New Statesman
Christina
Lamb
Monday 7th August 2006
He is responsible for the
hunger, homelessness and exile of millions -
black and white - yet
neighbouring countries still dignify him with a hero's
welcome. Christina
Lamb reports on the tolerance of tyranny
When Zimbabwe's president,
Robert Mugabe, took his seat for the new
session of parliament on 25 July,
it was on a specially designed
leopard-skin throne flanked by two giant
elephant tusks. Next to him sat his
young wife, Grace, in a chair artfully
positioned on a zebra skin. Stuffed
leopards and antelope heads adorned
newly painted walls. The parliament
needs many kinds of reform, but a
Changing Rooms-style make-over was not on
anyone's list, particularly given
that Zimbabwe is in the midst of what the
World Bank calls the worst
economic crisis of any country in peacetime.
While Mugabe was
showing off his redesign on national TV, less than a
mile away Memory had to
crawl to get into the cardboard hovel that now
passes for her home. Twice
during the past month she had been arrested for
selling cups of sadza
(porridge) on the streets of Harare to try to earn
money for her two sons to
go to school. "The police took my pot, fined me
and held me three days," she
said, coughing, as she showed me the waist-high
dwelling on the dusty
ground. "Mugabe has turned us into beggars."
At night she suffers
nightmares about the government bulldozers that
destroyed their home last
year, smashing beds and wardrobes, her husband's
carpentry workshop and
everything they had ever worked for.
Thabitha Khumalo, a courageous
mother-of-two from Bulawayo, has been
arrested 22 times. Her crime:
campaigning against a critical shortage of
tampons and sanitary towels
caused by Zimbabwe's economic crisis, forcing
women to use newspaper, which
often leads to infection. On one occasion
Thabitha was tortured so badly
that her front teeth were knocked up her
nose; on another she had an AK-47
thrust up her vagina until she bled.
To Memory, Thabitha and
millions of other Zimbabweans forced by their
government into hunger,
homelessness or fleeing the country, it is a mystery
why the man responsible
for their plight continues to be treated like a hero
in the rest of Africa.
Not only does he receive standing ovations whenever
he appears at
pan-African gatherings, but Malawi has even named a new road
after him. The
Robert Gabriel Mugabe Highway from Blantyre to the Indian
Ocean ports of
Mozambique, opened by the Zimbabwean president in May, is a
huge
embarrassment for the European Union, which funded it and has sanctions
in
place against Mugabe and his regime.
The multimillion-dollar road
has become such a symbol of Africa's
failure to deal with Mugabe that the
Malawian police have to guard the
plaques bearing his name day and night.
Even so, last month a group of 20
men armed with machetes and pangas managed
to overcome them and smash the
signs.
"Zimbabwe is a test case
for the African continent on how we deal with
dictatorships and
black-on-black repression," said Nelson Chamisa, spokesman
for the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), when we met in
Harare just
before Easter. He shook his head as I counted out the huge stack
of notes
needed just to pay for our coffee, a bill of more than a million
Zim dollars
(the official inflation rate is 1,042 per cent). "So far it
seems to be
failing."
A deputy president of a neighbouring country told me he
was at the
second inauguration of Thabo Mbeki as president of South Africa
in 2004,
when Mugabe walked in and the entire audience rose in applause. "I
was so
embarrassed," he said. "How can we in Africa complain about the west
when we
applaud such a tyrant?"
As a result of Mugabe's land
reform the countryside looks blighted by
a terrible scourge, and four
million Zimbabweans depend on food aid. Many
more subsist on roots and fried
termites, and the country's life expectancy
has dropped to the lowest in the
world - just 34 for women. Yet the
programme responsible was recently
described as "commendable" by Isak
Katali, Namibia's deputy minister of
lands. "We feel if Zimbabwe did this,
we can do it in the same manner," he
said.
As someone who has travelled back and forth reporting on the
country
since 1999, witnessing the demise of what was one of the most
affluent and
educated countries on the African continent, this attitude
seems
inexplicable. Yes, Mugabe was a liberation hero, leading his country
to
independence from Britain in 1980, but surely that does not excuse him
all
subsequent excesses?
Unhappy alliances
It is
the silence from neighbouring South Africa that is hardest to
understand.
South Africa is the place most affected by Mugabe's actions,
hosting more
than two million refugees from Zimbabwe, who get blamed for
crime and
stealing jobs. Every day, hundreds more desperate Zimbabweans
attempt the
journey across the crocodile-infested Limpopo River. South
Africa is also
best placed to do something - it could literally pull the
plugs, switching
off both credit and electricity.
Instead, President Mbeki has
relied on so-called "quiet diplomacy".
This involves sending letters that
Mugabe ignores and occasionally
extracting minor concessions. One was the
use of transparent ballot boxes in
the last election. Mugabe immediately
turned this to his advantage by
warning people that he could see how they
voted.
Some even accuse Mbeki of complicity, suggesting that South
Africa has
benefited from the influx of well-educated Zimba bweans into
areas such as
financial services. A report by the South African Institute of
International
Affairs blames his tolerant approach for deterring firmer
action by other
members of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC). "Apart from
complicity with some other SADC countries in keeping the
Zimbabwe issue off
the agenda at successive SADC and African Union meetings,
the South African
government has actively supported Zimbab we in blocking
motions of censure
against Zimbabwe in international forums, most notably
the UN Human Rights
Commission," claims the report, A Nation in Turmoil: the
experience of South
African firms doing business in Zimbabwe.
As I arrived in Johannesburg recently for a week-long visit, I
wondered if
there was an element of denial in the Zimbabwe situation similar
to Mbeki's
stance on Aids, which he refuses to accept is linked to HIV. One
of the
first things that struck me was the absence of posters warning about
Aids or
advising the use of condoms, such as those you now see everywhere in
Africa.
Yet South Africa has one of the highest rates of infection in the
world;
almost six million of its people are living with HIV. "We spend more
time at
funerals than we do having our hair cut or shopping," said a
fashion-conscious friend, "but to Mbeki Aids is not an issue."
However, denial is not the whole story. Within a day in Johannesburg,
I
experienced at first hand the difficulties of engaging with Zimbabwe. I
was
due to address a lunch about my new book on the country, and should have
realised the nature of my audience when the man next to me said: "Rhodesia
used to be a wonderful place - they didn't let blacks walk on the
pavements."
When I commented that it was nice to be back in
Joburg, where I had
lived in 1994, in "the exciting days of Mandela taking
over", there were
audible tut-tuts. It soon became clear that I had myself a
group of
"when-wes", people who refer nostalgically to the old days when
black people
could not vote and knew their place. During the entire
discussion not a
single person referred to the neighbouring country as
Zimbabwe, its name for
the past 26 years. They insisted on calling it
Rhodesia.
When later I described the lunch to an old friend, Barney
Mthombothi,
editor of the Financial Mail and one of South Africa's leading
political
commentators, he laughed heartily. "For Mbeki to take on Mugabe
would be to
be seen as allying with these people," he said. "That's the
problem."
This does not mean that Mbeki is happy about the
situation. His party,
the ruling African National Congress, has little
affection for Mugabe's
Zanu-PF; during the liberation struggle it had much
closer ties to Zapu, the
rival movement led by Joshua Nkomo. Friends say
that Mbeki is so frustrated
that he never refers to Mugabe by name, but as
"that man up there". One of
his closest advisers, Aziz Pahad, the deputy
foreign minister, stated in May
that the Zimbabwe situation required "an
urgent solution". It was widely
regarded as an admission that quiet
diplomacy had failed.
Power at all costs
But what to
do? "Mugabe has very successfully portrayed the Zimbabwe
crisis as an
anti-colonial and anti-imperial problem, and in so doing has
forced other
African countries to support him," explains Brian Raftopoulos,
programme
manager for the Cape Town-based Institute for Justice and
Reconciliation,
himself an exile from Zimbabwe. "To criticise Mugabe is to
be seen as
pro-western and anti-African."
The issue of who owns the land in
Africa is one of the biggest
challenges for post-colonial governments,
particularly in Zimbabwe, where
both whites and blacks consider themselves
indigenous. It was without doubt
unfair that most of the good land remained
in the hands of white people 20
years after independence, but only a warped
mind could call what Mugabe has
done land reform. Of the 4,500 commercial
farms that were seized, the vast
majority have ended up not in the hands of
landless people but, through
Mugabe's web of patronage, in the hands of
cronies from the ruling Zanu-PF,
military commanders, high court judges and
even the Anglican bishop of
Harare.
The western media share the
blame for making the land invasions look
like a racial issue by focusing on
white farmers. Some newspapers even put
the plight of white farmers' pets on
their front pages but neglected the
hundreds of thousands of black
farmworkers who were left with neither home
nor job, and many of whom were
tortured or raped.
Yet what Mugabe has done is not about race or
righting the perceived
injustices of colonialism. It is about power and one
man's determination to
hang on to it at all costs. If there was any doubt
about that, it was surely
removed last year with the launch of Operation
Murambatsvina (meaning
"Operation Drive Out the Filth"), in which Mugabe's
bulldozers destroyed the
homes and livelihoods of 700,000 people like Memory
and her family.
At 82, Mugabe is nothing if not cunning, and he has
been an unlikely
beneficiary of the war in Iraq. "His job has been made
easier by western
leaders like Bush and Blair and what they are doing in
Iraq and
Afghanistan," says Raftopoulos. "Not only has this taken attention
off
Zimbabwe, but it's enabled him to plug into a growing sense of
anti-imperialism in the third world."
The last thing Mbeki
wants is to look like the bully boy of Africa,
and although it is easy to
criticise South Africa, it is not so easy to come
up with solutions.
Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, a former
trade unionist who
left school at 13 to support his family, has failed to
impress. When the
opposition party recently split, Mbeki tried to bridge the
gap by bringing
the leaders together in Pretoria. Tsvangirai refused to
attend the meeting,
and then claimed he had never been invited, prompting an
exasperated phone
call from Mbeki. The opposition's ineptitude has left
Mbeki turning to
Mugabe's Zanu-PF in the hope of finding a so-called
"Zanu-lite" figure to
replace him. But the Zimbabwean ruling party itself is
bitterly divided
between two rival successors.
"South Africa is pursuing a policy of
stability rather than
democracy," complained Tsvangirai on a recent trip to
Britain. "They are
very suspicious about any change of
government."
Yet little in South Africa provokes such hand-wringing
as Zimbabwe. A
regular theme at dinner parties is the question: "Are we
going to go the
same way?"
As was the case in Zimbabwe, most
farmland in South Africa is still in
white hands, and the country has its
own problem of farmers being killed.
Roughly 1,700 such murders have
occurred since the start of majority rule in
1994, far outnumbering the 18
killed in Zimbabwe's land-grab campaign.
"They've become so common we hardly
report them," admits Tim du Plessis,
editor of Rapport, South Africa's
Afrikaans-language Sunday newspaper. "And
some cases are just too grisly,
where soles have been skinned off the feet
and farmers' wives murdered in
baths of boiling water."
The big difference is that these killings
were not instigated by the
government. Instead, they seem motivated by
financial gain and part of a
nationwide epidemic of violence, in which
18,000 people were murdered last
year.
Unlike Zimbabwe, South
Africa now has model policies in place for the
restitution of land of those
who were displaced by the apartheid regime. The
legislation includes
validation by the land claims courts and compensation
at market value.
Progress has been slow, however, and more than a decade
after the end of
apartheid less than 5 per cent of commercial farmland is in
black hands. Not
surprisingly, there are growing signs of impatience. New
possibilities of
legalised expropriation were introduced in March and a more
hardline
agriculture minister has just been appointed.
"We've got lessons to
learn from Zimbabwe," said the South African
deputy president, Phumzile
Mlambo-Ngcuka, at a recent conference in
Pretoria. "How to do it fast. We
need a bit of oomph. So we might want some
skills exchange between us and
Zimbabwe." Although the remark was made with
a smile, the laughter was
muted.
Christina Lamb is foreign affairs reporter for the Sunday
Times. Her
new book, "House of Stone: the true story of a family divided in
war-torn
Zimbabwe", is available from Harper Press
(£14.99)
Hard to defend
"The issue of whether
an elected president of Zimbabwe continues to be
the elected president of
Zimbabwe is surely a matter for the Zimbabwean
people."
Thabo
Mbeki, president of South Africa, refusing to criticise the
political chaos
in Zimbabwe, October 2000
"The problem is that Mugabe didn't lose
as some people would have
wanted him to lose. If you don't lose as somebody
wants you to lose, that is
an offence."
Uganda's president, Yoweri
Museveni, responding to allegations of
electoral malpractice in Zimbabwe,
January 2004
"Zimbabwe should be for Zimbabweans. Africa for
Africans. This is our
sacred land . . . We died for it and the whites have
no place in Africa as
they belong in Europe."
Libya's leader,
Muammar Gaddafi, touring Zimbabwe in July 2001
slate.com
Thanks for the Sanctions
By Jacob Weisberg
Posted Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2006, at 4:45
PM ET
When trying to rein in the misbehavior of roguish regimes, be it
nuclear
proliferation, support for terrorism, or internal repression, the
United
States increasingly turns to a policy of economic sanctions.
A
quick survey: We began our economic embargo against North Korea in 1950.
We've had one against Cuba since 1962. We first applied economic sanctions
to Iran during the hostage crisis in 1979 and are currently trying for
international sanctions aimed at getting the government there to suspend
uranium enrichment. We attached trade sanctions to Burma beginning in 1990
and froze the assets of Sudan beginning in 1997. President Bush ordered
sanctions against Zimbabwe in 2003 and against Syria beginning in 2004. We
have also led major international sanctions campaigns against regimes since
brought down by force of arms: Milosevic's Yugoslavia, Saddam's Iraq, and
Taliban Afghanistan.
America's sanctions policy is largely
consistent, and in a certain sense,
admirable. By applying economic
restraints, we label the most oppressive and
dangerous governments in the
world pariahs. We wash our hands of evil,
declining to help despots finance
their depredations, even at a cost to
ourselves of some economic growth. We
wincingly accept the collateral damage
that falls on civilian populations in
the nations we target. But as the
above list of countries suggests,
sanctions have one serious drawback. They
don't work. Though there are some
debatable exceptions, sanctions rarely
play a significant role in dislodging
or constraining the behavior of
despicable
regimes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sanctions
tend to fail as a diplomatic tool for the same reason aerial
bombing usually
fails. As Israel is again discovering in Lebanon, the
infliction of
indiscriminate suffering tends to turn a populace against the
proximate
cause of its devastation, not the underlying causes. People who
live in
hermit states like North Korea, Burma, and Cuba already suffer from
global
isolation. Fed on a diet of propaganda, they don't know what's
happening
inside their borders or outside of them. By increasing their
seclusion,
sanctions make it easier for dictators to blame external enemies
for a
country's suffering. And because sanctions make a country's material
deprivation significantly worse, they paradoxically make it less likely that
the oppressed will throw off their chains.
Tyrants seem to understand
how to capitalize on the law of unintended
consequences. In many cases, as
in Iraq under the oil-for-food program,
sanctions themselves afford
opportunities for plunder and corruption that
can help clever despots shore
up their position. Some dictators also thrive
on the political loneliness we
inflict and in some cases appear to seek more
of it from us. The pariah
treatment suits Bashar Assad, Kim Jong-il, Robert
Mugabe, and SLORC just
fine. Fidel Castro is another dictator who has
flourished in isolation.
Every time the United States considers lifting its
embargo, Castro unleashes
a provocation designed to ensure that we don't
normalize relations. It was a
disappointment, but no surprise, to learn that
the Cuban dictator was in
"stable" condition after surgery this week. With
our help, Castro has been
in stable condition for 47 years.
Constructive engagement, which often
sounds like lame cover for business
interests, tends to lead to better
outcomes than sanctions. Trade prompts
economic growth and human
interaction, which raises a society's
expectations, which in turn prompts
political dissatisfaction and
opposition. Trade, tourism, cultural exchange,
and participation in
international institutions all serve to erode the
legitimacy of repressive
regimes. Though each is a separate case, these
forces contributed greatly to
undermining dictatorships and fostering
democracy in the Philippines, South
Korea, Argentina, Chile, and Eastern
Europe in the 1980s. The same process
is arguably under way in China.
Contact also makes us less clueless about
the countries we want to change.
It is hard to imagine we would have
misunderstood the religious and ethnic
conflicts in Iraq the way we have if
our embassy had been open and American
companies had been doing business
there for the past 15 years
As
another illustration, take Iran, which is currently the focus of a huge
how-do-we-get-them-to-change conversation. Despite decades of sanctions,
Iran is full of young people who are culturally attuned to the United
States. One day, social discontent there will lead to the reform or
overthrow of the ruling theocracy. But there is little reason to think that
more sanctions will bring that day any closer. The more likely effect of a
comprehensive sanctions regime is that it will push dissatisfied and
potentially rebellious Iranians back into the arms of the nuke-building
mullahs.
The counterexample always cited is South Africa, where
economic and cultural
sanctions do seem to have contributed not only to the
fall of a terrible
regime but to a successful democratic transition. In his
new book The J
Curve, Ian Bremmer argues that South Africa was unusually
amenable to this
kind of pressure because it retained a functioning
multiparty democracy and
because, unlike many other pariah states, it didn't
actually like being a
pariah. Even so, sanctions took a very long time to
have any impact. It was
nearly three decades from the passage of the first
U.N. resolution urging
sanctions in 1962 to Nelson Mandela's release from
prison in 1990.
If they are so rarely effective, why are Western
governments pressing for
sanctions more and more often? In a world of
trouble, it is partly an
exercise in frustration. We often have no good
options and need to feel that
we're doing something. Sanctions are a
palatable alternative to military
action and often serve to appease domestic
constituencies as well. But we
need to learn that tyrants respond more to a
deep survival instinct than to
economic incentives. To understand their
behavior, you can't just read Adam
Smith. You need Charles Darwin.
You are invited to an
inspirational, non-political community presentation to
hear the facts direct
from the place you once called, & may still call,
HOME......
Dates: Wed 9th August and Thur 10th August
Wed 9th
August - 8pm
CENTRAL LONDON
The Rose & Springbok Bar
14 Upper St
Martins Lane
Covent Garden
WC2H 9DL
snacks available
Thursday 10
August - 8pm
FULHAM
Zulus Bar
4 Fulham High Street
Fulham
SW6
3LQ
borewors rolls available
Speakers : Mrs Debbie Jeans and Dr
Ingrid Landman
Our 2 speakers live and work in Harare and this is their 4th
visit to
London. Come and share stories and struggles of daily life in
Zimbabwe 2006
plus hopes and beliefs of a bright future for our beloved
country.
COME AND REMEMBER, COME AND BE INSPIRED, COME AND HEAR HOW YOU
CAN STILL
BELIEVE IN A FUTURE FOR ZIMBABWE.
Business Report
August
3, 2006
By Terry Leonard
Johannesburg - On a parade ground in
Harare the national commissioner of
police told police academy graduates
that they should learn Chinese.
And why not? African regimes such as
Zimbabwe are turning to China for
economic and political
salvation.
President Robert Mugabe, under targeted sanctions by Western
governments,
has declared a "Look East" policy.
China has invested
heavily in Africa. At the same time, it has offered
limited political and
economic help to repressive governments in Africa.
Western governments are
more likely to tie engagement to political and
social reform.
Trade
between China and Africa has increased more than 300 percent since
2000 and
now exceeds $40 billion (R278 billion) a year.
"There is a potential of
political leverage for China. The West is worried
about growing Chinese
influence. But the political effect so far is less
than might have been
imagined," said Stephen Friedman, a senior research
fellow at the Centre for
Policy Studies.
But Friedman said repressive and corrupt governments
might nonetheless turn
to China for economic development and political
cover.
China is now the largest exporter of oil from Angola, which has
one of the
continent's more corrupt governments. It also exports oil from
Sudan, one of
the most repressive governments, without condemning that
government for the
killings in the Darfur region.
At the UN last
September, China worked to dilute a resolution condemning
Sudan for the
killings in Darfur.
China has come to Africa seeking oil and raw
materials, such as Zambian
copper.
The Chinese "never make any
pretence that they are anything other than
hard-nosed and want to take away
a profit", said John Robertson, an
independent economist in Harare. "My
biggest fear is that Zimbabwe has
become so weakened that at some stage the
Chinese can say 'we can bail you
out', and in exchange we not only will
repay money but sell their products
in the region."
Chinese companies
have been accused of flooding Nigerian markets with fake
and substandard
goods, notably textiles. In December, Nigerian officials
shut down several
shopping centres run by Chinese in Lagos.
Even in South Africa unions
fearful of a loss of jobs are pressing the
government to renegotiate trade
agreements with China. South African imports
from China exceeded R31 billion
in 2005 compared with R8 billion in exports,
according to government
figures.
South African firms have invested about $400 million in China,
according to
government figures. China has put about $130 million into South
Africa.
In Angola, prime minister Fernando Da Piedade Das Dos Santos last
week had
to respond to rumours that he had authorised the immigration of 4
million
Chinese workers.
"The Chinese are coming to Angola within
specific projects and after those
projects come to an end they will return
to their country," he said.
In Zimbabwe, "Look East" had generated deep
resentment of the Chinese, said
John Makumbe, a political analyst at
Zimbabwe University and a critic of
Mugabe's policy.
But Friedman
said despite any resentment in the streets, corrupt and
repressive African
governments that had nowhere else to turn would look more
and more to China
for political legitimacy and protection.
Even if China has offered little
political help so far, it presents itself
as a leader of the Third
World.
Democratic governments in Africa will increasingly look towards
China
because their businessmen will be pressing for access to China's huge
market
potential.
Friedman said China believed its investment in
Africa had the potential to
create a windfall profit in geopolitical
influence in the future. "The West
is very worried about China's
involvement." - Sapa-AP
Email: jag@mango.zw: justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
FUND RAISER COMMUNIQUÉ
For funds in aid of the
Justice for Agriculture Trust.
The JAG Trust has re-launched the African
Art fund raising project, which commenced in January 2006.
This is the
third painting to be offered in a series; the last two paintings were a huge
success.
It is the Trust's intention to silent auction via the Internet
and the Trust's extensive e-mail network an anonymous donor commissioned
painting in each month of 2006.
The much needed funds raised by this
initiative will go towards the operational costs of the Justice for Agriculture
Trust, which carries out community charitable support work and various action
projects on behalf of farmers and farm workers, under extremely difficult
circumstances and against all odds.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
About the
Artist:
BARRY THOMAS
Barry was born in Harare 1974, and although a boarder at school there until he was seventeen, he was really brought up on the family farm in northern Zimbabwe, along with his two brothers. The great Zimbabwe outdoors, the bush and the wildlife were very prominent in their lives. After school Barry did an apprenticeship as a mechanic, then his pilots licence and eventually returned back to the farm to take over the management duties. There he remained for six years, with a brief interlude travelling abroad. Now in his thirties Barry has started this his latest career move: Wildlife Art. Although, originally, not out of choice, he’ll admit.
The painting will be offered on silent
auction up until 31 August 2006. Bids may be registered via email with JAG's
office: jag@mango.zw or justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw. It is hoped that this and the
other silent auctions will provide the purchaser with a unique opportunity to
obtain a valuable painting by leading local and internationally recognised
artists whilst at the same time assisting an organisation and community
dedicated to Zimbabwe's future.
There is no opening pre-auction bid on
this, the third in the series of paintings.
Please could JAG membership, recipients on the JAG
email network and all those sympathetic to Zimbabwe's plight, humanitarian or
environmental, forward this email worldwide via their mailing lists; it is
especially important to target collectors of African art.
See attached
image "Hot and Hungry". For a larger, more defined image and more about the
artist please write and request from jag@mango.zw or justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw - message size 643KB.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
About the
painting:
TITLE: HOT AND HUNGRY
SIZE: 600mm x 900mm (24” x 36”)
MEDIUM: OIL ON CANVAS
PAINTED BY: BARRY THOMAS
DATE: MAY 2006
The lioness is perched on top of the southern escarpment over-looking the Zambezi valley floor. At the end of the dry season she has had to come up with her pride from the valley in search of prey, which by this time, has moved up the escarpment escaping the lack of grazing, intense heat and in search of water. Although cooler up here, the temperatures are still very high, she must find somewhere, with shade, to lie up during the heat of the day and hunt with her pride at night. From this vantage point she can detect movement from a long way off and save herself time, searching aimlessly. Just a flick of a tail could give her potential dinner away.
SABC
August 03, 2006, 06:00
A faction of Zimbabwe's main opposition, the
Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) says it would be a great shame if
Britain deported its
supporters. David Coltart, the faction's secretary for
legal affairs, says
they hope some people who have been tortured will not be
returned.
Yesterday, John Reid, the British home secretary, won the
right to
deport asylum seekers back to Zimbabwe.
Hundreds of
mainly opposition supporters have fled Zimbabwe and sought
refuge in Britain
and neighbouring South Africa. Tim Finch, a spokesperson
of the British
non-governmental organisation, the Refugees Council, says
government should
think carefully of who they should deport.
"The judges in open
court were saying very clearly that there are lots
of people who the
government should think very carefully about returning,
that includes the
general-secretary of the MDC in a major city," said Finch.
The Zimbabwean
BY RITA
PERRY
The Zimbabwean recently published a letter by Trevor Grundy who was
'amazed'
that some people had a wonderful time at the Elephant Hills Hotel
in
Victoria Falls. I didn't read the offending article although I agree that
'young ebony skinned maidens' are a bit over the top! But Mr Grundy also
seems to suggest that to spend money and enjoy oneself in Zimbabwe is to be
oblivious to the effect that this government has had on the tourist industry
and every other aspect of our economy.
It's an interesting point -
because there are people who seem to be
concerned about the situation only
in so far as it affects their personal
pleasure. But is it really so, or
does it just appear that way?
The first time I was confronted with these
uncomfortably juxtaposed
realities was in Chile in the 1970's. The Allende
government was in power
and inflation was well over 1000%.
From Santiago
airport vast shanty towns lined both sides of the road, mostly
boarded up so
we couldn't see them. People queued everywhere for everything
and the
extent of the urban poverty was worse than anything I'd ever seen.
Santiago
also had the best nightclub I'd ever been to anywhere in the world.
We drank
a very good Chilean sparkling wine, ate fresh oysters. Had Mr
Grundy seen
me then he may well have thought that I hadn't noticed anything.
Chile wasn't
a comfortable experience. It was a lesson not only in
different realities
but also the desperate need for people to eat, drink and
have fun when times
are hard.
To write about and use the Elephant Hills Hotel if you can afford
it may
help keep you sane in this insane situation. It also helps those who
cling
precariously to jobs in an almost defunct industry.
And yes the
uncomfortable truth is that the money spent would have bought
thousands of
bars of soap for the thousands of Zimbabweans who have scabies
and who can
no longer afford soap. But another uncomfortable truth is that
the poor are
always with us. The only difference in Zimbabwe is that their
ranks grow
all the time, they're now right outside the gate. Most
uncomfortable of all
is that what has made them poor should never have
happened. That their
poverty is a direct result of poor governance should
make us angry. But
anger forever projected outwards to what is wrong is
less effective than
anger used to do what Adam Michnik chief architect of
Poland's Solidarity
Movement suggests:
".start doing the things you think should be done, and
start being what you
think society should become. Do you believe in free
speech? Then speak
freely. Do you love the truth? Then tell it. Do you
believe in an open
society? Then act in the open. Do you believe in a
decent and humane
society? Then behave decently and humanely."
This
society of ours is riddled with blame and indeed there is much that is
worthy of blame. But the danger with blame is self-righteousness. When we
make 'the other' bad we tend to automatically make ourselves good.
We
should not close our eyes before suffering. This is not easy to do in
Zimbabwe today because it means to look into the eyes of the four-year-old
girl who begs at the traffic lights and ask her name. It's not about
handing her money with our eyes closed or pretending that we can't see her.
She needs to know that we care more than she needs our money.
The
disaster that has befallen our country is barely tolerable to see or
hear
about. But it can make us examine important moral questions like being
able
to afford lunch when the majority can't. Not with guilt, for we are
not
responsible for this situation, but in a helpful way that may relieve a
little of its suffering. It may mean that we take the time to write a
letter that may help someone who is illiterate. Or realise that it's better
to share the shopping with our domestic worker rather than to remove the
price labels as someone I know does, 'to spare her feelings.'
When I was
a child we had to eat everything on our plate because of the poor
starving
children in India. This was a clumsy attempt to make us grateful
for what we
had, but it ignored the poor starving children in Salisbury,
Southern
Rhodesia where we lived. They were on the other side of town just
as, in an
affluent society, they are largely on the other side of the world.
When the
poor are out of sight it doesn't make their suffering go away.
I believe that
to survive emotionally in these conditions requires an open
heart. And at
times it's incredibly hard to keep it open. Over these last
few very trying
weeks I have found myself consumed with anger that things
are this
way.
But it's a vicious circle because my ability to cope with the situation
is
diminished if I stay in that hard, angry place. To have some fun helps
and
so does an open wallet, though few are now able to give much.
At the
time of Murambatsvina when our spirits were at their lowest ebb I had
about
10 friends round for lunch. I provided a simple meal and friends
bought a
few bottles of wine. For a few precious hours we forgot about the
horror
all around us.
It may be that the people, who enjoyed their holiday at
Elephant Hills
tipped generously, bought many things they didn't really want
and took lots
of side trips. I hope they did.
The Zimbabwean
'There is always money to be made in
the making and breaking of a country'
There is no doubt that Mugabe is a
classic example of Lord Acton's
observation, "Power corrupts and absolute
power corrupts absolutely".
Despite his delusions, the popular mood is
against him and people talk quite
openly of his impending departure. The
tragedy of Zimbabwe is that Mugabe
is not as responsible for the chaos as
some of his opponents like to
believe.
Certainly his arrogance,
megalomania and perverse philosophies have not
helped. His leadership was a
necessary condition for the current crisis, but
not sufficient in itself to
lead to the country's misery. It takes more than
one man to disembowel an
economy. The dark side of Africa has been unleashed
and that legacy will
remain for years - with or without Mugabe. His
departure will bring
rejoicing but the hard times will continue for a long
time yet. There will
be huge pressures on whoever replaces him to turn the
situation around and
it is inevitable that there will be a period of
instability as the
politicians and the voters work through the crisis of
expectations.
Do
all countries have the governments they deserve? It seems harsh to
assert
that a six-year-old who has been living solely on unripe watermelons
for the
past three months deserves to be so cruelly led. However it is only
recently, with the rise of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), that
Zimbabweans have demonstrated that they can stir themselves from their
apathy (stoicism is a kinder interpretation) and take action. It is this
stoicism that is Africa's saving and its downfall. No people are more abused
by their leaders - and yet none are better suited to finding contentment in
circumstances that would leave a Westerner with clinical depression. It will
be a sign of a maturing nation if they do not allow themselves to forget and
demand far greater standards of leadership in the future.
Few of the
evicted farmers I spoke to wish to farm in Zimbabwe again, they
simply want
property rights and the rule of law re-established so that they
can sell up
and start again elsewhere. They have no confidence that the
unlawful
killings and evictions will not happen again. The middle class, a
necessary
bulwark against Africa's more extreme moments, have either fled or
are
wheeling and dealing their way through dodgy forex deals and
import/export
schemes in preparation for their departure.
The flight from Johannesburg
lands at Harare's smart new and near empty
airport. There are no immigration
forms. Officials wander about as if they
have been taken completely by
surprise by the arrival of a scheduled flight.
While someone searches for
the forms the more experienced Africa hands
shrug, make themselves
comfortable against a wall and settle into Zimbabwean
time.
The newcomers
mill about anxiously, complain to each other and look for
someone with
"Customer Service Officer" on their lapel. The forms arrive,
we fill them
in and we are processed cheerfully if somewhat chaotically.
The problem is
that the immigration desk has no change in foreign currency.
Many visitors
pay for their visas on arrival which means that those early in
the queue
could not be given any change (and no one wants change in Zimbabwe
dollars,
at least not at the official rate).
The immigration officer has to re-arrange
the queue in an order that would
enable him to process those with small
denomination notes, in a variety of
currencies, earlier than those with
large notes. It takes some time to
establish a near optimal order. The
Englishman in front of me is irate,
complaining that he had been visiting
Zimbabwe for 20 years and has never
had to pay US$55 for the privilege
before "...and how come he"(indicating me
and my blue Australian
passport)"...only has to pay US$30?" The immigration
officer grins over his
impressive collection of rubber stamps, "The more Bob
(President Robert
Mugabe) dislikes you, the more you pay. Bob does not like
Mr. Blair. He
does not like Mr. Howard either, but not as much." The logic
seems
impeccable and the Brit meekly counts out his notes.
I went for a walk early
the following morning. Having not been back for five
years I am struck by
two things; the bird-song and the smell of the bush. I
have missed neither
particularly while I have been living abroad for over a
decade but now that
i am back, both seem just right somehow. Someone once
told me that home is
where you rode a bicycle as a child and that no place
will ever replace the
sense memories laid down during that early idle
exploration. I will never
know the trees and grasses in any other country as
well as I know those in
Zimbabwe, but it is unlikely I will ever live there
again.
Images of
white farmers lying bandaged in hospital - or worse under blankets
covering
their dead bodies - have been widely published around the world.
There are
far fewer pictures of the half a million farm workers who have
lost their
jobs and in many cases, their homes. The number of people who
have been
"resettled" on the farms is possibly a tenth of this number.
The farmers
still have their title deeds, however although this means little
to a man
with a panga. The lawyer of one farmer I know wrote to him after
successfully extracting the relevant Court Order saying: "I can now confirm
that the farm is legally yours (for what that is worth"). That single
phrase sums up the bizarre dichotomy that is Zimbabwe today - a country in
which one can still approach a bewigged judge for a Court Order, yet the
judiciary is ignored and the police cannot/will not enforce the judicial
rulings.
It is inevitable that as the economy and social fabric have both
fractured,
human behaviour deteriorates and more than once I concluded that
it is the
best and the worst of my tribe who are now left in the
country.
"We have become a nation of cowards, crooks and collaborators" said
one
friend in despair. I attended a dinner party where one of the guests was
boasting how their privately-owned transport company had worked out a way of
over-charging one of the aid agencies for delivering food to the rural
areas.
The response from around the table was congratulatory, when people
see
corruption and graft at the highest levels then it becomes easier to
rationalise such scams as an extension of private enterprise. As Rhett
Butler observed to Scarlet O'Hara when explaining his new-found wealth
"There is always money to be made in the making and breaking of a country".
And yet there are those who remain in the country fighting for civilised
values, whether they be treating animals humanely or the rule of law, at
great personal risk to themselves and their families.
On my final morning
in Zimbabwe I ran along a dirt road through my
grandparents' former farm.
Mist was rising from the vlei, there were fresh
jackal tracks in the dust
and the doves were calling. As the sun rose
through the msasa trees I
reflected on Karen Blixen's lines on the opening
page of Out of Africa "I
had a farm in Africa...in the highlands you woke in
the morning and thought
here I am, where I ought to be". In Zimbabwe one may
have had a farm, but
one no longer belongs. More significantly for the
country's future economic
prospects, after the experiences of the past few
years, a large number of
people, black and white, are unsure whether they
even want to
belong.
The Zimbabwean
Supreme court confirms
electoral fraud... but don't be fooled by Mugabe's
latest ploy
By
Stanford G. Mukasa
WASHINGTON - Many people will hail the recent decision of
the Zimbabwean
supreme court to declare null and void the composition and
the judgments of
the electoral court. The reason was the chief justice had
no constitutional
authority to appoint judges to the electoral court.
The
bottom line is that the supreme court has endorsed what every Zimbabwean
knows, namely, Mugabe and Zanu (PF) committed criminal fraud in the
elections.
It is not by coincidence that Mugabe keeps repeating his
everlasting
gratitude to the army for keeping him and ZANU (PF) in power.
Mugabe has
never thanked the electorate for voting him into office. He knows
very well
that Zimbabwean voters overwhelmingly voted against him and his
party.
During one of his Politburo meetings Mugabe was reported to have said
in
Shona "Dai panga pasina masoja tingadayi tiri kupi nhasi?" Translated:
"Where would we be now if it was not for the army?"
Had the elections
been free and fair Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC would
have been in power
since 2000.
Mugabe also knows there is irrefutable evidence about how he
rigged
elections. This is why he manipulated the courts into dragging on
forever
key hearings on the MDC challenge to the election results.
Mugabe
will be the first to admit that he, his wife, family, relatives and
sycophants in ZANU (PF) vipers' den owe their lives, positions, wealth and
political power to the army. This is why Zimbabwe is now being run by the
army.
Just like the Boers in apartheid South Africa, Mugabe has created a
laager
or wagon encirclement of the army to protect his fellow criminals who
are
now plundering the country non-stop.
The supreme court has been a
spectator to this systematic rape and plunder
of Zimbabwe. Most, if not all,
judges in Zimbabwe have been compromised and
degraded into mouthpieces of
Mugabe and Zanu (PF) instead of staunch and
uncompromising defenders of the
rule of law and the constitution.
One or two judges may have stood out head
and shoulders above the rest as a
strict custodians of the constitution. The
rest of the supreme court judges
have brought shame and disrepute to the
bench.
Many of the judges have been beneficiaries of what Bishop Desmond Tutu
once
described as the gravy train. The Zimbabwean gravy train is an
exclusive
property of some of the greediest politicians in Zimbabwe's
history. Never
have so few voracious criminals sucked Dracula -style the
country bone dry!
Like leeches, lice and vampires and blood sucking
creatures Mugabe and Zanu
(PF) are voraciously and selfishly draining the
nation of its essential
resources.
Incredible as it may sound, Ian Smith
and the Rhodesian Front of the settler
colonial era have, when compared to
Mugabe and Zanu (PF), emerged clearly
and unambiguously the lesser of two
evils that have befallen Zimbabweans for
over half a century.
The
so-called independence for Zimbabweans in 1980 was a giant leap from the
frying pan of Ian Smith's dictatorship into the fire of Mugabe's
repression.
The other day I was watching an old Mukadota video shot in the
early 1980s
and could hardly believe Mukadota's wife, Mai Rwizi, giving her
husband Z$2
for a beer drink with friends. She demanded he should bring back
change! And
this was 26 years ago!
In 1980 one Zimbabwean dollar was
worth US$1.6 and almost equivalent to the
British pound. One could get a
full meal of fish and chips for less than 50
Zimbabwean cents! Half a loaf
of bread cost seven cents!
Zimbabwe became a class society long before 1980.
This class structure was
simply reinforced when independence came. There was
a wholesale abandonment
of the masses as Mugabe and his top officials
started a program of
self-aggrandizement.
The judiciary has traditionally
belonged to the privileged and elite class.
In the last six years the
judiciary has been packed with Mugabe's sycophants
who have been handsomely
rewarded for pandering to him in a clear
desecration of their role as
custodians of the law, the constitution and
legal rights.
Any court
judgments against Mugabe or his cronies - and these were few and
far between
- have not been enforced. Many of the worst Zanu (PF) criminals
have not
been brought to trial. On the other hand, court judgments in favour
of
Mugabe and against the opposition supporters have been vigorously
enforced.
A big question is why the supreme court has now decided to give
a judgment
on the unconstitutionality of the electoral court. Why did it
take so long
to determine a case where there was a clear violation of the
constitution?
Why was this judgment made long after the six-month period
within such cases
must be adjudicated had expired?
Specifically, why was
this judgment given on the eve of mass action against
Mugabe?
It is very
likely that this decision was taken with the full complicity of
the Mugabe
regime. Some insiders have revealed that very few court judgments
are given
without first consulting Mugabe.
The reason is not far to find. Mugabe is
trying to distract attention and
focus from the impending mass protest
against him and his regime. Mugabe is
trying to puncture the winds out of
the protest sails. He is anxious to
upstage and outmanoeuvre plans for mass
protest.
It is reliably reported that Mugabe's security chiefs have privately
told
him that there is now a real possibility of mass protest and the
security
forces may not be able to contain the outbreak of such protest for
two
reasons.
First, there is not enough manpower to control the size of
the estimated
number of protesters who might emerge. Secondly, there is deep
suspicion
that some members of the security forces might be reluctant to
shoot
Zimbabweans who are protesting for a decent living.
The vast
majority of soldiers identify with the people's struggle. It was
reported
not long ago that soldiers of the presidential guard were surviving
by
catching squirrels in the nearby botanical gardens. Mugabe cannot afford
a
mass protest. By allowing the supreme court ruling, he hopes that
Zimbabweans will believe that he is prepared to hold a series of
by-elections or even a new general election under a properly constituted
electoral court. This would lead to a false optimism that may see many
people avoid protesting in the hope that new opportunities for replacing
Mugabe through the ballot are emerging. Don't be fooled people!
The Zimbabwean
BY GIFT PHIRI
HARARE
- Zimbabwe has become the only country in the world that does not use
real
currency. Battling to keep pace with hyper-inflation, Zimbabwe's
Reserve
Bank governor has introduced a Z$100 million banknote disguised as a
Z$100
000 bearer cheque, sparking confusion in the crisis-torn country.
The new
note was introduced on Tuesday as part of sweeping currency reforms
meant to
reduce the public's burden of carrying large sums of cash.
Reserve Bank
governor Gideon Gono introduced a new family of bearer cheques
after
knocking off three zeros from the old money. The old bearer cheques
will
remain legal tender for only 21 days.
Bearer cheques are a type of paper
money that was introduced three years ago
when the country ran out of
banknotes. The cheques, which are printed on
plain paper with no security
features, have now totally replaced the
country's rapidly devaluing bank
notes.
The issuance of the new family of bearer cheques that are in series of
1
cent, 5 cents, 10cents, 50 cents, $1, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500, $1000,
and
$100 000 at a time when the old currency, comprising coins and notes up
to
$100 000, is also in circulation has sparked confusion.
In a snap
survey in the capital, consumers said the "new money" markedly
reduced the
time spent in queues but many said they had problems coming to
terms with
new transaction values, which included cents that had long ceased
to be
instruments of trade. Supermarkets that had been struggling to handle
vast
stacks of cash for small purchases welcomed the new denominated money
but
said they were given little time to change the price tags. The price of
consumer goods remained static, but was expected to rise faster again next
week.
Gono said the currency reforms were implemented without much
warning in
order to "reign in on speculative tendencies."
Business
leaders said the change of currency would present problems for
their
accounting systems, and the currency rollover presented a software
compliance nightmare for shops relying on electronic points of sale.
Gono
announced the deployment of police officers and the infamous youth
militia
at all border posts to monitor import and export of currency.
"All those
delinquent individuals and corporate citizens who have illegally
externalized our currency will not be allowed to simply bring it back
without being brought to book in accordance with laws of the land," he
said.
The central bank governor also announced a 60 percent devaluation of
the
country's interbank exchange rate to 250 000 Zimbabwe dollars against 1
U.S.
dollar - which now translates to 250 Zimdollars against the greenback
after
removing three zeros.
Economists said the devaluation would have
little or no effect on Zimbabwe's
supersonic 1 184 percent inflation - the
highest in the world - as
commodities were being sold at black market rates,
which were usually five
times the official rate.
The Zimbabwean
By Gift
Phiri
HARARE - The President's Office, which also encompasses the notorious
Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), blew a staggering Z$4 trillion of
the country's scarce resources in the first six months of this year.
The
notorious force, which receives its funds under the special services
allocation falling directly under the President's office, is now set to
benefit from a colossal $7 trillion allocated to Mugabe's office during a
supplementary budget presented last week. The special services allocation is
not subject to audit by the Comptroller or Auditor General. It is also
exempt from any parliamentary scrutiny.
The supplementary budget for
Mugabe's office inflates his initial vote for
this year to a massive $11
trillion, a figure which far surpasses last
year's initial targeted
expenditure of $4,6 trillion.
The massive surge in expenditure by the CIO
comes amid reports that
government is acquiring spying equipment from China
that will enable it to
monitor phones and emails sent from both land and
internet-based addresses.
Legislation empowering government to undertake
such activities was brought
to Parliament last week. The Interception of
Communication Bill will enable
the notorious spy agency to establish a
"communications monitoring center"
which will "monitor and intercept certain
communications in the course of
their transmission through a
telecommunication, postal or any other related
service system".
Critics
say government's fixation with snooping on private communications
represents
a renewed crackdown, which also includes tough policing and
political
intimidation, designed to outlaw criticism and entrench Mugabe's
rule in the
face of the growing swell of opposition to his draconian
policies. No
information has been given to parliament or the country on the
sort of
equipment the spy agency is acquiring.
When the budgeted expenditure for
Mugabe's office for 2006 is added to the
amount allocated to Defence ($25
trillion), it far exceeds the entire budget
for Health and Child Welfare,
which is given as $21 trillion. This is all
the more strange in a country
which has not been at war for 26 years, which
enjoys the most cordial
relations with all its neighbours, and faces no
prospect of any
hostilities.
The health sector by contrast is seriously under-funded and in a
state of
near collapse.
The Zimbabwean
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe
"must be dragged shouting and kicking" to
the negotiating table, MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai told the convention
called by the pro-democracy Christian
Alliance at the weekend.
But a senior government minister who declined to be
named said Mugabe would
never accept demands for a new
constitution.
Opposition leaders rejected Tsvangirai's invitation to form one
big
opposition political party to confront the Mugabe regime. They were
Professor Arthur Mutambara of the pro-senate MDC, Paul Siwela of Zapu
Federal Party (FP), Daniel Shumba of the United People's Party (UPP) and
Wurayayi Zembe of the Democratic Party (DP). A proxy represented Prof.
Jonathan Moyo of the United People's Movement (UPM).
"We are the leaders
who unite or divide people," Tsvangirai, said in an
impassioned unity plea.
"Lets not speak peace, let's act peace. We cannot
afford the luxury of
politicking and rhetoric. People are demanding that
change must
come."
Political analyst George Mkwananzi said unity, especially between the
opposing MDC factions was a "non-starter."
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
CEO Jacob Mafume said after Saturday's meeting
it was clear that all
democratic forces were agreed that the current
constitutional framework was
the source of the crisis in Zimbabwe.
"There is need to create a unified
platform for democratic forces to engage
in sustainable fight for democracy
in Zimbabwe," Mafume said. "There is need
for a comprehensive people-driven
constitutional process encompassing an
all-stakeholders approach." - From
Gift Phiri
The Zimbabwean
By Gift Phiri
HARARE -
Zimbabwe's bankrupt government has imposed a string of tax rises of
at least
500 percent on imports, fuel, vehicles, bank transactions and
postal
consignments as it battles to stem the collapse of the country's
tattered
economy.
Finance Minister Hebert Murerwa announced the increases as part of a
supplementary budget, aimed at raising $372,2 trillion to bankroll service
delivery costs for the remaining five months of the year.
Some of the
money will help with food imports to feed some 3,3m people which
the United
Nations estimates are in need of food aid, wages for civil
servants, and
fuel imports.
Meanwhile, government also increased Automated Financial
Transaction Tax
from the current $500 to $5 000 per transaction. This means
starting
September 1, withdrawing cash from the ATM will cost about $100 000
given
that there is already another $88 770 billed for "switch charges" and
another $5 000 "government levy."
Murerwa told Parliament that he was
increasing Carbon Tax from the current
$1 000 per litre of petrol or diesel
to $5 000. The mode of payment for
Carbon Tax was changed last year from a
system where the tariff was levied
according to engine capacity to a scheme
based on fuel consumption.
Murerwa said government would also introduce a
fine for taxis and commuter
omnibuses that do not display their Presumptive
Tax Clearance Certificate on
their windscreens. Public transport buses pay a
quarterly tax and VAT of
17.5 percent.
The Presumptive Tax was introduced
during the 2005 mid-term fiscal policy
ostensibly to "capture the informal
sector into the tax base."
The National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM) Debt
Redemption Levy on diesel
and petrol has also been increased to a shocking
$25 000 per litre up from
$110. Murerwa defended the hike in the NOCZIM levy
saying the toll had been
overtaken by inflation as it came into force when
fuel prices were
relatively low.
"There is thus need to review the amount
to a meaningful level that will
assist NOCZIM in amortizing the accumulated
debt," Murerwa said.
The state-run fuel procurement company has been run down
by corruption and
mismanagement and is currently saddled by heavy debts,
arising from
accumulated losses piled by years of subsidizing
fuel.
Government also announced it was adjusting the tax-free threshold on
incomes
from $7 million to $20 million a month. Murerwa admitted inflation,
currently pegged at 1184 percent, was eroding disposable earnings and
affecting the livelihoods of millions of Zimbabweans.
ZCTU secretary
general Wellington Chibebe said the adjustment was a far cry
from the
proposals the labour body tabled demanding tax-free income that was
in
tandem with the poverty datum line of $68 million per month.
"We are not
fooled, we are actually agitated," Chibebe said.
The "tax relief" will come
into force in September at a time analysts
project the poverty datum line to
have breached $120 million, assuming that
prices for the consumer basket
increases by an average of $20 million per
month as has become the pattern
over the last five months.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) said the tax hikes would
bring more suffering to Zimbabweans.
"What
the minister has done is to tell us straight in the face that the
government
is broke and they are prepared to drive the economy to a fatal
crash," the
MDC's Tapiwa Mashakada said.
The Zimbabwean
Elsewhere in this newspaper we carry a story about the extraordinary
expenditure incurred by the CIO in the last six months, as tabled in
Parliament last week.
The treasury had allocated the spy agency Z$4.6
trillion for the year. But
the men in dark glasses, overseen by the minister
in charge, Didymus Mutasa,
have blown this in the first six months and have
now been allocated a
supplementary budget of Z$7 trillion - nearly double
the original budget
that was supposed to last for 12 months.
It is
important that we take a moment to consider the implication of this.
Huge
numbers are bandied about so much these days that it is difficult to
comprehend them. They tend to be meaningless.
But just think about this.
There are fewer than 10 million Zimbabweans
remaining in the country. More
than half of these are children and many of
the rest are old and
infirm.
Yet the Mugabe government has spent, and further intends to spend,
Z$11
trillion spying on less than five million adult citizens in one year. A
trillion being a million million, that means Z$2.2 million per person. Even
at today's vastly inflated prices, that is the equivalent of 11 loaves of
bread. Per person. For the spy agency.
This is an outrage in a country
that can't afford to feed itself, educate
its children or take care of its
sick.
Instead of developing the country and its people to take their place in
the
world of tomorrow, the Zanu (PF) thievocracy is squandering resources on
a
mind-boggling scale in a desperate attempt to save itself from the logical
consequences of decades of greed and bad governance.
The whole situation
is beyond belief, especially when one considers what the
government is also
spending on the army, the air force, the police and the
militia - all in
order to keep a restless, hungry, frustrated, desperate
population in
check.
What is even more disturbing is that the money allocated to the CIO is
not
subject to scrutiny by any official body - not parliament, not the
treasury,
not the auditor general. The money literally disappears into a
bottomless
pit.
The future government of Zimbabwe must put an end to
this.
Spending money like this is utterly unnecessary. Can no one see that it
would actually be a lot cheaper to sort out the political mess, rather than
continue to spend such enormous sums on repressing the population?
Police savagery abounds
EDITOR - I want to tell you of the most terrible
incident I witnessed
yesterday and this is truly indicative of the hatred,
savagery and total
disregard for all human rights and the law, perpetrated
by the Police.
I had to take a witness to Mabelreign Police station at 3pm -
there was one
car in the car park, an accused on the ground near the car and
four plain
clothes (one with an FN over his shoulder), one constable and one
militia in
police uniform. The accused, a small man of about 40, had
already been
bashed, the left side of his face was like a football. Both of
them were
shouting at him, punching and kicking him. I shouted at them to
stop.
Everyone else just stood and watched. Nothing happened so I lunged for
the
militia and in trying to pull him off the accused (who was now curled up
in
the foetal position, what else could he do) he lost his balance and fell
over.
He leapt up, straight up into my face - yelling "you assaulted me,
I can
arrest you". If it hadn't been so gross, it would have been funny -
he's
screaming that I assaulted him, when he is knocking the s***out of the
poor
accused. I muttered, not quietly enough "f***ing police", and was then
surrounded by the plain clothes guys, two of them being the most evil and
hate filled men I have seen in a long time. Many threats from them, while I
am shouting back, "you can't just assault people like this". It was getting
nasty so I drove out, with them yelling abuse and throwing the Zanu fist at
me.
This man is just one of thousands who experience the savagery,
torture and
barbarity of the so-called police/CIO/CID on a daily basis.
There is
absolutely NO RECOURSE to the law now.
Appalled,
HARARE
------------
Liberator turned Monster
EDITOR - When
Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980 Mugabe was the hero of
the struggle
regarded by the people of Zimbabwe as the new hope of the
nation. He was
the new Messiah who was going to cure Zimbabwe's ills.
Alas - the Messiah
has turned into a Judas. What a betrayal. It is even
more painful when it is
done by one of your own. Today Zimbabwe is a country
in turmoil - a
catastrophe of Mugabe's own making. Mugabe is seriously
deranged and one day
he will pay heavily.
It is beyond belief that Zimbabwe has been reduced to
rubble at the hands of
a monster who was once a liberator. Mugabe one day
you will be judged. You
need to be afraid - very afraid - because the end is
nigh. Big brother is
watching you. Nothing lasts forever, even the longest
and the most
glittering reign comes to an end. Some day and the people of
Zimbabwe will
never remember you as a liberator but only as a brutal
monster.
Chipo Dhinda, UK
-----------
Thank you to
youths
EDITOR - May we express our utmost gratitude that, despite political
pressures, many youths attended the Youth Against Corruption Day July 20, at
Town House in Chegutu. The National Association for Youths Against
Corruption was found by the suspended Midlands State University student
activist against corruption Chris Gatsi (20). Our objectives are: To
research and bring to the law any corrupt activities; To hold the government
to highest level of transparency and accountability in their mgt of public
affairs(as in A.U Convection section 12); To pursue how cases of corruption
are dealt with by the responsible law enforcement agents and the courts; To
facilitate youth developmental projects; To carry out large awareness
campaigns about corruption, ways to fight it as well as propose
policies.
We can be contacted at Box 393, Chegutu. Cell:(Founder president)
091 714
308 or (053)2232
National Association for Youths Against
Corruption N.A.Y.A.C
----------
We need common sense
EDITOR -
Government has increased the tax-free income threshold from $7
million to
$20 million a month to cushion workers against hyper-inflation,
while an
additional $372,2 trillion is needed to finance Government
expenditure until
year-end.
This is not good news because the effective date is 1 September.
Considering
the ever increasing inflation and cost of rentals, food and
transport I
wonder who these people think they are pleasing. It was going to
make real
sense if the effective date was 1 August so that at least we will
enjoy the
benefits for one month.
On average workers are paying $150 000
per trip to work but by the end of
September I bet it will be $ 300 000 per
trip. In Zimbabwe figures don't
mean anything because they represent
valueless.
We need common sense and real concern for the plight of the
people.
Stanford, Harare
------------
Find real
supporters
EDITOR - I am very embarrassed with people who are diverting
people from the
real struggle to kill time while giving Mugabe ground to
strategise and
remain in power forever.
Are these people Mugabe`s agents
or are they just greedy people just trying
to manipulate and take advantage
of the situation for their personal
benefits? We are ready to die for a good
cause of fighting this regime with
all means possible.
My appeal to our
honest leader President Morgan Tsvangirai is to find us
real supporters so
that we can remove Mugabe. When we try it peacefully he
always respond
violently, so please there is no more time for a peaceful
solution to
Zimbabwe as long as Mugabe is still alive.
Tsvangirai and his executive
should leave Zimbabwe immediately and form a
government in exile and be able
to commence real action directly.
Zenzo Nleya,
Zimbabwe
----------
Happy with their lot?
EDITOR - It would
seem that Zimbabweans are happy with their lot and are not
really keen on
changing anything, as nothing has happened vis-a-vis "Uncle
Morgan's" winter
campaign of unrest! Well, if that's the way we want it,
then fine, but there
is definitely something wrong with a people who enjoy
being ridden roughshod
over by their government who care not a hoot for
them.
If we think of the
many thousands who laid down their lives to rid the
nation of a "repressive"
(RF) regime, to be replaced by what we have now,
then those lives must have
all been thrown away in vain. To the people who
are left in Zimbabwe (and
I'm one of them!), I'm ashamed to live amongst a
bunch of cowards. Is
Tsvangirai not really a second Jonathan Moyo, or maybe
just a front for Zanu
(PF), to confuse the people some more? And where are
all the cowardly whites
who are knocking Roy Bennett for making a stand for
righteousness - all of
us, both black and white, make up this nation of
weaklings. We all say
"there's nothing we can do" - there is more than one
way to kill a
cat.
S. Taylor, Zimbabwe
------------
The gap is
unbelievable
EDITOR - Thank you for your paper that is bold enough to tell it
as it is
without fear. May you allow me space to express my grave concerns
on the
record breaking inflation that has wreaked havoc in our economy and
brought
catalogues of suffering to Zimbabweans.
Such galloping inflation
is without doubt a vivid illustration of the
collapse of the country's
economy and a clear reflection of the incompetence
and failure of the
government.
I find it deeply disturbing that with an inflation rate of almost
1200% our
beloved country now has the highest rate in the world. By
comparison its
even more saddening to realise that Iraq, the country with
the second
highest has an inflation rate of only 64%.
The gap is
unbelievable. Worthy of note is the inflation rate for our
closest neighbour
South Africa which is below 5% while the inflation rates
for Botswana,
Mozambique and Zambia are all below 10% .Its equally
disheartening to
realise that even Somalia, the only country in the world
that has been
running without a government for many years now hasn't got an
inflation as
abnormal as ours.
Most worrying is the inaction and inability of the regime
to stop this
economic madness. It just seems the desperate repressive
government has run
out of ideas and can no longer think of a turnaround plan
to address the
causes of this spiralling inflation, stabilize the currency
and resuscitate
the ailing economy.
It's common knowledge this prevailing
economic chaos is a consequence of
well documented economic mismanagement,
rampant corruption, short sighted
absurd policies and above all the
systematic tendency of putting political
ambitions before economic
considerations.
Despite all these well-documented factors that have led to
the economic rot
the government still claims the economic problems are a
result of Western
sanctions and take every opportunity to blame Tony Blair
for the self
inflicted economic woes bedevilling our nation. We need a
change of
government.
I CHIMINNO, ENFIELD UK