotton Research Institute until last year
when they were forced to close down.

"The association was forced to shut down its research section as many of the
on-farm trial sites had been taken over in the land invasions and funding is
becoming scarce due to the reduced numbers of cotton growers," he said.

Research experts said only Natbrew has managed to maintain its on-farm
research trials for barley.

"Grain, cereal and oil seeds research activities lost over 80% of the
on-farm sites thereby restricting trials mainly to the research stations,"
one of the experts said.

He said government-sponsored research stations were now almost defunct
because of budgetary constrains due to donors holding back funding.

He said the decline of research activities in the country could result in
the loss of the market share which Zimbabwe use to enjoy in the region and
the world.

"Zimbabwean agricultural produce had successfully penetrated international
markets but the new farmers are not likely to uphold the stringent standards
demanded internationally," he said.

Human rights abuses of the past, both during the colonial and post-colonial
eras must be redressed, said the leaders of more than 40 non-governmental
organisations who met in South Africa to discuss "Civil Society and Justice
in Zimbabwe".

The organisations said that as talks between the Mugabe government and the
opposition party are about to begin, they wanted the voice of civil society
to be heard in the negotiations.

"We are here in South Africa because we wanted to be able to meet, think
together and discuss the way forward for Zimbabwe in a safe environment
outside the threat of intimidation and arrest," said Brian Kagoro,
coordinator of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition.

"By November we expect some form of negotiations to be underway between the
ruling party, Zanu-PF, and the opposition party, MDC. There was urgency to
our conference, here, because of the pace at which things are moving and our
conviction that any settlement should have our participation," Kagoro said.

The civic groups concentrated on developing ways to build a democratic and
just society in Zimbabwe, in contrast to previous meetings which have
focused on reports of human rights abuses, corruption and misgovernance by
the Mugabe regime.

The civic leaders demanded that the Mugabe government put "an immediate end
to political violence and intimidation".

In a statement released yesterday, the groups also called for the repeal of
repressive legislation and electoral reform to allow free and fair
elections,and for the country's economic and humanitarian crisis to be
resolved.

The United Nations was urged to send a special rapporteur to Zimbabwe to
assess the human rights environment. The African Commission on Human and
People's Rights was asked to release the report on its mission to Zimbabwe
last year.

Kagoro said South Africa and Nigeria must prove there is concrete progress
to keep Zimbabwe from being expelled from the Commonwealth at its heads of
government meeting in December. There is also pressure from the European
Union. But the most potent pressure, he said, is the growing poverty, hunger
and starvation on the ground in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe was singled out by the panel of experts last year as one of the
countries involved in the plunder of natural resources in the DRC through a
network of companies run by the military.

The Zimbabwe Defence For-ces, through its company Operation Sovereign
Legitimacy (Osleg), went into a joint venture with a Congolese company
during the height of its military engagement in the Great Lakes to form a
mining concern, Cosleg.

Cosleg director-general Retired Brigadier Sibusiso Moyo in an interview with
the Zimbabwe Independent last month said his outfit was not involved in any
commercial activity in the DRC.

"There is no mining (by Cosleg) taking place there," said Moyo. "Since our
military withdrawal we are not involved in any military or economic
activity.

"The only activities taking place are those covered by the MOU (memorandum
of understanding) like electricity, trade and investment."

Government officials including Speaker of Parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa,
believed to be a key figure in Zimbabwe's operations in the DRC, have denied
any wrong-doing. The network of government officials include senior army
personnel and retired officers.

The UN panel headed by Mahmoud Kassem is expected in its new mandate to hold
"dialogue with parties named in its last report, particularly with
governments concerned". It is also expected to get "a clearer picture of
activities related to the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, and to update its findings during the
remainder of its mandate period".

The 15-0 vote in the Security Council on Wednesday gives the panel until
October 31 to complete its mandate, at the end of which it will submit a
final report.

The resolution noted "with great concern" that plundering continued,
especially in the eastern part of the DRC, and stressed that "appropriate
action should be taken with regard to those responsible for such
activities".

The Council "reiterates its demand that all states concerned take immediate
steps to end the illegal exploitation of nature", the resolution added.

In a report to the Council last year Kassem said it had identified three
"elite networks" that had carved out separate spheres of economic control in
the country over the past four years. Zimbabwe's Cosleg was mentioned as at
the heart of one of the networks.

"The elite networks' grip on the DRC's economy extends far beyond precious
natural resources to encompass territory, fiscal revenues and trade in
general," he noted.

Kassem said the networks' activities involved highly organised and
documented systems of embezzlement, tax fraud, extortion, kickbacks, false
invoicing, asset-stripping of State companies and secret profit-sharing
agreements. These activities were orchestrated in a manner that closely
resembled criminal operations, he said.

Simba Makoni former Finance and Economic Development minister fell out of
favour with Mugabe and his cabinet colleagues when he told them that the
dollar was over-valued, was killing the economy, and needed to be devalued.

Makoni was immediately offloaded from Mugabe's "gravy train" and replaced
with Herbert Murerwa, a former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

While not specifically saying by how much the nation's currency would be
devalued, Mugabe said it had been agreed under the National Economic Revival
Programme that government would "review quarterly" the rate of the Zimbabwe
dollar.

"Various measures have been adopted to support sectors with the potential
for generating foreign currency," Mugabe said. "The Export Support Scheme
and the Export and Productive Sector Finance facilities are meant to support
productive sectors that encourage exports. Through these schemes, the
government has made available resources amounting to $60 billion."

He said resources under these facilities were being accessed at 5% for
exporters while the productive facility would be accessed at 15%.

Government had also introduced an Export Support Rate of one United States
dollar to $824.

"As highlighted in the Economic Revival Programme, the rate will be reviewed
quarterly, taking into account macro-economic developments," the president
said.

The business community has come out strongly against government's slow pace
to devalue the dollar against the world's major currencies, saying this was
stifling competitiveness and was affecting various sectors including
manufacturing, mining, tourism, and agriculture.

The dollar is officially pegged at $824 against the US greenback, $1 300
against the pound, $105 against the rand and $160 to the pula. It is however
going for as much as $3 500 against the US dollar, $5000 against the pound,
$350 to the rand and $400 to the pula on the parallel market.

Two weeks ago the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF)
released a six-page damning report on the country's deteriorating economic
situation, saying if Mugabe did not move quickly to try and salvage the
situation the Fund would not re-instate the nation's voting and related
rights.

The IMF pointed out that while the recent adjustment of the official
exchange rate from $55 against the greenback to $824 was welcome, it
regretted that government transactions continued to be undertaken at a more
appreciated exchange rate, which could result in significant distortions and
quasi-fiscal losses.

They emphasised the need to follow up with further rate adjustments to stem
the sharp erosion of external sector competitiveness.

"The ultimate goal should be to unify the exchange rates as quickly as
possible, liberalise the exchange system, and eventually eliminate surrender
requirements," the IMF said.

The IMF directors urged government to step up efforts to liberalise
Zimbabwe's external trade.

‘What’s going on here”? asks the Sunday Mail’s “Under the Surface” columnist
when the MDC finds it necessary to hire a South African counsel like “that
Bizos guy” to defend Morgan Tsvangirai or when it consults Codesa.

Are they not confident of themselves, Cde “Under” asks?

Well, they are doing precisely the same thing the government did when it
hired Advocate Nazeer Cassim from Cape Town to try and help Mugabe block
electoral appeals in January 2001. That hiring was the precedent the MDC
followed, or did Cde “Under” hope his readers would have forgotten already?

Cde “Under” suffered another attention lapse recently. For two weeks running
Munyaradzi Huni has confirmed that talks have in fact been taking place
behind the scenes between a Zanu PF team headed by Patrick Chinamasa and an
MDC team led by Welshman Ncube. When the Independent revealed that these
talks were taking place on August 1, Cde “Under” accused us of day-dreaming.

Perhaps his exclusion from the talks has led him to deny they are happening
at all! By the way, Cde “Under”. Is Precious Shumba still a trespasser in a
field “she” will never understand?

Should this not happen and these old bills are re-introduced or are siphoned
off by unscrupulous individuals as much as $200 billion could be gained for
free and reused illegally.

It is important to remember that this government is effectively broke and
has no cash to pay members of its security services such as the police and
army and any others requiring large pay-offs.

There are a number of ways to circumvent this situation:

l Once the new $500 bills become available from commercial banks in return
for old notes, ensure that the old notes handed over to the bank tellers are
defaced by crossing through the notes with either a marking pen or ball
point pen and insist that you receive new notes. If new notes are not
available do not bank them, keep them until new notes are made available; or

l Insist that commercial bank tellers cut off one corner of the old notes
using a guillotine immediately. (Serial numbers must be left visible for
verification by the Reserve Bank.)

Both of these features will make old notes easily recognisable should they
re-surface after having been through the system and should not be accepted
as legal tender.

I urge you all to give this situation some very serious thought before we
are subjected to another massive scam by the authorities.

Nick and Lydia Swanepoel,

Harare.

l You are lucky if the police come when you call them;

l The ability of the police constable to take a reasonable statement from
the complainant is questionable.

In a murder case just over one year ago, the complainant was a white female
(her son had just been shot dead in front of her in their lounge during a
bungled house robbery attempt). The lady constable wrote the complainant
down as a black male, and the accompanying constable was clearly drunk and
admitted the same to the family. Letters of complaint to senior police
officers and the Minister of Home Affairs has produced absolutely nothing.

Visiting the scene of the crime, taking fingerprints, bringing in the dog
section all appear to be police duties which are now defunct. In the case of
the above murder, it took the police four months before the crime scene was
fingerprinted and a bullet removed from the wall.

Suspected house robbers and carjackers are given bail, though not as much as
in the past. Certainly magistrates do not look kindly on carjackers.

Having to attend our antiquated ID parades is often more traumatic than
being robbed at gunpoint. Victims are unaware of the ordeal they will have
to face at a parade. Court appearances are fraught with difficulties. The
courtrooms are sordid, suspects out on bail are allowed to mingle with all
and sundry, including victims.

Witnesses have to wait in the same room as convicted robbers, some of them
in leg irons, until they are called to give evidence.

Again and again victims are told to "come back tomorrow". No wonder so many
refuse to have anything more to do with it. No wonder so many members of the
public no longer report any crime. "What is the point?" they say. On the
other hand, some members of the police force do their jobs, they do care,
and they too are frustrated and get absolutely no job satisfaction.

In South Africa, there has been an uproar and the call for the reinstitution
of the death penalty after three suspects were arrested for the monstrous
and horrific carjacking in Pretoria which resulted in the execution-style
murder of a woman motorist, her one-year old baby girl, and her
mother-in-law.

Another victim was shot but after "playing dead" managed to survive. All
three women were beaten and raped, the baby girl was beaten and executed by
being shot in the back and the head. We felt sick after hearing this report
and having it confirmed.

Until bail is refused to ALL armed robbers by all the courts as a matter of
course, until the sentences meted out to convicts fits the crime, and until
the law enforcement agents do their job properly, we have very little to
hope for in this country right now.

Armed house robberies and armed carjackings continue to haunt Zimbabweans.
We live in fear wondering when it will be "our turn". We are not confident
that as victims we will be treated with compassion and respect. We have no
faith in the justice system or the police. Laws need to be updated and
criminals in our society need to be deterred from their cruel acts.

In two of the house robbery cases we have handled recently, middle-aged
women have had their dresses pulled up by the thieves and threatened with
rape, one home owner was shot dead at point blank range, and children have
been separated from their parents and locked up during the robbery.

There is so much fear out there. Everything appears to be on the side of the
perpetrator, they have nothing to fear from the law, and in far too many
cases they know they will get bail.

Many, many victims say to us: "I'm not going to let them get away with this,
I'm going to pursue this all the way." Fine words but too often it all comes
to nothing.

Mary van Heerden,

CEO Anti Hijack Trust.

That is 37,9C for those who are metricated. It last got somewhere near that
in 1990. Before that, the highest temperature recorded was in 1665, the year
of the Great Plague.

Tony Blair must feel assailed by another plague as politicians make hay, as
it were, while the sun shines. At the centre of the storm are charges that
Blair's advisers "sexed up" intelligence reports on Iraq before Britain and
the United States launched their attack in March.

This included claims that Saddam Hussein could launch weapons of mass
destruction at 45 minutes notice and that he had obtained "yellowcake"
uranium from Niger. The furore spread across the Atlantic when George Bush's
advisers slipped the Niger claim into the president's State of the Union
address to Congress, attributing it to British intelligence.

His CIA chief has taken the blame for that even though he wasn't actually
responsible.

Blair received 17 standing ovations during his 40-minute address to Congress
last month. US newspapers were generous in their praise of his remarks that,
whatever the outcome of investigations into Saddam's weapons of mass
destruction, history would not have forgiven Britain and the US for
hesitating in the face of a threat from a regime with a proven record of
human carnage.

We tend to forget in all this that Saddam had in the past 23 years attacked
several of his neighbours and used nerve gas against ethnic minorities
within Iraq. And he has also in the past obtained uranium from Niger, as
reported by the International Atomic Energy Authority in 1993.

The French ambassador to Niger, Denis Vène, is reported as saying exports
from Niger were "perfectly controlled".

France has a substantial stake in the two companies that mine, process and
export uranium from Niger. Saddam could have obtained the metal more easily
and more cheaply elsewhere, Vène contends. He could also have found uranium
that was more ready for immediate use.

"It is inconceivable that uranium could be sold to another country without
anybody knowing," Vène claimed in Niamey.

This is all very embarrassing for Blair because the British claim their
evidence comes from French intelligence sources. The French of course are
not a disinterested party in all this. And making Blair uncomfortable is a
recognised sport in Paris.

But Blair's own spin doctors have compounded his problems by hammering the
BBC for its reporting and making unguarded comments.

The dispute with the BBC, which claimed Blair's own staff "sexed up" the
Iraq dossier, has now been brought before the judicial inquiry headed by
Lord Hutton who has been appointed by Blair to investigate the circumstances
surrounding the suicide of the government's chief adviser on WMD, Dr David
Kelly.

Kelly took a pounding before a Commons select committee last month. The BBC
has now admitted he was their source in making the claims against Blair's
staff.

One staffer made the mistake of telling a journalist at what he thought was
an off-the-record meeting that Kelly was a "Walter Mitty" character living
in a fantasy world. That led to an apology to the Kelly family.

Blair's many enemies have been looking for an opportunity to strike a blow
at a prime minister who has hitherto proved to have Teflon qualities.

Nothing seems to stick. And his reputation was enhanced by the Iraq campaign
which was a huge political gamble for Blair in relation to his own party.

Are the political chickens now coming home to roost? Polls have seen his
standing taking a major dive as the public say they don't trust him anymore.

The Hutton Inquiry is designed to show he has nothing to hide. Blair is not
guilty of any serious political crime, whatever the claims of old-left
commentators such as Julie Hyland whose doctrinaire views on the Internet
are unlikely to find purchase outside the columns of the Herald.

But Blair's critics have always argued that his New Labour government is
more concerned with spin than substance.

In the end what will matter to British voters are improvements in the
National Health Service and transport. If Blair can show progress there,
voters are likely to forgive him for allegedly misleading them over Iraq.

What has impressed me in all this is the way in which this debate is taking
place in the full glare of publicity. The prime minister has been held
accountable before the foreign affairs select committee of the House of
Commons and in the House itself. His advisers have been grilled by the same
committee and in the press which believes it has at last found a chink in
Blair's armour.

Here we see a democracy where politicians do not get away with facile claims
and whose spin doctors are asked to explain their responsibility for
statements made. So is the public broadcaster.

This is the exact opposite of the totalitarian state we have here where
powerful rulers are able to destroy the economy and the fabric of society
because they are not held accountable and spin doctors are given a mandate
to lie about their critics because they want to conceal the criminal careers
of their masters.

One example will suffice. For weeks the state media claimed that there were
meetings in the Botswana desert involving the US and Britain aimed at
unseating the Zimbabwe government. Walter Kansteiner and Jack Straw were
implicated. Reference was made to a US airbase in Botswana.

We said at the time these stories were nonsense. Now Botswana Foreign
minister Mompati Merafhe has issued a statement saying the same thing.

There was no meeting between Kansteiner and Straw, he said. Straw had not
even been to Botswana. And the Thebephatshwa airbase was wholly
Botswana-owned.

It couldn't be clearer. But aftermisleading the public in their newspapers
our usually voluble government spokesmen have said nothing.

How's that for accountability?

Auckland, New Zealand - Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Friday
branded Zimbabwe's president an "unelected despot", and said his nation
should not be re-admitted to the Commonwealth.

Zimbabwe was kicked out of all decision-making councils of the group that
comprises Britain and its former colonies after President Robert Mugabe's
regime was accused of intimidation and vote-rigging at March 2002
presidential elections.

Speaking on the sidelines of a Pacific leaders' meeting in Auckland, Howard
said unless Zimbabwe moves back toward democratic rule, it "should
definitely remain suspended".

"There's no sign that Zimbabwe's position is altering," he added. "Zimbabwe
as a nation continues to suffer the ruin of a country that has been in the
hands of an unelected despot."

Howard also said Mugabe should be barred from the next Commonwealth meeting,
scheduled for December in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.

"I don't think it would be helpful for the Commonwealth if Mr Mugabe were to
come to Abuja," he said.

Earlier on Friday, Commonwealth secretary-general Don McKinnon announced he
planned to stand for a second four-year term when his current term expires
at the end of the year.

McKinnon, a former New Zealand foreign minister, said the 54-nation group
"has achieved a lot in the last three years", but added: "I think there is
still a lot of work to do."

Ezulwini - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was attending international
talks hosted by a Commonwealth program in Swaziland on Thursday, despite his
country's suspension from the 54-nation group last year.

Mugabe arrived in Swaziland on Wednesday afternoon along with several heads
of state and government also bound for the economic talks in Ezulwini, south
of the capital Mbabane.

The annual event, dubbed the Global 2003 Smart Partnership International
Dialogue, aims to forge partnerships between developing countries, and is
organised by the Commonwealth Partnership for Technology Management (CPTM).

The CPTM's chairperson Omar Abdul Rahman said he believed Mugabe had been
allowed to attend because the event was not a political gathering, but
admitted that the decision to include the Zimbabwean leader had bent
Commonwealth rules.

"We have a problem. We are actually not following Commonwealth rules,"
Rahman said. "But we say although we are part of the Commonwealth, we are
not political. The Smart Partnership is not about isolating people. Instead
of isolating people we want to learn from his problems.".

The CPTM, set up by Commonwealth heads of government in 1995, is an
organisation linking Commonwealth governments, the private sector and
academia to promote efficient management of technology and knowledge.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad spearheaded the Smart Partnership
concept, which Rahman said was intended to allow developing countries to
examine global issues affecting them, and discuss how best to manage them.

Asked what the Commonwealth Secretariat had said concerning Mugabe's
attendance of the talks, Rahman said: "They are attending and participating.
But I know in private maybe they are a bit unhappy."

Zimbabwe was suspended from the Commonwealth last year following Mugabe's
re-election in a March presidential election, which both international
observers and the Zimbabwean opposition denounced as rigged.

President Thabo Mbeki and his Nigerian counterpart Olusegun Obasanjo lobbied
for the suspension to be lifted early this year, but the Commonwealth
decided not to review its decision before December. - Sapa-AFP