Reuters
Sat 17 Dec
2005 4:56 AM ET
By Nick Tattersall
DAKAR, Dec 17 (Reuters) - China is
winning African hearts and minds by
offering the world's poorest continent
everything from cheap flip-flops to
new sports stadiums, but the West is
wary of the Asian giant's methods and
motives.
From a 20,000-seater
soccer stadium in coup-prone Central African Republic
to a huge parliament
building in war-hit Ivory Coast, China is opening
diplomatic doors with
attention-grabbing gifts for the state and cheap goods
for the
people.
Even in the fabled Saharan trading towns of Agadez and Timbuktu,
the moped
of choice for young men is a Chinese "Jin-Cheng".
"We have
gained the confidence of African countries," said Tongqing Wang,
political
affairs advisor at the new Chinese embassy in Senegal's capital
Dakar.
"We have the same impulses. We understand African countries
well; what they
want, what they do," he said as workmen wrestled a telecoms
mast onto the
roof of his new office.
Senegal is the latest African
country to be wooed by China, resuming
diplomatic ties in October after a
10-year break. In doing so it ditched
links with Taiwan and recognised
Beijing's claim to sovereignty over the
island.
The move left Taiwan
-- which immediately accused China of luring Senegal
with "threats and
inducements" -- with only 25 allies, many of them small
Caribbean and
Pacific Island nations.
"States have no friends, they have only
interests," Senegalese President
Abdoulaye Wade wrote in a blunt letter to
Taiwan's Chen Shui-bian, informing
him of the decision.
With China
seeking a home for its current cash surplus and Senegal looking
for cheap
ways to develop its infrastructure, there were interests on both
sides:
Sino-Senegalese trade hit $105 million in the first three quarters of
2005,
up by more than a third on the previous year.
HUMAN RIGHTS,
CORRUPTION
But the rewards for China's diplomatic push go beyond
trade.
Chinese oil executives may be winning contracts to hunt for new
reserves,
vital to sustain the world's fastest growing economy, but building
diplomatic clout is equally important.
Gaining support on the world
stage from one of the few corners of the globe
where the influence of the
United States and of former European colonial
powers is on the wane is seen
as a goal worth pursuing by China.
"Beijing seems to be very much aware
of the difficulties which a
late-industrialising nation faces in competing
with established players for
influences in the world," said Xuewu Gu, chair
of East Asian Politics at
Bochum University in Germany.
"They believe
that China would only have the chance to establish itself
quickly in areas
where the positions of other powers were yet weak," he
wrote in a study
published earlier this year.
That worries Western politicians who fear
China's cosiness with corrupt
rulers undermines international efforts to
promote good governance: when the
West threatens sanctions by curbing
investment, China is all too ready to
plug the gap.
"China's propping
up of corrupt regimes hinders the United States' ability
to stop rogue
states and to help create stable, prosperous and open
societies," said
Carolyn Bartholomew of the U.S.-China Economic and Security
Review
Commission.
"China is willing to provide economic, military and
diplomatic assistance to
undemocratic African regimes in direct opposition
to political forces that
spent years attempting to encourage change in these
regimes," she told
Congress in July.
She cited an order placed by the
government of Zimbabwe's President Robert
Mugabe -- shunned as a pariah by
much of the West -- for 12 fighter jets
from China in late 2004 at a time
when the country faced economic collapse.
BROTHERS IN
ARMS
Chinese diplomats and businessmen are quick to point out that their
nation's
political interest in Africa is nothing new.
Beijing
supported African revolutionary movements struggling for
independence in the
1960s and 70s, some of whose leaders have since come to
power and are ready
to repay the favour.
The entry of the People's Republic of China into the
United Nations in 1971
was supported by many Third World nations who hoped
it would play an active
role in the Non-Aligned Movement.
"China
never forgets that," said Wang in Dakar.
"The friendship between China
and Africa goes back a long way," he said,
adding the heads of state from
every African country which recognises
China -- all but six of them -- would
be invited to a summit in Beijing next
year.
Chinese traders living
in Africa pride themselves on having a closer
relationship with the man in
the street than their Western counterparts, a
friendship they see as born of
a common struggle to earn a decent living in
a developing
nation.
"The biggest challenge for Beijing has been to open the door of
Africa
without repeating the mistakes made by the 'American imperialists'
and
'European colonialists'," Bochum's Gu wrote.
"Arrogance and ...
patronising feelings are at the top of the list of
warnings for government
officials and entrepreneurs involved with
sub-Saharan Africa."
It
appears to have paid off.
Gaudily coloured Chinese flip-flops are
ubiquitous in West Africa, adorning
the feet of everyone from Senegal's taxi
drivers to Liberia's rebel
fighters, and outselling more expensive African
leather sandals in the
region's markets.
"The Chinese and their goods
are welcome in Africa," said Edvige Ettien,
shopping in a Chinese grocery
store in Abidjan. "But we still have some
problems reading the labels."
(Additional reporting by Peter Murphy in
Abidjan)
News24
17/12/2005 15:43 -
(SA)
Musina - Tempers are said to be running high at the Beitbridge
border post
in Limpopo, the SABC reported on Saturday.
Motorists
wanting to enter Zimbabwe are having to wait in long queues while
their
documents are processed.
Some travellers told the public broadcaster they
have been waiting more than
24 hours.
A reporter on the scene said
stationary vehicles stretched back some 12km
from the
frontier.
Customs officials have refused to comment on the cause of the
back up, said
to be the result of a go-slow on the South African side of the
border.
Limpopo's Department of Transport officials have, however, denied
that there
are problems at the border.
SABC
December 17,
2005, 08:00
The department of home affairs has dismissed reports of chaos
at the
Beitbridge border post between South Africa and
Zimbabwe.
Witnesses say the post was closed on the South African side as
a result of a
go-slow by immigration officials. They reported that long
queues of vehicles
and people were waiting to cross the
border.
Nkosana Sibuyi, a spokesperson for home affairs, says they have
posted more
immigration officials at the border post for the festive season.
"We are not
experiencing any problems at the Beitbridge border post. We are
aware that
during this period a number of people are going back to their
country, so we
have deployed more officials to assist. So there is no
problem at Beitbridge
border post."
Angola Press
Harare,
Zimbabwe, 12/17 - The Zimbabwe Central Bank Friday increased
interest rates
by 125 percent points to 540 percent in a continuing bid to
contain surging
inflation.
Latest figures released last week, put inflation at 502
percent in November.
The Central Bank raised the rate of secured lending
to 540 percent and
unsecured lending to 550 percent.
Interest rates
are the Bank`s main weapon against spiralling inflation, but
this has proved
increasingly ineffective, with economists warning that
inflation could hit
600 percent by year-end.
Canada Free Press
by NACFREEZ
Saturday, December 17, 2005
The North American
Coalition For A Free Zimbabwe (NACFREEZ) whole-heartedly
pledges its
unwavering support and solidarity with the organizers of WHITE
MONDAY and
the people of Zimbabwe in their efforts to stop the suffering and
carnage
caused by a despotic, ethnic and racist regime which has made the
independence of the people of Zimbabwe, a mockery in the eyes of their
neighbors and the whole world. We say hats off to your decision. ENOUGH IS
ENOUGH! SEKWANELE! ZVAKWANA!
We therefore appeal to the people in all
walks of life, the villagers, the
town populace, the churches, and so forth.
You have so far carried the
nation's independence torch and aspirations with
pride, resilience, courage
and patriotism. You are the power, the life and
the nation's backbone. You
are the fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters,
an indispensable asset of
our nation. Unite! Shed the fear, wipe the tear,
brave the storm of
political disparity and lift your expectations higher.
You deserve better.
Don't settle for the worst.
To the
professionals (doctors, nurses, teachers, tradesmen, journalists,
editors,
etc), the civic groups, civil service (the police, secret service,
army,
etc.) and political parties, rally round the common man, the worker
and the
peasant, to demonstrate your rights which are enshrined in the
universal law
of human rights and liberties, enshrined in the AU charter and
endorsed in
the spirit of brotherhood and togetherness in all Holy
scriptures.
It
is not only your will to be free, but the will of the Almighty. We urge
you
to rise above your fears of intimidation and the likelihood of
persecution,
harassment and genocide, and hold the regime by the horns. It
is only a
matter of hours for an already dying regime to collapse. This is
the
time!
We specifically call on the hoodwinked CIO. Dump the regime that
has made
your sterling profession turn against the masses that have
entrusted you
with their lives to fortify and defend. Think of your
families, friends,
schoolmates and your peers who now look at you as snakes
in the grass. Think
of your future and the future of your country that needs
your services and
protection. Discard the yoke that binds you to a master
that feeds on your
weakness that it has created to alienate you from the
people who care for
and about you.
It's time to stand up and be
counted. We call on the Police. You have been
made tools of oppression;
tools of intimidation, imprisonment and torture.
Your noble protective
profession has been turned to a commitment of fraud,
robbery and lying. The
truth you are supposed to stand for, and the law
you're supposed to enforce,
has been made a circus rhyme that you now sing
with shame. Throw away the
bondage of fear, uncertainty and moral
degradation. Rally with your
families, friends and colleagues. They will
always be there. Sooner or
later, the regime will be gone and who will you
turn to for support? This is
your chance to exonerate yourselves.
We call on the Army. The future
never ends with the fall of an intimidating
regime. But it ends with the
support of it. By virtue of the trust accorded
to your profession, you
transcend any institutional politics and
governance... Yours is an
apolitical role. Stand by the power that bestowed
you the privilege to play
defensive pillars not offensive pillars against
those who look up to you for
protection. Rise with the masses. Your future
is with them, not those whose
days are numbered. End the terror that you
bring to yourselves and your
fellow men. Time has come to call it ROT. Don't
imprison yourselves. Free
everyone, free yourselves.
Prison Warders, set the political prisoners
free. They don't have anything
against you! Let them join the revolution.
They are equally responsible for
their fate. Let them confront their
accuser. The fight is for us all!
We call on our neighbors, the SADDC,
NEPAD and the African Union, and all
other continental governmental
organizations and civic groups to stand in
solidarity with the oppressed
masses of Zimbabwe who have now decided to put
their fate, that of their
children and the pride and independence of their
nation in their hands. They
will put their lives, beliefs, national pride
and the pride of the continent
on line as their driving force to rid the
nation, the continent and the
world a malignant tumor. They need your
solidarity, moral and interventional
support. Let the period of standing
aloof and disinterested be pronounced a
thing of the past.
Stand up, be brave and be counted for the sake of
freedom of all! We call on
the United Nations, the Commonwealth, the
European Union, all governmental
groupings on a global scale, Non-aligned
groups, unions and church
organizations, particularly the World Council of
Churches and all other
organizations and institutions that espouse democracy
and good governance to
rally round the dehumanized and downtrodden people of
Zimbabwe in their hour
of need.
Don't desert them, lest the forces of
reason find you wanting. We are the
world we always sing.
We call on
people of all nations. We call on even those nations that have
supported
this regime to abandon their irredeemable sibling and stand in
solidarity
with the masses of Zimbabwe, the ones who are being abused.
History will pay
tribute to your noble deed. We appeal to China to display
an enlightenment
and altruism, selflessness, maturity in reason and
pragmatism and accord a
deserved support and solidarity to the masses of
Zimbabwe who own the land,
the natural resources in it and the soul of the
land that the desperate
regime disperses at a quarter cent on a dollar. It
is the enslaved masses
who are masters and deserve to be treated accordingly
by the
regime.
It is the people who go hungry but toil, the power now trodden,
the jewel
now muddied and the core now cornered. They are prepared to free
themselves.
Stand and fight with them. History will absolve you.
We
call on the US, Canada, The United Kingdom, France, Germany, and all
nations
great and small. This is the time to act and demonstrate the spirit
that you
have preached to the world in your steadfast condemnation of the
Mugabe
regime day in and day out; the spirit that made your nations what
they are
today. We call on you to stand above any political hopes of
reforming an
incorrigible regime but stand in solidarity with masses of
Zimbabwe. They
deserve your support in this decisive moment. Stand by them.
The people
of Zimbabwe have decided. They are determined to free themselves.
And the
Almighty is on their side. May He see them through. He is greater
than their
enemy. So are they.
PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE UNITE! PEOPLE OF THE WORLD UNITE!!
GREAT IS THE TASK!!
UMKHULU MSEBENZI! IRI IBASA GURU!
NACFREEZ TEAM,
USA
Dear Family and Friends,
I think if you could ask any Zimbabwean what three
things they most wanted
for Christmas in 2005, the answers would be the same
in almost all
households. Firstly we want food security in all areas: we want
food
growing on our farms, food stacked in silos and warehouses and food in
our
pantries and on our tables. After seventy months of turmoil, food
security
would be a blessed gift for every Zimbabwean.
Secondly this
Christmas we want our families. I don't think I know a
single family which
does not have some or most of its members living
outside of the country.
Siblings, parents, children and grandparents are
separated - we are a nation
whose families and extended families have been
torn apart. Over three million
Zimbabweans (almost a quarter of our
population) have left home in the last
seventy months and they are sorely
missed.
Thirdly this Christmas we
want fuel. Shops, businesses, transporters,
schools, institutions and
ordinary families - we want to be able to go to
a filling station and buy
fuel. Ever since the elections in March, the
vast majority of Zimbabweans
have been unable to buy fuel anywhere except
on the black market. The nine
month unavailability of fuel affects every
single Zimbabwean as black market
fuel prices are now tagged onto
everything from bread to bus fares, shoes to
sugar and everything in
between. We long to travel in our own country again,
to see our friends in
other towns and to go to Zimbabwe's beautiful places
again, what a gift
that would be this Christmas.
Seventy months - it
is hard to believe that this has been going on for so
long and that we have
endured so much The gap between the very rich and
the desperately poor
continues to widen. The latest Standard newspaper
told of the extravagances
of the Zanu PF annual Congress last weekend.
Three thousand delegates for
four days were fed with: 50 cattle, 48 goats,
11 kudu, 5 reed buck, 17
impala, 5 buffaloes and 60 chickens. This was
accompanied by 1.19 tonnes of
rice, 50 kg of wheat and 11 tonnes of maize.
Also on hand were 250 bags of
oranges, a tonne of tomatoes, 400 cabbages
and 60 litres of ice cream. And,
all this in a country in which THREE
MILLION Zimbabweans are eating world
food aid.
And freedom, that flimsy concept taken for granted by so many,
seems as
elusive as ever for Zimbabweans this Christmas. Darker days are
already
upon us as 2006 approaches. This week passports of outspoken
government
critics were seized and the Minister of Information said that
journalists
were "weapons of mass destruction."
The excesses and
traditions of Christmas are cancelled for most
Zimbabweans this year and we
are left hoping and praying for an end to the
hardships, turmoil and struggle
of living like this. I will not write
another letter until 2006 and wish all
my family and friends, wherever you
are in the world, a blessed Christmas.
Love cathy. Copyright cathy buckle
17 December 2005
http://africantears.netfirms.com
The Herald
(Harare)
December 16, 2005
Posted to the web December 16,
2005
Harare
CHITUNGWIZA Municipality has resumed refuse collection
in residential areas
following the delivery of fuel this week.
The
municipality also received a consignment of plastic bins for
distribution to
residents on Tuesday.
Council had stopped collecting refuse completely in
recent months citing the
non-availability of fuel, forcing residents to dump
garbage in open spaces
and along streets.
But more work needs to be
done to clear the town of litter that has
accumulated over the
months.
Council received 15 000 litres of both diesel and petrol from the
National
Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim) on Tuesday.
Residents
interviewed welcomed the latest development but said council
should ensure
that the service continued.
"This is what we have been calling for all
along. Council should maintain
the momentum and improve the outlook of the
town which has gradually
deteriorated over the months," said Mr Johnson
Khumalo, a Unit K resident.
Residents, he said, should desist from
dumping litter at undesignated
points.
In an interview, town clerk Mr
Simbarashe Mudunge said council was making
some headway in the normalisation
of services in the town.
"We have bought refuse bags for people to
dispose of their waste and we have
also started collecting refuse in
residential areas, something we had
stopped owing to a depleted fleet and
fuel shortages.
"Before this latest development, we had been advising
residents to heap
their garbage at a central point where we would come and
collect but we are
changing all that," said Mr Mudunge.
He however,
said council's fleet was still depleted to effectively collect
refuse in the
town.
Council, he said, was still trying to repair most of its broken
down trucks.
Out of a fleet of 22, only six vehicles are on the road
owing to minor
defects.
"We are expecting to have CMED (Private
Limited) come and help us with the
repairs," Mr Mudunge said.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The
Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-Dec-17
THERE are mixed
reactions in Harare over Monday's re-appointment for a
further six months of
the Sekesai Makwavarara-led commission by the Minister
of Local Government,
Public Works and Urban Development Ignatius Chombo.
In a snap survey
conducted by The Daily Mirror yesterday, some residents
said it was improper
for Chombo to re-appoint the commission and called for
the election of a
substantive mayor, which they argue is long overdue.
The commission was
appointed by the minister following the dismissal of the
MDC-led council in
2004 on allegations of gross mismanagement of the
municipality's
affairs.
"The commission was entrusted into office since last year, but it
has not
achieved anything during its tenure. Nothing has changed for the
positive,
in fact, conditions of service are declining everyday," complained
Norman
Taruvinga.
Taruvinga claimed the commission's failure to
re-strategise and turnaround
the fortunes of the capital demonstrated the
widely held notion that it was
not accountable to residents.
"Since the
commission was appointed things have not changed. This is partly
because the
Makwavarara-led commission is not accountable to the majority
who happen to
be the residents," he said.
He then called for the election of an executive
mayor accountable to the
electorate and ratepayers alike.
"A mayor is
always accountable to the people who elect him or her into
office while
commissions are only loyal to the minister," added Taruvinga.
Walter Muneneri
of Glen Norah echoed the same sentiments, saying: "The
commission is only
good at unnecessarily hiking rates while they are seated
at Town House doing
nothing. Sewer pipes are blocking everyday, garbage has
gone for months
uncollected and potholes are everywhere in Harare
threatening the lives of
motorists. Vehicles are clamped everyday and one
wonders where all that
money is going to."
He went on: "The only option left is for responsible
authorities to call for
elections so that residents can elect a mayor with a
vision for the
municipality."
Shingirai Ngwiri of Greendale called for
improvement in service delivery and
said the six months lease extended to
the commission by Chombo must be a
challenge to it to prove its
mettle.
"We expect to see a change in the next six months," Ngwiri
said.
But some residents applauded the re-appointment saying the commission
had
done a lot in restructuring Harare, which before that was fast becoming
a
mockery of the Sunshine City it was just after independence in
1980.
"We want to thank Minister Chombo for re-appointing the commission for
the
next six months. The commission is working hard to restore normalcy in
the
city. Today, Harare is very clean following the clean-up exercise
initiated
by the commission. However, we urge council to address the issue
of
repairing roads and garbage collection in most areas," said Marvis
Goredema.
Mary Dick, who said Harare's conditions under the incumbent
commission were
now much far better than during the era of former mayor
Elias Mudzuri, who
was later dismissed for gross insubordination, supported
her.
"The MDC-led council pursued politics instead of addressing problems on
the
ground. We, however, urge the commission not to risk residents' health
by
ferrying refuse regularly," Dick said.
Another city resident, Edwin
Kasingatsengi said the commission deserved
another term in office.
"There
is light at the end of the tunnel. Through the clean up exercise
initiated
by the commission, Harare is now a clean city. I want to thank
Minister
Chombo for re-appointing the commission as there was chaos in
Harare with
thugs and streetkids all over the Central Business District,"
Kasingatsengi
said.
Sithabile Ndebele of Mbare's Nenyere Flats said despite the numerous
challenges Harare was facing, she was very much behind the commission's
continued stay in office until sanity returned to the manner the capital was
governed.
Ndebele said: "I welcome the re-appointment of the commission
by Minister
Chombo because it is composed of people that we know can
deliver. I,
however, urge the commission to address problems such as blocked
sewers,
repair roads and replace old water and sewer systems at Nenyere
Flats during
its tenure."
While a certain section of city dwellers gave
thumbs up to Makwavarara's
administration, the Combined Harare Residents
Association (CHRA) still
maintained that the commission's re-appointment was
illegal.
Said Precious Shumba, CHRA spokesperson: "The minister has
disregarded the
law in re-appointing the commission. In terms of the Urban
Councils Act
(Chapter 29) once the term of a commission expires after six
months it
cannot be extended beyond three months. The judiciary has since
ruled that
the continued operations of the commission are
illegal."
Shumba cited a case (HC12862/00: Christopher Magwenzi Zvobgo versus
City of
Harare) when Justice Rita Makarau ruled that the commission's
re-appointment
remained unlawful.
Supreme Court judge Wilson Sandura, (in
a case involving Lottie Stevenson
versus the Ministry of Local Government,
case SC3802), Shumba said, also
ruled that "Chombo continues to misinterpret
Section 80 of the Urban
Councils Act".
According to Sandura: ".the
minister could not avoid having a general
election of councillors by
continually re-appointing the commissioners. In
my view, Section 80 (5) of
the Urban Councils Act was not enacted for that
purpose. The power given to
the minister for that purpose was intended for
use as a temporary measure
during the period preceding the holding of
elections as required by the
Electoral Act."
Chombo justified the commissioners' re-appointment saying he
did not want to
disturb the turnaround strategy they were implementing.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
From Our
Correspondent in Mutare
issue date :2005-Dec-17
AGRICULTURE Minister
Joseph Made has urged small-scale farmers to
concentrate more on using
natural manure instead of wasting time jostling to
access scarce and
expensive inorganic fertilisers.
Made said farmers should switch to
natural manure whose returns prediction
far surpassed that of inorganic
fertilisers. "We encourage all communal and
small scale farmers to
concentrate more on using natural manure as
substitute for inorganic
fertilisers which are hard to come by because of
increased demand," said
Made.
"Above all, organic fertilisers are cheaper, more effective, easily
accessible and easily applicable than inorganic fertilisers."According to
agricultural experts, organic fertilisers have greater advantages over
inorganic fertilisers.
They say natural manure directly helps the crop
and improves soil texture
while it also has no leaching effects.
expect
to get sufficient fertilizer supplies overnight considering it's
increased
demand catapulted by increased farming activities. A lot of
beneficiaries of
the land reform programme have now taken up allocated plots
and turned to
serious farming, hence increased demand. Imagine that demand
has shot up
from 400 000 metric tonnes to 1000 000 metric tonnes per year
recently."
The shortages of foreign currency to import raw materials as
well as fuel
and transport problems have also significantly contributed to
the commodity
shortage, the minister said.
From ZWNEWS, 17 December
A speech by
Robert Mugabe in Malaysia on Friday was cancelled due to a lack
of interest,
it emerged yesterday. The Zimbabwean president had been due to
address the
Perdana Global Peace Forum, a conference hosted by Mahathir
Mohamad, the
ex-prime minister of Malaysia, on the topic of civil wars in
Africa. It
appears that Mugabe had requested to speak at the conference at
the last
minute, and was allocated the Friday lunchtime slot. But the
organisers, the
Perdana leadership Foundation, decided to cancel the
engagement. "The
organisers regret that the session for Mugabe had to be
cancelled due to an
oversight. The atmosphere at lunch would not have been
suitable for a head
of state," a spokesperson said diplomatically. Many of
the participants
would have been at Friday prayers, and the organisers
decided not to risk
having Mugabe seen talking to an empty hall. Mugabe did
not attend the
lunch, but was expected to attend a dinner on Friday evening.
Mugabe has
made a point of attending as many international conferences as
possible in
recent years. He has recently spoken, without irony, at UN
conferences on
food security and control of the internet, and attends UN
meetings in New
York as often as he can. His government announced this week
that recordings
of his speeches dating back to the 1970s were to be made
available on CD and
cassette. The recordings "would not only provide good
home entertainment but
would be useful to scholars", one of his ministers
said. "This will assist
our children and will also educate people on where
we came from and where we
are going".