SHURUGWI, Zimbabwe, May 25 (AFP) - Fifty squatters occupying the
vast farm owned by former white minority premier of Rhodesia Ian
Smith are staking out small private plots for themselves to reclaim
ownership of their ancestral land.
Gwenara Farm, on the high veld in southern Zimbabwe, stretches
over 200 hectares (500 acres). Here, 81-year-old Smith raises 1,000
head of Brahman cattle and grows maize.
The farm was occupied on May 13, adding to the some 1,500 white
farms taken over in Zimbabwe.
But for the squatters, led by a few former fighters in
Zimbabwe's independence war against Smith's white supremacist
regime, the farm is "special."
Itanga, one of the squatters wearing mud-spattered rags, called
the occupation "a revenge."
"We know what he did to our people. He should not have stayed
here and boasted about his wealth," said Itanga, a young unemployed
man from Makusha township, outside the small town of Shurugwe.
"I have nothing, why should I watch him end his life in comfort?
Why should I not take some of his cattle to feed my family since he
drew his wealth from the suffering of my people?" said Itanga of
Smith, whose closest ally against the independence struggle was
apartheid South Africa.
In 1965, Smith, then premier of Rhodesia, broke with London with
his Unilateral Declaration of Independence. Between 1972-79, he
fought a bloody war against nationalist guerrillas to safeguard the
privileges of the white minority.
To try to strangle support for the guerrillas, Smith used force
to move blacks into protected villages in Vietnam-war style, but
under pressure from Britain and the international community, he
agreed to relinquish power and to accept Rhodesia's independence
under black rule, and Zimbabwe was born in 1980.
In a gesture of reconciliation, Smith was authorised to stay on
by his successor, President Robert Mugabe. He lives a comfortable
life in Zimbabwe while becoming increasingly critical of the
regime.
According to farm manager Owen Jarman, the squatters are
essentially "peaceful" landless and unemployed people. "They are not
hindering our activities," Jarman said.
The groups who have occupied white farms since February claim to
be independence war veterans, but they are a mixed bunch. Often, in
the occupied farms, a handful of veterans heads a band of young
unemployed (Zimbabwe has 50 percent unemployment), landless peasants
and supporters of the ruling Zimbabwe African National
Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).
Armed with picks and sticks, the squatters on Smith's farm
occupy a limited sector. "We are not looking for conflict, we do not
want violence," said Itanga, adding however that Smith would be
"wise not to come" to visit his farm.
Jarman said that the former white leader had no plans to do so
and was dividing his time between his house in Harare and travelling
in South Africa.
At Gwenara Farm, the squatters have begun to work the land,
making a few sparse sowings. Seizing a handful of the red earth
belong to the man who said the blacks would never come to power
"never even in 1,000 years," Itanga declared "This is my land, it
has the colour of blood, the blood the blacks sacrificed."
HARARE, May 26 (AFP) - Police shot dead a war veteran who was
part of a militant crowd attempting to storm a police station in
Mvurwi, in northern Zimbabwe, the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU)
reported Friday.
A CFU spokeswoman told AFP the group on Thursday was attempting
to free war veterans and members of the ruling ZANU-PF party who had
been arrested following political clashes with opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters after a rally on Sunday.
Police opened fire with teargas and live rounds, the spokeswoman
said, quoting witnesses. The victim later died of his injuries. Six
war veterans were arrested.
Police could not immediately confirm the death, but acknowledged
the arrests.
KAROI, Zimbabwe, May 24 (AFP) - The strain of living with
militant war veterans on their land has begun to tell on white
Zimbabwean farmers in this northwestern flashpoint area, many of
whom, bags packed ready to flee, rely on sleeping pills to get them
through the night.
Most have packed their children off to boarding school or to
stay with friends in the town so they not be exposed to the daily
humiliations meted out by the war veterans -- racial taunts,
nightlong drumming and chanting outside farmhouses, and, most
traumatic of all, frequent beatings of black labourers.
All are living in a state that swings between terror, fear and,
on good days, anxiety. All are being forced to reassess their
long-term future on the land, some of which has been in their
families for generations.
While many of the farmers were eager to speak to AFP, none was
prepared to be identified for fear of reprisals by the war veterans,
who have already killed four white farmers and brutally beaten
scores of black farmworkers.
Farmer X has reason to be afraid. He was viciously thrashed by
the militants in front of his family in early April after his
tobacco and coffee farm was invaded.
His 14-year-old daughter, traumatised from having had to watch
her father being beaten, has left the farm, too scared to return.
His son has changed, turning from an outgoing 16-year-old into an
introvert, smouldering with anger.
Farmer X, for the first time in his life, has begun taking
sleeping pills -- to try to sleep through the all-night chanting
outside his house. His wife wakes up at three every morning in a
state of stress.
They have packed three bags which they keep in the bedroom --
ready for a quick getaway should the war veterans become violent
again.
Other farmers in the area also admitted to not being able to
sleep properly at night -- living with "the enemy," they say, is
taking its toll.
Farmer Y and his wife are making plans to move to Australia,
unable any longer to stand watching their seven-year-old daughter
trembling in fear when war veterans arrive for their nightly
"sing-song", or her frequent nightmares.
Farmer Z and his family, already chased off their farm once by
the veterans, have thrown out all unnecessary items and are packed
and ready to leave their farm in a few hours, should they come under
renewed threat.
The Karoi area was one of the first to see land invasions by
veterans of the 1970s liberation war, who, with the blessing of
President Robert Mugabe, have been systematically occupying
white-owned farms across the country.
Six weeks after the invasions began, only five farms in Karoi
remain untouched. A total of about 1,400 have been invaded across
the country.
The militants, who are backed by landless peasants and
supporters of the ruling ZANU-PF party, are, according to farmers,
becoming more and more demanding -- as the weather turns colder and
they grow hungrier.
Apart from constant demands for food, the squatters slaughter
livestock, rip down fences, use farm trucks and tractors to attend
political rallies, and make constant racial taunts and death threats
to the farmers, farmworkers and their families.
"Our lives have become very traumatic because we don't know what
we're going to do," said Farmer Y's wife. "We are not angry, just
very stressed."
With the veterans having taken over four-fifths of their farm,
farming is no longer a viable option for them -- a story repeated
throughout the area.
The farmers believe the land invasions are part of an attempt by
President Robert Mugabe to win the support of the landless black
majority ahead of parliamentary elections next month.
White farmers own an estimated 70 percent of the country's prime
agricultural land.
They hope some measure of normality will return after the poll
and the invaders will be ordered off the farms -- but they are not
confident this will happen and are gearing up for a long, bumpy
ride.
"Nothing will ever be the same again," said Farmer Z. "They have
passed an act which allows them to seize white farms any time they
want. How can we live like that?"
A war veteran occupying his farm, known as Izak, told AFP that
he and his colleagues were willing to share the land with the white
farmers.
"We just want half their land and they must plough the fields
for us and suppply the seed. The whites are rich. If they do that,
we can live happily together."
With farming operations in the area virtually at a standstill,
one farmer said miserably: "We have to eat shit. Farming is our
livelihood and if we want to stay here, we just have to eat shit. Or
leave."
HARARE, May 25 (AFP) - Two Cuban doctors who came to Zimbabwe on
a bilateral exchange programme, have sought asylum at the Canadian
embassy in Zimbabwe, an independent daily reported Thursday.
The Daily News reported that two Cuban doctors, Leonel Cordova,
31, and Noris Pena, 25, had left their base in the capital and
signed themselves in at the Canadian embassy.
They intend to defect from their motherland in the hope of
settling in Canada, the paper said. Cordova said that doctors were
not allowed to leave Cuba without government approval.
"We want to go to Canada and work there if possible," Cordova
said, "We were sent here under the policies of Fidel Castro so that
he can appear to the world as a good man."
Cordova, who had been in Zimbabwe for a month, said he and Pena
had been sent with a group of 152 other Cuban doctors -- the the
southern African country to promote Castro's "political goals."
Pena complained that "in Cuba, doctors are the best paid
professionals, but the salaries are not enough for us to survive."
Cordova expressed fears the Cuban government might "punish" his
family members still living in Cuba for attempting to defect.
The Cuban Ambassador to Harare, Rudolfo Sarracino, said the two
asylum-seekers had volunteered for medical service in Zimbabwe:
"They are not persecuted by the Cuban government and there is no
reason why they should politicise the issue."
No comment could be obtained from the Canadian embassy on
Thursday.
Harare-linked Congo diamond firm defends UK listing
LONDON, May 26 (Reuters) - A mining company with a
diamond concession worth some $1 billion in Congo, and
links to both the Zimbabwe and Congo governments, on
Friday defended plans to list in London and denied it
was producing "conflict diamonds".
Oryx Diamonds Ltd, incorporated in the Cayman Islands,
intends to list on London's junior Alternative
Investment Market (AIM) on June 13 through a reverse
takeover of Petra Diamonds Ltd.
Its position as a potential channel of funds to both
governments, which are allies in the civil war in the
Democratic Republic of Congo, was highlighted by
Africa Confidential newsletter and the Financial Times
on Friday.
The publications noted that Oryx had profit-sharing
arrangements with both Osleg, a firm owned by the
Zimbabwe government, and Comiex, a company owned by
the Congo government.
Oryx's appearance as a listed UK company comes at a
sensitive time as international attention focuses on
the role of diamonds in in financing wars in Africa.
The British government has taken a lead in efforts to
stop trade in diamonds from conflict zones in Sierra
Leone, Angola and Congo.
Oryx lawyer David Price denied there was anything
sinister in the arrangements with Osleg and Comiex,
adding that diamonds from the Congo concession
southwest of Mbuji Mayi did not fall into the
"conflict" category.
"The site is located in the Congo in an area which has
been controlled by Zimbabwe for some time. It is not a
war zone -- these are not conflict diamonds," Price
told Reuters.
"There is no reason why any of this should change the
AIM listing. All these matters are set out in the
publically available prospectus."
Oryx has invested $12 million and built a mining
village to develop the Congo concession. An
independent consultants report put the total value of
the kimberlite pipes -- volcanic plugs of rock in
which diamonds are found -- at more than $1 billion
COMMERCIAL FARMERS'
UNION
FARM INVASIONS
UPDATE
FRIDAY 26
MAY 2000
REGIONAL
REPORTS
MASHONALAND
CENTRAL
Mvurwi - A group of about 50 ZANU PF
supporters visited Mvurwi Police Station yesterday to protest against the arrest
of 19 ZANU PF supporters on charges of political violence following a rally in
Mvurwi on Sunday 21 May. The police used tear gas and fired live rounds to
disperse the protestors. One protestor was injured and has subsequently
died.
Centenary - Wheat irrigation and land
preparation has been stopped on Mount Parnis and Sharon.
Glendale - The area has been quiet, but there have been
exdcessive demands that farmers are attempting to resist.
Mazowe - There was a relatively non-hostile visit by a
group of 120 to Mazowe Citrus Ranch yesterday.
Shamva - A three tonne truck was
commandeered from Golden Star Farm in the absence of the owner. Ceres Farm was
thoroughly search by police and army engineers but nothing incriminating was
found.
MASHONALAND WEST
(SOUTH)
All quiet today.
MASHONALAND WEST
(NORTH)
Chinhoyi - War vets threatening to re-educate the
foreman on Laighmans Farm.
Banket - 2 war vets from Pambile Farm
demanding money on Between Rivers Farm. On Sholliver Farm war vets took over one house under duress. Also took
tractor by force and forced labour to accompany them. Another tractor and
trailer taken from Bickleighvale Farm.
Tengwe - Work stoppages and productivity
affected at the bottom end of this area.
MASHONALAND
EAST
Macheke/Virginia - The general situation has
deteriorated over the past few days and youths are operating along the Virginia
Road. The group of new invaders on Athlone Farm are being accommodated in
houses. Support Unit defused a situation on Wheatlands Farm. Last night youths
severely beat the labour force on Welcome Home, who were taken to the clinic for
treatment.
Marondera South - Five vehicles and tractor
with trailer involved in invasions of Arcadia, Alexandria and Lydiasdale which
were pegged, with plots being sold on Arcadia. Two workers removed
involuntarily for re-education and returned. A death threat received on
Alexandria/Carolina.
Beatrice/Harare South - War vets gathered
all farm labourers along the south bank of the Hunyani River to pay a nominal
fee and peg land. The Harare Task force and War Vet leaders defused the
situation and workers returned to their homes with their cash refunds. Several
farmers still not allowed to return to their farms. A Neighbourhood Watch is
operating in both Beatrice and Harare South.
Wedza - A group of 250 moved onto Bolton
Farm and beat two workers. Trucks arrived on Dean Farm to remove tobacco but
labour refused to load before being paid.
Featherstone - over 40 war vets moved onto
Sable Flats this morning.
Bromley/Ruwa/Enterprise
- All night meetings are being called on several farms including Chabwino where
youths broke down doors of workers' houses. Police called to investigate.
Trucks carrying workers from Musana communal land to pack house in Shamva
district being interfered with. War vets still operating boom at entrance to
Devonia Farm.
MANICALAND
Nothing to report.
MATABELELAND
Today's report will be included in
tomorrow's sitrep.
MIDLANDS
Gweru - A farmer en route to deposit his
weapons with the armoury passed the group who were collecting them and was
allowed to proceed. The owner of Palsworth was told to leave the farm for the
night as the vets were in possession of his weapons. Invaders who said they
were not war vets, arranged with the owner of Hillside Farm to open the store
for small groups to enter at a time.
Owner of Melrose Farm was confronted and
relieved of his weapon.
Chirumanzi - lots of movement on Central
Estates, Wyldegrove, Bushy Park and Union. Pegging taking place around the
homestead at Musena. It is believed that the invaders on Highlands are
renegades and Governor and war vets investigating.
MASVINGO
Save Conservancy - Mukwasi Ranch has had a problem with
snares, but this has been seen to by the Police and sorted
out.
Gutu/Chatsworth - A meeting is planned to meet
with the war vets tomorrow.
Chiredzi - There has been an increase of invaders
on Malilangwe Ranch since the task force visit there yesterday. On Dawlish
Ranch there is an increase in numbers and pegging continues.
Mwenezi - Mucheni Ranch reports
that there is a huge problem with poaching on this farm. This has been reported
to the Police.
OTHER
Please remember to be on the alert for car highjackers.
The Vehicle Theft Squad now has a 24-hour hotline (091 242512) as well as their
land lines (660400/665524) which operates during working
hours.
Zimbabwe Police Open Fire; 1 Killed
By MICHAEL HARTNACK, Associated Press Writer Friday May 26 3:50 PM ET
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Police opened fire on a group of ruling party supporters, fatally wounding one man, when they attempted to free 19 people jailed for political violence, police said Friday.
For three hours more than 50 ZANU-PF supporters attempted to storm the police station in Mvurwi, 90 miles north of Harare, prompting paramilitary police to fire tear gas and live rounds over the heads of the mob, said Assistant Inspector Tarwireyi Tirivavi.
One man was hit in the thigh at close range by a tear gas canister and later died in a hospital, Tirivavi said from police headquarters in the capital.
The mob was attempting to free 19 fellow party members who had been arrested for attacking opposition supporters. But the 19, arrested during rioting with opposition supporters Sunday and Monday, had already been transferred to Bindura prison, 60 miles north of Harare.
The killing marked the first time a member of President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party has been slain in political violence that began in February.
The violence started after Mugabe lost a constitutional referendum that would have strengthened his powers and allowed him to seize white-owned land. Right after the referendum, black squatters began occupying white-owned land. More than 1,400 farms have since been occupied, according to the Commercial Farmers Union, which represents mostly white farmers.
The farmers say the agitation for land reform is really a cover for a ZANU-PF terror campaign against the opposition. Mugabe has been in power since he led Zimbabwe to independence from Britain in 1980.
In the past three months, one policeman and at least 22 opposition supporters have been killed by ZANU-PF loyalists.
Malcolm Vowles, chairman of the Commercial Farmers Union in Mvurwi, said police were ready for Thursday's attack.
``Police knew there was a crowd coming to (fire) bomb the police station so they were prepared,'' Vowles said. ``They fired tear gas and live rounds. One of the protesters was injured and had died in hospital.''
A Commercial Farmers Union statement issued in Harare said some police districts were now taking an active role against violence perpetrated by ZANU-PF supporters after standing by for the past three months.
However, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said Friday that in other districts, police and members of the feared Central Intelligence Organization were still intimidating suspected opposition supporters.
Farm takeovers have continued, but one group of squatters mistakenly tried to occupy land in a game reserve, according to one report.
A group of 100 people tried to claim land at Gona-re-Zhou, on Zimbabwe's southeastern border with Mozambique, they ``had to run for dear life'' when their presence angered a pride of lions, police told the Daily News.
Is Kofi Annan Connected to Mugabe?
The following article was posted on the HCR intranet this morning. If anyone wants to ask Kofi directly whether his son's business dealings are likely to influence his capability to put pressure on Mugabe to ensure free and fair elections, he can be contacted at:
His Excellency, Kofi Annan
Secretary-General of the UN
c/o The Executive Office of the Secretary-General
United Nations
New York, NY
USA 10017
or by fax at: (212) 963-4879 (US number) Alternatively, comments and concerns via email to the UN can be directed at inquiries@un.org
Kofi Annan's Son Linked to 75m Harare Airport Deal
Africa News, May 8, 2000
By Conal Walsh, This Day (Lagos)
Lagos - Kojo Annan sounded tetchy. "I want to make it very clear, to avoid speculation about my father," he said. "When Air Harbour was awarded airport contract I was not on its board of directors." The defensiveness of the son of United Nations secretary-general, Kofi Annan was understandable. Sunday Business has learnt he is a director of the offshore company that benefited from what Zimbabwe's opposition alleges is the country's most notorious act of cronyism.
It is a bizarre tale involving a wayward nephew of president Robert Mugabe, the son of a former Saudi oil minister, as well as the son of the UN chief. It is set against the backdrop of a Pounds75 million contract to redevelop
Harare International Airport, the little-known Isle of Man-registered company that won it, and Mugabe's new mansion. And it is a story that may yet present the UN secretary-general with difficulties in dealing with Mugabe as a rising tide of violence sweeps Zimbabwe.
Last Sunday, Annan's son was keen to emphasis that he did not become a director of Air Harbour Technologies until late last year - four years after its victory in the Harare airport tender caused an outcry in Zimbabwe.
But he was less keen to elaborate on the nature of his involvement with the company. Speaking on a mobile phone in his native Ghana, Kojo Annan denied having a shareholding in Air Harbour, or drawing a salary. He added: "I have director's fees. I mean, any director of any company gets fees." But when asked how much he is paid, he said: "Do you really think I'm going to answer that? I told you I have no further comment. I'm not going to answer that."
The youngest of Kofi Annan's three children and the son from his first marriage, Kojo is based in Accra, Ghana, and in Lagos, Nigeria, his mother's home country. He is a partner in a Lagos firm of consultants called Sutton Investments, which is involved in development projects. The 26-year-old's business activities raised eyebrows last year when it emerged that a client had won the Pounds6 million contract to monitor the UN's "oil-for-food" programme in Iraq. Geoffrey Lipman, Air Harbour's chief executive, said: "As a board member, Kojo passes comment on all of our activities." He stressed that the company had no relationship with Kofi Annan or the UN.
Lipman refused to name any specific projects Kojo was engaged in on behalf of Air Harbour. But he described Kojo as "a businessman who is active in business development predominantly in West Africa, where we do business and want to do business. He knows the local situation."
Specialising in high quality tourist developments, Air Harbour has big plans for expansion. Led by chairman and principal shareholder Hani Yamani, Saudi oil minister in the 1970s - the board comprises people of many nationalities. The firm's international ambitions are also reflected in its corporate structure. It is registered in the isle of Man, has an operating centre in Cyprus, recently opened a subsidiary in the UK but does its business in Africa and the Middle East. However, it is best known in Africa as the company that designed and built Harare International Airport, which is scheduled for completion in July.
Through Hazy Investments, its Zimbabwean arm, Air Harbour led the consortium which won the Z$1.2bn (Pounds75 million) deal in 1995. Its consortium partners were German contractors ABB, Britain's Edmund Nuttal and Interbeton of Holland. Ever since, Air Harbour has been under scrutiny by Zimbabwe's press and political opposition.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the main political adversary of the ruling Zanu-PF party, has promised to investigate the airport contract if it comes to power, as part of a wider probe into alleged corruption in the Mugabe era.
David Coltrat, MDC legal affairs secretary said,: "When the tender was decided upon, the cabinet went against the recommendation of the official tender board, which had rated the Air Harbour bid only fourth." Coltart suggests that Air Harbour's consortium owned its success to lobbying by the president's nephew, Leo Mugabe.
A firm in which he was a shareholder recently beat better-known competitors to win one of Zimbabwe's much-prized mobile phone licences. "The airport tender was given to the company sponsored by Leo Mugabe," said Coltart. "Even if that had been the best tender, for the sake of openness and transparency, the government, as a matter of policy shouldn't have given it to that company." He added that construction costs at the airport were too high. "When you don't write the tender in the right way, almost inevitably there are adverse consequences for the nation."
Zimbabwe's official land corruption watchdog is said to have launched an investigation into the way the contract was awarded. But this was reportedly brought to an abrupt halt by the government earlier this year. The government denies there was ever such a probe.
Hani Yamani, Air Harbour's chairman, defends his consortium's airport bid, saying the cabinet had approved it for three reasons: "One, our design was better. Two, we had a completion time of 27 months. And the third reason is that we had a lower budget." Yamani - whose father became world-famous during the oil crisis of the 1970s- accepted his consortium's bid had not won out in the tender board assessment, but said: "I don't believe that you can technically question our consortium partners." He added that the airport would be finished two weeks ahead of schedule without going over-budget.
Yamani denied that Leo Mugabe had been paid for his support, or that he was retained as a lobbyist or given any commission by his firm in connection with the airport tender. he said their relationship dated back to his former sponsorship of Zimbabwe's football team, of which Leo was president. "This was before the airport contract was even put to tender," he said. "For two years I donated, in the name of my company, $100,000 a year to the national football association of Zimbabwe. I was paying for their German coach. "Once it went to tender, I stopped giving the football association any money."
Asked why Leo Mugabe had supported his airport bid so enthusiastically, Yamani said: "I think Leo was very happy with what we were doing. Zimbabwe, in the years we paid for the coach, was doing much much better. And of course I think he wins kudos on that." But Yamani said he had not met Leo Mugabe for five years, and added: "There has been absolutely no payment made by Air Harbour Technologies to any member of the Mugabe family."
His company has also had a role in the building of a new mansion for President Mugabe. A Harare estate agent, Nigel Gabriel, said he was paid to conduct a land survey on the proposed land by Air Harbour's Zimbabwean arm. Yamani said: "We bid for the design of the mansion. I think we spent somewhere between Pounds3,000 and Pounds4,000. And our bid lost."
President Mugabe is known to be a man of expensive personal tastes, which are scarcely matched by his official salary of about Pounds28,000 a year. He is thought to have at least three properties in Zimbabwe's deeds office.
His wife Grace, who married Mugabe in a Pounds2 million ceremony in 1996, was implicated in Zimbabwe's "VIP housing" scandal after being awarded a Pounds250,000 house out of a fund intended to help civil servants buy their homes. Yamani blames an aggrieved commercial rival for spreading hostile rumours about Air Harbour. "It was a foreign company backed by its government. And they really stirred things up."
Yamani said he prefers to dwell on his company's bright future. He declined to say how much Kojo Annan or the other directors were paid. He said they did not hold stakes in the company, but added that Air Harbour was planning to offer shares to its directors soon. He said that the company was planing a flotation in the next four years.
Quite what role Kojo Annan is intended to play in this future is unclear, since nobody at the company was willing to elaborate on his function. Kojo himself refused to be drawn, simply describing himself as a specialist in "infrastructure projects and development in the West African region."
Sunday Business has established that one aspect of Kojo's role is to serve on the management board of the company's subsidiary in Ghana. In a joint venture with the Ghanaian government agreed last year, it is about to build a Pounds130 million five star hotel, residential and office complex in Accra.
Zimbabwe election monitor.
Zimbabwe_electionmonitor is a service which has been set up outside Africa by concerned friends of Zimbabwe. It is intended to ensure that wherever possible intimidation, violence and other illicit acts intended to prejudice the outcome of the election on 24/25 June are fully reported in the media and brought to the attention of the international election observers and monitors based in Zimbabwe.
Please assist our work by reporting any acts of intimidation or violence which come to your attention as they occur. Reports should be brief, to the point and authentic. Due to the current security situation reports need to be attributed to individuals. Please make your best efforts to ensure that reports are true and accurate. Reports should state the date, time and general location of incidents, (district or constituency if known), together with the identity of victims and of those responsible for the action.
Reports received by us will be passed on immediately and directly to the Zimbabwe Democracy Trust website and to the press. They will also be passed on directly to international observer groups and monitors in Harare. Reports will be acknowledged by the recipient only when specifically requested by the sender. Any reports distributed will not include details of the sender of the report or the sender's e-mail address. If you wish to send reports via a third party for security reasons, that is understandable, and the reports will be processed in the normal way.
Please urgently send any relevant information including any incidents since the announcement of the election (14th May). The next weeks are vital to the future of Zimbabwe.
Thank you for your help.
Best wishes
Zimbabwe_electionmonitor@hotmail.com
Zimbabwe - Our country, our commitment, our future
Please circulate everyone you can in support of this great idea.
Hi there.
As a rule we don't often send out large, group mailings but I really want to share this idea with you and therefore ask for your tolerance!
Lately we've received emails and phone calls from people who are frustrated and who feel powerless in the current situation in Zimbabwe. I believe that we can empower ourselves through direct action.
As you may well know, it is becoming more and more difficult for the opposition to lobby the support of rural constituents. The recent wave of intimidation has directly targeted opposition co-ordinators and their supporters. We need to continue to find ways to reach the rural areas, particularly at a time when traditional methods are being shut down.
Yesterday I got a group of friends together and this is what we did:
Rural outreach project
try and get 10 people together
each person brings 50 envelopes (plain brown) and 50 $2 stamps
gather press cuttings (the independent papers, particularly the letters pages are a wealth of critical analysis and insight; I got about 150 cuttings from only a few papers; cartoons are a great way to get the message across)
download opposition materials from the mdc website www.in2zw.com/mdc (these are in Shona and Ndebele) or collect them from 8th Floor Eastgate.
if dealing with identifiable opposition materials is a problem for you, make up your own slogans
make photocopies
get several out of Harare phone books and target addresses of beerhalls;
butcheries; general dealers; schools; hospitals, clinics, etc.
target ZANU PF strongholds; for instance Mashonaland East and Gutu (where Muzenda has been campaigning) are good areas to concentrate on
mail them out from a variety of post offices on different days
The benefits
if you've been feeling vulnerable about being seen to be involved with the opposition, this is low risk, private activity. You can make a difference from the safety of your own home. No danger in being seen receiving an ordinary letter.
let the PTC carry the message of change around the country.
people can take part in this initiative all around the country; its not limited to Harare.
I'm not too sure how the calculations work but our group mailed out about 400 envelopes. Each person receiving information is likely to share it with at least 5 others. In real terms our mailing is likely to reach 5000 people. If groups of people around Zimbabwe follow this example, it is quite possible that millions of Zimbabweans will end up, if not personally receiving and reading alternative views, certainly discussing them. In some rural areas, Zimbabweans aren't even aware that an alternative to ZANU PF exists.
it is a simple idea that doesn't take much effort; I think that we can all spare $300 and an afternoon in this time of crisis.
getting together with friends, having a beer and actively doing something does wonders for the spirits.
Of course, there are likely to be wrong addresses and various other factors that may hamper the efficacy of this project but I don't believe that we should let potential negatives lull us into apathy.
If we're not a part of the solution; we're a part of the problem.
If you'd like to contact me directly about this idea, I'd be happy to have your input.
If you think this idea has any merit, please circulate it far and wide.
Thanks for your time, patience and in anticipation of a severely over-worked PTC in the coming weeks.
Best wishes,
bnb@harare.iafrica.com
Keep up the momentum!
Regards,
MDC Support Centre
8th Floor, Gold Bridge
Eastgate
Harare
Zimbabwe
Chinja Maitiro / Maitiro Chinja
Sekeramayi threatens commercial farmers
The Daily News, 23 May 2000
Staff Reporter
THE Minister of State for Security in the President's Office, Sydney Sekeramayi, the Zanu PF candidate for Marondera East constituency, on Sunday threatened unspecified action against white commercial farmers and their workers if it turned out that they were lying that they had changed their allegiance from opposition parties to Zanu PF. Addressing about 10 000 people at Marondera's Rudhaka Stadium, Sekeramayi told white farmers among the audience: "If we eventually find that you were lying to us, we shall meet each other. Like we say in a Shona proverb, 'you can't hide the truth forever'. After the votes, we will see who has been fooling who and we shall deal with each other."
White farmers and their workers, baselessly accused by the government of influencing the black majority to reject the draft constitution in February, have been the targets of violent attacks in a terror campaign aimed at infusing fear of Zanu PF and the government. Sekeramayi advised his supporters to be of exemplary behaviour in the presence of international observers expected to arrive to monitor the polls, set for 24 and 25 June. He accused the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of trying to win the sympathy of the observers by complaining that they were being attacked by Zanu PF when, in fact, they had provoked the ruling party by first attacking its supporters in Mahusekwa, Landas and Marondera. "We don't want people that are violent when the observers are here. Do not be like children who misbehave when there are visitors in the house," said Sekeramayi. "That is what the MDC is doing. They are forgetting that they will still have to deal with us after the observers return to their countries." He said some of the observers were already in Zimbabwe and he did not want them to get an opportunity to write negative reports that the elections were not free and fair in Marondera. Twenty-three people, including four farmers, have been killed since March, disrupting farm operations, preparations for winter cropping and crop harvests. Thousands of farm workers have gone without pay and are spending their time in Zanu PF loyalty classes to cow them into supporting the ruling party, say farming sources. Last Sunday, church buildings, shops, fuel stations, market stalls and even tuckshops in high density suburbs were all closed in Marondera. The minister of State Security in the president's office, Sydney Sekeramayi addressed a 10 000-strong crowd that gathered at Rudhaka Stadium in Marondera for a rally that brought business in the town to a complete halt after people had been force-marched to attend the rally. Sekeramayi took the opporunity to display T-shirts and party cards allegedly surrendered by opposition party supporters who joined Zanu PF.
ANC Split Over Zimbabwe Crisis
May 26, 2000
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (PANA) - A senior member of the ruling African National Congress Thursday resigned from the party over its policies toward Zimbabwe.
Pieter Venter, the head of the party's media department in Parliament, accused the party of condoning murder and political intimidation in Zimbabwe, and labelled President Thabo Mbeki's quiet diplomacy as "immoral."
Mbeki has come under enormous criticism from opposition political parties and human rights organisations over his stance toward Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
Venter appeared to contradict Mbeki by saying the loss of life, brutality and thuggery meant that free and fair polls were impossible in Zimbabwe.
Mbeki, who is wrapping up his first state visit to the US since taking office, has attempted to assure business leaders that South Africa is a stable place for investment to allay fears about the situation in Zimbabwe.
Democratic Party official James Selfe told the National Assembly Friday that Venter should be congratulated for "living up to his conscience and being honest."
He said the House should note the ANC's attempts to hide from the public the existence of serious divisions at the highest levels of its leadership on the Zimbabwe issue.
But ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni has denied that there is a split in the party over Zimbabwe.
In a separate development, the South African currency dropped to its lowest levels ever against the US dollar Thursday; just hours after Mugabe enacted special powers to allow the seizure of 841 farms, which the government in Harare has identified for redistribution to landless blacks.
The rand's new low of 7.20 against the dollar is a clear indication that investors are concerned about the deteriorating political and economic situation in Zimbabwe, which is one of South Africa's biggest trading partners.
Mugabe urges regional land grab
BBC: Friday, 26 May, 2000, 16:00 GMT 17:00 UK
Mr Mugabe: "Why not apply the same solution as Zimbabwe?"
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has urged landless Namibians and South Africans to follow his country's example and forcibly occupy land if whites refuse to share it.
"It is a simple solution," Mr Mugabe told a rally in northern Namibia on Thursday.
"If the other neighbouring countries have problems similar to the ones we have encountered, why not apply the same solution as Zimbabwe," he argued.
Speaking in Ondangwa during Africa Day celebrations, Mr Mugabe was flanked by Namibian President Sam Nujoma, Prime Minister Hage Geingob and other cabinet ministers.
"If they (the white commercial farmers) are ready to discuss with you and give land then there is no need for a fight. But in Zimbabwe the British are not ready and we are making them ready now," Mr Mugabe said to much applause from the crowd.
"A boyfriend can accept a No from a girlfriend, but a freedom fighter can never accept a No from an imperialist," the Zimbabwean leader said.
Land seizure law
Mr Mugabe has just signed into law legislation that allows him to seize white-owned farms without compensation.
Since February hundreds of war veterans and their supporters have occupied more than 1,000 white-owned farms across Zimbabwe.
About 24 people - mostly black people and supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, MDC - have been killed.
Hundreds more have beaten or intimidated and many others forced to flee their homes in the face of the government-sponsored land invasions.
Britain has offered a £36 million ($53million) package for voluntary redistribution of farmland to landless black people, but has always insisted it will not provide compensation for farms confiscated against their owners' wishes.
Mbeki says Africans must rise up against tyrants
Reuters - May 26 2000 4:57PM ET
ATLANTA (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki, who spent decades fighting apartheid, Friday said that Africa should rid itself of tyrants if it wished to enjoy prosperity in the 21st century.
``It is up to us to rebel against tyrants, rebel against corrupt people who use force of arms against us,'' Mbeki told a predominantly black group of politicians and business leaders during a speech in Atlanta.
Mbeki, who traveled to the southern city at the end of a six-day state visit to the United States, said a majority of Africans were tired of the civil wars, famines and corruption that had stained the continent in recent years.
``We do not want to be shown on TV killing one another. ... We've had enough of this,'' Mbeki told the audience.
Elected president last year in South Africa's second all-race elections, Mbeki has advised other nations on the continent to adopt peace and democracy as the cornerstones of a so-called ``African Renaissance.''
War, however, continues to stalk Africa, with bloody conflicts currently raging in Angola, the Congo, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. The continent also faces a growing AIDS crisis and the burden of excessive debt loads.
Although South Africa is considered the economic powerhouse in Africa, Mbeki conceded that much needed to be done to erase the racial inequalities that led to the creation of ``two nations'' in the country.
In an address earlier in the day from the pulpit of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, where slain U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. once preached, Mbeki vowed to wipe out what he dubbed the ``color problem'' in South Africa.
``In South Africa, this problem is reflected in the existence of two nations; one white and rich, the other black and poor,'' Mbeki told the crowd, which included South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
``We are resolved to the task of solving the color problem,'' said Mbeki, who added that he was humbled to be speaking in the spiritual home of Martin Luther King Jr., one of the first Western leaders to call for a boycott of South Africa's apartheid regime.
King was assassinated in 1968. King's widow, Coretta Scott King, lauded Mbeki as a great freedom fighter who was linked to her husband's legacy. Mbeki later placed a wreath at King's crypt, adjacent to the church.
Mbeki was scheduled to leave for Nigeria late Friday.
Rand, Bonds Slip; Mugabe Fuels Concern of Land Grabs
Bloomberg News - May 26 2000 8:35AM
Johannesburg, May 26 (Bloomberg) -- The South African rand weakened and bonds fell after a report Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe told black Namibians they should emulate the land seizures that have taken place in his country.
The rand fell as low as 7.192 per dollar from 7.145 late yesterday, and recently traded at 7.180 per dollar. The rand dropped yesterday to a record 7.202 per dollar.
Speaking at a rally Thursday in the northern Zimbabwe town of Ondangwa, Mugabe said, ``If other neighboring countries have problems similar to the ones we have encountered, why not apply the same solution as Zimbabwe?'' Agence France-Presse reported, citing a local newspaper.
``The rand cannot find any strength until Zimbabwe is sorted out,'' said David Gracey, general manger of market-making at Nedcor Investment Bank.
More than 1,500 white-owned farms in Zimbabwe have been invaded since mid-February, while more than 20 people have been killed in violence related to the invasions or elections now scheduled for next month.
The rand has been battered this year by concern that land seizures could someday take place in South Africa, where whites also own most of the best farmland. South African President Thabo Mbeki has said the government would stop any farm invasions if they were to take place in his country.
A gain by the euro, with which the rand has moved in recent weeks, failed to boost the rand today. The euro rose to a two-week high of 91.84 U.S. cents.
Manuel's Comments
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said currency fluctuations in the U.S., Europe and Japan have had a major impact on the rand. The rand has lost 14.3 percent of its value this year against the dollar, while dropping 5.5 percent against the euro.
``It's not the level, it's the stability that matters,'' Manuel said in response to questions at an investment conference in Johannesburg. ``In an environment of volatility, nobody can take decisions for the long-term, and that for us is the issue.''
South African Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni has said the central bank doesn't have dollars to ``throw at the rand.'' Manuel said the Finance Department supports the bank's approach.
If the Reserve Bank had used reserves to try to bolster the rand ``this country would be in a worse position,'' Manuel said.
Bonds fell with the rand, with the R150 due 2005 falling as much as 1/4 to 92 1/2, pushing its yield up as many as 6 basis points to 14.18 percent. The bond last traded to yield 14.14 percent. The R153 due 2010 fell as much as 1/4 to 94 1/8, pushing its yield up as many as 7 basis points to 14.69 percent. The R153 recently yielded 14.66 percent.
From The Daily news, 23 May 2000
Zanu PF candidate threatens whites in Kariba with death
By Fidelis Zvomuya
Isaac MacKenzie, the Zanu PF candidate for Kariba, has threatened whites in Kariba with death if they support the opposition parties, especially the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). MacKenzie was addressing his first campaign rally at Nyamhunga Stadium in the resort town. Kariba's mainstay, tourism, has suffered a severe knock because of the widespread violence, fuel shortages and general lawlessness. MacKenzie said: "Let me assure you whites here, that once you support MDC, Zanu PF is not going to treat you as business people, but as politicians. Then if you are treated as politicians, it is like signing your own death warrants. The political storm will not spare you. Let you be informed that our reserve force, the war veterans will be set on you."
There were five white people at the rally whose total attendance was in the region of 1 000. He warned the people that any association with MDC was tantamount to signing "your own death warrants, as Zanu PF will spit fire on you". Kariba has also suffered severely because of a slump in the number of visitors. Hotels and holiday outlets have begun retrenching hundreds of workers, while others have been put on forced leave. A premier tourism resort, the town particularly felt the impact last month when it was rocked by scenes of unprecedented violence which saw a sharp decline in the number of visitors to Kariba. "Tourism is the lifeline of this town," said one hotel manager at the rally. "We are having a more than 80 percent downturn in business forcing us to lay off workers. We are surprised the people who should instil tourists’ confidence are fuelling violence making the political temperatures rise again. For the industry to go back to its feet, peace and a free movement of tourists were essential," he said. "We are considering closing down, if business remains like this," he said.
GWERU, Zimbabwe, May 24 (AFP) - It's all a ploy by the Americans and the British to topple "Comrade Mugabe" and maintain the white man's privileges, according to Munyaradzi Chinodaku and Owen Makamure.
Their view of the situation in Zimbabwe is broadly in line with that of President Robert Mugabe himself, who has repeatedly blamed Britain for the current land crisis, charging that London reneged on promises made more than 20 years ago to fund land reforms in its former colony.
In the dusty little provincial town of Gweru, his two followers aged 20 and 23 squatted on the sidewalk, proclaiming their loyalty to the chief by their choice of attire -- T-shirts advertising the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party -- and sounded off about the real villains.
Support for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is "a ploy by the Americans and the British to topple Comrade Mugabe and maintain the whites' privileges," Chinodaku said.
Like half the population, both Chinodaku and Makamure are unemployed. But they are fiercely loyal to the leader.
"Comrade Mugabe liberated the country from oppression during the second Chimurenga (the 1972-79 war for independence from Britain). We owe him everything," said Chinodaku, himself born in the year of independence, 1980.
"We have no first-hand knowledge of this period, but our parents told us how it was and we learned the glorious history of the guerrillas at school," he said.
Both from humble homes, the two youths admitted that the country faces an unprecedented economic crisis with 60 percent inflation ravaging the lives of the poorest.
But they insist it is not the government's fault.
"We had a good life before 1990," Makamure said. "We had state controls on prices, everyone had access to education, there were job opportunities."
They say the economic crisis was imported from the United States and Britain which, they believe, basically run the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In 1990, after a decade of socialist-style state-directed economy, the IMF was brought in and imposed draconian conditions to get Zimbabwe's economy back on track.
This included price deregulation, which immediately provoked a sharp rise in the price of basic commodities such as maize, the main staple food.
"The Americans and the British have found this means to destabilise a country which was too independent for their liking," Makamure commented.
"They work hand in hand with the whites, who are not true Zimbabweans but remained British and want to destroy Zimbabwe from the inside to carry on making profits," he added.
Veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war have led often violent invasions of more than 1,400 white-owned farms since February, and at least 25 people have died in related political violence ahead of elections set for June 24-25.
Mugabe's two young admirers charged that Washington and London wanted to control Zimbabwe by making sure their "puppets" in the MDC are elected.
They called MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai an enemy agent and dismissed his party as a white people's interest group.
Both said they considered the farm invasions legitimate.
"Blacks are merely reclaiming what has been theirs for generations," Chinodaku said. "White people do not want to let the land go, they cling on to it. We have been too patient with them since independence."
The opposition claims that ZANU-PF militants have been involved in the occupations and violence against black farm employees.
Chinodaku and Makamure did not deny the charge, saying they felt duty-bound to defend Zimbabwe.
From The Daily News, 23 May 2000
Sekeramayi threatens commercial farmers
Staff Reporter
THE Minister of State for Security in the President's Office, Sydney Sekeramayi, the Zanu PF candidate for Marondera East constituency, on Sunday threatened unspecified action against white commercial farmers and their workers if it turned out that they were lying that they had changed their allegiance from opposition parties to Zanu PF. Addressing about 10 000 people at Marondera's Rudhaka Stadium, Sekeramayi told white farmers among the audience: "If we eventually find that you were lying to us, we shall meet each other. Like we say in a Shona proverb, 'you can't hide the truth forever'. After the votes, we will see who has been fooling who and we shall deal with each other."
White farmers and their workers, baselessly accused by the government of influencing the black majority to reject the draft constitution in February, have been the targets of violent attacks in a terror campaign aimed at infusing fear of Zanu PF and the government. Sekeramayi advised his supporters to be of exemplary behaviour in the presence of international observers expected to arrive to monitor the polls, set for 24 and 25 June. He accused the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of trying to win the sympathy of the observers by complaining that they were being attacked by Zanu PF when, in fact, they had provoked the ruling party by first attacking its supporters in Mahusekwa, Landas and Marondera. "We don't want people that are violent when the observers are here. Do not be like children who misbehave when there are visitors in the house," said Sekeramayi. "That is what the MDC is doing. They are forgetting that they will still have to deal with us after the observers return to their countries." He said some of the observers were already in Zimbabwe and he did not want them to get an opportunity to write negative reports that the elections were not free and fair in Marondera. Twenty-three people, including four farmers, have been killed since March, disrupting farm operations, preparations for winter cropping and crop harvests. Thousands of farm workers have gone without pay and are spending their time in Zanu PF loyalty classes to cow them into supporting the ruling party, say farming sources. Last Sunday, church buildings, shops, fuel stations, market stalls and even tuckshops in high density suburbs were all closed in Marondera. The minister of State Security in the president's office, Sydney Sekeramayi addressed a 10 000-strong crowd that gathered at Rudhaka Stadium in Marondera for a rally that brought business in the town to a complete halt after people had been force-marched to attend the rally. Sekeramayi took the opporunity to display T-shirts and party cards allegedly surrendered by opposition party supporters who joined Zanu PF.
Zimbabwean farmers to assess a future in Australia
27 May 2000
A group of 12 people representing displaced farmers in Zimbabwe arrives in Perth next week to assess the possibility of a future in a new country.
The group is funding its own passage on invitation from the Pastoralists and Graziers Association (PGA) of Western Australia.
The 14-day visit follows weeks of preparation and meetings involving the PGA, the Western Australian Department of Trade, and Agriculture WA.
It is understood the group has been issued short stay business visas and will be housed with Zimbabwean friends and Rotary Club members.
They will also visit agricultural regions in south-west WA, the Ord River scheme near Kununurra, and Queensland.
PGA president Barry Court says while he does not know whether any group member wants to settle in Australia, he is sure they will be wanting to talk with immigration officials.
"I think there's discussions between the government of Australia as to whether we can help them or not, but we're certainly doing our bit to show them round the state and try to help their plight a little," he said.
Invaders demand allegiance to Mugabe
By Ross Herbert
Harare - The Zimbabwean crisis took another turn on
Tuesday when a group of about 40 armed men invaded the third
largest timbercompany in southern Africa and largest
employer in eastern Zimbabwe, Border Timbers, and demanded the
company's allegiance to President Robert Mugabe and the ruling
Zanu-PF party.
At about the same time that Mugabe
met Commonwealthsecretary-general Don McKinnon to promise
an end to weeks of political violence in which at
least 19 people have been killed, the men charged into Border
Timbers, made five demands to management, and proceeded to handcuff
and beat an employee in the presence of police, a company
official said. The invaders
demanded that the company immediately replace allwhite
managers, identify all workers supporting the opposition, declarethe
company to be supporting Zanu-PF, ferry workers to
governmentrallies and provide cattle for
slaughter.
They gave Border Timbers until 5pm
yesterday to reply. Company chairman Philip Chipudhla said it
would, in response, immediately cease all operations and send
its 3 500 workers home.
"Because we know we have
no protection, we cannot call on thepolice to support us,
they are handcuffed, so we have decided to shut down our
operation.
"It is absolutely crazy. It is
anathema for us to identifyourselves with any political
party," he said, adding that the priority was"the safety
of our workers".
The company, based in Mutare,
has annual turnover of Z$1-billion (R143-million) and brings
in R140-million worth of foreignexchange, half of it from
exports to South Africa.
Border Timbers has 40
000 hectares of timber in five plantations, three saw mills,
and a door-making plant dedicated to the USmarket.
Chipudhla said the company has three white managers among its
15 senior managers. "There are
25 000 to 30 000 people indirectly supported by its
operations. We just invested Z$200-million in a company that was
pretty much heading downhill," said deputy chairman Ken
Schofield.
"I don't think there is any question
that this political programme is extremely well organised.
It is barbarity at its worst." - The Star Foreign
Service. IOL
Blood flows as Zim gears up for election
May 17 2000 at 06:57PM
Harare - One person has been killed and at least 18 injured, four
seriously, in a bloody clash between rival political supporters
in Harare's Budiriro suburb, police said on Wednesday.
The latest death brings to at least 21 the number of
people killed in violence linked to Zimbabwe's June 24-25
parliamentary election,most of them supporters of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
The clash, apparently between MDC supporters and members
of the ruling Zanu-PF party, occurred on Tuesday
night, Harare provincial police spokesperson Inspector Tendai
Nembire told the state-run Ziana news agency.
One of the injured died in hospital on Wednesday morning,
she said. "Of the 18 injured, 12 are suspected to
be Zanu-PF supporters, two MDC supporters while the
remaining four are ordinary people," Nembire said.
Two houses were torched after being attacked with petrol
bombswhile the surgery (doctor's office) of war veterans
leader ChenjeraiHunzvi was also attacked.
Violence linked to Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections has
begun to escalate since Monday, when President Robert Mugabe
announced they would be held on June 24 and 25.
The tension has been exacerbated by the government-backed
invasions of about 1 300 white-owned commercial farms
by war veterans in whatthe MDC claims is a ploy by
President Robert Mugabe to win the supportof the landless
black majority ahead of the poll.
IOL
Zim noose tightens: World Bank cuts aid
May 17 2000 at 10:52PM
By Stewart Bailey, Basildon Peta and Bontle Headbush
The World Bank's decision to suspend project aid to
Zimbabwebecause of the failure of President Robert
Mugabe's government to meet a 60-day deadline on an overdue
loan repayment would act as a "final nail in the coffin of
Zimbabwe's credit-worthiness", economistssaid on
Wednesday. International financial institutions
and other donor agencies were likely to follow the bank's
example and not give the country any credit in future, the
economists said. The Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority (Zesa) had not defaultedon monthly payments to
Eskom, South Africa's power utility, Pierre Rubbers, the
manager of Eskom's Africa desk, said. Rubbers
said Eskom had agreed terms with Zesa and the Zimbabwe Reserve
Bank that ensured foreign exchange coming through the bank would
be made a priority to pay Eskom.
Zimbabwe's state oil company had also concluded a similar
agreement with the central bank.
"At the end of last year we agreed with Zesa that as long as
its total liability to Eskom remained constant and
they paid the currentamount monthly, we would not
discontinue the supply," said Rubbers. Zesa's
principal debt to Eskom had remained fairly stable over the
last six months at about R105-million. Rubbers
said, however, that Eskom had shifted the Zesa account onto
an "interruptable" basis. This meant that the Zimbabwean
utility would be restricted to the power supply
stipulated in its contract with Eskom.
But the contractual supply would only be supplied while there
wereno power shortages during peak load periods in South
Africa. "If there is a capacity problem for our
consumers, Zesa gets 10 minutes' notice to cut down supply to
its consumers," said Rubbers. Disconnection would
only affect non-critical activities, ensuring continued supply
to mines, which relied on electricity for underground
ventilation, and hospitals. But Eskom will be
caught in an unenviable catch-22 if there is an increase in
Zesa's debt commitment. If Zimbabwe's power is cut off,
electricity supply from South Africa to growing markets in Zambia
and, to a lesser extent, the Democratic Republic of Congo will
be affected. "If we brutally put the
brake on the supply to Zimbabwe we would jeopardise deals with
Zambia and the Congo, as they all use thesame transmission
network," said Rubbers. He added that cutting the
power to countries because of default was generally "not
done". On a more positive note, business in
Zimbabwe was likely to returnto normal immediately after
the elections, Kevin Wakeford, the chief executive of the
South African Chamber of Business, said on Wednesday.
Wakeford said many abnormalities had emerged: "The first
problemthat is being experienced is with the payment of
South African exporters by Zimbabwean importers
because of the foreign exchange problems they are
having there. "The frequency of payments between
South African and Zimbabwean businesses has also been
distorted, and it is difficult for manufacturers to get the
necessary risk cover for thetransportation of goods
between Johannesburg and Harare." He said the
crisis was likely to continue for only a month longer, but
would subside after the national elections, scheduled for
June, regardless of their outcome.
IOL
MDC challenges 'unfair'
election date
May 16 2000 at 11:22PM
By Ross Herbert and Basildon Peta
Harare - June 24-25 was formally gazetted on Monday for Zimbabwe's
long-awaited parliamentary elections, but the opposition
Movementfor Democratic Change (MDC) said it would file
legal challenges against it in court on
Wednesday. "With the amount of violence that has
gone on, with the totaldenial of access to the media, with
the fact that we have not had an opportunity to look at the
voter rolls yet, there is just no waythat free and fair
elections can be held," David Coltart, an MDCofficial
running for parliament, said from Bulawayo.
Coltart, also secretary for legal affairs of the MDC, saidPresident
Robert Mugabe's announcement made nonsense of the delimitation
exercise for the 120 constituencies, supposedly being conducted
by high court Judge Wilson Sandura.
Justice Sandura, who received new rolls with 5,4 million
voters' names earlier this month, said delimitation
would take two months. Coltart said he believed
the authorities planned to gerrymander constituencies after
stripping 86 000 whites and people of mixedrace of their
citizenship, diverting pro-opposition urban seats to
intimidated rural areas. Comments by analysts on
Monday backed up the MDC's stance. They predict an escalation
of political violence in a contest that represents the biggest
political challenge to continued rule by Mugabe's Zanu-PF
party. Coltart, an attorney who is legal adviser
to the MDC, said the constitution allows permanent residents
to vote but they were prevented from registering when the
voters roll was recompiled recently.
He said his party would challenge the government's announcement
on Saturday that 86 000 people of British descent will have
their citizenship withdrawn, and also challenge the
constitutionality of proclaiming an election when constituency
boundaries have not been set.
Zimbabwe has not yet published its voters roll, and during therecent
voter registration period, voters were given no receipt to
showthey had registered, raising opposition fears that
there will be too little time to challenge the roll in
court, and particularly no recoursefor poor rural voters
who find on election day that their names are not on
the list of registered voters. The chairman of
the delimitation commission was called before Mugabe's
cabinet last Tuesday and asked to expedite his work. This wasdirect
political pressure on the work of the commission headed by
judge Sandura. Previously, the
judge had publicly said delimitation would takethree
months, but immediately submitted a preliminary draft of his final
report to Mugabe after the cabinet meeting. MDC
officialscomplained that the procedure should have been to
publish the results andenable the public and interested
stakeholders to make an input before the election dates were
set. On Sunday, a team of US election observers
arrived and teams fromthe European Union and Commonwealth
arrived on Monday. International pressure has been mounting on
Mugabe as political violence and mass intimidation have
escalated. More than 5 000 acts of violence have
been recorded by local non-governmental organisations,
including 20 murders by Zanu-PF supporters. No ruling party
supporters have been killed. - Foreign Service.
From: Chaz Maviyane-Davies
Date: Friday, 26 May 2000 1:46
Dear Friends,
The world knows that the forthcoming Zimbabwean elections will be aeons away
from being 'Free and Fair' but that doesn't phase our mindboggling
government in their zest to bewilder any observer.
We have parliamentry elections once every 4 YEARS, yet they feel it is
adequate to give the opposition 4 DAYS to find candidates for 120
constituencies and for them to get 10 signatories for each candidate from a
voters roll and a delimitation zone plan that was only offered to them
today.
Today is a holiday and that leaves only tomorrow as Saturday and Sunday are
also holidays. When you consider that through their violent terror campaign,
the ruling party have made most of Zimbabwe a 'no-go' area for the
opposition, this is a task that makes going to Mars by bicycle easy. -Happy
Africa Day
Over the next few weeks I will be sending sporadic 'graphic commentaries'
relating to our situation and the world at large... It's the only way to
keep my sanity in the centre of an absurd and dangerous situation.
Chaz