Zim Online
Friday 01 December
2006
HERBERT Murerwa . . . says the worst
is over for Zimbabwe
HARARE - An optimistic Zimbabwe Finance Minister
Herbert Murerwa on
Thursday predicted the country's economy was finally
turning the corner and
would grow by up to one percent in 2007 after
contracting by a third over
the past seven years.
Presenting
his budget statement for next year to Parliament, Murerwa
said growth in
mining and recovery in the mainstay agricultural sector -
decimated over the
past six years by President Robert Mugabe's chaotic and
often violent farm
seizures - would spur the economy out of the mire.
"We have begun
to see a slow recovery of the economy . . . in 2007 the
economy will grow by
0.5 percent to 1 percent," said Murerwa, in a
presentation also broadcast
live to the crisis-weary nation by state radio
and television.
Murerwa, who quoted from the Bible book of Second Corinthians urging
Zimbabweans to stay the course resolutely because their present tribulation
were temporary, also promised that the government would tame the country's
runaway four digit inflation to an ambitious 350-400 percent by September
2007.
Inflation, which Mugabe says is Zimbabwe's enemy number
one, is pegged
at 1 070.2 percent, the highest in the world.
The Finance Minister, who deferred announcing new measures to fix the
country's skewed exchange rate to an address early next month by Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono, revised agricultural growth from 23
percent to 9.4 percent and forecasted mining to expand by 4.9
percent.
Out of the more than Z$8 trillion budget, Murerwa
allocated $1.4
trillion to the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social
Welfare with
bulk of the vote going to meet salaries and wages for
government workers.
The ministry is responsible for paying all government
workers including the
armed forces.
The security ministries
received $255 billion for expenses other than
salaries. Murerwa gave $590.1
billion to the Ministry of Health and Child
Welfare that is also responsible
for fighting an HIV/AIDS pandemic that is
killing at least 3 000 Zimbabweans
every week.
The education department, among the high spenders, was
allocated $721
billion.
For an early Christmas present for
workers, Murerwa widened the
tax-free threshold from $20 000 to $100 000
beginning January while the
tax-free bonus was also increased from $20 000
to $100 000 beginning the 1st
of November.
Zimbabwe is battling
its worst ever economic crisis that began when
the International Monetary
Fund cut off financial support in 1999 after
differences with Mugabe over
fiscal policy and other governance issues. The
crisis picked up pace after
Mugabe began in 2000 seizing productive white
farms for redistribution to
landless blacks.
Failure by the government to provide inputs and
skills training to
black peasants resettled on former white farms saw farm
production falling
by 30 percent, to disrupt the agriculture-based economy
and cause severe
food shortages.
Mugabe, in power since
Zimbabwe's 1980 independence denies that his
policies have ruined what was
once one of Africa's most vibrant economies
and instead claims Zimbabwe's
economic troubles are because of sabotage and
sanctions by Western nations
opposed to his land reforms - a claim also
repeated by Murerwa during his
budget speech. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 01 December
2006
HARARE - Finance Minister
Herbert Murerwa yesterday clipped the
powers of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) governor Gideon Gono in what
analysts said was a classic tale of two
turnaround strategies and a major
wake-up call for the central bank chief
who has single-handedly tried to run
the economy.
Presenting his 2007 national budget statement in Parliament
yesterday,
Murerwa issued a veiled criticism of Gono's policies, which he
said played a
major part in undermining Zimbabwe's economic turnaround
programme.
In particular, Murerwa cited Gono's
quasi-fiscal activities that
he said have been the main drivers of money
supply growth and inflation.
"Such quasi-fiscal activities
have risen to levels that are now
undermining our turnaround strategies,
especially to the point where such
activities have failed to achieve what
they were intended to do," Murerwa
said.
Gono has since
his appointment as RBZ chief in December 2003
embarked on a parallel
economic turnaround programme whose main weapon has
been funds dolled out to
farmers and non-performing companies in the hope of
reviving the
agricultural and manufacturing sectors.
These support
mechanisms have, however, failed to achieve the
intended results, with most
of the money being accessed by powerful ruling
party
officials.
Murerwa announced the phasing out of quasi-fiscal
expenditures
by the RBZ over the next three years.
A fund
was set to amortise commitments made by the central bank
on behalf of the
government.
"All quasi-fiscal activities will now be
streamlined so that
they are reflected in the budgetary system," he ordered
in a move seen as an
effective clipping of Gono's realm of
control.
Bulawayo-based economic commentator Eric Bloch
described
Murerwa's action as an attempt to gain more control of the
economic
management system by realigning monetary and fiscal
policies.
"This was the only positive out of a largely
disappointing
budget statement and one is hopeful that this will bring
greater cohesion
between the policies of the Reserve Bank and the ministry,"
Bloch told
ZimOnline.
Bloch however described the budget
statement as "tightly devoid
of any realism, tightly rejecting the realities
of our economic
environment."
The analysts said Murerwa
was rather too optimistic in his
projections for 2007. These included the
assumption that the 99-year leases
issued by President Robert Mugabe on
November 9 would spur growth of the
agricultural sector.
The minister estimated that output in the farming sector would
grow from a
projected 6.4 percent this year to 9.4 percent in 2007.
But
economic consultant John Robertson said there was no
guarantee that banks
would fund agricultural activities on the basis of the
99-year
leases.
He said the major challenge facing the lease holders
was that
the lease agreements are structured in such a way that the new
farmers could
not dispose the properties to a third person, which diminishes
the value of
the leases as collateral.
"As the lease
contracts will not be readily accepted as
collateral in the first place,
government will have to remain committed to
support and subsidies, the cost
of which will be borne by the taxpayers and
will impact on the whole country
through inflation," said Robertson in an
analysis of the 99-year
leases.
Murerwa projects that Zimbabwe's inflation would come
down to
between 350 and 400 percent by September 2007, an assertion most
analysts
described as overly optimistic. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 01
December 2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe's
six-year food crisis will drastically worsen
between now and the next
harvest in early 2007 unless President Robert
Mugabe's cash-strapped
government urgently imports more than 700 000 tonnes
of cereals, according
to the United States-based Famine Early Warning System
Network
(FEWSNET).
The hunger monitoring agency said a survey of food
availability
in Zimbabwe had shown that the southern African nation required
565 000
tonnes of maize and 230 000 tonnes of wheat to avert starvation
between now
and the new harvest expected to begin around April
2007.
"(This) level of imports will not only ensure that the
country
has enough cereal for the current consumption year but will also
have maize
stocks sufficient to feed the Zimbabwe population for two and
half months
after the next harvest in April 2007," it said in its latest
report on
Zimbabwe released this week.
But FEWSNET
ominously warned that it would be an "enormous
challenge" for Harare to fund
the huge import bill given the poor state of
Zimbabwe's economy and an acute
shortage of foreign currency that has
gripped the once prosperous country
since the International Monetary Fund
withdrew balance-of-payments support
seven years ago.
"Raising the required funds for the planned
imports is likely to
be an enormous challenge for Zimbabwe, given its
under-performing economy,"
it said.
Zimbabwe, once a
regional breadbasket, has faced severe
shortages of food since Mugabe's
controversial and chaotic seizure of
productive farms from whites for
redistribution to landless blacks.
The veteran leader's
failure to provide inputs support and
skills training for black peasants
resettled on former white farms saw
agricultural production tumbling by
about 30 percent while food output fell
by about 60 percent to leave
Zimbabwe surviving on handouts from
international food relief
agencies.
For example, a recent assessment by the Zimbabwe
Vulnerability
Assessment Committee comprising relief agencies and government
departments
concluded that approximately about 17 percent of the 12 million
Zimbabweans
would require food aid during the peak hunger period just before
new
harvests.
But key food aid agencies such as the
United Nations World Food
Programme say apparent fatigue among donors has
seen funds drying up and
forcing them to scale down on relief operations in
Zimbabwe and elsewhere
across the region. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 01 December
2006
HARARE - Global anti-corruption group
Transparency International says
corruption is on the rise in Zimbabwe,
ranking the country at number 130 out
of 150 countries polled.
Transparency's Corruption Perception Index (CPI) that is updated every
year
ranks countries according to perceived levels of corruption as
determined by
expert assessments and opinion surveys.
Zimbabwe was last year
ranked 107 on the CPI that some foreign
investors are increasing paying
attention to before deciding where to place
their investments.
According to the latest corruption survey, Zimbabwe, grappling with
its
worst ever economic crisis, is placed in the same category with
strife-torn
countries such as Burundi and the Central African Republic.
Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Togo are also in
the
same bracket as Zimbabwe.
The best-ranked southern African country
on the CPI is Botswana at
number 37, followed by South Africa at 51 and
Namibia at 55.
President Robert Mugabe last year launched a
crackdown on corruption
that has seen a handful of senior officials of his
ruling ZANU PF party and
government such as former deputy finance minister
Chris Kuruneri facing
prosecution.
But analysts say the
anti-corruption drive has been selective and
half-hearted, citing for
example attempts by the government to sweep under
the carpet a report by the
National Economic Conduct Inspectorate detailing
high-level corruption at
state-run steel maker, ZISCOSTEEL.
"If you look at the things that
have developed such as the ZISCO
scandal and ZUPCO cases it shows that there
is a lot of sleaze in the
country especially at the top level," said
Harare-based economic analyst
James Jowah.
Jowah added that the
poor ranking on the corruption index would damage
Zimbabwe 's drive to woo
foreign investors. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 01 December
2006
BULAWAYO - Zimbabwean police in the
second biggest city of Bulawayo on
Tuesday arrested and later severely
assaulted four street theatre artists
for satirising the country's economic
crisis.
The four, who are members of a Bulawayo-based street
theatre group,
Umkhula, (Neighbour, in the local Ndebele language) were
arrested by the
police for performing a critical play entitled "Indlala,"
(Hunger).
The police said the play was aimed at inciting people to
revolt
against President Robert Mugabe's government blamed by the opposition
and
Western governments for plunging the southern African country into an
unprecedented economic crisis.
Trouble for the street theatre
artists began on Tuesday afternoon when
police officers rounded them up
during performance of the controversial play
in the city and took them to
Bulawayo central police station.
"They handcuffed us and took us to
Bulawayo central police station
where they accused us of inciting people to
revolt against the government,"
said one of the artists who refused to be
named for fear of victimisation.
They artists said they were also
accused of being agents of the main
opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) party.
The Zimbabwe government has been edgy since
last March after Morgan
Tsvangirai who leads a faction of the splintered MDC
threatened to unleash
street protests against the government over worsening
economic hardships in
the country.
The four said the police
beat them up with baton sticks and planks and
later doused them with water
before ordering them to roll on the tarmac. The
law enforcement agents were
also demanding to know the author of the play.
"When we told them
that we had written it as a group, they asked us
why we had decided to act
such a play, saying we were MDC agents. They
assaulted us until about 8pm
and then detained us overnight.
"They released us on Wednesday
morning without any charge, and told us
that they would arrest us again if
we continued to act the play.
"But we are just actors with nothing
to do with politics. We live on
acting by capturing what is relevant to
people's lives - and currently,
hunger and long queues are the main theme,"
said a member of the group.
Contacted for comment yesterday, police
officer commanding Bulawayo
central district, Chief Superintendent Patrick
Wasara professed ignorance
over the assault of the artists.
"I
am told they were arrested for blocking the pavement, but I am not
aware
that they were assaulted. We do not assault people who do not offer
resistance," he said.
The Harare authorities have become
increasingly paranoid over the past
six years against artists deemed
critical of Mugabe's government.
For example, last year, popular
musician Hosiah Chipanga was
threatened with death by state security agents
after he sung songs at a
state-funded gala suggesting that Mugabe would only
relinquish power through
death.
Other critical musicians such
as Thomas Mapfumo and Leonard Zhakata
have also been banned from
state-controlled radio for singing songs deemed
critical of government. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Friday 01 December
2006
HARARE - The army
yesterday finally released about 430 gold
panners it had detained since
arresting them last Friday for illegally
panning for gold at one of its
farms.
The army, which does not have powers to arrest or
detain
suspects under the law, had refused to free the panners saying they
should
first cover up holes and trenches they had dug up at the farm
searching for
gold.
The panners, who were being kept at
an army camp at Battlefields
about 250 km south-west of Harare, were
released only after the intervention
of Nelson Samkange, governor of
Mashonaland West province under which
Battlefields lies.
"The panners were handed over to the police and were later
addressed by
Samkange who urged them to find other sources of income that do
not destroy
the environment," said a senior police officer, who declined to
be named. -
ZimOnline
VOA
By Caroline Gombakomba
Washington
30
November 2006
Police in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, lodged charges
Thursday against 30 members of
the activist group Women of Zimbabwe Arise
and its men's counterpart who
were placed under arrest on Wednesday during a
protest in the country's
second city.
The activists are charged with
"interfering with peace or quiet of the
public" under the country's Criminal
Law (Codification and Reform) Act,
legal sources said. They could face fines
or imprisonment for up to six
months under the terms of the law.
A
lawyer representing the activists, Perpetua Dube, said she had managed to
secure the release of six WOZA members, all of them women with babies. But
Dube said 34 others remained in custody as of late Thursday.
The
activists were arrested during a peaceful demonstration to launch the
"people's charter" the group had drafted. WOZA spokeswoman Annie Sibanda
said the group will continue trying to hand it to authorities including
parliamentarians despite their alleged rough handling by police when they
tried to distribute the charter.
WOZA said a group about 40 activists
were taken to a drill hall in Bulawayo
Central Police Station where they
said they were beaten and harassed by
police before they were finally
released. Sibanda said about 25 activists
were seeking medical
care.
In a related development, the U.S.-based Peace and Justice Network
of
Zimbabweans in exile condemned what it described as brutality by the
Zimbabwean police.
The group issued a statement saying that the
attack on "defenseless women,
men and children" showed lawlessness and
arrogance by the Harare government
and upon the authorities to investigate
the alleged violence and bring its
perpetrators to justice.
VOA
By Patience Rusere
Washington
30
November 2006
The less-than-impressive results of
protests called in the past two weeks by
the Save Zimbabwe Campaign, a
coalition of civic organizations and
opposition parties, have raised doubts
as to the effectiveness of the ad hoc
opposition organization.
The
Christian Alliance at the center of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign has
established itself as a significant player within the broad Zimbabwe
opposition movement. But it is unclear if the Save Zimbabwe vehicle it
launched will have as much staying power.
Nationwide protests called
for Wednesday in which Zimbabweans unhappy about
the country's chronic
shortages of food, fuel and other goods and
commodities, and the effective
one-party rule of President Robert Mugabe's
ZANU-PF formation, were urged to
beep car horns, bang pots and otherwise
make noise at lunchtime.
As
on the preceding Wednesday, the public response was underwhelming. The
initial explanation after the fizzled Nov. 22 protest was that the word had
not gotten out. But civil society sources said this week that differences of
opinion over the strategy had emerged within the organizational membership
of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign.
Civil society sources, speaking on
condition of anonymity, say some
organizations are under pressure from their
sponsors, while others fear
state reprisals.
There was never any
prohibition on coalition members pursuing their own
strategies - but the
Save Zimbabwe Campaign does not appear to be
concentrating
forces.
Members including the National Constitutional Assembly, the
Zimbabwe
National Students Union and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
have
staged separate protests. The Movement for Democratic Change faction
headed
by Morgan Tsvangirai has yet to make good on its March pledge to
organize
mass civil disobedience.
Political analyst Farai Muguwu,
national coordinator of the Civil Alliance
for Democracy and Governance told
reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio 7
for Zimbabwe that the leadership
of the Save Zimbabwe Campaign needs to take
a more forceful stance to
promote cohesion and increase the effectiveness of
the approach.
By Violet Gonda
30 November
2006
WOZA spokesperson Annie Sibanda said the women, including 4 members of the Men of Zimbabwe Arise and a Presbyterian priest, are expected to appear in court on Friday. 36 WOZA activists who were arrested in Bulawayo have been charged under two sections of the notorious Criminal Law and Codification and Reform Act, although 6 of the women who were arrested with their babies were released on Thursday afternoon. They are accused of causing ‘a breach of the peace and interfering with the ordinary comforts of the public.’
Members of the pressure group were arrested after riot police violently broke up their gathering Wednesday. It’s reported that some of the arrested including the leaders, Jennie Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, were beaten. Sibanda told us that some of those in detention need medical attention but the police are blocking this. The victims lawyer, Advocate Perpetua Dube, was allegedly threatened with arrest, for “interfering with the course of justice” whilst trying to attend to her clients. The activists are being held in a courtyard cage at Bulawayo Central police station.
In an extraordinary twist Advocate Dube was yesterday able to secure the release of a baby who had been separated from it’s mother. The mother had not been arrested but the child had.
Meanwhile the 18 month old baby who was hurt yesterday sustained a broken leg. The WOZA spokesperson said the baby was sitting on her mother’s lap when police started to beat people, ‘They caused a stampede scenario where people were trying to escape from being beaten and somebody actually stepped on the baby’s leg in the chaos that was caused.”
Another elderly woman also had a broken leg while several other people had minor injuries.
The vicious attack by the police comes in the middle of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence campaign, embarked on by WOZA this past Saturday. Sibanda said although some areas have started banging pots and honking their car horns, the group is urging more Zimbabweans to join in a noise protest for two minutes at 8pm every evening during this period. She said this is to commemorate 16 days of activism against gender violence and human rights abuses.
Police continue to refuse to comment.
Yahoo News
by Godfrey Marawanyika Thu Nov 30
HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe's
finance minister has predicted marginal economic
growth in the coming year
and that the country's four-figure inflation rate
would dip to 350 percent
as he presented the budget for 2007.
"The economy is expected to grow
marginally by between 0.5 percent and one
percent in 2007," Herbert Murerwa
told members of parliament in Harare on
Thursday.
The projected growth
would result from "good weather, stabilising of
commodity prices, improved
mineral deposits and growing number of tourist
arrivals," Murerwa
said.
The country's agriculture sector was expected to grow by 6.4
percent because
of good rains anticipated in the current farming season, he
said.
Agriculture was one of the pillars of Zimbabwe's economy before the
government launched controversial land reforms seizing properties from white
farmers for redistribution.
The land often ended up in the hands of
landless blacks who lacked the means
and skills to farm or with associates
of the ruling Zimbabwe African
National Union - Patriotiv Front (ZANU-PF)
regime who rarely stayed on their
farmsteads.
Mining was expected to
benefit from favourable international mineral prices
and grow by 4.9
percent.
Murerwa said inflation, often referred to as "our enemy number
one" in
government circles, was targetted to decelarate to between 350 to
400
percent by September 2007.
President Robert Mugabe and his two
deputies were in parliament listening to
the budget proposals which Murerwa
said were aimed at creating jobs and
improving standards of living for the
majority of the population living in
poverty.
Zimbabwe is in the
seventh year of an economic recession characterised by an
inflation rate
which once breached the 1,200 percent mark, chronic shortages
of foreign
currency, fuel and basic foodstuffs such as cooking oil and an
unemployment
rate hovering over 70 percent.
At least 80 percent of the country's 13
million population live below the
poverty threshhold often skipping meals
and walking or cycling long
distances to work in order to stretch their
wages to the next payday.
The government blames the situation on targeted
sanctions imposed by western
country while critics say the country's
troubles are the result of economic
mismanagement.
In April this year
President Robert Mugabe's government launched an economic
blueprint that was
expected to see the country emerge from its economic
troubles within six to
nine months.
The National Economic Development Priority Programme (NEDPP)
steered by a
national security council chaired by President Robert Mugabe
was expected to
enhance foreign currency generation and promote
tourism.
In July the central back launched a blitz on cash hoarders,
slashed three
zeros from its currency and introduced a new series of bank
notes in a move
aimed at snuffing out a burgeoning parallel foreign currency
market.
But analysts say the measures were far from reining in the
foreign currency
black market where the US dollar was fetching anything
between 1,850 and
2,000 Zimbabwe dollars against the official rate of
1:250.
Murerwa proposed a battery of measures to curtail inflation
including
reducing money supply by the central bank, curbing unbudgeted
expenditure
and reducing imports.
The finance minister admitted the
country was facing "enormous economic
challenges" but said Zimbabwe's
economy was resilient and would pull through
the mounting hardships.
Raw Story
dpa German
Press Agency
Published: Thursday November 30, 2006
Harare- Zimbabwean
Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa Thursday eased pressure
on the country's
workers by removing tax from wages of less than 100,000
Zimbabwe dollars
(400 US) a month. Previously only workers who received less
than 20,000
Zimbabwe dollars (80 US) were not taxed. Murerwa made the
announcement when
he presented the country's 2007 budget before parliament.
The move is
likely to be welcomed by the majority of the labour force.
Teachers,
soldiers, bank employees, farm labourers and mine workers all earn
wages
well below 100,000 dollars.
But the gains are likely to be only a
temporary reprieve in an economy where
prices of goods are spiralling on a
daily basis and the local dollar is fast
losing value on the widely-used
parallel market.
The new tax-free threshold, which will come into effect
on January 1, is
still well below Zimbabwe's poverty datum line of 175,000
US per month.
The Harvard-trained minister also said Christmas bonuses of
100,000 Zimbabwe
dollars or less would go tax-free.
© 2006 dpa German
Press Agency
AND
November 30,
2006
By Makusha Mugabe
As the Zimbabwe government
reaches unprecedented heights of economic
mismanagement with above 1000
percent inflation Zimbabweans are forced to
eat their mockery of the Zambian
currency in the last decade.
THE Zimbabwe dollar fell by 10%
against the Zambian Kwacha last month,
ZB Financial Holdings (ZB), formerly
Finhold, said in its monthly economic
update for October.
The
Zimbabwe dollar is currently trading at $1 as to ZMK0.006 or Z$166
to the
Zambian Kwacha - an ironic situation considering that when the value
of the
Zimbabwe dollar started falling in the 1980s Zimbabweans started
referring
to it as the ZimKwacha.
This was a way of mocking the Kwacha which
was then considered a
valueless currency, but now one needs 166 revalued
Zimbabwe dollars (after
dropping the noughts) to buy one
Kwacha.
The tables have turned and the Zambians are now coming to
Zimbabwe to
buy cheap goods using their stronger currency.
ZB
said the local currency was overvalued against the benchmark US
dollar
during the month under review.
While the greenback is trading at
around $2 000 on the parallel
market, it remains fixed at US$1/$250 on the
interbank market.
"In fact the purchasing power parity exchange
rate should have been
$369/US Dollar in October 2006.
ZB said
during the same period, the Zimbabwe dollar fell by 2%, 2%, 1%
and 1%against
the South African Rand, British pound, Japanese yen and
Botswana Pula,
respectively.
By Tichaona
Sibanda
30 November, 2006
The man largely credited for
helping Robert Mugabe 'win' elections
against all the opposition parties has
run out of money to issue new
identification cards and
passports.
As the regime fights against all odds to keep the
country afloat, many
state enterprises including various ministries are now
slowly sinking due to
serious foreign currency shortages.
The
World Bank recently described the country's economic situation as
the worst
in the world outside a war zone. Political analyst Bekithemba
Mhlanga said
reports that the Registrar-General cannot issue passports
because of foreign
currency shortages is a disaster.
'This is symptomatic of how
deep-seated the problem is in Zimbabwe.
Everything is falling apart. The
rail system has collapsed, many state
enterprises have collapsed and this
signals the end days of a failed state,'
Mhlanga said.
ZimOnline reported Wednesday that Tobaiwa Mudede, Mugabe's chief
election
rigger-general, has now suspended the issuing of identity cards and
passports altogether because there is no hard cash to pay foreign suppliers
of the special ink and films used to produce the documents.
ZimOnline saying they have shortages of chemicals to develop films and
are
expecting to be able to resume issuing these documents in January quotes
one
official.
ZimOnline added that Mudede, whose department is the
government's
documentation nerve centre and also provides materials such as
ballot papers
during elections, was yesterday said by his office to be busy
attending
meetings and unable to take questions from reporters.
Due to insufficient funds, the registry office had stopped issuing
metal
identity cards and had replaced these with cheaper plastic cards. But
now
they have stopped issuing these as well. All adult Zimbabweans are
required
by law to have identity cards.
The registry office is only issuing
passports to senior government
officials and sick people wishing to travel
outside the country for
treatment.
SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
SW Radio Africa
INTERNATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION
the global
voice of the legal profession
30 November, 2006
The
International Bar Association (IBA)'s Human Rights Institute today
condemned
the arrest and reported assault of members of Women of Zimbabwe
Arise (WOZA)
and Men of Zimbabwe Arise (MOZA) by Zimbabwean police.
Several news
sources have reported that police attacked and beat
members of the rights
groups during a peaceful march to mark International
Women Human Rights
Defenders Day. Initial reports indicate that six of the
demonstrators
sustained severe injuries, including bone fractures, from
police action. One
of those injured is said to be an 11-month old child, who
suffered a broken
limb. More than 40 demonstrators were arrested and are
still being held in
police custody. Of those detained with the adults, six
are infant
children.
'This deliberate and brutal attack on peaceful
demonstrators and
innocent children violates basic tenets of international
human rights law'
said Mark Ellis, Executive Director of the International
Bar Association.
'These latest attacks are part of a widespread and
systematic attack against
the civilian population, orchestrated by the
government of Robert Mugabe' he
added. 'The African Union, all democratic
leaders in Africa and, indeed, the
international community, have an
obligation to hold him and his government
accountable for these
crimes.'
ENDS
For further information/expanded
commentary, please contact:
Romana St Matthew - Daniel
Press
Office
International Bar Association
10th Floor
1
Stephen Street
London W1T 1AT
United Kingdom
Tel: +
44 (0)20 7691 6868
Fax: + 44 (0)20 7691 6544
E-mail: romana.daniel@int-bar.org
Website: www.ibanet.org
About
the International Bar Association
- the global voice of the legal
profession
In its role as a dual membership organisation,
comprising 30,000
lawyer members and over 195 bar associations and law
societies, the
International Bar Association (IBA) influences the
development of
international law reform and shapes the future of the legal
profession. Its
Member Organisations cover all continents.
Grouped into two Divisions - the Legal Practice Division and the
Public and
Professional Interest Division - the Association covers all
practice areas
and professional interests. It provides members with access
to leading
experts and up-to-date information as well as top-level
professional
development and network-building opportunities through high
quality
publications and world-class conferences. The IBA's Bar Issues
Commission
provides its Member Organisations with substantive programmes and
social
activities in and between meetings and the IBA's Human Rights
Institute
works across the Association, helping to promote, protect and
enforce human
rights under a just rule of law, and to preserve the
independence of the
judiciary and the legal profession worldwide.
Aims and
Objectives
The principal aims and objectives of the IBA
are:
· To promote an exchange of information between legal
associations
worldwide.
· To support the independence of the
judiciary and the right of
lawyers to practise their profession without
interference.
· The support of human rights for lawyers worldwide
through its Human
Rights Institute.
International Bar
Association
10th Floor
1 Stephen Street
London W1T
1AT
United Kingdom
Tel: + 44 (0)20 7691 6868
Fax:
+ 44 (0)20 7691 6544
E-mail: member@int-bar.org
Website: www.ibanet.org
Part 1: Violet Gonda talks with Sydney Masamvu, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group in South Africa and the political commentator Professor Stanford Mukasa in the USA .
Broadcast on 27 November 06
Violet Gonda: The Zimbabwe Crisis has been dragging on for so long there’s a fear that donor fatigue is creeping in. The International Community also appears to be getting fed up with Zimbabwe because of an alleged lack of urgency or anger from the masses. Is the International Community toning down on Zimbabwe ? Is the Diplomatic Community, especially in the West, looking for opportunities of reforming ZANU PF? Is the opposition dead and buried? I discussed these issues on the programme Hot Seat with Sydney Masamvu, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group in South Africa and political commentator Professor Stanford Mukasa in the USA . I will start with Sydney Masamvu. What is the current position of the International Community on resolving the situation in Zimbabwe ?
Sydney Masamvu : Really Violet if one takes an audit in the past six years of the trend, really it is quite correct to conclude that the enthusiasm of the position which Zimbabwe was regarded in the period leading to 1999, 2000, 2001 and up to 2002, compared to 2006, in terms of international attention obviously Zimbabwe has fallen off the ladder, as it were. Not really out of the world spotlight, but in terms of priority. If you look at areas like Sudan – the Darfur crisis, you look at the Democratic Republic of Congo, and indeed you look at problems in Iraq and Afghanistan . All that has really captured the world’s attention, putting Zimbabwe down the rung, as it were. Really this has complicated the situation in terms of the resolve to push for reform and democratic change in Zimbabwe .
Violet: Now Professor Mukasa do you agree with this? Is the International Community really toning down on Zimbabwe ? And, is it also because, as Sydney has said that, it seems they have other priorities and there are more issues, or more serious issues that are happening in other countries, like in Dafur , Sudan ?
Stanford Mukasa: Yes, I agree. I think Zimbabwe is, there’s a loss of focus now on Zimbabwe and I think the feelings are right now that the region, the Southern African region; SADC in particular and the African Union in general, they don’t seem to be very serious about Zimbabwe. They have traditionally been very supportive of Mugabe. They don’t seem to be moving as fast as one would expect them to, you know to redress the situation there. So the question now is, well if SADC or the African Union don’t appear to look at Zimbabwean situation as a very urgent matter why should the International Community do that, and, for that reason attention is now turning to other more pressing issues like Iraq and the Dafur region and so on. I don’t know whether one should blame the International Community for that, because if SADC and the African Union, who are supposed to be on the forefront in resolving the situation in Zimbabwe, are dragging their feet or are just treating Zimbabwe like a normal situation, then the question now is why should everyone else care.
Violet: But then again, it’s said that SADC and the African Union are not the only ones dragging their feet because you know it’s been said that the Zimbabwean crisis has been dragging on for far too long and there’s now growing donor fatigue and that the International Community is getting fed up with Zimbabweans. There seems to be no sense of urgency or anger from the masses. Would you agree with this also?
Sydney Musamvu : Ah, just maybe to step in there. When we try to factor in the role of the International Community in so far as solving the Zimbabwe crisis is concerned, when we try to factor in SADC, when we try to factor in the African Union in resolving the Zimbabwe crisis, all those three are external actors as it were. We are sort of scrutinising their role. What we should ask ourselves, we Zimbabweans, who is supposed to do the heavy lifting? And, the bottom line is, to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis, all those three actors; the AU, the SADC, the International Community, the West; whoever is sympathetic to push for democratic change in Zimbabwe can only do so much. Zimbabweans, at the end of the day, should do the heavy lifting.
Indeed we should acknowledge that really the civil society and the democratic opposition party inside Zimbabwe have done a lot in the past six years. It seems the momentum is falling off. But at the end of the day, Violet, Zimbabweans, suffering under an economic meltdown which has gone for the past six / seven years, should do the heavy lifting. SADC, African Union and the International Community should come in as the accompanying actors, but the heavy lifting should start on the domestic front. And, with due respect, the heavy lifting has been done, but, it’s not good enough.
Violet: That’s what I wanted to ask you Sydney again, that why is it that Zimbabweans are failing to do the heavy lifting as you call it?
Sydney Musamvu : If you look at the mood that was in Zimbabwe in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and I happened to be part of that flow as well, you could see there was an air of expectation. I mean people really fighting for change, people sacrificing their lives, people really pushing for change in numbers, really in practice. And you can see, over the passage of time and failure to achieve the objective of removing the Mugabe regime, there has been a sort of drift, lethargy and an element of doubt from the Zimbabwean population, about maybe the capacity of the opposition about would they even walk the walk to the last mile or maybe it was just that they are a forerunner, there still needs to be a reconfiguration of the opposition forces to push the Mugabe regime out of power. So really, we have reached a point whereby after six years, as we take an audit and with all the gallant work which has been done by the opposition forces in Zimbabwe, do they have what it takes to takes to take this revolution to the next stage of removing Mugabe from power? And that is the million dollar question.
Violet: Now, Professor Mukasa, it’s been said that the West will only help where there’s some sort of movement towards free and fair elections in Zimbabwe or if people go onto the streets. What is the capacity of Zimbabweans to force change in the country?
Stanford Mukasa: Ya, I tend to agree with Sydney . I think the expectation from the International Community was that the Zimbabwean people themselves would take the lead. It is normally accepted in really basic political science that when people are oppressed enough they will arise and protest. And, what’s happening now, from the perspective of the International Community, is why are Zimbabweans not feeling the pinch enough to be able to stand up and protest. The Zimbabwean people do have the capacity, let’s not have any doubts about that. They do have the capacity to stand up and protest in large numbers and they have shown it in previous occasions. You know, the demonstrations led by Madhuku and the WOZA women, even though they were few and scattered far in between, at least they have shown that they have that capacity.
So what the International Community is looking at now is maybe the need to organise this energy. There’s a great deal of anger among Zimbabweans and what is needed now is the energy to mobilise them towards a purposeful campaign against Mugabe. Now, they do have the capacity and I understand even Mugabe’s security chiefs have acknowledged that, properly organised, that pent-up energy and frustration and anger among Zimbabweans can be channelled into the streets in a very effective manner. One thing you will see is if Mugabe were to die today you would be surprised by the number of people who will take to the streets. So, the capacity is there and what is needed is to organise them.
So the focus now, the spotlight now would be turned onto the opposition movement. They are divided now. They have been promising hell on earth. They have been promising to go onto the streets, they have been promising to organise people into effective campaigns, but nothing has come through. We have heard, from time to time that there will be protests. We have heard, from time to time, that they are consulting their constituencies in the rural areas. We have heard, from time to time, that the people are now ready and consultations have taken place. But, at the end of the day nothing has come out at all. And, you know, every single statement that is made by the leaders of the opposition movement, you know, is monitored. You know if you promise something today that we are working on this, you know, people and the International Community is going to hold you accountable for that. They will want to see well, what happened to the promises that you made?
In the past three or four years you know, we have heard spokespersons for the opposition movement saying ‘well, we are now consulting our constituencies, we have discovered that elections do not seemed to help, we are doing this, and, our plans are now at an advanced stage, we are consulting our partners in the civic society leadership, we are starting a Broad Alliance and now we have started a Save Zimbabwe. We have had our Congress, the Congress now has given us a go-ahead.’ Now, all those things have been said you know. That had created an expectation that something would come out of it, but at the end of the day nothing has happened. And, that obviously raises questions as to whether the opposition leadership is able to make use of this capacity by the Zimbabweans to rise and protest against Mugabe.
Violet : Still on that issue Sydney, you know, on the issue of organising. Others believe the situation has not been made any better by the split or because of the split in the opposition. Do you agree that the MDC’s performance has been very disappointing as the opposition?
Sydney Musamvu: Well, you have to take various issues or various factors to what has contributed to this lethargy, which has set in within the opposition. Indeed, you cannot question their capacity to mobilise but also there’s also the issue of resources and the environment at large, the environment they are operating in is. But, notwithstanding that, it should be the time; the time has come, for a real introspection into the opposition forces. We are not just going to apportion blame to the MDC, but also one wants to look at what the MDC and civil society has done; all the opposition forces who are pushing for democracy in Zimbabwe. Time for an audit and introspection has come if really they are going to achieve a re-election or a goal of getting the Mugabe regime out.
You see, because their failure over a passage of time, obvious taking note that the repressive environment still exists, has got to a point where even other actors, and you know, in politics the world over the idea is to move forward look for opportunities. There are permanent interests in politics not permanent positions. No wonder why this has brought in the idea of people beginning to question or to take note of what is happening in ZANU PF; this debate about the succession, who is going to succeed Mugabe. That interest has reached a crescendo ahead of the Congress. You know, week in and week out, day in and day out, people are coming out with scenarios, plots and sub plots of what is happening in ZANU. It has become to take the imagination of the whole nation for the simple reason that there is nothing, which is happening, in the opposition camp.
You look at the year 2006, it has been a year of splitting and trying to reunite, full stop. That took the whole of the year of 2006 and as we approach 2007 we are talking of committees which are meeting to discuss the re-unification and as of the Constitution as it is of today, we are barely twelve months away from an election. And, against that background we are awaiting opposition unity. All these factors begin to drift people away and begin to look inside; inward looking. There has been a lot of talk, a lot of debate, formal and informal within the Diplomatic Community; what is happening within ZANU PF. Because, people are beginning to look at scenarios the opposition; reformed ZANU, these are now the terms coming through for the simple reason that in politics people look at permanent interests, not positions. And, I’m afraid to say the split within the opposition has not helped matters either against a background of a pending Presidential election in the offing within twelve months.
Stanford Mukasa: If I may jump in. It’s not necessarily a question of the environment and the resources that is stopping people from organising into a protest. In fact it’s the lack of resources and the environment that should make people want to protest. The environment is so bad, the resources are so lacking, and that should stimulate people to protest. The reason why people protest in other countries around the world is because of lack of resources, it’s because of oppression. So, the increased repression of Zimbabweans by Mugabe’s army, the continuing lack of resources, should be a function of protest, of mass protests.
Some people are saying that the investment promised by China , for example, might improve people’s lives to the extent that people might decide ‘well, things are better now, so there’s no reason to protest’. But at this point, the geo-political situation in the region as well as in the country, the increasing repression, those are the reasons, those should be the stimulant for protest. And, one question that many people are wondering as they look at the situation in Zimbabwe is ‘why are Zimbabweans not angry enough, why are Zimbabweans not enraged enough to take to the streets’?
Mugabe has done so many things that are so outrageous that in any other situation people would revolt, would protest. I mean I can go over quite a number of things that people have done which are simply unacceptable, that should have galvanised people. As a matter of fact, somebody was just telling me that actually Mugabe is the best organiser for the opposition by the very things that he does. And, someone was also telling me that we don’t have to look to the civil society leaders to organise the people, people themselves should feel the pinch enough themselves to take to the streets. You know, they were looking for what one would call a spontaneous uprising where people do not have to sit down and wait for the leadership to tell them when to go to the streets, when to protest. They should feel the pinch themselves to protest and there are many examples that have been cited about situations in other countries where people have just taken to the streets…
Sydney : But you see…
Violet: Let me just ask Professor Mukasa a question, you know you said earlier Sydney that we need time now for an audit, and Professor Mukasa asks a crucial point that why is it that you have a country that is burning right now and yet Zimbabweans are not angry enough to take to the streets? But, I want to go back to the issue of leadership that we talked about, and the issue of organisation. What has really happened with the opposition especially as it has been said that there has not been any other opposition really in Africa that has received as much technical know how and support than the MDC in Zimbabwe? Professor Mukasa:
Professor Mukasa : Well again, it takes us back to the motives of the opposition itself. I mean to what extent is the opposition prepared to take that step? It’s one thing to make rhetoric; it’s one thing to stand up at a rally and say we are going to do one, two, three, four. It’s another thing to actually go to the streets. You know, I always talk about Lovemore Madhuku (NCA) and the WOZA women, I think they are sending messages to the Zimbabweans that you don’t have to wait for someone to make up his or her mind whether people should protest or not. The situation is tough enough and the people should go to the streets. Yes, MDC has received a lot of support, the leadership or let’s say the civic society without mentioning one party or another, because a lot of support has poured into the civic society movement in Zimbabwe in the hope that this would give them at least the basic technical support as you call it, to carry out their campaign. But, things seem to have fizzled out.
We have seen rallies attended by thousands of people but why not convert, transform those rallies into protest marches. Why not on one day at Harare stadium, with thousands of people, and say ‘well after this meeting we are all going to march onto the streets’. Instead of saying to people ‘OK, this is now the end of the rally, you can go to your homes now’. Why not say ‘OK, we know now what the problem is, we know that we are responsible for redressing this problem because we are the ones who feel the pinch, so why not, as we leave from these gates’.
It used to happen, by the way, back in the 1960’s during the ZAPU / ZANU conflict. What would happen during those days was after a rally people didn’t go home. That rally was the starting point you know. People would from the rally be charged with anger; with the desire to protest that from there unfortunately they went protesting and destroying their own property in the so called ‘Locations’ as they were called at that time. But, why not use the rally as the launching pad you know, for the protest movement? Why shouldn’t the civil society, the opposition movement leadership say that, where you’ve got twelve thousand people in attendance? I mean that’s a golden opportunity to tell the people that ‘you are not going home today. We are going to the State House. We are going to the streets’. You know, why not do that?
So, yes, to answer your question, yes, they have received a lot of support, and, perhaps that accounts for what is known as donor fatigue now because they are wondering ‘well, all that support we have given them, they have received a great deal of international attention’. And the question is, what dividend has this paid at the end of the day? Things just seem to fizzle out. People are being put through what I call emotional roller coasters. One time at a large rally you have people, politicians making all these speeches, you know, highly charged speeches and then the next day life returns to normal. Well, by normal in Zimbabwe , I mean the normal oppression that goes on. So on one hand people’s hopes are very high. At Rallies, people are singing, people are chanting, people are saying ‘yes we must do something’. The following day, it’s back to normal.
Violet: I’m afraid we have run out of time but this discussion with Sydney Masamvu from the International Crisis Group and political commentator Professor Stanford Mukasa will continue next week. Among other issues we will ask has there been a consideration among the International Community to support moderates inside ZANU PF. If this is the case, does this meant that the International Community doesn’t have time and energy to invest in the Zimbabwe democratic enterprise and what can we realistically expect from the International Community in forcing changes in Zimbabwe. Join us next Tuesday.
Feedback can be sent to violet@swradioafrica.com
30 Nov 2006
Source: AlertNet
HIV/AIDS has ravaged communities in northern Zimabawe's Guruve
district,
leaving old people who in past times were looked after by society
toiling to
keep alive frail children orphaned by the pandemic, reports
Tsitsi Matope.
The people of Guruve are some of the poorest in Zimbabwe.
Poverty has driven
girls as young as 12 to drop out of school and take to
prostitution. Kachuta
village in lower Guruve is typical - a forgotten
community where the
catastrophe of HIV/AIDS has also hit food production and
other livelihoods.
In Kachuta, women of 80 are forced to take up
household chores that include
fetching water from more than two miles (three
kilometres) away. Others seek
ways to generate income. In some cases the
elderly take care of the sick.
All must now shoulder responsibility for
tilling the land to grow food to
feed children orphaned by AIDS.
"I
need to look after the family - my grandchildren who are now orphans,"
said
Mbuya Zivei Romo as she wove mats to sell. "This brings in a little bit
of
money for soap and salt."
She said her legs were weak and her body
feeble, but she spends most of her
afternoons standing up to operate a
home-made loom making mats to sell for
between $500 and $1,000 Zimbabwean
dollars each - paltry sums given
Zimbabwe's 1,000 percent inflation. She
also makes special clay pots and
wooden plates on request.
Mbuya Romo
also works with her elderly sister, Mbuya Lydia Romo, who farms
the land to
grow food for the family.
"We are a family of 14 and we need to grow
enough food for the whole year,"
Mbuya Lydia Romo said. "We do not usually
sell much in case we run out of
maize and peanuts."
The people of
Kachuta are intensive small-scale farmers. One resident,
Anderaesi Chigwe,
said: "We grow a lot of cotton and this to an extent has
enabled us to send
children orphaned by AIDS to school. Many farmers here
are elderly
grandparents."
The area is rich in wildlife resources and communities
have made proposals
to the Guruve rural district council to give a
percentage of profits from
that sector to benefit child-headed homes and
families headed by the
elderly.
Many orphans in the area drop out of
primary school before graduating,
making them vulnerable to child labour and
prostitution.
Although the government has introduced economic reforms
meant to reduce
extreme poverty and the impact of HIV/AIDS on communities,
they are diluted
by inflation.
Cuts in school meals programmes have
led to malnutrition in poor, remote
villages like Rushinga, Mutoko, Binga,
Hwange, Mukumbura, Uzumba Maramba
Pfungwe, Bulilima and Insiza. Many orphans
and elderly there are
malnourished and succumbing to opportunistic
diseases.
HIV/AIDS experts say Zimbabwe needs to establish a
comprehensive food and
nutrition surveillance system to provide accurate,
credible and timely
information to help decision-making at all
levels.
About 1.8 million Zimbabweans of a population of some 9 million
are infected
with the HIV virus. Antiretroviral drugs are not readily
available and many
don't live long enough to secure a place on the national
anti-retroviral
therapy programme.
Only about 400 people are taking
part in the national programme. A further
300 receive treatment at expensive
private health institutions. More than
200 poor people are on hospital
waiting lists for national anti-retroviral
treatment.
Tsitsi Matope
is a journalist with The Herald in Zimbabwe. This article is
part of a
series commissioned by AlertNet from journalists who have taken
Reuters
Foundation AIDS reporting courses. Any opinions are those of the
author and
not of Reuters.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Elinor Alfred 8444 New Tafara Beligna Gonyura 136 Greendale Avenue Mr. Chikwana 8422 New Tafara Additional information and pictures Or send an email to: hectic@yoafrica.com | ||||||||||||||||||||||
SW Radio Africa
29th November 2006; Harare, Zimbabwe
Introduction
On the 28th of November 2006 the MDC leadership met
with the Church
leaders who are behind the "The Zimbabwe We Want"
initiative. This was the
first time that our party was engaged in this
project. There had been
misrepresentations in the press that the Church
bishops had met some of our
leaders before the launch of the document. This
was completely false.
Zimbabwe is going through an economic and
political crisis of
unprecedented proportions. Any initiative that seeks to
foster and develop
solutions to this crisis must be supported. Whenever any
group of
Zimbabweans gets together in pursuit of such initiatives, it must
be hailed
and encouraged. The state of our country and pain of our people
demand
nothing less. Consequently, in spite of its initial exclusion from
this
particular Church initiative, the MDC is solidly supportive and wishes
to be
actively involved.
In pursuing a national initiative such
as the "National Vision for
Zimbabwe" it is essential to ensure ownership
and buy-in by the generality
of the people of Zimbabwe. The people must own
both the process and content
of the national vision. Furthermore, the
process of an initiative cannot be
de-linked from its content. A
dysfunctional process will lead to distorted
and contested
content
Process of Achieving the National Vision
It is
our submission that the Church leaders' process in crafting a
National
Vision for Zimbabwe has been fundamentally flawed. It has been
characterized
by dishonesty, manipulation, and lack of inclusiveness. A few
examples will
suffice to illustrate these aspects. Critical stakeholders in
the form of
civic organizations, political parties, and church organizations
(e.g., NCA,
Crisis Coalition, MDC, ZCTU, ZINASU, Christian Alliance,
National Pastors
Conference) were not engaged nor consulted prior to the
launch. To compound
matters, there were falsehoods in the media, which were
never retracted,
about some of these groups being consulted. The lack of
involvement of key
players led to the spectacular failure of the document
launch, where it
ended being a ZANU(PF) orgy in self indulgency.
In addition, some
of those organizations engaged were shown versions
of the document that were
different from what was eventually launched. This
has led to complaints
about duplicity and manipulation from the Catholic
Jesuits, and Bishop Pius
Ncube. The perception is that people and
organizations were being used to
legitimize a dubious agenda.
The most problematic process aspect of
the Church initiative has been
the way they have engaged Robert Mugabe and
ZANU(PF). From the tea sessions
at State House to the launch of the document
by Robert Mugabe, the Church
leaders have allowed the criminal dictatorship
of Robert Mugabe to destroy
the potential of the initiative. Mugabe's
ill-advised comments about
non-negotiable issues, defence of the Lancaster
House constitution, and
general disdain for other stakeholders, have
compromised the effectiveness
of the initiative. In a very cynical way
Mugabe embraced the project in
order to destroy its credibility, and then
unleashed his chief apologists
and propagandists to viciously attack the
initiative in the state media.
What a shameful ploy!
The Church
leaders are well-intentioned and their motivation is
honourable. However,
they have been extremely naïve. With the continuously
deteriorating economic
malaise and global isolation, Mugabe wants to buy
time. He could use the
initiative to do just that by appearing to be doing
something. The suffering
people of Zimbabwe will reject any process that
will provide a lifeline to
the evil regime of Robert Mugabe. They will not
be part of any efforts to
sanitize the Dictator.
Content of the National Vision
The MDC will be submitting a detailed written response to the content
of the
vision document. Here we outline some preliminary and inconclusive
remarks.
The general gist of the document is in sync with the views of most
Zimbabweans, that is, the material is common cause. However, there are areas
characterized by omissions and distortions. Some of the distortions are due
to the dysfunctional process through which the initiative has gone. The ugly
hand of ZANU(PF) is evident. As already submitted, you cannot separate
content from process.
For a start, the vision statement sounds
like apple pie and
motherhood. There is no economic vision, neither is there
a social justice
aspect to it. There is no clarity on the economic strategy
that will take
Zimbabwe from the economic crisis to the Promised Land. The
recommendations
on the economy are weak, poorly structured and lack
congruency. Similarly,
the section on land requires more input around
collateral value of land,
security of tenure, agricultural productivity,
secondary agriculture,
justice and equity.
A major distortion
in the document is around the nature and cause of
the Zimbabwean crisis. At
the root of our national problems are issues of
bad governance, political
legitimacy, economic mismanagement, corruption,
and political dictatorship,
all due to the absolute failure of Robert Mugabe
and ZANU(PF). This must be
stated without equivocation or ambiguity. The
vision document at best
equivocates, at worst it is apologetic. Misdiagnosis
of a problem will lead
to wrong solutions.
It is also astounding that the language of the
document is very
subdued and apologetic when describing national
institutional ills such as
POSA and AIPPA. In some cases the diction
resembles that of ZANU(PF) in the
way issues like patriotism and sanctions
are discussed. Presumably these
language overtures are meant to placate the
dictator, Robert Mugabe. It must
be emphasized that this is done at a huge
cost: De-legitimization of the
content leading to its total rejection by the
people of Zimbabwe.
Another area of contention in the document is
on the subject of
Gukurahundi, which is treated shamelessly as a footnote.
There is a
celebration of the first 15 years of independence as blissful and
full of
hope. Yet, it is during this period that the regime of Robert Mugabe
massacred over 20 000 civilians in Matabeleland and Midlands. The nation
must come to terms with this reality. There must be a Truth and Justice
Commission, followed by an acknowledgement of what transpired. Only then can
national healing begin. We must seek restorative justice, victim based
justice, and rehabilitation of the communities affected. Today there are
young people who cannot get birth certificates and identification cards
because both parents were killed during Gukurahundi; and it is not
officially acknowledged that the parents are dead. These are people being
victimized today. Hence no! Gukurahundi cannot be a footnote in a National
Vision for Zimbabwe.
A general point about the document is that
it lacks time-frames, and
prioritization of the different initiatives and
recommendations. There must
be clarity on what matters are short term,
medium term and long term.
The document extensively uses Christian
Biblical chapters and verses.
This is inappropriate in a national vision
document. Even if our country is
90% Christian we still have Moslems,
Hindus, and Jews as part of our nation.
There are also Zimbabweans who
believe in traditional religions. We need
religious tolerance in our
national vision.
As indicated earlier, our detailed written
response on the content is
forthcoming.
The Way
Forward
In conclusion it is clear that the Church leaders have
process and
content challenges in their great initiative. It is important
that they
embrace the critique we have provided above and address relevant
matters.
Dramatic changes and corrective measures are required, in
particular around
the process. The initiative has to be wrestled back from
ZANU(PF), its
credibility re-established, while building buy-in and
confidence among
disgruntled stakeholders. The success of the initiative
will depend solely
on the Church leaders doing the right things. As the MDC
party, our
reservations notwithstanding, we pledge to work closely with the
Church
leaders without any preconditions. We urge other stakeholders and the
generality of the people of Zimbabwe to participate and seek to influence
both the process and content of the initiative.
The National
Vision for Zimbabwe must be owned by all Zimbabweans.
Defeat is not
on the agenda & Victory is certain.
The Struggle Continues
Unabated.
Arthur G.O. Mutambara
MDC President
New Zimbabwe
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Former
Defence and later Home Affairs Minister Enos Nkala, in a statement to
announce a new book he is writing, appeared to absolve himself of any blame
for the Gukurahundi massacres. In a statement published on New Zimbabwe.com,
he vowed to "spend the last days of my life in Mugabe's prisons in defence
of the legal, constitutional and civil rights of the precious people of
Zimbabwe". Christopher Muzavazi, a journalist who interviewed Nkala at the
height of the 5 Brigade massacres today warns that the politician is
attempting to re-write
history:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By
Christopher Muzavazi
Last updated: 11/30/2006 11:17:24
ENOS Nkala has said
he wants his book published after his death. I am
seeking to to engage him
before then.
To me, as a journalist based in Bulawayo from 1980 to 1988, I
state that he
was the principal figure, in the government's political and
secuity polices
in Matabeleland, in his various capacities notably when he
was in Home
Affairs and Defence.
I can successfully claim to be one
of the three or four journalists who
covered Matabeleland extensively --
immediately after independence, through
the Matabeleland disturbances right
to the signing of the 1987 Unity
Agreement.
I covered the political
rallies Nkala addressed in Bulawayo, Matabeleland
North and South. I made
video and audio recordings of his statements. I
swear on my honour that
Nkala was central to government action, particularly
in the area of
security.
I was at the first out-break of political violence in Bulawayo
in 1980 which
erupted during a meeting he was addressing at White City
Stadium, and
overnight it developed into the first Entumbane clash between
ZIPRA and
ZANLA forces who were housed there, waiting for demobilisation or
integration in the Zimbabwe National Army.
I can say that Nkala's
choice of this venue for a Zanu PF rally was a
deliberate act of
provocation, because he knew, that Joshua Nkomo's house in
Pelandaba was
just a stone-throw away.
The more suitable venue could have been
Barbourfields, bacause of its
accessibility. He was obviously trying to
prove a point by holding the rally
at White City, and used what I call
reckless language and issued threats
against "enemies" -- a euphemism for
PF-ZAPU.
I once got into trouble with some politician when I edited out
Nkala's
utterances at a political rally which I deemed provocative, as it
made
reference to ethnicity (which seems to be he only way he sees
politics).
I then gave Nkala an opportunity to repeat, on a camera, what
he had said
earlier at the rally, in the privacy of his home. Like the
cunning person he
was, he declined.
Nkala did not know the thinking
of people in Matabeland because, he had not
lived in Bulawayo or any part of
the region for a long while. It was not
enough to claim expertise on the
region because of his Ndebele ethnicity.
Nkala should not be allowed to
get away with deception. He owes it to the
people of Matabeland, and the
country as a whole to explain his logic behind
the the measures that
government took in the region, between 1982 and 1986.
I charge that Nkala
did not have a personal constituency to represent. He
was desperate to
deliver Matabeland to Zanu PF, even using force.
The Catholic Commission
for Justice and Peace (CCJP), which collected data
on those killed during
the Matabeleland genocide quotes Nkala, as late as
1985 telling a rally: "We
want to wipe out the ZAPU leadership. The
murderous organisation and its
murderous leadership must be hit so hard it
doesn't feel obliged to do the
things it has been doing."
And this is the guy who claims to have a
higher moral stand than Robert
Mugabe?
Christopher Muzavazi was a ZBC
news reporter between 1980-1988. He was based
at Montrose Studies
People's Daily
The Zimbabwean government would allocate land to
every Zimbabwean
including those who had spoken against the Land Reform
Program, the state
media New Ziana reported on Thursday.
Rural
Housing and Social Amenities Minister Emerson Mnangagwa made the
remarks
during the question and answer session of the House of Assembly on
Wednesday
when he was asked whether members of the opposition Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) could also be allocated land under the government's
land reform
program.
The MDC is on record for opposing the agrarian reforms,
which the
government embarked on in 2000 to address colonial
imbalances.
Source: Xinhua
People's Daily
The Zimbabwean government has awarded a Chinese
company the tender to
provide 250 buses to a Zimbabwean transport company as
part of the efforts
to alleviate the country's transport problems, the state
media New Ziana
reported on Thursday.
Local Government and
Urban Development Minister Ignatius Chombo was
quoted as saying that "the
government has given a tender to supply 250 buses
to a Chinese company and
these will be delivered as soon as we pay the
required foreign
currency."
He said the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO)
had recently
purchased five buses that were plying cross boarder and
inter-city routes.
Chombo added that China had donated a sixth
luxury bus to ZUPCO, which
was due in the country before
Christmas.
He said ZUPCO had also purchased at least 15 out of the
total 100
engine kits planned to be purchased from China. Chinese and local
engineers
were in the process of fitting the purchased engine kits onto old
bus
shells.
The 250 buses would be deployed in every province
by the end of the
year to ameliorate channels being experienced in farming
areas where
transport operators had withdrawn their services.
"We expect that by the end of March all Rural District Councils will
have
buses within their areas," he said.
The government is under
pressure to rebuild the ZUPCO fleet as part of
the efforts to alleviate the
plight of people who are being exploited by
private transport operators
throughout the country.
Source: Xinhua
The Herald (Harare)
November 30,
2006
Posted to the web November 30, 2006
Harare
THE prices of
milk and all milk products have been increased by between 30
percent and 35
percent with immediate effect.
The increases follow intense negotiations
between the Ministry of Industry
and International Trade and players in the
milk industry, who have been
complaining that the low prices of milk
products were slowly pushing them
out of business.
According to a
notice sent to players in the milk industry by the Ministry
of Industry and
International Trade early this week, the director of
research and consumer
affairs in the ministry, Mr Norman Chakanetsa, the
cost of fresh milk per
litre had been increased from $560 to $808 wholesale
price.
The
wholesale prices of Steri milk and Lacto also went up to $1 204 and $901
from $836 and $690 respectively.
The price of Chimombe is $1 129 per
litre, up from $786.
Contacted for comment, Mr Chakanetsa confirmed the
increases but asked the
reporter to submit his questions in
writing.
Efforts to get comment from the permanent secretary, Retired
Colonel
Christian Katsande, were fruitless.
A survey by Herald
Business at the weekend revealed that most supermarkets
did not have any
milk products in stock.
It also revealed that some supermarkets had
already increased the prices of
milk although they admitted the Government
was still to sanction the
increase.
A manager with one supermarket in
the city centre said his shop had hiked
the price of milk products last week
as some wholesalers had effected price
increases.
As milk is a
controlled product, any price increase should have the blessing
of the
Government.
Milk disappeared from the market two weeks ago in what many
consumers
suspected was a ploy by suppliers to force the Government to
review its
price.
Last month the association of dairy farmers met to
map strategies to push
for a review of producer price of milk, then pegged
at $210 a litre.
The farmers said milk production had been severely
affected by a shortage of
stockfeeds that was exacerbated by a slump in the
national herd, which
currently stands at about 25 600.
Farmers were
also up in arms against middlemen who they accused of hoarding
stockfeeds,
notably cotton cake, thereby creating a shortage.
Please send any job opportunities for publication in this newsletter to:
JAG
Job Opportunities; jag@mango.zw or justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 09 November 2006
Temporary position from the 27 November 2006 to
15 December 2006. Locality
Mt. Pleasant. Position is to fill in for General
Manager who is going to be
away from the 3 December until the New Year.
Basically it will be to oversee
the operations in conjunction with the
Factory Supervisor and send off the
final shipment on the 15 December 2006.
The operation is textile based.
The ideal person needs to have a good working
knowledge of knitting and
sowing as well as good administration
skills.
Must be computer literate in Word, Excel and E-Mail.
Forward
C.V. to aztec@zol.co.zw
soonest.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 17 November 2006
Farm Job Vacancy in Nigeria Kwara State
Government, Nigeria, is looking for
a General Manager for an Agricultural
Training Farm, situated 30kms.NW of
Ilorin. The position entails the
managing of the 1000ha farm, growing
200ha. Maize, 100ha. Cow Peas and 100ha
Cassava, with livestock being
Catfish, Broilers and Layers. In addition, with
the assistance of 5
technical staff, train 100 Agricultural Students the
practical aspects of
Commercial Agriculture.
The contract is for two
years, commencing on the 5th January 2007. The
contract is renewable and
notice is six months, to take effect at the end of
the cropping
season.
Terms of Employment
Salary - US$50,000.00 per
annum
Accommodation: - Fully furnished, three bed-roomed house on farm,
with air
conditioning throughout.
Staff: - One cook, one gardener, one
official driver and 2 security guards.
Other: - Two economy air tickets
per annum to country of choice. One
official Govt. vehicle. One 4-wheel
motorcycle. Free electricity, water
and fuel within Kwara State. Internet
facilities. Four weeks leave per
year.
Interested parties, please
contact Colin Spain - e-mail address
spain_colin@yahoo.co.uk
Please
attach recent
C.V.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 17 November 2006
Maid required for family home in Umwinsidale
area. To start immediately.
Must speak good English; be energetic, over 30
years of age having finished
having their own family. Washing, ironing,
housework and basic cooking
would be useful. Accommodation is offered and
husband and 2 children still
at school are welcome. Attractive salary to the
right person.
Contact 499101 or 011207930 with contactable
references.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 17 November 2006
EMPLOYMENT OFFERED
We are looking for a
reliable, hard working honest middle aged gentleman to
fill the position of
Water/Land Manager in the Bumi Area.
Please could all CV's be emailed
to:
dod@iitrade.net or dodonovan@acrplc.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 24 November 2006
A Harare based property company requires a
hands-on, energetic and
disciplined individual, with a general basic
knowledge of plumbing,
electrics etc, to help with the supervision and
maintenance of existing
buildings. Package to be negotiated. If interested
please send a one page
synopsis of your career and attendant skills to Box
10149,
Harare
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 24 November 2006
A Country Club close to Harare is looking for
the following staff:
1) A general handyman preferably with some knowledge
in maintenance of golf
course fairways and greens, associated equipment,
staff management and
familiar with irrigation systems.
2) Someone with
experience in bar and restaurant management or
organisational
skills.
The above positions would ideally suit a couple. Accommodation,
medical aid
and negotiable salary are on offer. These positions are
available
immediately.
Please forward CV to kelara@mweb.co.zw.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 30 November 2006
Mornings only, term time only, lady wanted for
Nursery School in Avondale.
Preferably qualified or ex teacher but someone
who enjoys children and has
lots of patience can apply. The position is for
our 3-year-old class and
would only suit someone who has an excellent command
of English. Lovely
working environment, excellent salary. To start 1st term
2007.Tel 884294 011
602 903 or e-mail me at gandami@mweb.co.zw
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 30 November 2006
We are still in search of a manager to run our
camp and bar. We need someone
who...
Is preferably single
Is very
flexible...no set hours here.
Can supervise competent (but sometimes dozy)
staff.
Is a bit of a handyman...there's always something that needs
fixing.
Can do maths and a bit of paperwork...computer literate is good but
pencil
and paper is also acceptable
Has good social skills...there's some
funny folk around so polite democracy
is a valuable asset.
Can make a plan
at short (no) notice and still smile.
Has a driving licence.
Likes the
bush...elephants and hippos abound.
Does not drink much...this is a holiday
environment and if you can't be
disciplined it will ruin you.
Can cope
with boys being boys and girls being girls.
If you like doing a bit of
cooking that would be good.
We offer a reasonable salary (enhanced by
commission), accommodation, lights
and water on site (nothing fancy, but it
is comfortable), a varied job and a
social atmosphere.
Please send CV's to
relax@warthogs.co.zw
Warthogs
Bush Camp
112 Powerlines Rd, Kariba
P.O. Box 263,
Kariba
Zimbabwe
Cell: + 263 11 201 733 (Louisa)
Cell: + 263 91 201 048
(Ian)
Camp: + 263 61 2515
www.warthogs.co.zw
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 30 November 2006
A farm manager is needed to operate a 250 ha
irrigation seed maize farm in
Kenya. The operations involve Land preparation,
planting, de-tasselling,
harvesting, drying, processing, packaging and
storage. At least 8 years of
experience in efficiently operating a similar
operation of this size is
required with particular skills in plant
maintenance , repair and
management. Responsibility will include 24/7
management of labour, staff,
budgets and project accounts.
A basic
salary commensurate to experience and skill, housing, vehicle,
fuel,
amenities will be provided and an annual profit based bonus. An initial
2 yr
contract renewable for further 2 years will be made although the
project
life is at least 10 years. Applicants to respond with CV and
Photoghraph by
email to saleeme@gmail.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 30 November 2006
VACANCY EXISTS FOR AN ENERGETIC COUPLE TO
MANAGE CAMP ON A PROPERTY IN THE
SAVE VALLEY CONSERVANCY WHOSE MAINSTREAM
BUSINESS IS HUNTING.
REQUIRED SKILLS:
GENERAL RANCH
CHORES
MANAGING LABOUR FORCE OF 40 WORKERS
WATER
RETICULATION
ANTI-POACHING
MECHANICS
LIASING WITH HUNTING
STAFF
TAKING CARE OF HUNTING TROPHIES FOR DISPATCH
ORDERING SUPPLIES FOR
HUNTS & STAFF
CATERING FOR CLIENTS
MAINTENANCE OF LODGES &
STAFF
FOR FURTHER DETAILS, PLEASE CONTACT
JAG
------------------------------------------------------------------------
EMPLOYMENT
SOUGHT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 09 November 2006
House worker required.
Must be mature,
clean, honest and hardworking. Cooking would be an
advantage but not a
prerequisite. A good salary is offered along with
excellent accommodation to
the right person.
Please phone 04-301467, cell 011 614 233 or email to:
dieselandplant@zol.co.zw
Many
thanks
Keow Norman
61 Pendennis Road
Mt
Pleasant
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 09 November 2006
Bookkeeping done at home
Anyone looking
for someone to do their books on a monthly bases, on Pastel.
Monthly Balance
Sheets, Profit and Loss produced?
Please contact tiger1@mweb.co.zw or phone cell 011 400
754
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 17 November 2006
I am a Bsc Hons In Agric (Crop science)
graduate and currently working on a
tobacco farm in Nyazura area as a Farm
Manager, doing mainly tobacco and
potatoes. I am looking for a similar
placement elsewhere in Zimbabwe or
Zambia. Available from 1December 2006. I
have six years experience in
agronomy and farm management with special skills
in: -
Planning cropping programmes, farm staff and general labour
management
drawing & implementing farm budgets general farm cost control
sourcing and
procurement of inputs marketing produce planning and directing
farm
operations providing expert advice in production of the following
crops;
tobacco, maize, potatoes, peas, baby corn, sweet corn, cabbages,
beans,
butternut.
For my detailed C.V e-mail imusiiwa@yahoo.com.
Or telephone
011433837
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ad
inserted 24 November 2006
Situation sought for a semi-retired
male.
A semi-retired male, single, seeks rewarding employment. It does
not
necessarily have to be in the scientific fields that he was trained, and
he
is desirous in being kept busy and not completely chair bound. He has
a
clean driver's license class 3, 4, and 5, and is relatively free to
travel.
His training was in the fields of telecommunications including
radio,
electromechanical equipment (instrumentation, including medical)
and
electronics.
He is employed at present but needs a change to be in
a situation where his
skills / experience and knowledge can be utilized to
the full for job
satisfaction. He is trustworthy having been employed in a
position of
trust, handling chequebook, cash, and stock since his
retirement
Employment does not even have to be in the formal sector and a
flexi-time
position would be attractive. He is prepared to talk to any one
with ideas.
Interested persons please reply to this email address.
boaz@zol.co.zw and a CV will be forwarded to
you.
Alternatively telephone him direct on 04 487631 evenings and
weekends or 04
703119 any time where a friend will take your call and pass on
your
contact
details.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
For
the latest listings of accommodation available for farmers, contact
justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
(updated 1 December 2006)
