• MDC Main Policy Document
• Exiles warn against deal with Mugabe
• MDC's plan for reviving Zimbabwe
• Mugabe and MDC closer to talking after Mbeki visit
• Church Leaders Slam S Africa Silence Over Zimbabwe Abuses
• SA moves to dampen furore over Zimbabwe
• 'Mugabe the Grinch has stolen Christmas'
• Corruption rife in Zimbabwe
• Australia demands murder inquiry
• Zimbabwe's MDC plans mass action to force talks
• Unity is empty without dialogue—analysts
• Reporters Without Borders calls for reopening of Daily News print works

MORE than 5,000 delegates and their supporters from all over Zimbabwe were
making their way to the national stadium in Harare this weekend for what is
a crucial conference for the opposition movement.

As the Movement for Democratic Change held its opening ceremony yesterday
men cheered and women ululated as they were told President Robert Mugabe's
days are numbered.

Yet as they walked away from the stadium on the first night, the vast
majority of them were left with the uncomfortable feeling that yet another
round of talks between the MDC and Mugabe are about to start all over again.

On Thursday, South African President Thabo Mbeki flew into Harare for a day
of talks on how he could help heal the wounds inflicted on the MDC and its
leaders by Mugabe's ruling party, Zanu (PF).

Mbeki was the first prominent head of state to visit Zimbabwe since Mugabe
angrily withdrew his country from the Commonwealth earlier this month after
the group of mainly former British colonies extended sanctions against
Harare.

He said: "President Mugabe can assist us to confront the problems we have in
South Africa so that we can assist you to solve the problems that face
Zimbabwe."

Brighton Chireka, chairman of the MDC's press and publicity Department in
the UK, said: "President Mbeki went there first to talk to Mugabe and tell
him about his isolation after the Commonwealth debacle, and then he held
talks with our leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.

"Although we've always been in favour of talking rather than fighting the
suggestion by Mbeki of another round of talks amounts to a stultifying waste
of time. We don't recognise Mugabe as head of state because he fiddled the
2002 presidential election."

The official line in Harare - often different from the line taken by MDC
officials in the UK, US and Europe - is that Mbeki's every wish should be
met.

But there are other MDC officials in London who take the view that
Tsvangirai will be making a terrible mistake if he agrees to re-open talks
with Mugabe.

Dr Patrick Musami is an African nationalist of some standing among the
Zimbabwean exiles in the UK. Almost all of them strongly oppose Mugabe and
they are committed financial supporters of the MDC "back home".

Musami said on the eve of the MDC conference: "It will be hard to hold the
young militants in the MDC if Tsvangirai again gets too close to Mugabe."

Others say that Mugabe is even ready to offer Tsvangirai and two - perhaps
even three of his most able members - seats on the Cabinet so that national
unity is secured.

"He's a smart guy, that Mugabe," said Chireka. So smart, it seems, that he
might even persuade Tsvangirai to help him keep his job as head of state
until it is officially time to step down in 2006.

"That would be disastrous for all of us," said Musami.

SUNDAY TIMES FOREIGN DESK

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is expected to
unveil a comprehensive economic recovery programme today at the end of its
two-day conference in Harare.

The MDC will release its blueprint, Reconstruction, Stabilisation, Recovery
and Transformation (Restart), which it plans to implement over five years to
arrest the dramatic economic decline and foster recovery if it eventually
gets into power.

A working draft of Restart, seen by the Sunday Times, says the MDC will
adopt a holistic approach and a package of measures to be implemented within
a workable economic policy.

"Macro-economic policies of the current regime . . . had disastrous results:
hyperinflation; a crash of the Zimbabwean dollar; shortages of foreign
currency, cash, production inputs [and] spare parts for machinery;
bottlenecks and shortages in the economy; unemployment; and poverty," the
draft says.

"The MDC programme seeks to revive the economy by reversing years of
consecutive GDP decline, attracting domestic and foreign investment,
creating more jobs, lowering inflation and interest rates, generating
foreign currency and reducing poverty."

To combat inflation - which surged this week from 525.8% to 620% - the MDC
would reduce the growth in money supply emanating from unproductive and
speculative lending. Zimbabwe's hyperinflation is expected to rise to 700%
by next month and climb towards the 1 000% mark.

Containing money supply also demands an interest-rate regime that rewards
savers by compensating them for losses arising from inflation, the MDC says.

"We will adopt an exchange-rate-based stabilisation approach to deal with
inflation. We will remove foreign currency surrender requirements to allow
exporters to retain all their forex earnings, unify the foreign exchange
market with a single rate applying to all transactions, and adopt fiscal
measures to complement the broader recovery agenda."

Public sector borrowing requirements will be targeted at such sectors as
agriculture, infrastructure development, social services delivery and
productive activities. There would also be incentives for mining,
manufacturing and other key sectors of the economy. Agricultural recovery
would be given a priority.

"There is an urgent need to pull Zimbabwe out of the deep crisis in which it
was plunged due to leadership and policy failures," the blueprint says. "
The programme entails a package of fully co-ordinated fiscal, monetary,
exchange rate [and] sectoral trade policies carefully designed to address
the skewed macro-economic fundamentals."

The MDC says the overall objective is to "reconstruct the social fabric and
economic infrastructure, stabilise the macro-economic imperatives, recover
savings, investment and growth and begin to transform the economy".

It goes on: "Macro-economic stabilisation will not be an end in itself but a
means to achieve the restoration of positive economic growth, employment
creation and the reduction, if not eradication, of poverty. Our economic
programmes will be premised on a completely changed political environment."

The MDC says it will also deal with privatisation, restructuring of
loss-making state enterprises and commercialisation of non-performing
government companies.

By SUNDAY TIMES FOREIGN DESK

Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
are inching closer to formal talks, following South African President Thabo
Mbeki's visit to Harare this week.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe assured Mbeki in private meetings that he
was committed to dialogue with the opposition. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai,
who also met Mbeki, said his party was ready for talks "any time, anywhere".

The Sunday Times understands that Mbeki secured a commitment from Mugabe
that dialogue would restart in the new year.

A senior Zanu-PF official confirmed his party could be ready for
re-engagement with the MDC . "We are no longer worlds apart ," the official
said. "It seems common ground has been found. Actually, both Zanu-PF and the
MDC have no choice but to meet."

South Africa wants Mugabe and Tsvangirai to form a government of national
unity. Formal talks between Zanu-PF and the MDC broke down last year after
Tsvangirai took Mugabe to court over the disputed March 2002 presidential
election.

Speaking to journalists after meeting Mbeki, Mugabe, for the first time,
offered a revealing comment on inter-party dialogue.

"We have two people from Zanu-PF and two from the MDC in ongoing talks on
certain reforms and amendments to the constitution," said Mugabe. He
expressed some commitment to talks - albeit in an indifferent tone.

Mbeki had gone out of his way to appease Mugabe to get him to play ball.
Mbeki's spirited defence of Mugabe at the recent Commonwealth meeting in
Nigeria and in his ANC Today column last week revealed a policy of
appeasement towards Mugabe.

"They haven't gone far enough. When they have concluded, both sides will
tell us," Mbeki said.

Zanu-PF representatives Patrick Chinamasa and Nicholas Goche have been
meeting MDC negotiators, Welshman Ncube and Gift Chimanikire, to hammer out
constitutional reform in an attempt to break the deadlock.

Mugabe said: "My side reports to me and one would expect the other side
reports to its authorities. When they are ready for the formal stage, we
will let you know."

Although informal talks had reportedly collapsed, a new behind-the-scenes
initiative is under way to break the stalemate.

The new plan involves high-level meetings between top Zanu-PF and MDC
officials . Official sources said Mugabe told Mbeki it was better to allow
informal talks to first clear hurdles to ensure the dialogue did not break
down again.

"The meetings between Mbeki and Mugabe, and Mbeki and Tsvangirai, were
useful because the leaders agreed to meet urgently and unconditionally," a
source said.

"That was an important step forward because, for the first time, they
realised they were dealing with an emergency situation."

Mugabe and Tsvangirai agreed to drop their conditions for dialogue, which
had been the main stumbling block.

They also expressed a willingness to meet face to face to break the ice.
While Mugabe said he could only be ready for that meeting in February ,
Tsvangirai said he was ready now.

The two leaders almost met in September, following two meetings between
Tsvangirai and Mugabe's Special Affairs Minister, John Nkomo, but the
proposal collapsed at the last minute.

      Copyright © 2003, Dow Jones Newswires

      JOHANNESBURG (AP)--South African church leaders slammed President
Thabo Mbeki on Sunday for failing to speak out about torture and other
abuses meted out against government opponents in neighboring Zimbabwe.

      The religious leaders, who assist Zimbabweans who have fled to the
Johannesburg area, said they have heard accounts of red-hot needles pushed
under people's armpits and through their shoulder blades, broken legs, and
electric shocks applied to people's fingers, the soles of their feet and
genitals.

      "The constant litany of horror indicates an orchestrated program of
violence and deliberate suppression of any opposition," they said in a
statement. "To remain silent any longer renders us complicit in the
brutality being visited by Zimbabwean authorities on their own citizens."

      The statement, issued by representatives of the Anglican, Methodist,
Presbyterian, Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and other churches,
comes after Mbeki visited Zimbabwe last week to try to revive talks between
President Robert Mugabe and embattled opposition leaders.

      Officials in Mbeki's office could not immediately be reached to
respond to the criticism.

      Mbeki's policy of "quite diplomacy" toward Zimbabwe has drawn domestic
and international criticism.

      Last week, he protested a decision to prolong Zimbabwe's suspension
from the Commonwealth as undemocratic and unhelpful, while brushing off
concerns by the group of Britain and its former colonies about abuses in the
country. Mugabe pulled Zimbabwe out of the bloc in protest.

      Zimbabwe faces its worst political and economic crisis since
independence in 1980, with soaring inflation and acute shortages of food,
gasoline and essential goods.

      The South African church leaders said the homes and businesses of
those who oppose Mugabe are systematically destroyed.

      "Humanitarian aid has been politicized, information is suppressed, the
rule of law has been ridiculed," they said in the statement.

      They called on Mbeki's government to publicly condemn such abuses.

      They also asked the government to speed up the processing of
applications for asylum and refugee status by Zimbabweans and others, as
well as to investigate allegations of bribery and corruption by officials
handling the applications.

      Comparing the abuses in Zimbabwe to those that took place in South
Africa under apartheid, the church leaders said: "We cannot and will not
remain silent any longer."

      "To do so would be to be unfaithful to and discredit the history of
our own transformation," they said.

      (END) Dow Jones Newswires

      December 21, 2003 11:15 ET (16:15 GMT)

        SA moves to dampen furore over Zimbabwe

            December 21 2003 at 11:26AM

      By John Battersby

      The South African government has moved to dampen the row that followed
remarks by President Thabo Mbeki in Zimbabwe suggesting that the country
could learn from Zimbabwe in dealing with its "common problems".

      The government says that Mbeki's remarks should not be taken
literally.

      Mbeki's remarks attracted attention in the local and foreign media and
some market traders suggested that the widely reported comments had played a
role in the softening of the rand against the US dollar.

      "President Mbeki should not be taken literally," said a senior
government spokesperson. "Rather his remarks should be seen as tactical and
in line with diplomacy to ensure that the Zimbabweans continue listening to
us."

      The spokesperson was referring to remarks made by Mbeki to supporters
of the ruling Zanu-PF party at Harare airport on Thursday before returning
to South Africa after a lengthy meeting with Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe, and a shorter one with Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

      Mbeki said: "Our countries have shared common problems. As they shared
the common problems of oppression, they share common problems today.
President Mugabe can assist us to confront the problems we have in South
Africa so that we can assist you to solve the problems that face Zimbabwe."

      The government fears that the remarks could be used by some currency
traders to begin a run on the rand, which many believe has risen too much in
recent months.

      A report in the Daily Telegraph in London, for instance, interpreted
his remarks as a sign that South Africa could follow the same land seizure
policy as Zimbabwe that had led to the country's current political and
economic crisis. But the South African government has repeatedly ruled out
any form of action that would undermine the rule of law and has criticised
Zimbabwe for doing so, delivering diplomatic protests against the violent
repression of political dissent in that country.

      Since South Africa led a protest against the decision by the
Commonwealth summit in Abuja two weeks ago to extend the suspension of
Zimbabwe, the country has come in for widespread international criticism for
taking a pro-Mugabe stance. Nobel peace prize laureate, Archbishop Desmond
Tutu, who seldom makes public statements, denounced Mbeki's policy on
Zimbabwe this week, warning that it could lead to human rights abuses taking
place in South Africa soon unless it was changed.

      But Mugabe's decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth has left Mbeki
as the only African leader with influence over the defiant Zimbabwean
leader.

      Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was mandated by the
Commonwealth to visit Harare, is unlikely to be received by Mugabe as
chairperson of the Commonwealth and is not likely to be able to exercise
much influence over the Zimbabwean president. Government sources have
repeatedly insisted that the ruling Zanu-PF party and the MDC in Zimbabwe
had been meeting over a period of months and had reached a consensus on a
new constitution for the country while sticking on other issues relating to
a transitional government that would rule until new elections are held in
two years' time.

      Government sources said it was significant that Mugabe had used
Mbeki's visit to acknowledge, for the first time, that talks between the two
parties had been taking place, although Mugabe and Tsvangirai, who is on
trial for treason, had not yet had a face-to-face meeting.

      They also pointed to the fact that the Reverend Frank Chikane,
director-general in the presidency, had been in communication with the MDC
for some time and that the first substantive meeting between Mbeki and
Tsvangirai this week could go some way to unlocking the stalled talks
between the MDC and Zanu-PF.

      Both Tsvangirai and Welshman Ngcube, the MDC secretary-general, made
upbeat remarks following the unscheduled contact with Mbeki on Thursday. It
is understood that there had been growing frustration in Pretoria with the
refusal by either the MDC or Zanu-PF to acknowledge that talks were under
way.

      Some officials argued that it would be difficult to make any agreement
between the two parties stick unless the Zimbabwean people were informed and
prepared for the changes.

      In terms of the consensus on an interim constitution, the next
presidential election, only due in 2008, would be brought forward to 2005/06
to coincide with the next parliamentary elections. But the parties are
deadlocked over a set of demands by Zanu-PF, which insists on amnesty for
party officials, an assurance that the land seizures will not be reversed,
and that the so-called "Green Bombers" - the militant youth wing of Zanu-PF
that perpetrates many of the atrocities against political opponents - will
not be disbanded.

      Another sticking point is the lack of agreement within Zanu-PF over
who Mugabe's successor will be.

      In recent months, it appears that the fortunes of the recently retired
head of the Zimbabwean Defence Force, Vitalis Zvinavashe, is emerging as a
serious contender in the complex and troubled succession stakes.

      Pretoria officials are urging the parties to adopt a more tactical
approach to the negotiations and focus on the prize of reconciliation, which
would allow the country to deal with its growing political and economic
crisis. With Mugabe already feeling growing international and African
pressure, government officials are hoping that the open line to the MDC will
assist in providing an incentive for Tsvangirai's opposition party to adopt
a more conciliatory tone in the negotiations.

      By Brian Latham

By Brian Latham

Harare - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has stolen Christmas. For most
of his people, Santa Claus will be a World Food Programme worker
distributing a basin of emergency maize meal this year.

Zimbabweans are experiencing their bleakest Yuletide. With hyperinflation
running at about 620 percent, the middle classes are reeling, while the poor
are struggling for survival, let alone any hint of good cheer.

As 2003 draws to a close, Zimbabwe's inflation threatens to rocket past the
four-digit figure in the coming months. Retailers in the capital Harare told
The Sunday Independent that sales were down to unprecedented levels.

"Sales are lower than even an ordinary month," said a shop manager in
Harare's normally bustling Westgate shopping mall. "There's no Christmas in
Zimbabwe this year."

Some mall shops have no customers at all, just days before Christmas. Even
basic necessities cost more than many employed people can afford. And with
unemployment at about 70 percent and rising, most Zimbabweans live in abject
poverty.

"There was a time when I could afford to buy nice presents," said one
shopper. "Those days are gone."

In a country where thousands of people earn as little as Z$50 000 a month
(about R47 on the black market) and a loaf of bread costs more than Z$3 000
(about R23 at the official exchange rate), many go without. Prices rise day
to day, often doubling month on month. Or worse.

"I ordered roofing timbers for my house two months ago and they quoted me
Z$4,5 million, but when the timber arrived this week the bill was more than
Z$16 million," said Harare resident Philip Mukwazi.

"Now I'm broke."

At Harare's refuse dumps, scores of bedraggled men, women and children move
systematically, like vultures, through foul-smelling rubbish, scratching for
food and anything that might be sold or bartered.

Food shortages have worsened the plight of all Zimbabweans, with mealie meal
in critically short supply. Empty supermarket shelves stand as stark
testimony to the economic and political crisis.

Even the supply of basics such as sugar, milk, bread and flour is at best
erratic. Cooking oil is now too expensive for many. Glum pensioners queue
patiently at shop tills. In their baskets a single egg, tomato and onion
show their plight.

"My pension is under Z$300 a month after 20 years of service," said retired
civil servant George Takawira. "The stamps on the envelope are worth more."

Takawira's pension works out to less than 28 South African cents on the
foreign currency black market, where Zimbabweans without party connections
are forced to change money. In the rural areas the situation is worse, with
5,5 million Zimbabweans, about half the population, dependent on emergency
food aid. United Nations organisations such as the World Food Programme
blame starvation in part on Mugabe's violent seizure of about 95 percent of
the country's farms.

Before 2000, Zimbabwe fed much of southern Africa and massive quantities of
fruit, vegetables and flowers were exported. Most of that has come to a
standstill, as hundreds of thousands of once-productive hectares now lie
idle.

That means most of Zimbabwe's rural poor will be dependent on food aid this
Christmas. The food comes largely from the United States, Britain and the
European Union, the very countries Mugabe accuses of trying to recolonise
Zimbabwe.

Already farmers warn that the escalating costs of fertiliser and seed,
coupled with fuel shortages, will dramatically increase the number of people
dependent on food aid.

Zimbabweans call their unenviable existence "Zimlife" and wonder when it
will end. With a small Christmas turkey costing up to Z$200 000, the middle
classes are opting for chicken.

But many of Zimbabwe's poor say they simply won't have Christmas this
year. - Independent Foreign Service

Australia has demanded a prompt investigation into the murder of a Perth man
in Zimbabwe.

Phillip Laing, who was working as an accountant on a British-owned tea
estate in Zimbabwe, was killed by armed bandits. There are reports acid was
poured down his throat and he was left chained to a tree in the bush.

He was abducted with seven colleagues from a plantation in the remote Honde
Valley. His murder coincides with an upsurge of repression and violence in
Zimbabwe and allegations the state-sponsored media is inciting hatred.

Mr Laing, 51, was chief accountant with Eastern Highlands Plantations and is
survived by a wife and two young children.

He was taken on Friday night and found dead the next morning. The cause of
his death had not been confirmed last night.

It was also too early to establish whether the attack was politically or
criminally motivated, a spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs
and Trade said. She could not confirm the fate, identity or race of the
others who were abducted.

"We have told the Zimbabwean Government that we want a prompt
investigation," she said. "We will continue to push that."

Australia's relations with the Zimbabwean Government are icy at best.
Australia led the successful push this month for Zimbabwe to remain
suspended from the Commonwealth.

That prompted Zimbabwe to leave the Commonwealth and was accompanied by a
volley of anti-white denunciations by Zimbabwe's President, Robert Mugabe.

Whether this hampers the investigation remains to be seen, but it will take
place against a backdrop of violent attacks on white farmers, many
masterminded by pro-Government forces.

Last month, Mr Mugabe sacked the governor of Manicaland, the province where
Mr Laing lived and worked.

The former governor, Oppah Ruchesa, was accused of being too friendly with
the handful of farmers still on their land in the region.

He was replaced with a retired military officer, Lieutenant-General Michael
Nyambuya.

Mr Mugabe's policy of forcibly removing white settlers has drawn global
condemnation and has contributed to the country's economic collapse.

The department spokeswoman said Mr Laing's wife had flown to Zimbabwe from
Perth along with close family members.

HARARE, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's opposition leader said on Sunday his
party would organise mass action against President Robert Mugabe's ruling
ZANU-PF party as part of efforts to bring the two sides to the negotiating
table.

"If ZANU-PF thinks we are begging (for talks) then they are in for a rude
shock," Morgan Tsvangirai, president of the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC), told reporters at the end of his party's two-day congress.

"We have not abandoned mass action. It is one of the things we will be doing
in 2004 as part of our efforts to bring ZANU-PF to the negotiating table,"
he said, adding that any agreement should ultimately result in fresh
elections.

Earlier in the week Tsvangirai backed a call from South African President
Thabo Mbeki -- in Zimbabwe for talks with the two leaders -- for
negotiations to resume.

Mbeki's surprise visit to Zimbabwe and comments that Mugabe could "assist"
South Africa by solving its own problems, drew sharp criticism from
prominent South African church leaders in a statement on Saturday.

"To remain silent any longer renders us complicit in the brutality being
visited by Zimbabwean authorities on their own citizens," said
Johannesburg-based church leaders, ranging across denominational boundaries.

"We are confused by the constant call for moral regeneration within our own
country by leaders who appear to defend or overlook moral corruption in
neighbouring states."

Mugabe is accused by critics of driving one of Africa's most prosperous
economies to its knees through mismanagement and persecution of political
opponents.

NOT WHETHER BUT WHEN

Tsvangirai, who on Saturday accused Mugabe of running the country "like a
foreign occupying force", said it was not a question of whether, but when
ZANU-PF would resume talks because it lacked any alternative to solving the
country's crisis.

"We have tried appeasement. We have tried to reduce tension during the last
quarter of this year (but) we have realised they are not sincere," he said.

The two parties have only engaged in informal and intermittent discussions
for more than a year, since Tsvangirai filed a court challenge against the
veteran leader's re-election last year in a poll condemned by Western powers
as fraudulent.

The MDC, formed in 1999 and now seen as the biggest threat to ZANU-PF,
controls just over a third of seats in Zimbabwe's 150-member parliament. But
it says it would have won power had it not been cheated of victory in
parliamentary elections in 2000 and the 2002 presidential poll.

Mugabe -- in power since independence from Britain in 1980 -- denies he
rigged the elections, and says the MDC is sponsored by Britain and other
Western powers angry with him for handing over white-owned farms to landless
blacks.

Unity is empty without dialogue—analysts
Mirror Reporter

Zimbabweans will tomorrow celebrate Unity Day, with low key celebrations
having been lined up throughout the country. Speeches will be made by
high-ranking officials at various centres, with a soccer match between
Highlanders and Dynamos in Harare being the highlight of the commemorations.

Unity Day has been placed on Zimbabwe’s calendar as a day to reflect on the
momentous occasion back on December 22, 1987 when former foes, President
Robert Mugabe—who then was prime minister—and the leader of PF Zapu, the
late Joshua Nkomo, stood up after having signed a document that brought Zanu
PF and PF Zapu together.

The two parties had since the early years of independence been sworn
enemies. Even though the rival parties agreed to enter a government of
national unity in 1980, having fought against colonial rule in a concerted
way, the arrangement fell through when the government of Mugabe said it had
evidence that PF Zapu was planning to depose Mugabe through military means.

State security claimed that the Matebeleland based PF Zapu had cached arms
on a farm in the province, and the state unleashed the North Korea-trained
fifth brigade in southwestern Zimbabwe.

The bloody civil war that followed resulted in several thousands of deaths
of mostly civilians who were being accused of harbouring pro-Zapu
dissidents. Some were killed by insurgents who accused them of siding with
the government.

But, as what happens in every war cycle, the leaders of both sides decided,
with the help of the late first president of Zimbabwe, Canaan Banana, to
talk peace, a process that culminated in the Unity Accord.

Many analysts hail the accord, saying it reversed the effects of
destabilising civil strife. They say the importance of the day can never be
overemphasised. However, they also argue, because of a changing political
landscape, there is need to revise the definition of the day.

“Every Zimbabwean worth his or her salt can never lose sight of the positive
results the Unity Accord brought to this country. At the height of the war
in Matebeleland and parts of the Midlands, the government was spending
millions of dollars to fight what it perceived as dissidents. However, when
the war ended, the money was channelled towards developmental projects,
among other things. “There was a lot of instability during the civil strife
but relative tranqility followed the accord, with brother shaking hands with
brother and Zimbabweans living a life that had much semblance to a family,”
he said.

He added: “We recognise the importance of celebrating the day the two
parties forged the unity document, as it reminds us of the importance of
facing current and future problems together. However, the political
landscape has changed a great deal over the years and there is need to do
some soul searching and redefine Unity Day,” he added. Observers say the
current political and economic crises, dating especially from 1999, are due
to instability caused by hostilities between the ruling Zanu PF and the main
opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

They say the hostilities might not bear the magnitude of the Matebeleland
disturbances of the 1980s, but the effects are almost the same, if not
worse, given the suffering that Zimbabweans are going through at the moment
because of the prevailing polarisation.

Half-hearted interparty dialogue efforts were made in March last year
following the initial suspension of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth. The club
had set as one of the conditions for Zimbabwe’s readmission, through the
Marlborough House statement, that the government end political hostility by
engaging the MDC.

The talks were however still born, with either side accusing the other of
negotiating in bad faith.

Zanu PF, on the one hand, being in government, might have felt that talks
were not their priority. The MDC, on the other, still had hope that they
would successfully use the courts to have the 2002 presidential elections of
last nullified, and perhaps have their president, Morgan Tsvangirai,
declared the winner.

With the court petition far from over, the MDC has made what many consider a
positive shift, emphasising the need for dialogue with Zanu PF.

Welshman Ncube, the MDC secretary general, in an interview ahead of the
party’s annual conference that ends today, said his party was prepared to
meet Mugabe “any time, anywhere” to chart the political way forward.

He also claimed that South African president, Thabo Mbeki, during a visit to
Zimbabwe last Thursday, explained that he had not put Tsvangirai on his
itinerary because “he realised that the problem, as far as interparty
dialogue is concerned, lies with Mugabe, who should be convinced to come to
the negotiating table”.

The MDC is also planning to combine with other civil and political movements
to force Mugabe and his lieutenants to start negotiating in the coming year.

Critics point out, as Ncube and the MDC are doing, that the government is
not doing enough to restart talks. Even though Mugabe has repeatedly claimed
that low-level dialogue is taking place, the critics say it is taking too
long to begin serious talks.

Said another analyst: “The groove we find ourselves stuck in, hence the need
to re-examine the concept of national unity, is that there is no progress,
despite high level international and local attempts at intervention, in
interparty dialogue.

“Without the talks that would bring back stability to the country, we cannot
not talk of unity. That is why to a large extent a lot of people are viewing
Unity Day and claims of national unity with contempt.”

      19 December 2003

      ZIMBABWE

      Reporters Without Borders calls for reopening of Daily News print
works

      Reporters Without Borders has strongly condemned the actions of
Zimbabwe police who sealed the print works of The Daily News on 19 December
to thwart attempts to resume publishing after a judge lifted a ban on the
paper earlier in the day.
      "The Zimbabwe authorities are determined to gag The Daily News at all
costs. Police intervention at the print works had the sole aim of preventing
a judgement given in favour of the newspaper being applied," said Robert
Ménard, secretary general of Reporters Without Borders. "We urge the
authorities to allow The Daily News and its print works to operate freely in
line with the court ruling," he added.
      The Bulawayo administrative court, presided by Judge Selo Nare, had
ruled that the privately-owned newspaper could resume publication.
      As soon as the decision was announced, the president of the Associated
Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) that publishes the newspaper, said that the
group's printing press was already rolling and that an edition of the
newspaper would be "on the streets of Harare from today."
      On 11 September, the Supreme Court declared the Daily News illegal
because it was not registered by the media and information commission as
required by the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).
The ANZ had refused to register the newspaper because it contested the
constitutional standing of the AIPPA.
      Police put the ruling into effect and closed the newspaper on 12
September, locking the premises. A few days later the security forces seized
without warrant dozens of computers belonging to ANZ. Between the end of
September and the end of October some 50 journalists and executives of the
Daily News were charged with illegally practising their profession.

      --

      Reporters sans frontières
      Bureau Afrique - Africa desk
      afrique@rsf.org, africa@rsf.org
      www.rsf.org

      Tel : 33 1 44 83 84 84
      Fax : 33 1 45 23 11 51
      5, rue Geoffroy-Marie
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