PLEASE NOTE THAT
THE VENUE HAS REVERTED TO THE SMALL CITY HALL
COME AND JOIN US ON THE
STEPS OF THE SMALL CITY HALL BULAWAYO EVERY FRIDAY
THIS FRIDAY
15th JUNE 2001 13.00 HRS - 13.45 HRS
PLEASE WEAR BLACK ARMBANDS
AND BRING A SMALL BOUQUET
It is disappointing to note that support for
this Bulawayo South Polling Agent who was kidnapped almost a year ago to day has
dwindled to only a handfull of "regulars" who turn up each week. The vigil
requires your support and we ask you to please look to your souls and see if you
can not find 30 minutes a week to promote the Rule of Law, Democracy and Human
Rights.
MAKE A UNITED STAND FOR DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN
RIGHTS
THIS IS NOT A
POLITCAL MEETING . ALL ZIMBABWEANS REGARDLESS OF
THEIR POLITICAL
AFFILIATIONS ARE WELCOME
We apologise to those
recipients who are not in the Bulawayo Area
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MDC Support (Southern
Region), Bulawayo,
Zimbabwe ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Phone: +26391244699
or +26391322439 E-mail : mdcmatsup@gatorzw.com
Forward Maisokwadzo TOP government
officials, including some of President Robert Mugabe’s cabinet ministers,
are lobbying for local businessmen linked to the ruling party to be granted
licences to operate fixed networks by the Postal and Telecommunications
Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PTRAZ).
Industry sources told the
Zimbabwe Independent this week that government and ruling Zanu PF officials had
lined up behind certain companies seeking licences to operate a fixed telephone
network in the country.
“Officials are positioning themselves for
licences through the back door,” said the source.
“Politicians
realised that despite the telecoms sector being capital-intensive, the returns
are exceptionally good and can be accrued within a short period of time.”
Other applicants have threatened to go to court to block the issuing of
the licences to certain individuals believed to be using political weight to
drive their agenda.
Martin Ngwenya, PTR AZ chairman, this week
confirmed the threat of legal action against his authority.
“Some
applicants have threatened to take legal action against the authority, an
issue which will cost the government a lot of money if pursued further,”
said Ngwenya.
“Why do people need to waste government resources by
making court applications?”
The closing date for applications is
June 26. Ngwenya said he could not identify the applicants before the
closing date.
He refused to comment on allegations that top government
officials were positioning themselves behind local business people with
close links to the ruling party.
“The role of the authority is to
give licences to those who meet the laid- down requirements,” he said.
The government recently announced that operators of public fixed
telecommunications had to pay a non-refundable application fee of $100 000
and an initial fee of US$320 million ($18,2 billion) on obtaining the
licence.
The operators will also pay an annual fee of up to 1,5% of
the audited annual gross turnover, and 2% of the same turn-over as a
contribution to a universal service fund.
Public mobile cellphone
operators would be required to pay a non-re- fundable fee of $100 000 and an
initial fee of US$100 million ($5,5 billion) on being issued a licence.
Licence holders also have to pay an annual fee of 1,5% of their audited
gross annual turnover and a further 2% of the same turnover into a universal
service fund.
Class A Internet service providers are expected to pay an
application fee of $100 000 and a basic licence fee of US$4 million and an
annual fee of US$100 000 or 2% of the annual gross turn-over.
Class
B Internet service providers are expected to pay the same application fee
and US$2 million or 3,5% of the annual gross turnover whichever is greater.
Data communication providers would pay an application fee of $100 000
and basic licence fee of $2 million payable on being issued with the licence and
an annual fee of US$60 000 or 2,5% of their audited annual gross turnover
whichever is the greater.
The source said the latest allegations could
delay the privatisation process as the government might be forced to fight a
long and expensive legal battle before issuing licences.
The unbundling
of the PTC into three entities, TelOne, ZimPost and NetOne has seen top
government officials and some cabinet ministers scurrying for the assets.“They
are making a killing before privatisation,” said the source.
It is also
alleged that several digitalisation projects had been signed between the
responsible ministry and a Bulawayo-based businessman with interests in
transport, construction and mining.
“All agreements signed now will
still stand after privatisation,” said the source.
Transport and
Communications minister Swithun Mombeshora during the launch of the PTRAZ
earlier this year said the authority was the only legitimate board to issue any
licence following the stated requirements.
“Let’s give the authority a
chance to run the affair for now,” he said.
Dumisani Muleya THE opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has accused the ruling Zanu PF of
waging a “dirty tricks” campaign to misrepresent its policies.
This
follows a letter received from Britain this week by MDC MPs urging them to
block land reform if they want to continue “receiving British sponsorship”.
MDC information chief, Learnmore Jongwe, yesterday said the letter,
written purportedly by British nationals who are opposed to land redistribution,
had all the hall- marks of Zanu PF’s “disinformation desk”.
The letter,
dated April 16, was posted to MDC MPs from London. It was purportedly
written by four British citizens, Mark Brown, Carl Mont-ague, Phillip
McCorma- ck and Evelyn Birch. The address given on the letterhead is
Moorcroft 1933, 6 The Highlands, Burnt Oak, London. There was no postal code.
Jongwe said MDC investigations had shown that this address was
non-existent. He said the letter was created by Zanu PF spin-doctors as
part of a smear campaign against his party.
“Our investigations have
revealed that the address on the letterhead is non-existent,” Jongwe said.
“The letter was written by Zanu PF propagandists.”
Zanu PF and the MDC
are locked in a fierce propaganda war over land reform.
The war of words
has of late been intensifying with Zanu PF seeking to portray adherents of a
properly planned redistribution process as British agents.
The
letter criticised MDC MPs for not opposing land reform. “It is very
disturbing that you maintained an undignified silence when Honourable
Fidelis Mha-shu was being attacked in parliament by the Zanu PF communist MPs,”
the letter says.
“Honourable Mhashu is a loyal, truthful, dedicated, and
colour blind Member of Parliament not only for Chitungwiza, but for all those
seeking justice from a government stealing land from those who have fed the
country since 1890,” it notes.
The two-page letter said MDC leader
Morgan Tsvangirai had promised to reverse land redistribution if his party
came to power.
“Mr Morgan Tsvangi-rai promised us in two meetings in
London, the last time in October 2000, that when he takes over, he will reverse
the land situation to the period before 12 February 2000,” it states.
“He promised he will give us justice by removing all those black
squatters, all of whom are either former terrorists or lazy peasants who
refused to gain farming experience by working in commercial farms. No wonder
most farmworkers are from Malawi,” the letter says.
It said it was
“surprising” that Tsvangirai and Mhashu had not received support in their
efforts to thwart land reform. The letter also said it was “disheartening”
that MDC “intellectuals and well known liberals” were failing to defend an
agreed party position.
“One would expect Mr Welshman Ncube, a leading
and renowned legal expert and the able chief whip, Innocent Gonese, to channel
the energy and vibrance of our multi-racial MPs in parliament to effectively
stop the land grab,” says the letter.
It went on: “We need you to tell
the communist land thieves that their so-called fast-track or commercial land
policy will be reversed when the MDC wins the presidential elections in 2002.”
The letter said MDC MPs should vigorously oppose land reform in
parliament instead of walking out when debates on the issue arose.
“We
are urging you to be vociferous in your opposition to the land thuggery by Zanu
(PF) and its terrorist supporters. Tell those ministers and their president that
their land reform programme will be stopped and all those who have settled will
be driven back to where they came from,” it says.
The letter said
Britons had “invested” a lot of money in the MDC and the party should dance to
the tune of its sponsors.
“We do not want our financial supporters to
start doubting the promises made by Mr Tsvangirai. It is unfortunate that Mr
Tsvangirai is not in parliament, otherwise he would have provided the necessary
leadership required to oppose the theft of land,” the letter says.
“We
need to hear your voice in order to continue raising the funds for Mr
Tsvangiari’s presidential campaign,” it adds.
However, Jongwe dismissed
the letter as part of Zanu PF’s “disinformation” campaign.
“Clearly, one
can see the hidden hand of certain Zanu PF elements working in conjunction with
the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) to produce such semi-literate
propaganda docu- ments,” he said. The MDC spokesman said it was not the first
time government agents had produced “propaganda” documents to discredit
opposition parties and their leaders.
“Similar documents were produced
in 1980s and used to detain former PF-Zapu leaders on fictitious allegations of
planning coups and committing treason,” he said.
“More recently we saw
such documents during the run-up to the general election last year,” said
Jongwe.
“The public would remember Chen Chimutengwende and Nathan
Shamuyarira on Friday April 14, 2000 appearing on state television armed with
documents they had authored claiming they had found evidence of MDC’s plans for
military and economic sabotage,” he pointed out.
“In essence, there is
no difference between this letter and that document which was titled MDC-USA/UK
sponsorship platform. They originated from the same source.”
Dumisani Muleya PRESIDENT Robert
Mugabe has softened his hitherto hostile stance against the British and
Americans on the advice of South African president Thabo Mbeki, the Zimbabwe
Independent has been told.
Diplomatic sources said Mugabe has adopted a
different tone in his comments on Britain and its Prime Minister Tony Blair as
well as the United States administration after this week’s visit to Harare by
South African Defence minister, Mosiuoa Lekota.
Although Lekota was
attending a ministerial meeting to finalise the protocol on the Sadc Organ
on Politics, Defence and Security on Monday, he visited Mugabe to deliver a
special message from Mbeki.
Lekota held talks with Mugabe on Monday.
After the meeting, the South African minister spoke extensively on state
television about the situation in Zimbabwe.
While Lekota showed
outward support for government, he clearly stated that in private talks the
South Africans were much more robust in their criticism of Mugabe and his
government.
Sources said the message from Pretoria — delivered to Mugabe
on the same day Mbeki flew to Britain for a state visit — urged the
Zimbabwean leader to moderate his public pronouncements against London and
Washington to avoid throwing spanners into Mbeki’s talks with Tony Blair.
Mbeki was expected to engage Blair on the Zimbabwe crisis in a bid to
find ways of resolving the land issue and other problems besieging the country.
Sources close to the South Africans said Lekota had two weeks ago delivered
another message to Mugabe from Mbeki when he attended the late Defence minister
Moven Mahachi’s funeral on May 29.
The message was about Mbeki’s
proposal to meet Mugabe to discuss the Zimbabwe situation. The presidential
meeting has been due since inter-ministerial talks held in Pretoria in March. It
was supposed to have been held in Jakarta, Indonesia, two weeks ago but failed
to take place after Mbeki’s schedule became congested.
Sources said
Mugabe appears to have taken Mbeki’s advice seriously. On Tuesday, he told
visiting representatives of the Carter Center that he did not have any hard
feelings against US Secretary of State Colin Powell despite his recent stinging
attack on him.
During a recent visit to South Africa Powell accused
Mugabe of “clinging to power”.
This week Mugabe extended an olive branch
to the Americans. He told the delegation from the Carter Center, which is
involved in conflict resolution, that the American leadership was free to visit
Zimbabwe to see for themselves what was happening on the ground.
Judging
by reports in the official media, it would appear Mugabe is actually keen to
meet Powell for talks.
Mbeki is expected to travel to Washington on June
26 for meetings with US President George W Bush and Powell. The meetings are
expected to touch on the Zimbabwe situation and how to dig Mugabe out of the
economic and political hole he has been busy excavating. On Wednesday Mugabe —
in what appeared to be a major volte face — sent Blair a congratulatory message
on his resounding victory in Britain’s general election last week.
“On
behalf of the government and the people of the Republic of Zimbabwe and my own
behalf, I wish to congratulate you, Mr Prime Minister and the Labour Party on
winning the recent British general elections convincingly,” Mugabe said.
“Please accept, Mr Prime Minister, my best wishes in the years ahead,”
he said. Last Friday at the Heroes Acre Mugabe attacked Blair at length over
Britain’s refusal to fund the fast-track land programme.
Meanwhile,
Foreign Affairs minister Stan Mudenge has written to the new British Foreign
secretary Jack Straw saying he hoped they could meet to discuss the problems
over land.
HARARE police yesterday
arrested several young men in Warren Park as they protested against the 70
percent increase in the price of fuel on Tuesday.
The Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions (ZCTU) is to hold an emergency meeting tomorrow to discuss the
price increase which has hit commuters hard around the country, with some fares
rising by as much as 50 percent. The youths in Warren Park had barricaded
roads early in the morning, preventing commuter omnibuses from carrying workers
to the city centre and the industrial areas. The riot police later
dismantled the barricades and arrested several youths. The number of arrests
could not be ascertained yesterday as the chief police pokesman, Wayne
Bvudzijena, would not comment. But senior officers at arren Park police station
confirmed the arrests. There were reports of running battles in Kuwadzana
between the police and embers of the public over the fuel price increase.
Reports from Bulawayo state that civic groups have warned the fuel price
increase would result in a steep rise in the cost of basic necessities, leading
to civil unrest. The Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association (Zimta), yesterday
called for an immediate 30 to 40 percent cost of living award from the
government. Leonard Nkala, Zimta’s president, said in view of the 70 percent
increase in the price of fuel, everything else would go up in price,
necessitating need for an urgent salary review. He said workers had not budgeted
for the rise in fuel prices. Nkala said: “Hardly six months ago we were
awarded a 15 percent increase across the board. Then we receive the bombshell of
the fuel increase. We had rejected that 15 percent cost of living award as it
fell short of the dollar’s eroded purchasing power. The rate of inflation is
about 56 percent.” The ZCTU general-secretary, Collin Gwiyo, said the union
sent a letter of protest to the government at fuel price increase. The
letter to Mines and Energy Minister, Sydney Sekeramayi, and copied to the
President’s Office, said unions would not accept the decision by the
corruption-riddled National Oil Company of Zimbabwe, to increase the price of
fuel. The ZCTU has given the government 14 days to respond. Commenting
on the arrests in Warren Park yesterday, Gwiyo said: “The militarisation of
the situation will make workers more volatile. The government should reverse the
increases.” In Harare, commuters now pay $60 to and from work while in
Bulawayo, the Bulawayo Public Transporters’ Association increased fares to $35
with immediate effect. Chitungwiza commuters now pay $40 to Harare. On W
ednesday, the ZCTU warned the government of pending riots following the
increases. Gwiyo said: “We are saying 'no' to these increases. The
increases are unbearable. The 14 days’ notice we are giving the government is
just logistical. The real stance will be out on Saturday. The ZCTU general
council will hold an emergency meeting then and we will see what action to take.
If the government’s position does not satisfy us, we can call for a stayaway.”
The latest increases angered many motorists, given the acute shortage of
fuel which started last year in February. The last price increase was in April
2001. Motorists have to pay $76,29 at the pumps for a litre of leaded
petrol, while unleaded petrol now costs $77,42 a litre. Diesel is pegged at
$66,39, Jet A1 at $57,03, paraffin at $50,00 and bulk paraffin at $59,27.
Business in Harare plunged to a near-standstill for the commuter omnibuses
as commuters resisted the new fares. The city centre, usually busy and
overcrowded on business days, was yesterday unusually deserted. Meanwhile,
Bulawayo ran out of fuel yesterday leaving many commuters stranded as most
operators were forced to pull their vehicles off the road.
Dumisani Muleya THE International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) has stepped up criticism against
President Mugabe whom it accuses of violating trade union rights.
The
Brussels-based gro- up, which represents 156 million workers through its 216
affiliated organisations in 145 countries, including Zimbabwe, condemned Mugabe
for unabated “repression” of trade union activities.
ICFTU officials
currently attending an international labour conference in Geneva, Switzerland,
told the gathering this week that they were getting “seriously concerned” and
“fed up” with Mugabe’s intolerance and his agenda of lawlessness.
An
ICFTU official told the Zimbabwe Independent from Brussels this week that
delegates at Geneva agreed that trade union activities in Zimbabwe were being
sup- pressed by an authoritarian leadership.
“Unionists are now agreed
that Mugabe poses a real danger to trade unionism and workers’ rights. They
believe his policies are further impoverishing Zimbabwe’s breadline workers,”
the official said. “For that reason, they think he should resign.”
The
ICFTU’s renewed criticism of Mugabe follows a letter written last week by the
organisation’s secretary-general, Bill Jordan, expressing further “dismay and
frustration” over events in Zimbabwe.
“As Zimbabwe is a member of the
International Labour Organisa- tion, your government is obliged to guarantee the
rights of workers and their representative organisations,” Jordan said.
“I must therefore urge you to take the necessary measures to put a stop
to these violations and to make sure that the rights of workers and trade unions
are respected,” he said.
Jordan urged Mugabe to take steps to protect
workers and their unions from harassment by “agents of terror and lawlessness”.
He attached a “shocking list” of violations of trade unions rights in Zimbabwe,
which he said Mugabe was aware of but had done nothing about.
The list
included violations of rights perpetrated during factory and farm invasions.
These encompassed attacks on workers, especially farm employees, cases of
extortion, robbery, and destruction of workers’ properties by war veterans and
government supporters.
Examples of farm and company invasions are
mentioned as they often led to disruption of workers and loss of jobs. ICFTU
also condemned “several cases of outright robbery by the so-called war veterans
and their supporters”.
The letter further expressed abhorrence at
attacks against the opposition Movement for De- mocratic Change (MDC) and
systematic assaults against civic groups, trade unions, non-governmental
organisations, judges, teachers, and other government targets.
ICFTU,
which fights for workers’ rights across the world, said government should not
interfere in trade union activities. It said war veterans had no right or
mandate “whatsoever” to resolve labour disputes.
Mugabe’s government has
of late been anxious to interfere in trade union activities. It has always
appeared keen to incapacitate the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU)
because it perceives the powerful labour confederation as an ally of the MDC.
Currently government is busy cultivating its own labour movement known
as the Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU) to counter the ZCTU.
Cosatu secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi this week renewed his criticism of
government.
“The collusion of the government with those perpetrating
violations of trade union rights is gravely endangering economic development,”
he said.
Folks, On Tuesday June 12 Ian Smith was
interviewed by the Editors of The Washington Times, including the Editor
in Chief, and on the following day the attached article was published on
the front page along with a photograph. This is something your readers
should see. Thomas W. Schaaf
Sr.
Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe is coming under pressure from members of his inner
circle to step aside before next year´s presidential election, the nation´s
former prime minister, Ian Smith, said yesterday.
Mr. Mugabe´s
handpicked "politburo" and the younger members of his ruling Zimbabwe African
National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) are telling the president he has
become an international embarrassment and a political liability at home,
Mr. Smith told reporters and editors at a luncheon at The Washington
Times.
"The hopeful news is that his own people have turned on him,"
Mr. Smith said. "They realize if they go into the next election with Mugabe,
they lose."
Mr. Smith, who at 82 remains as defiant as when he
defied international opinion by unilaterally declaring the nation -- then
called Rhodesia -- independent in 1965, said there are any number of places
Mr. Mugabe could live a life of luxury in exile.
He said Mr. Mugabe,
called the "Old Man of Africa" after 20 years in power, has become a
billionaire several times over from money skimmed in Zimbabwe and
Congo.
"I don´t know why he doesn´t go. He could fly out and in
a couple of hours be in the Congo. There are quite a few countries --
Libya, North Korea, Nicaragua, Cuba and others -- that would be willing to
accept him," he said.
Mr. Mugabe has outraged the international community
by supporting the seizure of land from white farmers and political
opponents.
He says the goal is to redistribute the nation´s wealth
to the war veterans who fought against their colonial masters -- led by
Mr. Smith. But most Africa analysts say the seizures are meant to distract
voters from the country´s failed economy and Mr. Mugabe´s increasingly
totalitarian government.
It is estimated that pro-Mugabe squatters
have taken over more than 7.4 million acres and settled more than
100,000 war veterans. Mr. Mugabe promises to settle another 300,000 by the
end of the year.
Yesterday in Zimbabwe, Philemon Matibe was ordered off
his farm by an 80-member mob, led by the district administrator and four
policemen. He was the first black farmer to lose his land in the
confiscations.
Mr. Matibe accused the authorities of ruining him
in retaliation for his prominence in the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC). His land was immediately redistributed to 40
persons, most of them members of Mr. Mugabe´s ZANU-PF.
Amid the uproar
over the confiscations, which have involved several murders, Mr. Smith said
that even South Africa is working behind the scenes to persuade Mr. Mugabe to
leave.
"Nelson Mandela has made it clear he wants the fellow out and
[South African President Thabo] Mbeki has told him the same thing, but he´s
done it tactfully," Mr. Smith said. "Mugabe has brought black Africa into
disgrace. It is time to get the gangsters out of there."
Mr. Mugabe,
who faces a presidential election in April, barely maintained his
parliamentary majority during separate elections last year in the face of a
strong challenge from the MDC.
Mr. Smith said Morgan Tsvangirai, the
likely presidential candidate of the MDC, is a political leader "we can
work with."
"In a fair election, MDC would win 70 [percent] to
80 percent support," he said. "I have more black support
than Mugabe."
Mr. Smith said that corruption in Mr. Mugabe´s
government is rampant. He said that Mr. Mugabe is forcing the
resignation of judges who rule against his regime, and that while several
MDC politicians were assassinated in the run-up to the parliamentary
elections, no one has been arrested.
But he said that he does not fear
for his own life. "What would he gain [by killing me]? He´d only make me a
martyr," Mr. Smith said.
Mr. Smith declined to say whom he was meeting
in Washington, apart from a short visit with his old friend, Sen.
Jesse Helms, North Carolina Republican and until last week, chairman of
the Foreign Relations Committee.
In all, he said he was cautiously upbeat
about the state of affairs in Zimbabwe and in Africa generally.
"I´m a
little more hopeful now than I´ve been in some time, but we have to keep up
the pressure," he said. "It won´t turn around quickly. It will be a long
haul. We have a lot of repair work to do, [but] I´m positive about the
future."
Tighter controls on foreign journalists have
been introduced in Zimbabwe, where the government has accused members of the
foreign media of working with foreign spies to whip up violence in the country.
From now on, foreign journalists have to apply one month in advance for
permission to come into the country.
Political analysts say curbs on the foreign press are linked to preparations
for next year's presidential elections, where President Mugabe is expected to be
opposed by Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change.
A senior official of the MDC says the government is trying to make it as
difficult as possible for the international media to report on the elections.
Previously, foreign reporters were able to apply for a work permit on arrival
in Zimbabwe. Not only do they now have to apply a month ahead, but they also
have to do so from outside Zimbabwe.
Earlier this year, the government announced a licensing system for domestic
news organizations and journalists. A government-appointed media control body
will be set up, and only those journalists with relevant qualifications will be
licensed.
Zimbabwe Information Minister Jonathan Moyo accused Reuters news agency and
the Associated Press Thursday of collaborating with unnamed foreign spies and
aid organizations to fuel violence in the country.
The minister called the news agencies "merchants of violence." He said that
after the death last week of Chenjerayi Hunzvi, the man who spearheaded the
invasions of 1,500 farms, the agencies wrote articles about violent incidents
that supposedly took place after Mr. Hunzvi's death. The minister says such
incidents never happened.
From now on, Mr. Moyo says, this kind of reporting "will be nipped in the bud
to maintain the rule of law, protect lives and defend Zimbabwe's democratic
sovereignty."
Mr. Moyo also charges that unnamed officials of the Commercial Farmers Union,
which represents the farmers, have been inventing stories about violence.
The farm invasions have led to the deaths of a dozen farmers and workers,
while thousands of workers have been beaten up and forced to flee their homes.
The supreme court has declared the invasions illegal, but the government has
done nothing to stop them and, in fact, has continued to express support for
them.
Dear family and
friends, This letter is dedicated to the memory of Zondiwa Dumukani. It's
been another tumultuous week in Zimbabwe with more insanity on the farms,
more insanity in the courts and an economic announcement by government which
has sent the country into a dizzy downward spiral. The farm most in the news
this week has been one often referred to in African Tears. Blackfordby Farm
on the outskirts of Harare saw plenty of police presence in the first part of
the week. The police though were not there to assist the legal owner of the
property, they were there to arrest the owner, to arrest the farm workers and
to protect the illegal 'war veterans' and squatters. The farm owner was
arrested for inciting public violence - workers on the farm had attacked some
of the squatters. The farm owner and 30 of his workers were arrested. One
farm worker, 32 year old Zondiwa Dumukani was battered to death by 'war
veterans' with a golf club after being accused of trying to run away from a
political meeting on the farm. Witnesses positively identified the four 'war
veterans' who beat Zondiwa to death, one of the attackers was a form 3
student from a nearby high school. On another farm in another district
'war veterans' grabbed the farm manager, surrounded him with hay bales and
then set the hay alight -the man is alive but, like so many thousands of
others, will never forget. On another property the farmer was told that if he
did not vacate his home he would 'have his legs beaten until he fell.' On
another, the farmer was visited by army men and interrogated: which land are
you going to give us, we want milk, give us meat. The farm most in the
news later this week is one in Chegutu where 100 people are employed to tend
tobacco and soya beans. It was invaded by 80 people led by 4 policemen and
the District Administrator. The farmer was given 7 days to get off his land
and out of his house, the farmer did not wait the 7 days, he fled
immediately. This farm is owned and run by a black Zimbabwean, Philemon
Matibe. Mr Matibe was not too scared to speak to the press. He has engaged a
lawyer to sue invaders for unlawful occupation and he said to reporters:
"Mugabe says he is taking land from the whites and giving it to blacks. I'm
as black as he is. Now he is taking land from some blacks and giving it to
the blacks who support him. ...I've lost everything overnight. Everything I
worked for all my life has disappeared." We will all be paying close
attention when Mr Matibe's case comes to court because the infamous
'Protection from Eviction Bill' was gazetted this week. Parliament is in
recess, need I say more. This new Bill prevents squatters and 'war veterans'
from being evicted from private property. Worse though, the Bill forbids any
Court from trying to enforce previously granted eviction orders. I
promised myself that I would not mention Hunzvi again but I must. The man may
be dead but it is clear that someone else is now being paid to continue the
reign of terror, continue where Hunzvi left off. We have not yet been told
who will now head the War Veterans' Association. Perhaps it will be Mr Grass
Hat who was front page news this week. Mr Grass Hat who was a security guard
with the Harare Municipality was pictured emerging in a beautifully tailored
suit from his own personal and brand new Cherokee Jeep - worth Z$5.5 million.
Being a farm invader is clearly a very lucrative enterprise. In a move
which has put Zimbabwe in total turmoil this week, the government announced
an increase in the price of fuel. Not 5 or 10 or even 50 percent, no ! Fuel
prices increased 'with immediate effect' by SEVENTY PERCENT on Wednesday. One
litre of diesel is now Z$66, petrol is Z$ 76.29. There has been an uproar,
the unions have threatened mass stayaways if the rise is not retracted within
14 days. Civil servants immediately demanded pay rises. Bus fares immediately
increased by 50-70%. How on earth are we going to survive? Most minimum wage
earners are no longer going to be able to afford to get to work. The cost of
getting produce off farms and to towns will now cost seventy percent more
than it did last week, the cost of food is going to be outrageous and send
our present 60% inflation soaring well over the century mark. Even assuming
'war veterans' were to leave all farmers alone from today, the cost of their
food is going to be beyond the reach of the majority of our
population. Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo was prominently in the news
this week. Not only has it completely run out of fuel (even after the 70%),
but the government has decided to 'postpone' the mayoral and council
elections there. Minister of Justice, Patrick Chinamasa said the elections
had been postponed because the voters roll was 'a shambles'. That really made
me laugh - if the roll was in such a 'shambles' why had it been acceptable
for parliamentary elections last year? MP David Coltart, who like so many
now, just will not give up, was in the Courts immediately. The Judge ordered
the postponement null and void and ordered the Registrar General to
announce new dates. The Minister of Justice replied by saying he will appeal
the null and void ruling. And our government's response to a week of
'shambles' - it was twofold: All foreign journalists must give a months
notice when applying for accreditation. All foreign journalists currently in
Zim must leave the country when their permits expire. They must re-apply from
their country of origin. And the second response to the 'shambles' - 421
farms listed for 'compulsory acquisition' in yesterdays' state run press. So
it is clear - when all else fails, when shambles rules - grab another few
hundred farms, land, after all, is the answer to everything. May I end on
a personal note. I've had lots of enquiries from 'family and friends' in the
UK asking why African Tears is not in the windows of bookshops, not on
display. I don't know the answer, but it is available. It has been classified
as political history, it can be ordered both in bookshops and on the net.
Please help me to spread the word about Zimbabwe's plight. I am going to stop
now and be a mum for the day - albeit a bleary eyed one. Richard woke me
twice with bad dreams, one about falling off a roof and the other about
breaking windows. At least his nightmares are now about 'normal' things and
easier to explain to him. When I asked him this morning about his dreams he
did admit, very shamfacedly, that he and his friend had been on the roof of
the carport yesterday afternoon getting their ball. And the breaking windows
- they are in 'pea shooter' mode manically and it seems that there was a very
close call yesterday when a missile hit a window. As always I got him back
to sleep last night with my made up story of a little red car fuelled by
Smarties - it's a tale I made up years ago and is ironically apt in our
shambolic country. With my love and thanks, as always, to the hundreds of
people who write, who care, who continue supporting and encouraging
Zimbabweans to keep going. cathy
Mugabe 'accepts foreign
intervention' By Quentin Peel in
London Published: June 15 2001 17:55GMT | Last Updated: June 15 2001
19:26GMT
Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president, has agreed to allow a top level group of
Commonwealth ministers to help resolve his country's rapidly deteriorating
economic and political crisis, according to South African officials.
The proposed initiative is expected to focus on the explosive question of
land redistribution to landless black farmers, how to finance it, and how to
ensure that it is conducted in a legal and orderly manner, as well as on
Zimbabwe's wider economic plight.
Mr Mugabe's reported concession comes after months of refusing all outside
intervention in the political turmoil that has torn Zimbabwe following violent
land seizures by veterans of the former guerrilla war.
His move is seen as directly related to fears of a growing food shortage in
Zimbabwe, on top of soaring inflation and energy prices, which were raised by 72
per cent this week.
Estimates of the shortfall in the current harvest of maize and wheat range
from 250,000 to 600,000 tonnes, and maize prices have been rising sharply on
expectations of a poor crop.
The new plan for Commonwealth intervention would involve seven members of the
organisation, including South Africa, Britain, Nigeria and Zimbabwe itself,
according to the officials. Others proposed are Australia, Kenya and Jamaica,
although the plan has yet to be approved by all the countries most closely
concerned.
It is hoped a first meeting will be held early next month, to be convened by
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the South African foreign minister, whose country is
currently in the Commonwealth chair.
"President Mugabe has agreed that the committee will look at everything,
including the land question and the Zimbabwe economy," a senior official said.
"And they will respect the outcome of these processes."
The initiative was discussed by President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, and
Tony Blair, the UK prime minister, when they met on Thursday. Nigeria has also
given its blessing, the official said.
Mr Mbeki has recently stepped up his public criticism of events in Zimbabwe,
while insisting that quiet diplomacy would be most effective in restoring order.
On his state visit to Britain this week, he admitted that "many things have
gone wrong" in Zimbabwe, and warned that a "situation of collapse" in that
country would have serious consequences for South Africa. At the same time he
backed the need for continuing land resettlement in Zimbabwe, as in South
Africa.
The initiative is an alternative to the planned Commonwealth mission to
Zimbabwe by the foreign ministers of Australia, Barbados and Nigeria, which Mr
Mugabe refused to accept.
Other members of the Zimbabwe government have been privately expressing their
growing concern at the country's international isolation, and rapidly
deteriorating economic position.
"Hopefully this ministerial committee will come up with some practical
suggestions about what needs to be done," the South African official said.
South Africa is understood to have made it clear to Zimbabwe that in the
event of serious food shortages, the country would be in a desperate plight if
it had no international friends to help finance emergency imports.
Zimbabwe's
maize price shoots up
ZIMBABWE's maize
prices had soared due to fears of shortages and it may have to look to SA, where
harvesting had begun, for imports , officials said yesterday.
But there might not be enough maize to meet demand, they said.
Maize prices on the privately run Zimbabwe Agricultural Commodity Exchange
(Zimace) were firmer, reflecting fears of a shortage later in the marketing
season, the exchange said.
"Maize prices have firmed by Z700 a ton since the same time last month and
have risen by 300 a ton this week alone," Zimace said.
"This is probably because a larger-than-normal portion of the crop is below B
grade, and the overall production is down.
"Reports that a large number of people are already in need of food aid will
add to the pressure on maize, and further price increases are anticipated," it
said.
Production was disrupted by veterans of Zimbabwe's 1970s liberation war, who
have invaded commercial white-owned farms since early last year. A foreign
currency shortage also led to fuel and fertiliser shortages.
Despite repeated government denials of a shortfall, industry groups estimate
that Zimbabwe may have to import up to 800000 tons of maize, mainly from SA, to
fulfil its domestic requirement of about 1,8-million tons. SA might not have
enough, however. Grain SA, the umbrella body for producers, said it had factored
in exports of 300000 tons of maize to Zimbabwe in its supply and demand
estimates.
"There is a feeling they will need more than 300000 tons. If they do need
more, it will leave our kitty very bare indeed," Grain SA's spokesman, Kit le
Clus, said.
Farmers in the east of SA are reporting reduced yields in their maize
harvest, while those in the Free State bread basket have just started
harvesting, and say yields are what they were expecting.
SA expects to produce 6,967million tons of maize this season, down from last
year's bumper 10,1-million tons. There is a carryover stock from the last season
of just more than 2-million tons.
"Farmers are hard at work on the harvest. The yields in some areas have
disappointed farmers," said At de Lange, a spokesman for OTK , the large
agricultural company which covers the east of the country.
Senwes agricultural company spokesman Marius Killian said the quality was
within the longterm average and the yields were as expected. Free State
Co-operative spokesman At Kruger said: "We expect a little more than our earlier
estimate. Yields are slightly better." Reuters.
US slams restrictions on foreign journalists in Zimbabwe
WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday slammed new restrictions on foreign
journalists imposed this week by the government of Zimbabwe, saying the rule was
"particularly troubling."
"In light of other government actions against the media ... and continuing
statements by the government against the independent media, it appears that the
government of Zimbabwe wants very much to limit media reporting on what goes on
inside Zimbabwe," State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said.
"We find this new development particularly troubling in view of the
presidential election slated to occur in the first quarter of next year," he
told reporters.
On Wednesday Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's government enacted new
controls on foreign reporters, requiring them to apply for accreditation a month
in advance of travelling to the country.
Previously, foreign journalists were allowed to apply for credentials on
their arrival and Reeker said the new regulation was "clearly aimed at limiting
the access of the international media to Zimbabwe."
Last week, the France-based media watchdog Reporters Without Borderssaid
Zimbabwe was becoming the most hostile country in the southern African region
for journalists to work in.
"Zimbabwean and foreign journalists cannot work freely anymore in this
country," RSF said in a statement on Friday, adding that Zimbabwe was becoming
the "most repressive" towards press freedom in the region.
RSF cited the banning last week of a talk show critical of the government, a
day before police beat up and arrested journalists covering student
demonstrations, as evidence of the deteriorating situation.
Washington has been harshly critical of Harare in recent months and last
month, on a visit to South Africa, Secretary of State Colin Powell denounced
Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence, for his apparent desire to
remain in power.
"After 20 years in office, Zimbabwean President Mugabe seems determined to
remain in office," Powell said on May 25, calling for next year's presidential
elections to be free and fair.
At least 34 people died ahead of parliamentary elections in June last year,
while thousands more were beaten, raped, kidnapped or otherwise intimidated in a
campaign of violence and the occupation of white-owned farms by pro-government
militants led by self-styled veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war. (AFP)
IF President Mugabe
had intended to give the world an insight into his unreconstructed thinking on
land reform he could not have done a better job than his address to a regional
ministers meeting on Monday.
He said his land redistribution efforts had
been distorted by “extraneous political issues” such as democracy and the rule
of law.
“The land issue has now been extensively distorted by the
deliberate introduction of extraneous political issues, such as the questions of
governance, democracy, the rule of law, freedom of the press, the judiciary, and
so on,” Mugabe said. He said those issues were “concepts that were in any case
alien to the Rhodesian regime until we introduced them ourselves in an
independent Zimbabwe through our revolutionary struggle”.
They may
indeed have been concepts alien to the Rhodesian regime but they were certainly
not introduced by Zanu PF. The fact is many of the freedoms we enjoy today were
secured in the teeth of strong resistance from Mugabe and his followers who
refused to honour the promises of the liberation struggle despite constitutional
commitments to do so. People were imprisoned without trial, abducted, tortured,
and murdered by the Zanu PF government in the post-Independence era.
Civil society eventually managed to compel the government to observe the
law but only after the state of emergency had been lifted and people had become
aware that their rights were being trampled on by a delinquent regime. Even
then, ministers wasted millions of dollars in public funds trying to defend the
indefensible in court.
Continuing to resist any form of due process,
Mugabe is adamant that issues of governance are irrelevant to land reform.
This is an extraordinary stance for any head of state to adopt. Land
reform, we would have thought, could only be effectively implemented within the
context of an unambiguous legal framework crafted for the purpose.
But
this is to miss the point. President Mugabe clearly wants an opaque, or
preferably lawless, environment in which to operate because it serves his
populist needs. He would find it very difficult to pose as the agent of
revolutionary change — the scourge of the whites — if he was required to obey
his own laws. Even the far-reaching legal instruments passed last year to
facilitate land reform are now regarded as obstacles to be swept aside.
Criticism of his land appropriation scheme, Mugabe told the regional
ministers, had a racial motivation “since the world is being deceived into
believing that a villainous black government is victimising the white people in
Zimbabwe”.
There is no deceit. That is exactly what he is doing. Only
last Friday at Chenjerai Hunzvi’s funeral he was stoking the fires of racial
resentment over the land question, inciting his followers to take the law into
their own hands.
This understandably has aroused international concern.
What sort of regime is it that after 21 years in the saddle, with a totalitarian
grip on every facet of national life, suddenly decides to declare war on a
law-abiding minority?
Mugabe is inciting race-hate and instability
because it suits him.
Which perhaps explains why no initiative by the
Commercial Farmers Union, the United Nations Development Programme, or South
Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki, will be allowed to succeed. They all get in the
way of presidential posturing.
Despite the forcible and often illegal
seizure of over 2 000 farms and the eviction of many of their owners without
compensation, Mugabe still finds it necessary to pretend that whites are getting
in his way, that they are “the enemy” thwarting the popular will.
It
must be clear to even the most sympathetic observers by now — including those
being paid by public funds to denounce whites in the columns of the state media
— that Mugabe doesn’t want a solution to the land crisis. Nor does he want to
cultivate a non-racial democracy.
Referring to the depiction of his
government as racist, he told the regional ministers he would not allow such
views “to succeed in destroying our efforts to correct this colossal colonial
injustice that has caused untold poverty and suffering among our people.”
The untold poverty currently experienced by most Zimbabweans — except
perhaps his immediate circle — is entirely Mugabe’s own handiwork. There isn’t a
single commentator, with the exception of those paid by the government, who
would disagree with that conclusion. The government this week raised fuel prices
by 70% because the corrupt state oil procurement agency is unable to let go of
its misused monopoly.
And Mugabe shouldn’t be surprised if the rest of
the world sees him as a cruel and bullying tyrant who, following in the
footsteps of despots everywhere, has chosen to vilify and dispossess an easily
identifiable minority in order to distract attention from his appalling record
of misrule.
President Mugabe has the reputation he deserves. He has
rejected all attempts to address the land question in a legal and inclusive
manner that actually benefits the recipients of redistribution. Instead he has
chosen the path of calumny, chaos and violence which is already creating
conditions of widespread rural poverty.
This is the legacy he will leave
when he finally does agree to go. And the next government will have to pick up
the pieces. In the meantime perhaps he could spare us his cries of indignation
about the public relations disaster his policies have spawned. The chickens are
finally coming home to roost.
AUGUSTINE
Chihuri’s increasingly belligerent statements on his questionable role as police
commissioner are simply compounding his poor public image.
He was at the
centre of controversy earlier this year when he declared his fulsome allegiance
to Zanu PF. That, critics pointed out, was a violation of the Police Act which
explicitly prohibits officers from becoming involved in party-politics.
Aware of his vulnerability on that score, Chihuri is now suggesting he
meant to say only that officers have a duty to support the government of the
day.
“Not supporting the government of the day is tantamount to
rebelling which is a punishable offence,” he told the Sunday Mail.
He is
deliberately confusing the point. In his remarks at a belated police Christmas
party in January he declared his loyalty to the ruling party in unambiguous
terms.
“Today I would like to make it public that I support Zanu PF
because it is the ruling party,” he told members of the Police Protection Unit.
“If any other party comes into power, I will resign and let those who support it
take over.”
Chihuri does not appear to understand the elementary
principle that support for the government of the day should not be confused with
support for the ruling party. The Police Act is quite clear in this regard. It
should not be necessary for a police commissioner to resign when there is a
change of government. If he has done his job professionally he should be kept on
by the new regime.
But Chihuri knows he has not passed that test. He has
ignored blatant lawlessness when perpetrated by Zanu PF supporters and refused
to implement court orders at the behest of ruling-party politicians, even though
it is a “punishable offence” under the Police Act for an officer to accept
unlawful instructions. At the same time opposition leaders have been subject to
the full rigour of Zimbabwe’s colonial laws when they have criticised President
Mugabe and his leadership.
Chihuri claims all criticism of perceived
lawlessness and lack of public order were “the pregnant imaginations of some
individuals that needed to be exorcised”. Really? Is that what most Zimbabweans
think — that it is all the product of somebody’s imagination?
Instead of
moving to restore public confidence in his administration, Chihuri simply
resorts to Zanu PF-style bluster, claiming that former Rhodesian Selous Scouts
and British South Africa Police “remnants” were engaged in a strategy to
discredit him and tarnish the image of the force.
He has been accused of
transferring officers who tried to do their duty under the law and of
instructing a subordinate to pass a female officer who had failed her exams, a
charge he denies. It is all part of the conspiracy, he suggests.
“It
must be remembered that I am an academic who fully understands examination
processes,” Chihuri claims without any supporting evidence.
“The
publication of these stories is cheap politicking and we would like to assure
the nation that we have eyes and ears that will remain wide open.”
We
recall a front-page picture of Chihuri on one occasion with his eyes wide shut.
He threatened to bring a civil suit against the newspaper in question, a matter
we gather he has since dropped.
Last week he managed to keep his eyes
open at a passing out parade when photographers were around. His sabre-rattling
speech on that occasion was no doubt designed to impress President Mugabe who
apparently can only recall one example of political violence in Zimbabwe — the
attack on Chief Chiweshe.
Like Chihuri, he is deaf to pleas from the
families of Martin Olds, Tichaona Chiminya, Talent Mabika, Patrick Nabanyama,
David Stevens and numerous others who are seeking a proper police investigation
into the killings or disappearance of their loved ones and the prosecution of
those responsible. That is what the police are paid to do.
And why has
Chihuri not told the public what progress he has made in the court-ordered
investigation into the abduction and torture of two Standard journalists in
1999, the explosion below the offices of the Daily News last year and the bomb
attack on the printing press of the same paper this year? Why have the police
done absolutely nothing about those criminal acts?
In his Sunday Mail
interview Chuhuri made the self-evidently untruthful assertion that “criminal
cases which occur on the farms, like in any part of Zimbabwe, are investigated
and processed through the courts”.
A tiny fraction of criminal cases are
in fact brought to court. Which is why so many Zanu PF-sponsored killers and
looters walk free. The land question, Chihuri pronounced, was a political
matter that could only be solved politically.
Of all the evidence of his
delinquency this is probably the most egregious: A police chief who refuses to
enforce the law, as he is supposed to do, because he deems the matter to be
“political”.
In other words, where his political handlers declare the
law to be an obstacle to their plans for electoral bribery, he obliges by not
enforcing it. The police don’t have the manpower he claims. Yet when a stayaway
looms or the MDC plan a march in Harare thousands of policemen are mobilised.
Nothing more clearly testifies to the political corruption of the police
force and nothing reflects more seriously upon its professionalism. We
appreciate there are many decent officers out there trying to do their job. They
are not helped by a commissioner so anxious to please his party that he can no
longer tell right from wrong.
Zanu PF’s campaign of factory invasions,
while generally regarded as a humiliating failure, has at least managed to
impress one company. Philips Electrical (Pvt) Ltd, the local arm of the
Dutch electonics giant, appears to have been successfully intimidated by the
invaders who they fell victim to recently.
The company took out a large
ad in the Sunday Mail to declare its “heartfelt condolences” to the government
and nation over the death of Moven Mahachi. But not content with this gratuitous
gesture of political fawning, the company referred to the late Minister of
Defence as “Cde Moven Mahachi”.
One thing Philips evidently hasn’t
learnt in all this is the mood of the country!
The same applies to
Andrew Young who earned the contempt of many Zimbabweans last week when he
expressed the view that 35 people killed in electoral violence was nothing
compared to the Palestinian dead at the hands of Israelis.
What was
missing in coverage of his visit was the fact that he was voicing such
disgraceful sentiments because he wanted President Mugabe to award him the
contract for overhauling Zimbabwe’s blood-stained image in the US. Where Cohen
& Woods have failed so dismally, Young thinks he can succeed.
We
shall see. But in the meantime the following passage from Michael Dyson’s recent
biography of Martin Luther King, I May Not Get There Without You, may be
instructive.
“Young’s strong commitment to the vague but morally charged
democratic socialism that King didn’t live long enough to flesh out seems to
have slipped considerably,” Dyson, a Baptist minister and university professor,
writes.
“After enjoying a distinguished career as a Congressman, UN
ambassador, and mayor of Atlanta, Young has become extraordinarily comfortable
with the system of wealth and power that he so heartily castigated when he
marched with King in the ’60s.”
Dyson includes a useful quote from Young
to back up his message: “I quantify revolution in dollar terms.”
We are
sure he does. And the Zimbabwe taxpayer will foot the bill! If there is a
country that we could describe as worse than ours in terms of the depredations
of its ruling class, it is Liberia. Charles Taylor has created the ultimate
“vampire state” where his cronies feed off the remaining natural resources.
Taylor’s personal wealth is estimated at US$400 million.
Last month the
UN slapped an embargo on the sale of Liberia’s “con- flict diamonds” and
prohibited Taylor’s inner circle from tavelling abroad. Taylor’s regime has been
using the diamond revenues to fund insurrection in neighbouring states, most
notably Sierra Leone where the rebel RUF operates on Taylor’s orders.
But he has now found another resource to extract: timber. With the
assistance of Malaysian companies, Taylor’s cronies are busy chopping down
Liberia’s forests and exporting their produce. New highways have been built into
the interior to facilitate the trade which pays for Taylor’s imports of weaponry
used to stoke instability in the region, the Mail & Guardian reports.
The UN wanted to include timber in its sanctions but France, which
imports a third of all the timber Liberia exports, secured an exemption for
timber products.
It takes little imagination to see what damage will be
wrought on Liberia’s forests and wildlife by this exemption. Meanwhile, anybody
wanting to know what our vampire state will look like if the vampire-in-chief
gets another term next year should perhaps take a trip to Monrovia.
Before we leave West Africa, it is worth noting that the situation in
Ghana is becoming increasingly unstable with Jerry Rawlings issuing
not-so-veiled threats to return to power by force, as he has done twice before,
if the new government of President Kufuor contunues to harass his followers —
meaning bringing them to justice for past offences such as corruption.
What will be the position of Zimbabwe if the elected regime of Kufuor is
overthrown by Rawlings, Mugabe’s close ally? What excuse will be found to
support the unhinged Afro-Scottish former airforce officer as he lands Ghana
back in the doldrums of military rule?
While Zimbabwe’s religious
leaders appear to be in hiding, the heads of churches and mosques in
neighbouring states are more vocal about misrule.
The Sunni Muslim
Supreme Council of Malawi had this to say recently about President Bakili
Muluzi’s record.
“The entire Muslim community regards it as sinful to
sit and remain detached from the deteriorating social, economic and political
situation in Malawi which is a direct result of the failures in your leadership
and government. It is our belief that our silence and failure to condemn your
maladministration will only earn us Allah’s wrath on Judgement Day...”
If you think it is just Muslims who are outspoken in Malawi, it is worth
noting that Christian leaders have been equally sharp in their criticism of
Muluzi’s moral failure.
What will it take to alert the supine religious
leaders of Zimbabwe to the evil that currently stalks the land? It is admittedly
rather difficult for them to speak out when they are busy supping with the
devil.
Much as though we found it difficult to admire the wooden
campaign of Conservative leader William Hague in Britain, we could at least
respect the manner of his leaving. Within hours of the election results coming
out he had announced his departure from the Tory leadership saying it was “vital
for leaders to listen and parties to change”.
Anybody listening out
there? Muckraker’s sangoma has predicted that next Thursday “a great darkness
will pass over the land” reflecting the anger of the spirits with Zimbabwe’s
wayward rulers. He advises that we all get special designer-sunglasses so we can
see this “sign” of disapproval and draw the necessary conclusions!
But
he is a bit apprehensive about all those foreign tourists driving into areas
controlled by “rogue” election agents. Have they been warned about Zanu PF’s
legendary hospitality, especially after dark?
London - Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's
president, has agreed to allow a top level group of Commonwealth ministers to
help resolve his country's rapidly deteriorating economic and political crisis,
according to South African officials. The proposed initiative is expected to
focus on the explosive question of land redistribution to landless black
farmers, how to finance it, and how to ensure that it is conducted in a legal
and orderly manner, as well as on Zimbabwe's wider economic plight.
Mr Mugabe's reported concession comes after
months of refusing all outside intervention in the political turmoil that has
torn Zimbabwe following violent land seizures by veterans of the former
guerrilla war. His move is seen as directly related to fears of a growing food
shortage in Zimbabwe, on top of soaring inflation and energy prices, which were
raised by 72 per cent this week. Estimates of the shortfall in the current
harvest of maize and wheat range from 250,000 to 600,000 tonnes, and maize
prices have been rising sharply on expectations of a poor crop.
The new plan for Commonwealth intervention
would involve seven members of the organisation, including South Africa,
Britain, Nigeria and Zimbabwe itself, according to the officials. Others
proposed are Australia, Kenya and Jamaica, although the plan has yet to be
approved by all the countries most closely concerned. It is hoped a first
meeting will be held early next month, to be convened by Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma,
the South African foreign minister, whose country is currently in the
Commonwealth chair.
"President Mugabe has agreed that the
committee will look at everything, including the land question and the Zimbabwe
economy," a senior official said. "And they will respect the outcome of these
processes." The initiative was discussed by President Thabo Mbeki of South
Africa, and Tony Blair, the UK prime minister, when they met on Thursday.
Nigeria has also given its blessing, the official said. Mr Mbeki has recently
stepped up his public criticism of events in Zimbabwe, while insisting that
quiet diplomacy would be most effective in restoring order. On his state visit
to Britain this week, he admitted that "many things have gone wrong" in
Zimbabwe, and warned that a "situation of collapse" in that country would have
serious consequences for South Africa. At the same time he backed the need for
continuing land resettlement in Zimbabwe, as in South Africa.
The initiative is an alternative to the planned
Commonwealth mission to Zimbabwe by the foreign ministers of Australia, Barbados
and Nigeria, which Mr Mugabe refused to accept. Other members of the Zimbabwe
government have been privately expressing their growing concern at the country's
international isolation, and rapidly deteriorating economic position. "Hopefully
this ministerial committee will come up with some practical suggestions about
what needs to be done," the South African official said. South Africa is
understood to have made it clear to Zimbabwe that in the event of serious food
shortages, the country would be in a desperate plight if it had no international
friends to help finance emergency imports.
From The Zimbabwe Independent, 15
June
Mugabe tones down
rhetoric
President Robert Mugabe has softened his
hitherto hostile stance against the British and Americans on the advice of South
African president Thabo Mbeki, the Zimbabwe Independent has been told.
Diplomatic sources said Mugabe has adopted a different tone in his comments on
Britain and its Prime Minister Tony Blair as well as the United States
administration after this week’s visit to Harare by South African Defence
minister, Mosiuoa Lekota.
Although Lekota was attending a ministerial
meeting to finalise the protocol on the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and
Security on Monday, he visited Mugabe to deliver a special message from Mbeki.
Lekota held talks with Mugabe on Monday. After the meeting, the South African
minister spoke extensively on state television about the situation in Zimbabwe.
While Lekota showed outward support for government, he clearly stated that in
private talks the South Africans were much more robust in their criticism of
Mugabe and his government.
Sources said the message from Pretoria -
delivered to Mugabe on the same day Mbeki flew to Britain for a state visit –
urged the Zimbabwean leader to moderate his public pronouncements against London
and Washington to avoid throwing spanners into Mbeki’s talks with Tony Blair.
Mbeki was expected to engage Blair on the Zimbabwe crisis in a bid to find ways
of resolving the land issue and other problems besieging the country. Sources
close to the South Africans said Lekota had two weeks ago delivered another
message to Mugabe from Mbeki when he attended the late Defence minister Moven
Mahachi’s funeral on May 29. The message was about Mbeki’s proposal to meet
Mugabe to discuss the Zimbabwe situation. The presidential meeting has been due
since inter-ministerial talks held in Pretoria in March. It was supposed to have
been held in Jakarta, Indonesia, two weeks ago but failed to take place after
Mbeki’s schedule became congested.
Sources said Mugabe appears to have taken
Mbeki’s advice seriously. On Tuesday, he told visiting representatives of the
Carter Center that he did not have any hard feelings against US Secretary of
State Colin Powell despite his recent stinging attack on him. During a recent
visit to South Africa Powell accused Mugabe of "clinging to power". This week
Mugabe extended an olive branch to the Americans. He told the delegation from
the Carter Center, which is involved in conflict resolution, that the American
leadership was free to visit Zimbabwe to see for themselves what was happening
on the ground. Judging by reports in the official media, it would appear Mugabe
is actually keen to meet Powell for talks. Mbeki is expected to travel to
Washington on June 26 for meetings with US President George W Bush and Powell.
The meetings are expected to touch on the Zimbabwe situation and how to dig
Mugabe out of the economic and political hole he has been busy
excavating.
On Wednesday Mugabe - in what appeared to
be a major volte face - sent Blair a congratulatory message on his resounding
victory in Britain’s general election last week. "On behalf of the government
and the people of the Republic of Zimbabwe and my own behalf, I wish to
congratulate you, Mr Prime Minister and the Labour Party on winning the recent
British general elections convincingly," Mugabe said. "Please accept, Mr Prime
Minister, my best wishes in the years ahead," he said. Last Friday at the Heroes
Acre Mugabe attacked Blair at length over Britain’s refusal to fund the
fast-track land programme. Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs minister Stan Mudenge has
written to the new British Foreign secretary Jack Straw saying he hoped they
could meet to discuss the problems over land.
From The Zimbabwe Independent, 15
June
War vets assault Australian aid
worker
An Australian aid worker was last week beaten up by war
veterans grieving the death of their leader Chenjerai Hunzvi, accusing her of
spying on them. Her "crime" was that she had passed by the house where the
mourners were gathered in Harare’s Milton Park. The war veterans had closed off
sections of Van Praagh Avenue in Milton Park and threatened to beat up anyone
who passed through the area. The house used by the mourners belongs to Heritage
Zimbabwe, a "cultural" organisation founded by Jocelyn Chiwenga.
The unsuspecting Australian aid worker, who lives on the same
avenue, fell victim to the marauding war veterans as she passed the house. She
was carrying a camera which the war veterans accused her of using to take
pictures of them. The victim, who requested anonymity, works for Jekesa
Pfungwa/Vulingqondo, a Hatfield-based women’s non-governmental organisation. She
confirmed that she was assaulted but said she did not want to make an issue of
it. "I have no comment to that and I don’t want the issue to be publicised in
the papers," the victim, in her early 50s, said.
In the skirmish she was assaulted, her clothes torn and she was
nearly raped in the presence of police details who were spectators to the drama.
A number of innocent people were also beaten up in the same avenue but police
did not take action against the perpetrators despite the fact that the crimes
were committed in their presence. The Australian High Commission confirmed that
one of its nationals was beaten up but said it would not take up the case since
it was an individual issue. Australia’s aid to Zimbabwe for the 2000-2001
financial year was approximately A$5,7 million.
From News24 (SA), 16
June
US policy on Zim 'frustrates'
regional growth
Cape Town - Excluding Zimbabwe from the benefits of the United
States' African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) frustrated attempts at
regional development in South Africa, Justice Minister Penuell Maduna said on
Friday. He told a seminar of the United States' influential black National Bar
Association (NBA) in Cape Town that in taking this position on President Robert
Mugabe's government, the United States was punishing Zimbabwe's masses. He also
said Agoa did not say enough on debt relief for poor countries, and that the act
would have been better had there been "an element of consultation" with African
governments when it was being drawn up. Agoa, signed into law by ex-president
Bill Clinton in May last year, allows duty and quota-free entry for a range of
African goods into a US market worth almost US$ 10 trillion. However governments
have to meet standards set by the bill on democracy, human rights, the rule of
law and a market-based economy, to be eligible for Agoa benefits. Thirty-five
African countries, among them South Africa, are currently on the approved list.
Zimbabwe, crippled by a ruined economy and Mugabe's dictatorial style of
government, is not one of them.
Maduna told the NBA that though Agoa was "good for our
economies", and that South Africa recognised its noble intentions, selecting a
few "good" countries for participation and rejecting others frustrated efforts
at regional development. Zimbabwe was the largest consumer of South African
goods in the Southern African Development Community, and it was not in the
region's interest that Zimbabwe be allowed to deteriorate, no matter how
Washington felt about it. "It would be better for us and them (the US
government) to have a discussion about how we see the sub-region develop and how
we see Zimbabwe feature in that development," Maduna said. "It would be very
helpful if we were allowed an opportunity to handle Zimbabwe, together with
them, totally differently. "It's not to our benefit for Zimbabwe to be excluded
from the benefits, the opportunities and the projects of Agoa." He also said if
Agoa was to assist South Africa, it should target the black majority. The
reality was that even if there were any black exporters to the United States,
and he did not know any, then number was minuscule. If Agoa had no meaning to
the people of South Africa's slums, it had failed.
Counsellor for economic affairs at the American embassy in
Pretoria, Robert Godec, who also spoke at the seminar, said however the Agoa
preconditions were essential to any country's progress, and "there is really no
point in including countries not committed to these principles". The reality was
South African exports to Zimbabwe were dropping because war veterans were
invading farms and South African businesses, and the rule of law had been
undermined. "That's the fundamental issue for South African business, not
whether Zimbabwe is included in Agoa," he said. Godec said the US believed Agoa
was having a real impact on South Africa in terms of job creation and generating
wealth, and could ultimately result in billions of dollars worth of new trade
and investment between the United States and Africa.
He said even though the announcements of what products would be
added to be under Agoa to the general system of preferences only happened in
December, the effect could already be seen in January trade figures, when US$4
million of goods was exported to the United States. Because a control system for
clothing exports, which now enjoyed a 17 percent tariff advantage over non-Agoa
countries, was not approved until the end of March, the first Agoa shipments
took place only in April. In that month alone South Africa exported US$ 4,5
million in "apparel goods" to the United States under Agoa, and these numbers
made it clear that South African exporters were getting US orders right from the
start.
Agoa was also creating new investment interest in South Africa.
Ramatex, a major Malaysian company, was deep in negotiations to establish a
textile and clothing facility in the Eastern Cape, an investment expected to be
worth about US$ 50 million and which should create up to 20000 jobs. The NBA is
America's largest and most prestigious organisation of black lawyers. Founded in
1920 by lawyers who could not gain admission to the American Bar Association, it
includes not only practising lawyers, but also federal and state judges.
From The Daily News, 16
June
Chinamasa to
appeal
Patrick Chinamasa, the Minister of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs, has appealed against the High Court ruling by Justice
Kennedy Sibanda on Wednesday that nullified his postponement of the Bulawayo
mayoral election. In a statement yesterday, Chinamasa said the order was granted
in his absence, describing the judgment as unfair. Justice Sibanda granted the
MDC a provisional order compelling Chinamasa and Registrar-General Tobaiwa
Mudede to immediately authorise the holding of the election. Justice Sibanda
declared Chinamasa’s postponement of the election null and void. Chinamasa
postponed the election through an Extraordinary Government Gazette notice on
Thursday last week.
In what the MDC said was a feeble and flimsy excuse, the
minister, a qualified lawyer, said the voters’ roll was in a shambles and there
should be fresh inspection which should not take more than three months. The
order also gave Chinamasa 10 days to show cause why he should not personally pay
the costs of the application and the re-advertising of the nomination and
election. The MDC secretary for legal affairs, David Coltart of Webb Low and
Barry, yesterday argued that it was at the discretion of the judge to call the
legal representatives of the two parties. "We were also not represented. Maybe
the judge felt it unnecessary as the case was quite clear," said Coltart.
From The Zimbabwe Independent, 15
June
Bindura by-election "soon" as
political calendar fills up
President Mugabe is expected to make a proclamation setting
dates for a by-election in Bindura left vacant after the death of Zanu PF MP
Border Gezi, it emerged yesterday. Government sources said Justice minister
Patrick Chinamasa has made a recommendation to Mugabe to have the election
slotted for next month. The president is yet to approve the proposal before
declaring the election date. Chinamasa confirmed he had written to Mugabe over
the issue but refused to disclose the date of the by-election. "I have written
to the president but he has not yet signed the notice," Chinamasa said. "I can’t
give you the date for the election now because I am still waiting for the
president to approve my recommendation."
Chinamasa however promised that the poll would be "soon". Zanu
PF has indicated that it would field Mashonaland Central provincial governor,
Elliot Manyika, against the opposition MDC’s Elliot Pfebve. Pfebve lost the
Bindura seat to the late Gezi in last year’s general election. Gezi won 13 328
votes while Pfebve polled 11 257. The MDC had challenged Gezi’s victory in the
courts on the grounds that it was achieved through intimidation and violence.
By-elections are also due in Makoni West and Chikomba. The Makoni West seat fell
vacant following the death in a car accident of Defence minister Moven Mahachi
last month, while Chikomba became vacant after the death last week of war
veterans’ leader Chenjerai Hunzvi. Mahachi beat his nearest rival, the MDC’s
Elisha Makuwaza by 11 138 votes to 7 356. The MDC was challenging Mahachi’s
victory on grounds that it was attained through violence. Hunzvi had defeated
the MDC’s Peter Kaunda by 13 417 votes to 6 776.
More by-elections could be looming because the MDC is
challenging election results in more than 30 constituencies alleging that Zanu
PF won as a result of the use of coercion and violence. The High Court has so
far nullified three Zanu PF election victories ruling they were tainted by
violence. The invalidated results are in Hurungwe East, Buhera North and Mutoko
South. The ruling party has appealed to the Supreme Court against the High Court
rulings. Zimbabwe’s political calendar between now and April 2002, when the
presidential election is due, is heavily congested. Apart from by-elections,
there are also mayoral polls due in several towns across the country, including
Harare.
From ZWNEWS, 16
June
Good News on Chewing Gum: Invaded
Factory Sticks It Out
By Michael
Hartnack
The good news, in a country where many things are said to be
held together by blobs of chewing gum, is that the factory making the gum is
back in production. "We haven't seen a war veteran since the government told
them to leave us alone," says Stefan Hair, factory manager at the Danish-owned
Dandy plant at Norton, 45 km west of the capital, Harare.
Jorgen Mogensen, managing director of what was once a showcase
foreign investment, is on two months leave recuperating from his ordeal when
self-styled "war veterans" invaded the premises in May claiming to represent
employees dismissed with the approval of the Labour Ministry. One of the fired
workers had been caught stealing diesel, the other sugar, both prized
commodities in this land of rampant fuel shortages and soaring prices for
household staples. Mogensen was manhandled and abused by a noisy mob. They
included teenagers too young to have served in the 1972-1980 bush war in former
white-ruled Rhodesia, when Denmark was a strong sympathiser with President
Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party and its guerrillas. Dandy, with headquarters at
Vejle, 230 km west of Copenhagen, was the first foreign investor in newly
independent Zimbabwe in 1980. Later that year Mugabe made thank-you trip to
Denmark and was photographed embracing delighted Danish children.
Relations are now very different. This year, the Danish Embassy
in Harare warned that "politically motivated blatant lies" in the
state-controlled media would lead to further slashes in Denmark's Zimbabwe $14m
aid programme. Denmark rejected Zimbabwe government claims it was helping the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Dandy temporarily shut down early in
May when police refused to intervene to shield Mogensen, senior management and
the 150 workforce at Norton from the militants who claimed they were taking over
the role of the pro-MDC Zimbabwe Congress of Trades Unions in "protecting
workers' rights".
The attack on Dandy was part of a wave on invasions in towns.
Targets included the Canadian aid agency CARE, where High Commissioner Jim Wall
was roughed up, and locally owned workplaces, as well as German, South African
and Indonesian-run businesses. he MDC accused Zanu PF of seeking to extend to
towns ahead of next year's presidential elections the political intimidation it
uses in rural areas with farm invasions. In addition, the "war veterans"
routinely took a "cut" of 25-50 percent from monies extorted from managers.
When Dandy was invaded, Denmark formally protested to Zimbabwe
Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge, and Dandy board chairman Holger Bagger-Soerensen
ordered suspension of production to protect staff. Workers committee chairman
Oscar Manhombo declared support for management. "We stand to lose because of a
few people trying to take advantage of war veterans," said Manhombo, as many of
his colleagues went into hiding and the jobs of all 150 staff appeared in
jeopardy. The plant, producing up to 300 tonnes of chewing gum worth US $12m a
year, reopened on May 21 and has resumed exports throughout the region.
"Basically we are back in production following the statement that was made by
the foreign minister (Mudenge) that they would protect the company," said Hair.
"We have been told by the local police in Norton that they have had instructions
from higher up and the war veterans here said they also had orders to stop
invading us. The problem has just gone away and we hope it will stay like
that."
Although halted for the time being, the business invasions have
caused a crisis on confidence among industrialists and investors, says the
Confederation of Zimbabwean Industries. In the past year 400 firms have filed
for bankruptcy, laying off 20 000 workers to join 4 million unemployed. The
invasions have also accelerated an exodus of skills, with the departure of many
black professionals as well as members of the white community, now down to about
50,000. Zimbabwe no longer issues formal emigration statistics. However, South
Africa estimates that it has 400 000 trained Zimbabwean doctors, accountants,
mining engineers, teachers and technicians, as well as up to 2m unskilled
illegal job-seekers who can earn in a week's casual labour nearly the equivalent
a month's pay back home.
From The Times (UK), 16
June
Fleeing Zimbabweans brave crocodiles
for a new life
Beitbridge, South Africa - Wading across the Limpopo River,
with crocodiles lying in wait, marching for days and dodging police border
patrols, Zimbabweans are fleeing to South Africa. About two million black
Zimbabweans have already left in search of a new life and the authorities in
Pretoria fear that another two million could soon follow if fuel-price rises
announced earlier this week trigger township riots and a general strike. "I
don’t know how many cross over," Sergeant John Boshoff, of the South African
border police, said. "We catch 100 to 300 every night."
Most embark on the perilous crossing under cover of darkness.
Some never make it. Crocodiles and hippos have killed scores, crocodiles even
congregating at crossing points in anticipation of a nightly feast. Once across
the Limpopo, the refugees have to clamber over three razor-wire fences that run
the length of South Africa’s northern border from Botswana to Mozambique,
erected to keep out ANC guerrillas during the apartheid era. For Nhamo Makudo,
24, caught yesterday in the town of Messina after walking from his home in
Masvingo, it was the second time he had been arrested. "But I’ll try again," he
said. He is typical. Most refugees are the so-called "born frees" generation.
They know little about the civil war fought by President Mugabe’s Zanu
organisation and others to end white minority rule. They see only the chaos
brought about the seizure of white farms and other acts of intimidation by
so-called war veterans. "I’m the oldest of seven," Mr Makudo said. "My parents
have no work. We have no food. There is nothing for us in Zimbabwe. Everyone
thinks South Africa is the land of milk and honey."
Every attempt is made to provide a comprehensive report of ongoing
activities in relation to farm invasions, but many incidents are unreported due
to communications constraints, fear of reprisals and a general weariness on the
part of farmers. Farmers names and in some cases, farm names, are omitted to
minimise the risk of reprisal.
NATIONAL REPORT IN BRIEF: The
upsurge in illegal occupation of farms and lawlessness amongst illegal occupiers
continues. Assaults, stock theft and poaching incidents reported to the
police fail to generate any response. REGIONAL REPORTS:
There were
no reports received from Matabeleland and Mashonaland Central Regions.
Mashonaland West North Banket - On Bickleighvale Farm illegal
occupiers have commenced pegging . Chinhoyi - Illegal occupiers are pegging
700 ha on Longmead Farm. Illegal occupiers are demanding ZW$100,000 from the
owner of Fynnlands. A work stoppage occurred on The Witchens Estate and illegal
occupiers put thorn bushes on seedbeds. The work stoppage has been resolved and
seedbed preparation been allowed to continue. Police refused to arrest illegal
occupiers on Laureton Farm who have been stealing maize. The community in the
area have helped the owner finish reaping his maize. The work stoppage on Magog
continues. Illegal occupiers have stolen about 37 hectares of maize on Long
Valley. Doma - Illegal occupiers have demanded that the owner of Northend
Farm keep their ox carts and vehicles in the owners security fence. Illegal
occupiers are also intimidating farm labour. 12 illegal occupiers have settled
on Makoppa Farm. The new ZRP Officer in Charge, is leading illegal occupiers in
pegging on Rixton Ranch, and has also tried to prevent neighbourhood watch
patrols in the district. Karoi - Illegal occupiers physically assaulted the
owner of Mukuku Farm when he asked illegal occupiers to wait for the DA to
arrive before they commenced pegging the farm. The incident has been reported to
the police. Umboe - Agritex have commenced pegging plots in a maize land on
Dichwe farm.
Mashonaland West South Kadoma - On Alabama 5 farm
workers were beaten up by illegal occupiers. Police reacted but no arrests were
made. Suri Suri - Illegal occupiers moved in to the second homestead on San
Fernando and the farm is being demarcated into 20 acre plots by Councillor Dube.
Mashonaland East Beatrice - An illegal occupier has been selling
plots on Stirling farm. Agritex pegged on Friedenthal. The local illegal
occupier (war lord) on Tavistock rounded up 60 youths and made them go to the
farm villages and held Pungwes. The labour were told not to go to work but did
and the illegal occupiers have said that they will return to find out why and to
peg the cropping section of the farm. Harare South - The Ministry of Labour
visited Alsace farm and Verdun and advised that they were there to do a survey
as to what the labour thought of the fast - track resettlement programme.
Feedback later revealed that they wanted to know what the labour wanted to do
once the farm was being resettled. Marondera - Illegal occupier Majuru was
back on Monora making his presence known on the farm and said that 100 people
would be coming to peg the farm. There is a work stoppage on Idapi. Macheke
/ Virginia - The DDF drilling team have said that they are there to drill
boreholes for illegal occupiers on all listed farms. Illegal occupiers have
prevented the owner of Flint farm from moving his cattle. The owner of Mignon
farm locked the gate leading to the Mangwende Communal Area to try and cut down
the amount of maize that was being stolen. About 30 Illegal occupiers broke the
lock on the gate and marched up to the the owners homestead singing, chanting
and carrying axes and sticks. Police informed the owner to contact the DA. The
owners tractor and trailer was hijacked and about 58 bags of maize stolen.
Police said that they would react but did not do so. Wedza - A tractor
belonging to Chibatabere was ploughing on Fells farm. 40 illegal occupiers
started pegging on Mbima. Agritex has started pegging only arable land on
Bolton. The Acting DA from Marondera arrived on Saltash farm with illegal
occupiers to peg the farm. Agritex have commenced pegging on Corby. 4 illegal
occupiers visited a plot and informed the owner that the land now belonged to
them and they would be back to peg it. Agritex are pegging on Collace and
Leeds.
Manicaland Mutare - There is an increase in general
harassment and mass invasions. Odzi - Work stoppages are occurring with
continued harassment.
Masvingo General - Increase in fires and
poaching continues unabated. 2 motors were stolen in Chiredzi. Masvingo East
& Central - 5 pedigree cattle were stolen on Southwill Estates. 12 boar
goats were slaughtered and the meat stolen on Beauly Farm. Illegal occupiers
barricaded the farm road on Des Nes Farm. Police responded four and a half hours
after the incident was reported. The situation has been resolved. Electric
cables were stolen on Dromore Farm and the incident reported to the police.
Illegal occupiers have also stolen fittings from a homestead on the farm and
when the owner went to remove the remaining roofing, illegal occupiers informed
the owner that he was stealing government property. 30 lengths of irrigation
piping and 9 sprinklers were stolen on Fomax Dairy. Illegal occupiers have moved
onto Chikore Farm which is in the process of a multi million dollar foreign
exchange earning greenhouses project. Mwenezi / Mateke Hills - Agritex have
moved onto Machakanya Ranch to peg the property. Illegal occupiers drove cattle
onto the railway line on Umbono Holdings. One animal was killed and another
injured by a train. Illegal occupiers damaged the main borehole engine and broke
a pipe which provided water to the owner of Rutenga Ranch's homestead. Illegal
occupiers have driven their cattle through the owners dip facilities. The owner
of La Pache Farm handed out 5 invoices to illegal occupiers for unauthorized
grazing yesterday. Illegal occupiers have breeched the conservancy fence on Joko
/ Kleinbegin Farms and about 10 roles of wire and 500m of buffalo cable has been
stolen. Police have been notified. There is little concern for the presence of
green zone cattle on these farms as the DA of Beit Bridge told illegal occupiers
to move their cattle onto the farms and he will sort out the veterinary side of
things. There are about 60 illegal occupiers families on these two properties
and snaring is rife. Chiredzi - 80% of citrus has been stolen on Bangala
Ranch. Illegal occupier Mashire has pegged the citrus fields. Illegal occupier
Jongwe, has pegged plots on Alstar Haven and Palm River Ranch. A cow was found
slashed across the face on Wasarasara Ranch. Gutu / Chatsworth - 2 head of
cattle were slaughtered on Felixburg Farm. Police arrested a suspect who has
since been released on bail. The farm tractor driver was threatened by illegal
occupiers after refusing to allow them to use the tractor. Craig Farm has been
resettled. On Blyth Farm, the base commander Lion, said that illegal occupiers
must move off the farm, but a lot more people are moving on. An increase of
illegal occupiers has occurred on Strathsphey and Merlyn Farms.
Midlands Chivhu - There has been an increase of activity by illegal
occupiers on occupied farms. Poaching, building of huts and theft has
increased. Mvuma - Illegal occupiers are pegging and building huts on
recently invaded properties. Poaching has increased. Somabhula - Illegal
occupiers are building huts on Cinderella Farm. Mberengwa -There has been an
increase of illegal occupiers on 3 commercial farms in the area. Poaching and
theft is ongoing. Police refuse to react to poaching incidents on farms unless
the thieves are caught and taken to the police station by farm owners. One farm
owner in the area is not allowed to return to his farm and has had to send his
cattle for slaughter. Kwe Kwe - Stock theft is ongoing. Lalapanzi -
Illegal occupiers have moved onto Utah Ranch.
PRESIDENT Mugabe is optimistic the victory of the Labour Party and Mr Tony
Blair, in the recent British general elections, will provide a new opportunity
for the two countries to resolve their differences.
In his congratulatory message to Mr Blair, President Mugabe reiterated
Harare’s preparedness to engage Britain in dialogue over the land issue.
Britain has been reneging on its colonial obligation, which it
undertook at the Lancaster House talks in 1979, to fund land reform in
Zimbabwe. (My Italics...B)
Last week, Cde Mugabe said he hoped the re-election of Mr Blair would
give him ample time to study the history of colonialism.
"We in Zimbabwe look forward to your renewed mandate as providing a new
opportunity to address some of the outstanding issues between our two countries.
"We stand ready to constructively engage your Government in efforts to
resolve these outstanding issues and normalise relations between our two
countries," Cde Mugabe said in his message.
He said the Labour Party's resounding victory was an emphatic
endorsement of the party’s policies and Mr Blair’s own stewardship of the
country.
"On behalf of the Government and people of the Republic of Zimbabwe and
my own behalf, I wish to congratulate you, Mr Prime Minister and the Labour
Party on winning the recent British general elections convincingly.
"Please accept, Mr Prime Minister, my best wishes in the years ahead,"
President Mugabe said.
Relations between Zimbabwe and Britain have taken a knock in recent
years over the land issue and Nigeria, South Africa and Mozambique were working
at finding ways of improving dialogue between Harare and London.
The three countries, like most other African countries, were of the
view that Britain should honour its colonial obligation.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cde Stan Mudenge, has also written to
the new British Secretary of State Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Mr Jack
Straw, expressing hope to work with him in finding solutions to the frosty
relations between the two countries.
"As you are aware the nature of the present relations between our two
countries has known better days in the past.
"It is, therefore, my fervent hope that with goodwill we can, together,
find solutions to these quite surmountable misunderstandings affecting our
relations," Cde Mudenge said in his congratulatory message to his
counterpart.
London - South African President Thabo Mbeki, in a frank
assessment of his continent, said on Thursday it was in a mess but with help
could pull itself together. Mbeki, on the last full day of his first state visit
to the Britain, told an audience of investors the foreign perception of Africa
as ridden with wars, disease, corruption, dictatorships and refugees was
probably not far off the mark. "That picture would not necessarily be wrong. But
we have this strong delegation visiting the United Kingdom... because we have
the possibility, working with you, to do many things to change this reality I
have been describing," he said.
He described South Africa as not only the gateway to the
continent but as a backdoor on to world markets through deals such as last
year's free trade pact with the European Union. "I think we have a common
project with regards to turning what many people might still regard to be good
potential, good prospects in South Africa... into something that will convey a
message about the African continent that will be radically different," the
Sussex University-trained economist said.
Mbeki, travelling with a delegation of eight cabinet ministers,
said in the seven years since the end of apartheid and the advent of democracy,
South Africa had built a sound economy with solid policies and good prospects
for growth. Local investment was building but foreign direct investment remained
vital to securing the critical mass necessary to begin cutting unacceptably high
levels of unemployment - running at around 30 percent nationally and 40 percent
among blacks.
The president, who on Wednesday visited Scotland to deliver an
impassioned plea to developed nations to slash the crippling debt burden on the
world's poor, said he accepted South Africa still had to tackle issues such as
crime and Zimbabwe. But he specifically avoided mentioning the national Aids
epidemic that threatens to torpedo the economy, killing millions and leaving
thousands of orphans in its wake. He said the government had been moving
resources into fighting a rampant crime wave and was beginning to win the war -
although it has not published crime statistics since late last year. He said the
repeated message from business was that, while South Africa might be a haven of
stability on the continent, it suffered from being in a bad neighbourhood
because of its northern neighbour Zimbabwe.
In an unusually sharp critique of the government of the former
British colony of Rhodesia, Mbeki said the rule of law had to be applied. "It is
clear that there are many things that have gone wrong in Zimbabwe," he said.
Mbeki said there was a need for land redistribution in both countries, but it
must be conducted in an orderly manner, not through land invasions as has been
the case for the past year in Zimbabwe. He said his government was in contact
with the government of President Robert Mugabe and trying to help the
Zimbabweans drag their economy out of the mire. "Clearly we don't want a
collapse in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabweans must turn the country around," he said,
adding that South Africa would do what it could to help.
"We need to create a good neighbourhood," he told his packed
audience. "To address all these things we need this continuous engagement with
yourselves. South Africa must become a preferred investor destination because of
its potential." Mbeki, who leaves on Friday morning, was lunching with Prime
Minister Tony Blair later on Thursday before addressing a meeting of
parliamentarians on his Millennium Africa Recovery Plan.
Comment from The Times (UK), 15
June
Mbeki to Mugabe : A franker message
but still not fierce enough
If Africa is to become a "good neighbourhood" for investment,
its most sophisticated nation, South Africa, must lead the way. So said that
country’s President, Thabo Mbeki, at a meeting with London investors yesterday.
The usually cautious Mr Mbeki also made unusually critical remarks about his
northern neighbour, Zimbabwe, suggesting that worsening abuse there had tainted
the reputation of the entire region. Many things had gone wrong in Zimbabwe, he
said. He criticised the recent invasions of white-owned farmland by gangs of
"war veterans" that have been a feature of the last year or so; he said the rule
of law had to be applied.
Mr Mbeki’s speech was a good start. Britain has long pressed
the South African President, the one foreign political figure seen able to
influence Zimbabwe’s leader, Robert Mugabe - to drop his increasingly extremist
policies; diplomats will no doubt be pleased that he has made at least some
public criticism. But Mr Mbeki’s decision to focus on Zimbabwe’s need to avoid
economic collapse, and South Africa’s duty to help it to do so, softened his
message. Crucially, he stopped short of admitting that Zimbabwe’s problems were,
at base, political rather than economic.
The sickness racking Zimbabwe certainly has many economic
symptoms. Foreign investment is dwindling. So is international aid. Fuel prices
nearly doubled this week. Food shortages are expected within months, and unrest
may follow. But the underlying cause is political. It is the brutal treatment
meted out by President Mugabe to his democratic opponents, his attempts to quell
the press and judiciary, and the corrupt, arbitrary and inefficient management
by presidential cronies of economic resources (including commercial farmland)
that are scaring off investors from a once wealthy country.
Mr Mugabe, who is 72 and has been in power for two decades,
insists that nothing needs fixing in Zimbabwe except its economic symptoms,
which he puts down to the evils of long-ago colonialism. His "cure" - kicking
3,000 of the country’s 4,500 commercial farmers (mostly white former
colonialists) off their land, and resettling landless black peasants on it -
would, he says, sort everything out fairly. The violent land grabs already
carried out on dozens of farms have claimed lives, spread terror, and reduced
dramatically production of Zimbabwe’s main export crop, tobacco. Peaking during
last year’s parliamentary elections, the attacks happened also to target members
of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) opposition. Even though the chief of
the "war veterans’", "Hitler" Hunzvi, died last week, it is likely that more,
and equally political, violence will mar next year’s presidential election - for
which Mr Mugabe is determined to stand again.
The new US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has denounced what
he calls Mr Mugabe’s "totalitarian methods" of holding on to power. Mr Mbeki,
who ignored 40 Zimbabwean deaths during last year’s parliamentary campaigning
and rushed to pronounce its elections "free and fair", must now have the courage
to open his eyes too. Otherwise he may find he has taken the wrong side in the
struggle for Zimbabwe’s soul.
From News24 (SA), 14
June
Mugabe sweet talks
Blair
Harare - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has sent a
congratulatory message to British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressing optimism
that his re-election to power will provide an opportunity for the two countries
to patch up their differences. "We look forward to your renewed mandate as
providing a new opportunity to address some of the outstanding issues between
our two countries," Mugabe said in his congratulatory message to Blair. Britain,
the former colonial power, has led harsh criticism of Mugabe's administration,
particularly over its controversial land reform scheme. Mugabe has responded by
repeatedly telling Britain to keep its hands off Zimbabwe's affairs. But Mugabe,
in a message published on Thursday by the state-owned Herald took a somewhat
conciliatory tone saying: "We stand ready to constructively engage your
government to resolve these outstanding issues and normalise relations between
our countries."
Government says Britain has reneged on its promises to give
Zimbabwe funds to compensate for land taken from white farmers for
redistribution to blacks. Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge said early this year the
countries had "unfinished business". The Herald also reported that Mudenge has
written to the new British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth
Office, Jack Straw, congratulating him. "As you are aware, the nature of the
present relations between our two countries has known better days in the past,"
he told his counterpart. "It is, therefore, my fervent hope that with goodwill
we can, together, find solutions to these quite surmountable misunderstandings
affecting our relations," said Mudenge. Early this year Mudenge complained that
since the Blair government first swept to power, neither the prime minister nor
the then foreign secretary Robin Cook had bothered to visit the southern African
country. Last month local state media reported that Britain was seeking to
re-open dialogue with Zimbabwe in a bid to heal strained relations, and that it
had approached Mozambique, Nigeria and South African to help mediate between the
two countries.
Comment from The Financial Gazette,
14 June
Mugabe's
denouement
Alarm bells are ringing louder each day for President Robert
Mugabe to go with some semblance of dignity before Zimbabwe's most crucial
presidential ballot in 10 months, but the hardened fighter will not throw in the
towel yet. Too much is at stake to call it a day now, Mugabe reckons, and yet he
probably stands to lose too much, if not everything, while clinging to power in
the name of seeking to complete unfinished business. Somehow he still believes
that a miracle will rescue him from a humiliating electoral defeat, which looks
increasingly certain as Zimbabwe hurtles towards total collapse.
Many in the country are rightly asking: what has the Old Man
got up his sleeve which makes him believe he can defy history and turn back the
clock of change? Only the President knows, and yet even he too - the brave
guerrilla chief whose forces helped send the powerful Rhodesian edifice crashing
down to earth - should be aware that the die is now cast and the moment of
reckoning has finally come. Is he really ready to accept the wrath of the people
at the polls or is he planning to impose emergency rule to forestall his
inevitable ouster?
The warning that Mugabe received from US Secretary of State
Colin Powell two weeks ago is only the latest sign that it is time to go before
the tide becomes a storm. Even South African President Thabo Mbeki, who has been
quietly urging Mugabe to act against government-inspired chaos, is now making
the point that whatever Pretoria does is merely aimed at preventing Zimbabwe's
TOTAL collapse. In effect, this means that Mbeki is finally acknowledging that
Zimbabwe has indeed crumbled and that all efforts must be made to prevent its
plunge into a dark hole.
But will Mugabe heed the gentle words of advice from Powell and
Mbeki or, as he has often done before, merely brush them aside and soldier on?
Whatever the President decides to do, there is no denying the fact that the
international community is finally closing ranks to isolate and punish him for
behaviour unbecoming of a head of state. And we fear much worse could come if
Mugabe fails to read the tell-tale signals from Powell and others who are hoping
to reach out to him before the storm erupts. He should learn from the hard
lessons of the not-so-gentle ousters of Yugoslavia's Slobodan Milosevic and
Panama's Manuel Noriega that history has no place for such dictators, even long
after their ignominious downfall.
Domestically Mugabe knows he faces an unwinnable battle at the
projected ballot, if it is free and fair, and yet he has gone ahead to announce
his candidature in one of his many dare-you-all measures. With Zimbabwe's
economy already on its knees - the fuel of Mugabe's downfall - we ask: how does
he hope to drown the palpable nationwide discontent against his government in
the few remaining months before the polls? What makes him believe that he can
pull off the impossible? Could it be that he is misinformed about his political
support? Or does he have other strategies that will deliver the miracle?
Surely Mugabe must know now that violence employed by his Zanu
PF party against opponents ahead of last year's parliamentary election can do so
much and no more when the hour has come. Indeed his hasty and chaotic land
reforms, meant to cover up for his government's failure to deliver land to
peasants in the past two decades, won't do the trick either. Some Zimbabweans
will take the land under Mugabe's illegal fast-track scheme, but will not forget
that it was none other than the President, for years pre-occupied with
globe-trotting and the politics of patronage, who palpably failed to allocate
enough money for an orderly and transparent land reform plan. His rising
crescendo of charges against Britain over the land question will simply not fly
because they are baseless and he knows this. British aid for land redistribution
remains unclaimed in London even today because Mugabe does not want to meet its
minimum conditions: that the land reforms address poverty of most Zimbabweans
regardless of their political beliefs.
From The Wall Street Journal, 14
June
US concerned about Zimbabwe's curbs
on foreign press
Washington - The U.S. State Department expressed concern
Thursday over new restrictions in Zimbabwe on foreign reporters, and said the
measure was "particularly troubling" in light of the impending start of a
presidential election campaign. Zimbabwe imposed entry conditions on Wednesday
for foreign journalists, requiring them to apply for official press
accreditation at least a month before an intended visit. Without clearance
enabling them to work, they would not be admitted and the government advised
them not to make travel arrangements until receiving clearance, state radio
said.
State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said foreign
journalists previously were able to apply for accreditation upon arrival in the
country. Coupled with other actions against the press, Reeker said it appears
that "the government of Zimbabwe wants very much to limit media reporting on
what goes on inside Zimbabwe," Reeker said. "We find this new development
particularly troubling in view of the presidential election slated to occur in
the first quarter of next year, 2002." In addition to attacks on the independent
media, Reeker said there have been attacks on the judiciary, the opposition and
opposition supporters. "We call on the government of Zimbabwe to return to the
rule of law and respect the rights of its citizens," he said.
From News24 (SA), 15
June
Judges shy away from
MDC
Harare - The opposition MDC party, challenging the government
for alleged electoral fraud in last year parliamentary election, is facing a
fresh dilemma: judges are now reluctant to hear its petitions. The party says it
sees the move as part of the ruling party's attempts to frustrate its search for
justice, arising from the bloody election campaign in which about 40 people
died, all from the opposition. They have now challenged Jacob Manzunzu, the
registrar of the High Court, over delays in replacing Justice James Devittie
(who resigned last month) in the 29 pending hearings.
Yvonne Mahlunge, one of the MDC legal advisers, said the High
Court registrar also turned down a request to increase the number of judges
hearing the petitions in order to speed up the process. Most judges, fearing
victimisation and political interference, have refused to handle MDC petitions,
leaving Manzunzu in a separate dilemma. Newly appointed judge Charles Hungwe, a
former member of the Electoral Supervisory Commission (ESC), recused himself
from hearing the petitions. As a member of the ESC last year, Hungwe's
commission issued a damning report condemning violence during last June's
parliamentary election won by Zanu-PF. Other High Court judges are said to have
given flimsy excuses.
The MDC is challenging the election result on the grounds of
violence by Zanu PF. Initially, the opposition party was challenging results in
37 constituencies but some of the petitions have either been concluded or
withdrawn. Before leaving the bench, Devittie handed down three judgements in
favour of the MDC. He was then removed from hearing the petitions. Only two
judges, Justice Vernanda Ziyambi and Justice Paddington Garwe are now hearing
the petitions. The MDC has complained to Manzunzu that Devittie should not have
been removed from hearing the petitions before a replacement had been found. The
opposition party said the delays in finding his replacement were meant to
frustrate the MDC.
In response, Manzunzu said it was mischievous to suggest
Devittie was removed from the Bench. He said Devittie could not handle more
cases because he was retiring. Manzunzu told the MDC lawyers Justice Ben
Hlatshwayo, another new judge connected to Zanu PF before his appointment, had
replaced Devittie. "On a caretaker basis, some matters previously allocated to
Devittie have been allocated to Hlatshwayo," said Manzunzu. "It must be
appreciated that court rolls are prepared well in advance for obvious reasons,
and that such developments are prepared well in advance for obvious reasons, and
that sudden developments such as Devittie's retirement can throw the court roll
off the rails."
However, MDC lawyers said Hlatshwayo, one of the judges
appointed after Zanu PF complained about unfavourable judgements, told them he
was not assigned Devittie's cases. Hlatshwayo was a member of the
government-appointed Constitutional Commission whose draft was rejected in a
referendum in February last year. Correspondence between the MDC lawyers and the
registrar of the High Court's office shows that the opposition party made the
first request for the increase in the number of judges on 5 March. Mahlunge said
the requests had been turned down. She said the Electoral Act stipulated that
election petitions had to be disposed of expeditiously. The point had been
acknowledged by Manzunzu but he had failed to comply, said Mahlunge. It appears
the government was unsettled by the three MDC victories in the hearings so far
and wants to avoid further embarrassment, said an MDC
spokesperson.
From The Mail & Guardian (SA),
14 June
Battling for
survival
Every month a in Harare worker will
spend more than half of his salary on bus fares, before buying a meal or paying
the school fees for a single child, reports IRIN
The line of cars began in a narrow side-street and snaked
around three corners before finding its way to the crowded forecourt of a petrol
station over 1 km away. A heat haze danced on the roofs of the 200 vehicles in
the queue as drivers waited with growing impatience to fill up. John Maponga had
queued for over three hours to be served at the Total petrol station in the
Harare suburb of Helensvale. He asked: "How am I meant to run my business when I
have to waste time like this? Look what has happened to Zimbabwe. I'm going to
emigrate to Zambia. At least they have petrol there."
Endless queues at the few Zimbabwean petrol stations with
supplies are the most visible signs of an economic crisis that worsens by the
day. With no reserves of foreign exchange to buy imports, Zimbabwe has suffered
fuel shortages since December 1999. Superficially, this only affects the small
minority of people wealthy enough to own a car. Yet the economic slump is so
severe that an entire society is being impoverished. President Robert Mugabe's
government has achieved the distinction of recording some of the worst
macroeconomic statistics in Africa. Last year, unemployment rose to 60%,
inflation ran at 57%, the budget deficit swelled to 23% of gross national
product and the entire economy contracted by 6%. The victims of the collapse can
be found on any street corner in Harare.
Thomas Karimadondo, 25, once worked in a clothing factory in
the industrial suburb of Graniteside. He lost his job when the company closed in
1999. To support his son, now aged 3, he joined the informal economy and based
himself opposite Meikles Hotel in central Harare, where he sold souvenirs,
mainly small wooden elephants, to tourists. But Zimbabwe's tourism industry was
crippled last year when the number of visitors fell by 70%. So Thomas lost his
livelihood once again. He still earns a living as a street trader, but now sells
goods that are in constant demand - petrol funnels. As he walked beside a row of
cars halted at the busy junction between Second Street and Tongogara Avenue,
Thomas carried his collection of shiny, silver funnels with genuine pride.
"Other people sell old ones that leak, but mine are the best," he said.
His customers seem to agree. Thomas sells about 10 funnels a
day, at the equivalent of US $1 each, making him rich by the modest standards of
Harare street traders. "Everyone needs one of these funnels. I can sell all that
I buy," he said. Thomas has survived by spotting the gap in the market created
by Zimbabwe's fuel crisis. For the very poorest, living outside the formal
economy, survival now hinges on ingenuity. Entire families are dependent on
selling the unlikeliest objects. When asked where he gets the funnels from,
Thomas looks uncertain. In fact, the clean, metal cylinders are made from
Harare's street signs, which are rapidly disappearing. Finding your way around
the city is increasingly difficult because countless streets have become
anonymous overnight. The metal signs have numerous uses. Many people eke out a
living by turning them into coffin handles and then selling them to undertakers.
About 2 000 Zimbabweans are estimated to die of AIDS every week, so the demand
for coffins is growing fast. The business of death allows thousands to live.
The battle for survival is also fought by the 40% of the
workforce who hold jobs in the formal economy. An inflation rate of 57% is
indiscriminate in the poverty it causes. The petrol price increase of 74 percent
announced on 13 June has already led to a 50% rise in bus fares and will push up
the cost of every basic essential. A manual worker living in the dormitory town
of Chitungwiza, 25 km south of Harare, will typically earn the equivalent of US
$55 per month from a factory job in the capital. Yet the cost of commuting by
bus each day is now about US $1.36. Every month, the worker will spend more than
half of his salary on bus fares, before buying a meal or paying the school fees
for a single child. So more and more people are walking to work. Every day in
Chitungwiza, thousands rise at 4 a.m. and walk the 50 km round-trip, to and from
Harare. The additional strain this imposes, and the hours it adds to the working
day, have become unavoidable.
Only the very richest have been shielded from the effects of
economic collapse. But even they risk poverty when they reach old age. Inflation
has wiped out the value of savings and pensions, depriving those who once held
senior government positions of a quiet retirement. Steven Sibanda, 73, retired
from the civil service as an Assistant Secretary in 1987. His pension was then
worth US $400 per month. It has now plummeted to US $145 per month at the
official exchange rate, and US $57 at the more realistic "parallel" rate. Last
year, Sibanda's pension was upgraded by 15 percent - less than one third of the
inflation rate.
He said: "We've reached the crunch point now. To survive, we're
going to have to make severe economies." Sibanda cannot afford to visit his
children in South Africa and may soon have to dispense with his gardener and
housemaid. To supplement his income, he does occasional lectures at the
University of Zimbabwe and other casual jobs. "We don't really have a retirement
any more. We have to go on working to survive," he added. For people at every
level of Zimbabwean society, a country that once prided its self on its
orderliness and sophistication, survival involves nothing but a
struggle.
