Zim Online
Fri 9 December 2005
HARARE -
Zimbabwean journalists, human rights lawyers and political
analysts last
night roundly condemned the government's seizure of top
journalist Trevor
Ncube's passport saying the move highlighted escalating
autocratic rule by
President Robert Mugabe in the face of a disintegrating
opposition.
The biggest representative body for journalists in
the country, the
Zimbabwe Union of Journalists, said it feared the seizure
of Ncube's travel
document could be the beginning of a "new wave of
government efforts to
silence the media and deny people the right to free
movement."
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
director Arnold Tsunga, said the
move by immigration authorities to seize a
citizen's passport was a
disgraceful act, adding that the government had "no
justification whatsoever
to take away Ncube's passport."
But
University of Zimbabwe political scientist and top government
critic, John
Makumbe, said the passport seizure - which comes only weeks
after Mugabe's
ruling ZANU PF party bolstered its grip on power with a
landslide victory in
a November 26 senate election - was not entirely
unexpected.
With the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change party
bickering and
disjointed, the seizure of Ncube's passport was meant as a
warning to the
media and other government critics on the price to pay for
opposing Mugabe
and ZANU PF.
He said "I think it is unfortunate but at the same
time expected . it
is part of the government's efforts to silence the
private media and other
critics. The media is always a difficult terrain for
any dictatorial regime
hence the efforts to try and silence
Ncube."
Ncube's passport was seized at the airport in Zimbabwe's
second
largest city of Bulawayo in the full glare of his family yesterday on
his
return from his base in South Africa.
Although the
government last August controversially amended Zimbabwe's
constitution to
allow it to withdraw travel documents from its citizens in
the "national
interest," it has not passed an Act of Parliament setting
specific
guidelines as to which offences warrant the withdrawal of
passports.
Human rights lawyers say the absence of specific
guidelines gave
immigration authorities too much and unacceptable power to
curtail the basic
freedom of movement of citizens. They also say the seizure
of passports is a
vindictive measure by Mugabe to punish
opponents.
A former editor of the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper,
Ncube now owns
the paper and its stable mate, the Standard. The papers are
among the few
remaining truly independent papers in Zimbabwe. Ncube's highly
regarded
South African title the Mail and Guardian, is a leading critic of
Mugabe's
rule.
The seizure of Ncube's passport is the first
time the Harare
government has taken the passport of a citizen since
changing the
constitution.
The government defends the new
passport seizure law as necessary to
curtail the movement of citizens who
campaign against the economic interests
of the country abroad by urging
foreign governments to impose sanctions on
Mugabe and his top
officials.
Mugabe, his wife Grace and top officials of his ruling
ZANU PF party
and government are under targeted visa and financial sanctions
from the
United States, European Union, New Zealand, Australia and
Switzerland.
The Western nations imposed the sanctions on Mugabe
and his
lieutenants as punishment for the failure to uphold democracy, rule
of law
and human rights.
But many more Zimbabwean journalists,
civic leaders and members of the
MDC are expected to have their passports
withdrawn after the seizure of
Ncube's travel document. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 9 December 2005
HARARE - A bleak festive season
beckons for crisis-sapped Zimbabweans
as pressure piles on prices of basic
commodities to increase - thanks to a
new round of fuel price hikes and an
anticipated surge in transportation
costs.
The price of fuel
went up in the past week in response to the
relaxation of import regulations
on the product announced by Finance
Minister Herbert Murerwa last
week.
Presenting his 2006 budget statement last Thursday, Murerwa
said the
Zimbabwean authorities would now allow private companies and
individuals to
import the product and aligned duty on fuel imports to the
ruling interbank
exchange rate.
This opened flood-gates as
private importers brought in the
commodity - in severe short supply since
March this year. A litre of petrol
now costs between Z$90 000 and Z$120 000,
up to five times the price fixed
by the government until last
week.
Prices of most basic commodities shot up this week in
sympathy with
the new fuel prices, with the cost of the staple maize-meal
rising from
around $175 000 for a five-kilogramme bag to $320 000 in the
space of a few
days.
Analysts this week warned that Zimbabweans
should brace for further
price shocks towards Christmas as the full effects
of the fuel price
increase sink in.
"When people have to pay
fuel at these levels it means people will end
with less and less money for
everything else" said Harare-based economic
analyst, John
Robertson.
He added: "Consumers will find it increasingly difficult
to find money
to buy food, to pay for health, education and other services -
but people
were already struggling, this fuel thing is just one of the many
problems
people have to face."
An economist with a Harare
commercial bank, who declined to be named,
concurred with Robertson saying:
"Naturally, we expect the prices of other
goods and services to respond to
the increases in fuel prices."
But the economist said the hike in
the price of fuel was no guarantee
that Zimbabwe's pumps would never run dry
again adding critical to
availability of fuel was the availability of hard
cash private importers
require to pay foreign oil firms.
He
noted that shortages of fuel were certain to persist for as long as
the
source of foreign currency remained the twin official channels of the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe-managed auction market and the inter-bank
market.
"For as long as the official sources of fuel are dry and it
is private
importers who are bringing in the commodity, we should expect
fuel prices
to continue rising in reaction to the depreciation of the
Zimbabwe dollar
and the increases in global oil prices but not much
improvement on the
availability of the commodity," he added.
The only other source of hard cash is the parallel market where the
exchange
rate depreciates every day and is seen worsening in coming weeks as
importers scrounge around for funds ahead of the annual shutdown to stock up
their operations with imported raw materials.
"I, therefore,
don't see things really improving in the short to
medium-term as long as the
real issues are not addressed," said the bank
economist, referring to the
restoration of investor confidence and
implementation of predictable
economic policies.
More hardships for poor Zimbabwean citizens are
expected to come from
the recent change in policy on carbon tax on motor
vehicles. According to
Murerwa, starting January 1 next year, Zimbabwean
drivers will now be
required to pay carbon tax on the use of their vehicles
based on fuel
consumption as compared to the current situation where the
levy is charged
based on engine capacity.
The new policy will
have the effect of increasing transportation
costs, with resultant increases
in prices of basic commodities and bus
fares. Already Zimbabweans are
struggling to survive on their meagre
salaries and cannot afford to demand
more pay from their over-stretched
employers.
Carbon tax is a
controversial tax introduced by President Robert
Mugabe's regime about two
years back as a levy on motor vehicle emissions.
Financial services
group Zimbabwe Financial Holdings (FINHOLD), in an
analysis of Murerwa's
budget, said the change in the way the carbon tax was
computed was likely to
raise the transport cost component of the consumer
price index used to
calculate the country's rate of inflation.
"Moreover, to the extent
that all goods have to be transported to the
market using vehicles that
consume fuel, the effect of such a change is to
raise the general price
level, resulting in a higher rate of inflation,"
said FINHOLD.
Analysts project that the latest round of price increases would push
the
country's annualised rate of inflation, already one of the highest in
the
world, beyond a record 700 percent by month-end. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 9 December 2005
HARARE - The Danish
owners of two farms near Harare have asked the
High Court to compel
President Robert Mugabe's government to uphold an
investment protection
agreement with Copenhagen by prohibiting a court judge
and a former soldier
from seizing portions of their farms.
In an application in which
State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa,
Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe
Mumbengegwi and Police Commissioner
Augustine Chihuri are cited as
respondents, the Danes want the court to
order the government to remove High
Court Judge Chinembiri Bhunu and George
Manhiwa from parts of their
Marirangwe and Aldington farms.
The application, which also cites
Bhunu, Manhiwa and Attorney General
Sobhuza Gula-Ndebele as respondents, was
filed on December 2. It has not yet
been set for hearing.
Bhunu
last month seized 269.67 hectares of land on Aldington while
Manhiwa took
205 hectares on Marirangwe. The two said they were taking the
land because
it was offered to them by the government in terms of the Land
Acquisition
Act that allows the state to seize white-owned farms for
redistribution to
blacks.
But the Danes, Lisbeth and Mads Kirk, argue in papers filed
with the
court that their farms cannot be expropriated or nationalised in
terms of a
1996 bilateral agreement between Zimbabwe and
Denmark.
In her affidavit to court, Lisbeth said Article 3 of the
agreement
obliged the Harare administration to give Danish investors "fair
and
equitable treatment.. encompassing basic right to protection of
investment."
She added that Article 5(1) of the same agreement
specifically
provided that investments and properties of investors from the
two
countries, "shall not be nationalised, expropriated or subjected to
measures
having effect equivalent to nationalisation or
expropriation."
The Kirks - whose appeal is the first time a
foreign investor has
attempted to challenge in court Harare's frequent
disregard of bilateral
commitments during its land redistribution exercise -
want the court to
nullify the seizure of their land by the state and to
order Bhunu and
Manhiwa off their farms.
Gula-Ndebele, the
government's chief lawyer, could not be reached
yesterday to establish how
the state would plead in court.
Mugabe's government has however in
the past publicly said it would
abide by all bilateral commitments although
on the ground allowing hordes of
its supporters to invade whatever farm they
so wished regardless of whether
it was covered by an investment protection
agreement.
And the seizure of portions of the two Danish-owned
dairy and crop
producing farms is part of a fresh wave of farm invasions
that has seen more
than 60 of the few remaining white farmers driven off
their land in the past
four months.
This, despite calls by
influential Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor
Gideon Gono and Finance
Minister Herbert Murerwa on farm invasions to stop
to allow the mainstay
agricultural sector to recover and spur economic
growth.
The
chaotic and often violent farm seizures that Mugabe says are meant
to
restore land to its original black owners from whom it was stolen by
white
colonialists have seen food production dropping by about 60 percent to
leave
Zimbabwe dependent on food aid over the past five years.
About
three million Zimbabweans or a quarter of the country's 12
million people
require more than a million tonnes of food between now and
the next harvest
around March/April 2006 or they will starve, according to
United Nations
estimates.
The farm seizures have also caused a flight of foreign
investors from
Zimbabwe, further compounding the country's six year economic
recession
initially triggered off by the 1999 withdrawal of financial
assistance by
the International Monetary Fund. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 9 December 2005
HARARE - Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) on
Thursday invited the government's
Sports Commission to help resolve problems
affecting the sport.
Speaking after a meeting of stakeholders to
discuss the current crisis
rocking the multi-billion dollar sport, ZC
vice-chairperson Ahmed Ebrahim
said the organisation had written to the
government commission asking it to
intervene to help restore
order.
"I have written a letter, to be delivered today, to the
Sports
Commission seeking their intervention and assistance," Ebrahim
said.
"I've highlighted a number of resolutions which I believe
should be
put in place, such as the call for a full forensic audit and also
for a
committee to manage the daily running of the institution
(ZC)."
ZC is going through turbulent times after chairman Peter
Chingoka and
managing director Ozias Bvute were arrested on allegations of
illegally
dealing in foreign currency.
The two have since been
released from police custody after Attorney
General Sobuza Gula-Ndebele
declined to prosecute, saying evidence gathered
by the police was not
watertight against the cricket officials.
Senior cricket players
including captain Tatenda Taibu, have also quit
the game in protest over the
leadership of Chingoka and Bvute whom they
accuse of gross mismanagement. -
ZimOnline
VOA
By Studio
7
Washington
08 December 2005
United Nations
humanitarian relief coordinator Jan Egeland returned from
Zimbabwe to U.N.
headquarters Thursday and reported progress with Harare on
expanding food
relief and AIDS care, but was unable to convince officials
including
President Robert Mugabe to let the U.N. set up tents to shelter
thousands of
displaced people.
"The humanitarian situation in the country is serious,
and it is worsening
as we speak," Mr. Egeland told the U.N. press corps. "It
is heartbreaking to
meet with AIDS orphans - there are a million of those
today in Zimbabwe. It
is heartbreaking to meet people who are fearing the
future because of food
insecurity which is affecting the majority of the
people - prices are
spiraling.as food is becoming increasingly
scarce."
His message to Harare was,"Help me help you help your people,"
said Mr.
Egeland of his talks with the president and other officials. He
cited
progress on the distribution of food and outreach to those living with
HIV
and AIDS, and on reducing bureaucratic obstacles which have serious
hindered
humanitarian workers in the country.
"We want now to try to
have a one-stop shop on the government side, a
one-stop shop within (the
U.N.) on the humanitarian side for the
nongovernmental organizations and
others who have had many obstacles in
their work in the country," he
said.
But he was unable to convince the government to reverse its stance
against
erecting tents as temporary shelter for the many thousands left
homeless by
the demolition of shantytowns and other structures deemed
illegal from late
May onward.
"It is incomprehensible that they tore
down tents which we put up in
October," he said. "We hope now we should be
able to work more freely in
lifting shelter standards as and when we can."
But Mr. Mugabe was "very
against tents," and officials generally "believe
that tents give an
impression that there is a crisis in the
country."
"I tried to explain that we use tents in Europe, we use (them)
in North
America, we use (them) all over Asia, and it is the first stage in
a
three-stage shelter program," moving on to pre-fabricated temporary
shelters
and in time to permanent construction. But he said that at the
current rate,
this progression could take "decades" in
Zimbabwe.
Despite having issued tough statements to journalists on his
way back to the
U.N. - London's Guardian newspaper quoted him as saying the
Harare officials
responsible for the demolition campaign should face
criminal prosecution -
Mr. Egeland took a relatively diplomatic tack in his
briefing to the
international press in New York.
U.N. sources said
Mr. Egeland was to brief the Security Council on Dec. 19
and make
recommendations which could include sanctions if Harare should
continue to
obstruct international efforts to relieve Zimbabwe's millions of
homeless
and hungry.
The Telegraph
By Peta Thornycroft
in Harare
(Filed: 09/12/2005)
Zimbabwe's opposition party has
collapsed into bitter division and vicious
infighting, leaving President
Robert Mugabe unchallenged despite the ruin
that he has brought on his
country.
The Movement for Democratic Change, which in 2000 came close to
toppling the
octogenarian leader and has for years suffered at the hands of
thugs, is now
doing Mr Mugabe's dirty work for him.
The Daily
Telegraph has spoken to victims of the party's violent civil war,
including
Bekithemba Nyati, who lost an eye during an attack by a mob from a
rival
faction.
Mr Nyati, 26, who joined the MDC when it was launched in late
1999, was set
upon while guarding a stadium in the second city, Bulawayo,
ahead of a rally
by Morgan Tsvangirai, the party president.
"I was at
the main gate and it was after midnight when about 100 youths
entered the
stadium," he said.
"They grabbed me and put a padlock on the gate and
trapped me. I whistled to
call for help so they pushed me to the ground and
smashed my head and face
with a log.
"I was bleeding all over and
when they ran away I went out of the stadium to
some houses nearby for water
and help.
"I heard them running around looking for me so I went back into
the street
and started walking to a clinic. The police arrived and took me
to
hospital."
Three days later his right eye was removed in a clinic.
"They told me that
my eye was so damaged that my brain would be affected if
it wasn't taken
out," said Mr Nyati, a messenger with a law firm, who is
married with two
young children. Today he will be measured for a glass
eye.
"I am feeling fine but unhappy that the MDC is so divided and that I
was
attacked by party members, all of them from my home city,
Bulawayo."
Police arrested 18 MDC members that night who were released
two days later
without having to pay bail.
Two days before Mr Nyati
came within an inch of his life, another MDC
activist, Samuel Musaka, had
his front teeth knocked out by an MDC member.
Mr Musaka told police that
he was assaulted by Gibson Sibanda, a driver for
the party's
vice-president.
Last Sunday, Timothy Mubhawu, an MDC MP for Mabvuku, a
working-class
constituency on the eastern edge of Harare, was attacked by
youths attending
a rally addressed by Mr Tsvangirai.
"I was sitting
at the top table waiting for the rally to begin and a member,
who is known
to me, called me aside and asked to speak to me," said Mr
Mubhawu.
"I
went with him and he and three others started beating me up and I had to
leave. They must be expelled."
At the same rally a group of activists
burned T-shirts with a printed
picture of a senior member who had been
attacked by party youths six weeks
ago when leaving the MDC's national
headquarters in Harare.
The first violent incident of note occurred 14
months ago when Peter Guhu,
the party's director of security, was brutally
assaulted by youths after he
attempted to clean up the party's
affairs.
In May another eight members were whipped and trampled on by
youths in the
party's boardroom. Youths suspended for that violence were
subsequently
reinstated. The party's disintegration into two main factions
followed
bitter rows over the recent elections for a second tier of
government, the
senate.
Mr Tsvangirai and his supporters believed
that participation in the poll was
futile. The other faction, unofficially
led by Welshman Ncube, the party's
secretary-general, said the MDC had no
option but to fight elections to
defend its political space.
Mr
Ncube's group only managed to field 26 candidates for 50 contested seats,
and lost all but seven, giving the ruling Zanu-PF a huge
majority.
His faction had emerged as a force in the party out of
frustration with Mr
Tsvangirai's leadership, and out of tribal rivalry. Mr
Ncube is from the
Ndebele tribe, Mr Tsvangirai is Shona.
Last week
the rival groups tore up the party's constitution to try to vote
out each
other's members. Different people are taking their dispute for
adjudication
to courts presided over by judges appointed by Mr Mugabe, who
have been
instrumental in keeping the MDC in its place.
In the 2000 elections, the
party nearly defeated Zanu-PF in what was widely
held to be a rigged
election. Since that defeat it has struggled to find a
coherent strategy to
oppose Mr Mugabe's iron rule. David Coltart, the MDC
legal secretary, has
remained neutral but is not trusted by either faction.
He has refused to
sanction party funds to provide legal aid to those
arrested in connection
with the attacks.
Mr Coltart has called on the MDC's disciplinary
committee - which last week
tried to suspend Mr Tsvangirai from his post,
accusing him of violating the
party's constitution - to investigate the
incidents of violence.
"When violence is not checked it is like letting
the genie out of the
bottle," said Mr Coltart. "It is deeply
distressing."
News24
09/12/2005 01:18 -
(SA)
New York - Zimbabwe will need decades to build new shelter for
the estimated
700 000 people left homeless by President Robert Mugabe's
slum-destruction
campaign, the UN humanitarian chief said
Thursday.
The government will soon finish building 5 500 homes for police
and
government officials.
But it had torn down tents erected by UN
workers and doesn't want any more
built, relief co-ordinator Jan Egeland
said soon after returning from a trip
to Zimbabwe.
"They believe that
tents give the impression that there is a crisis in the
country," Egeland
said.
"In Zimbabwe, with the speed they have now, it will take decades"
to put
people in permanent housing.
Mugabe's government vehemently
denies UN claims that the slum-destruction
campaign, begun with little
warning on May 19, has caused a crisis in
Zimbabwe.
It claims the
campaign, named Operation Murambatsvina, or Clean Out Trash,
is an
urban-renewal drive.
Egeland said he had made clear in his meetings with
Mugabe and other top
officials that the evictions had contributed to a
larger crisis in Zimbabwe,
where food shortages are getting worse, prices
are rising and 40% of adults
have HIV.
"We believe it was one of the
worst things at the worst possible moment in
Zimbabwe," Egeland
said.
Yet there was some progress, Egeland said.
The government
will allow the United Nations to build 2 500 semi-permanent
structures to
house some evicted.
The government also agreed to cut some obstacles to
doing humanitarian work,
and will give the World Food Programme greater
access to rural areas.
"If we work together we can break the vicious
circle, and I hope we are now
turning a corner in this regard in Zimbabwe,"
Egeland said.
In July, a UN envoy released a report that condemned the
government for the
campaign, calling it a "disastrous venture" and demanding
that those
responsible be punished.
Egeland said he stood by the
findings of the envoy, Anna Tibaijuka, and
stressed that he had reiterated
that support to the government.
Zimbabwean officials have rejected it and
accused Tibaijuka of bias.
"It's always a principle I have that I am as
frank and open with the
government representatives as I am with the media,"
Egeland said.
"We stand by Anna Tibaijuka's report from A to Z."
Mail and Guardian
Godwin Gandu
| Harare
09 December 2005 06:00
Zimbabwe's notorious Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) is
running amok
in the Midlands province, allegedly terrorising supporters of
the yet to be
launched United People's Movement.
The party is an initiative
of former Zanu-PF members who fell
out of favour with the ruling party.
President Robert Mugabe's erstwhile
spin doctor Jonathan Moyo and former
central committee member Pearson
Mbalekwa are its only public figures.
Several political commentators,
academics and business people have been
linked to the party but have thus
far not publicly declared their
association.
Mbalekwa this week told the Mail & Guardian
that the CIO has
hounded the United People's Movement (UPM) and made it
difficult for the
party to "organise". He claims a UPM official in the
Midlands province was
arrested and taken to the CIO headquarters in Gweru on
November 15 for
setting up party structures.
"It was a
harrowing ordeal. He was severely tortured and
beaten," Mbalekwa
lamented.
In the small asbestos mining town of Zvishavane,
about 120km
south of Gweru, another party organiser had gone into hiding
after the CIO
inquired about his whereabouts.
Intelligence Minister Didymus Mutasa did not respond to several
requests for
comment.
The first sign of the government's interest in the
UPM came at
an election rally two weeks before the Senate poll, when Mugabe
dismissed
the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) as "dead and
buried" and
warned ruling party supporters to "stay away from
Mbalekwa".
"He [Mugabe] is aware that with the demise of the
MDC and the
divisions he is aware of within Zanu-PF, a good chunk of our
supporters
would be from Zanu-PF because the majority of its membership is
sick and
tired of the way he is ruining the economy," Mbalekwa
said.
According to the Zanu-PF defector, the UPM has its
origins in
the Tsholotsho gathering last year that was aimed at ratcheting
up support
for Rural Housing Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa's failed bid for
the Zanu-PF
vice-presidency.
Mnangagwa, long touted as
the brains behind the UPM, this week
again denied links to the party and
threatened the Zanu-PF Midlands
coordinating committee in his home province
with expulsion if they
associated with the UPM. His rebuke comes just days
before the annual
Zanu-PF congress scheduled for this
weekend.
Mbalekwa ditched Zanu-PF in May over the
controversial Operation
Murambatsvina that the United Nations estimates left
700 000 families
homeless. A former CIO operative himself, he bemoaned the
ruling party
turning "state institutions into Zanu-PF
instruments".
"It is not the role of the CIO to go around
harassing civilians.
Zim-babwe is supposed to be an independent state but
the lack of freedom is
manifesting itself in the fear Zimbabweans have today
of the army, CIO and
the police, the same instruments that are supposed to
safeguard their
freedom. They are independent but not free," Mbalekwa
asserted.
Asked why he thought people would support his party
in view of
the CIO crackdown Mbalekwa said: "We expected that . knowing how
Zanu-PF has
been operating in the past. We know Zimbabweans have gone beyond
the culture
of fear."
The Telegraph
By David
Blair, Africa Correspondent
(Filed: 09/12/2005)
The political struggle
is over in Zimbabwe and President Robert Mugabe has
won.
The decline
of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change into a
squabbling rabble
crowns a remarkable run of triumphs for the old dictator.
With his opponents
falling over themselves to commit political suicide, Mr
Mugabe's grip on
power is more secure now than for most of the last decade.
Only death or
voluntary retirement will end his reign.
Any visions of a popular
uprising sweeping Mr Mugabe away are pipe-dreams.
Instead, he is free to
plan his future.
The outlines of what will unfold in the next few years
are clear. Mr Mugabe,
81, has promised to stand down when his term ends in
2008. With the
opposition prostrate before him, there is no reason to break
this pledge.
He will retire to a lavish mansion, designed in the style of
a grand Chinese
pagoda, in the most affluent corner of the capital,
Harare.
A deferential dauphin has already emerged. Mr Mugabe's successor
will, in
all likelihood, be Joyce Mujuru, the new vice-president. No
dictator could
possibly hand over to a more pliant, loyal and malleable
figure.
Mrs Mujuru is an intellectually limited woman, who has risen
through the
ranks of the ruling Zanu-PF party precisely because she lacks
any
discernible ability.
Her only distinction is that during the war
against white Rhodesia in the
1970s, Mrs Mujuru was known as "Comrade Spill
Blood".
Her husband, Solomon, is a retired general and former army
commander. She
will take orders from him and from Mr Mugabe.
The
despot will retire, secure in the knowledge that no one will investigate
the
atrocities of his blood-soaked rule or probe his involvement in
countless
corruption scandals.
Mr Mugabe has even shaken off the international
pressure provoked by his
misrule. In any event, Mr Mugabe does not care what
the West thinks of him.
The only outside power capable of forcing his
hand is South Africa. But
President Thabo Mbeki has consistently refused to
use this leverage.
Even Britain, once his leading critic, has fallen
silent. Christopher Dell,
the US ambassador in Harare, regularly exposes the
regime's excesses.
But nothing is heard from Rod Pullen, the British
ambassador. He probably
calculates that any public criticism would allow Mr
Mugabe to play the
anti-colonial card.
But the old tyrant does this
anyway - and Britain's failure to speak out
amounts to a surrender to
intimidation.
Meanwhile, Zimbabweans endure an economic collapse on a
scale almost unknown
in peacetime history.
Inflation runs at 411 per
cent and at least one third of the economy has
been wiped out since
2000.
The contrast with 1980 could not be greater. Then, he inherited one
of
Africa's most developed countries with a sophisticated, diverse
economy.
At first, Mr Mugabe earned fulsome international praise with his
message of
racial reconciliation. His economic management was cautious and
pragmatic.
Yet lurking behind everything was his absolute determination to
hold power
at whatever cost.
When he felt threatened in the 1980s by
the late Joshua Nkomo, the leader of
the minority Ndebele tribe, Mr Mugabe
launched a brutal campaign of
repression, killing thousands.
His
response to the emergence of the MDC was predictably violent. The
tragedy is
that repression worked.
Mr Mugabe's triumph is Zimbabwe's
catastrophe.
The Telegraph
By David Blair in
Johannesburg and Peta Thornycroft in Harare
(Filed:
09/12/2005)
Thousands of people are sleeping in the open because
President Robert Mugabe
has refused to take tents from the United Nations
for those left homeless by
his demolition of the poorest
townships.
Mr Mugabe declined to accept any temporary shelters when he
met Jan Egeland,
the UN under-secretary for humanitarian affairs.
Mr
Egeland was visiting Zimbabwe to assess the aftermath of the bulldozing
of
"illegal structures" in the townships, which destroyed the homes or
livelihoods of about 700,000 people.
"The situation is very serious
in Zimbabwe when life expectancy goes from
more than 60 years to just over
30 years in a 15-year span," said Mr
Egeland. "It's not just a crisis - it's
a meltdown."
He cited Aids, food shortages and the "total collapse in
social services".
Mr Mugabe, having razed swathes of housing earlier this
year, called on the
UN to fund new homes for those left without
shelter.
But he refused to accept tents, even though they could be
provided quickly,
and demanded permanent homes.
"We are not Arabs,"
he is said to have told Mr Egeland during talks in
Harare.
The
president's official spokesman, George Charamba, said tents were
contrary to
Zimbabwe's culture. "We are not a tents people. We believe in
houses," he
said.
However, many victims of the demolitions have no shelter at all.
John
Mawire, 30, lost his home and depends on food from aid agencies to
support
his two sons, Kudzayi, eight, and Newman, five.
"I just want
a hand from whoever can help," he said.
The business where he once worked
in the township of Mbare was also
bulldozed, depriving Mr Mawire of his
livelihood.
"I am happy if I could have a tent," he said. "We want the
donors to give us
a tent, or money for building materials to rebuild our
cabin."
Mr Egeland pointed out that the UN provided tents in humanitarian
emergencies all over the world.
He said: "If they are good enough for
people in Europe and the US who have
lost their houses, why are they not
good enough for Zimbabwe?"
SABC
December
09, 2005, 06:30
A group of flying instructors from Zimbabwe, who will
assist with basic
flying training in South Africa, will start their work in
February.
Carlo Gagiano, the chief of the South African Air Force (SAAF),
said this
while speaking at a parade ceremony at the Langebaanweg Air Force
Base on
the Cape West Coast.
The two Sadec countries recently signed
a memorandum of understanding with
regards to flying training. Gagiano says
the Zimbabwean flying instructors
can play a meaninful role in transforming
the SAAF.
Zim Daily
Friday, December 09 2005 @ 01:06 AM
GMT
Contributed by: correspondent
The
five-star Sheraton Hotel in Harare faces closure amid
reports that the US
franchisor Starwood refused to extend the management
contract beyond
December 31. One of the three biggest and most prestigious
hotels in
Zimbabwe, the Sheraton Harare is managed on contract by United
States of
America-based Starwood Hotels, the owners of the Sheraton
brand.
Sources close to the developments said the hotel lost
the
franchise because it has regularly failed to pay management and
franchise
fees. The five-star hotel is owned by Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG),
a company
in which the government of Zimbabwe has 17 percent stake. A Libyan
investment firm, Lafico-fca, holds 14.1 percent and French hotel operator,
Accor-Afrique, controls 34.61 percent of the Group. Local investors own the
remainder. Zimdaily understands that Starwood Hotels' management contract
was signed in 1993. RTG chairman Ibbo Mandaza confirmed that the hotel had
lost the franchise but denied that RTG was losing the contract because of
deferred payment of management fees.
"Remember there has
been some recession experienced in the
tourism industry. Yes it is true that
we had an accumulation of management
fees to Starwood, but we cleared that
earlier this year," Mandaza said.
Zimdaily heard that the bill had ballooned
to US$1 million over four years.
Mandaza however conceded that since the
decline of the tourism industry in
2000, RTG, which has been operating under
international brands and
franchises, has experienced difficulties in
generating both local and
foreign currency to pay management fees for the
brands. Mandaza said the
hotel has suffered from low occupancy rates and
reduced revenues since
recession gripped the local tourism industry four
years ago.
Once the fastest growing economic sector, tourism
nosedived as
foreign visitors cancelled bookings fearing political violence
and
lawlessness in the country. Mandaza expressed the hope that RTG would
continue running the hotel once it resolved its financial difficulties,
saying the company had sought help from top authorities: "We have engaged
the highest levels of monetary policy authorities and government who are
assisting us to deploy solutions which are sustainable and mutually
acceptable to all concerned."
Pleading with international
creditors to be patient with
defaulting Zimbabwean companies in his most
recent monetary policy review,
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor
Gideon Gono said: "My appeal to
creditors is that they should give these
companies sufficient time to pay
their obligations without taking actions
that might in the end disadvantage
both parties." Gono has led efforts to
persuade millions of Zimbabweans
living and working abroad to send home hard
cash, which is needed to help
companies such as Sheraton Harare meet their
foreign debt commitments. But
the governor last month admitted that his
efforts have so far failed to
yield much. Mandaza said the hotel has seen an
increase in operational costs
and profits stymied by the current economic
problems, blighting virtually
every sector of the economy. Recently the US
government trawled sanctions
against Harare over increasing human rights
violations.
The Herald
(Harare)
December 8, 2005
Posted to the web December 8,
2005
Harare
THIRTY-SEVEN Zimbabwean business executives, legal
practitioners and
academics have been added to the list of Government
officials barred from
either visiting or dealing with that country in a
development that has
baffled many.
The Australian government, through
its central bank, on November 30, 2005,
released an expanded list of 127
"ministers and officials" under the
targeted sanctions.
"At the
direction of the Australian Government, the Reserve Bank (of
Australia) has
expanded the list of individuals restricted by these
financial sanctions to
include new members of, and persons associated with,
the Government of
Zimbabwe.
"All transactions involving the transfer of funds to, by the
order of, or on
behalf of such persons are prohibited," reads a statement
from the bank's
media office based in Sydney.
The Australian Embassy
in Harare was evasive as at first it indicated that
responsible authorities
were locked up in a meeting and later said no-one
could comment.
They
referred this paper to the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Among surprising
inclusions is publisher and journalist Trevor Ncube, who
owns The Standard
and The Independent, two of the country's private
weeklies, and the Mail and
Guardian of South Africa, which are all critical
of the
Government.
Some business people added to the list include Dr Eric Bloch
who sits on the
Reserve Bank Advisory board, Infrastructure Development Bank
chief executive
Charles Chikaura, public transport operator Ben Mucheche,
prominent Chegutu
farmer Kenneth Musanhi, Finhold chief executive Elisha
Mushayakarara and
Dairibord chief executive and Confederation of Zimbabwe
Industries immediate
past president Antony Mandiwanza.
Zimbabwe
Commercial Farmers Union president Mr Davison Mugabe is also on the
list
together with Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce president Mr Luxon
Zembe
and Standard Chartered Bank chief executive Mr Washington
Matsaira.
Zimbabwe Tobacco Association immediate past president Mr Duncan
Miller,
Zimbabwe Development Bank chief executive Mr Cornelius Maradza, Zesa
Holdings corporate communications director Mr Obert Nyatanga, Ziscosteel
chief executive Dr Gabriel Masanga, Minerals Marketing Corporation of
Zimbabwe chief executive Mr Onesimo Moyo, Zimbabwe Tourism Authority
chairman Mr Emmanuel Fundira and prominent banker Enoch Kamushinda are also
included on the list.
Economist and farmer Mr Jonathan Kadzura has
also been roped in together
with chartered accountant Mr Ngoni Kudenga, Zesa
Holdings chief Dr Sydney
Gata, academic and former diplomat Professor George
Kahari, National Foods
managing director Mr Ian Kind, RBZ board member Mrs
Grace Slava Chella and
Mrs Rudo Faranisi.
Fugitive academic turned
banker Dr Mthuli Ncube has also been included on
the list even though he
fled the country last year when his Barbican
Holdings faced
collapse.
Ministry of Finance accountant-general Ms Judith Madzorera has
also been
included on the list together with Agribank managing director Mr
Sam Malaba
and Zimbabwe Revenue Authority chair-man Dr Gibson
Mandishona.
Legal practitioner and chairman of the National Social
Security Authority Mr
Edwin Manikai has also not been spared, as is the case
with former Air
Zimbabwe boss Mr Rambai Chingwena and ex-Central African
Building Society
(CABS) boss Mr Graham Hollick.
RBZ Governor Dr
Gideon Gono, who is also on the list, said he remained
unaffected by this
development.
"There are too many challenges to preoccupy my mind in this
economy beyond
worrying about where I am welcome or not.
"As I have
said before, no amount of pain and suffering imposed on me, my
team and my
family is too much pain to endure in my quest to contribute to
the
turnaround of this country's economy.
"History and the people of Zimbabwe
alone will judge whether my efforts are
detrimental to the well-being of
this country," said Dr Gono.
The head of the RBZ media office Mr Kumbirai
Nhongo said the statement from
the Reserve Bank of Australia's media office
was unfortunate.
"It will be inappropriate for me to comment on the
quality of operations of
other central banks. All I can say is that as
central banks we have norms of
behaviour which preclude us from attacking
one another and I will not be the
first to be drawn to comment on such
issues," he said.
Business people were caught by surprise as previously,
travel or financial
sanctions have targeted politicians and Government
officials.
Many said they were surprised by the fact that their names
were on the list,
some fell short of dismissing the report as
fictitious.
"Are you sure that my name appears on the list? I have not
had a chance to
look at it," asked Mr Miller.
Hwange Colliery Company
managing director Dr Godfrey Dzinomwa could not
believe that his name formed
part of the list.
"Am I really on the list?" he asked. "Well if my name
appears on that list
there is no justification whatsoever.
"They
think that anyone who is in the forefront in the revival of the
economy is
their enemy."
Mr Mandiwanza described the new addition of business people
onto the list as
"nonsensical".
"It is a desperate action by the
Australian government and I do not care
about my inclusion on the list since
we do not do any business with
Australia.
"I do not understand the
criteria they used to come up with the list and as
far as I am concerned I
would not challenge them if they think I have to be
on the list," he
added.
Mr Nyatanga could not believe that he had been included on the
list for
targeted sanctions.
"I do not think it is me. However, if
that is the case they should know that
we work to implement Government
policy because that is what we are there
for.
"If there is anything
that Government does with the Australians that
benefits the country we also
benefit and that is why I say our duty is to
implement Government's
policy.
"Zesa is in the energy sector and it does not do any business
with
Australia.
"As such, the only people that matter to us in that
respect are Asians where
Government has adopted the Look East Policy," said
Mr Nyatanga.
Dr Bloch said his inclusion was based on the fact that he is
one of the
advisors to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon
Gono.
"I am still considering whether I should make a representation to
the
Australian government but I believe in doing what I can to turnaround
the
economy.
"My involvement is not political and it is out of my
concern for the poor,"
said Dr Bloch.
Australia's actions are,
apparently, desperate attempts to rope in the
business community in its war
with Harare with the ultimate objective of
achieving destabilisation and
regime change in this country.
It was also puzzling to note that the
target sanctions, previously
restricted to black Zimbabweans believed to be
active in keeping the present
Government in power, have been extended to
whites believed to be assisting
the country's economic revival
efforts.
The list, which was updated on November 24 according to the
statement,
contains gross anomalies that have left many doubting the
authenticity of
the Australian government's source of
information.
For instance, Dr Bloch is said to be 24 years old, having
been born in 1981
according to the list while RBZ's legal chief Mr Fortune
Chasi is said to
have been born on November 17 1980.
Vice President
Mujuru is still being referred to as the Minister of Water
Resources while
some who are now late, such as businessman and former Harare
Mayor Mr
Solomon Tawengwa have been included on the sanctions list.
Email: jag@mango.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Please
send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
jag@mango.zw with "For Open Letter Forum" in the
subject
line.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
1:
Dear JAG,
Good progress has been made with the preparation of
my paper. To those who
have responded to my call for help my grateful
thanks. To those who
haven't I would welcome your point of view as to what
should be done to
address the situation in Zimbabwe.
Today Fiona and I
move to Bournemouth. Our computer will be switched off
at about 0900 GMT
this morning. Once reconnected I will advise details of
my new email
address.
Best
wishes.
Jeremy
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
2:
Dear Family and Friends,
Having just come to terms with writing
cheques using millions of dollars,
working out how many zeroes to add and
being very careful about counting
digits on the ends of prices before I
purchase things, this week all that
carefully accumulated knowledge became
rather pointless. I spent one
afternoon this week listening to the Minister
of Finance presenting
Zimbabwe's 2006 budget. Millions were gone completely
and all the figures
were billions and trillions. I sort of lost the thread
right near the
beginning of the budget presentation when I heard the
announcement that the
national football team had been allocated 10 billion
dollars. I already
have to consult my dictionary to work out how many
millions make a billion
but when I tried to tap in ten billion dollars to see
how much each player
may get, it didn't work. My calculator has only got
enough digit spaces for
nine billion and after that it reverts to gobbledy
gook and so I just sat
in stunned open mouthed silence listening to next
years budget.
It looks like the way things are going in Zimbabwe, and the
speed at which
they are getting there, I might not have to worry about how
many zeroes to
add to get billions after all. A lot of the numbers being used
in the
budget this week were in trillions and unless some clever cookie
invents a
bigger calculator, hey, I'm out! My dictionary tells me that a
trillion is
a million million but that until quite recently it used to be a
million,
million, million - either way there are just too many zeroes and my
head
spins in dizzy circles trying to understand it all.
It wasn't
just numbers getting my head spinning this week but also quite a
large number
of words. The Minister of Finance announced that agriculture
had declined by
12.8% in 2005 but that this would change dramatically and
agriculture would
increase by 14% in 2006. He said: "Government is
committed to enforce utmost
discipline in the agricultural sector. Any
disruption of farming activities
is not in the national interest and will
not be tolerated." This statement
was met with jeers, scornful laughter and
derisive comments by MP's in the
House. It comes at a time when commercial
farming continues to be the most
dangerous and uncertain occupation in a
country where millions of people go
to bed hungry every day. In the last
three months over 60 commercial farmers
have been thrown off their
properties; last week a commercial farmer in
Harare West was murdered and a
dairy farm in Beatrice which produces nine
thousand litres of milk a day
was besieged by none other than a High Court
Judge who demanded the owners
leave as this was now his farm. Nine thousand
litres of milk, by the way,
at last week's price, was worth 270 million
dollars a day - no wonder his
Honour wanted the farm! So, the Minister's
stern words are painfully hollow
because without political backing,
enforcement at all levels from the
bottom right up to the top and plain and
clear instructions to Zimbabwe's
police - and judges - they are mere words.
What a shame words don't fill
tummies.
Zimbabwe's budget in 2007 will,
by all accounts have to be in Zillions and
I shudder at the thought because
my dictionary doesn't define a zillion it
just says it is an "indefinite
large number." Oops.
Until next week, love cathy.
Copyright cathy
buckle 3rd December 2005.
http://africantears.netfirms.com
My
books "African Tears" and "Beyond Tears" are available from:
orders@africabookcentre.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
3:
DEAR FRIENDS OF BALLY VAUGHAN,
Thank you for your support,
patronage and interest, particularly over the
last few trying years. Without
you, we certainly could not have made it so
far!!
This note serves to
clarify the position at Bally Vaughan Farm, in answer
to numerous queries we
have received from various folk, over the last few
months.
Bally
Vaughan Game Park was built up over 20 years by Kathie and the late
Robin
McIntosh, as a pioneering, non-consumptive wild life project, on
land
considered at the time to be waste land. A scenic 1000 acre game
park
dotted with massive whale-back granite domes was stocked with 22 species
of
wild life, including buffalo and elephant, and a 12 bed luxury
lodge
established in the game park, named Mwanga Lodge after a
magnificent
indigenous hardwood tree species in the area.
As Robin had
such a passion for wild life, he was constantly taking on
orphaned or
endangered wild life, and caring for them in a growing
menagerie around the
main homestead. Soon, it became necessary to establish
a bird and animal
sanctuary specifically to cope for needy animals and
birds. Thus Robin and
Kathy chose a portion of the game farm just below
Mermaid's Pool, which was
ideal for the various orphaned animals and
especially water fowl. The
sanctuary was named the Bally Vaughan Bird and
Game Sanctuary, and to it was
added a Restaurant (The Duck and Grouse
Restaurant) and Fast Food outlet (
The Gazebo ), to serve visitors. This
facility has become a very popular
retreat for families and groups over
weekends, where an opportunity is
afforded to tour a sanctuary filled with
fascinating creatures ranging from
peacocks, to lions. An affordable gate
fee covers access to the
sanctuary.
Robin McIntosh's death in September 1999, took us all by
surprise. He was a
dynamic farmer with a passion for wild life, and virtually
single-handedly
built up and ran a multi-faceted farming and wild life
operation, on Bally
Vaughan. His sudden passing, posed a serious challenge to
the future of
Bally Vaughan! Then in January 2000, Kathie called upon the
assistance of
her daughter, Debbie ( a fully qualified Professional Guide,
and teacher )
and son-in-law Gordon ( ex National Parks Warden for just under
20yrs, and
Professional Hunter ) Putterill, to assist in managing wild life
and
tourism operations on Bally Vaughan. Greatly compounding the loss of
the
"head and organizer of operations" in Robin, came the upheavals since
2000,
which are known to us all, the details of which, I shall omit for
now.
As an ex " Zoo Keeper ", attempting to step somewhat, into such a
capable
man's shoes as Robin, greatly raised my respect for and admiration of
his
sheer talents, capabilities and energies! It has also done the same for
my
appreciation of those many highly capable, adaptable, determined
and
industrious folk, loosely referred to as "Farmers " for so many years of
my
life!
A welcome development to the situation at Bally Vaughan, was
the
involvement and contributions being made to the needs of our
orphaned,
injured or newborn members of the "menagerie" by Sarah Carter.
Sarah's
extra-ordinary patience, love and management of animals needing "high
care"
has been remarkable. And it is thanks to her efforts that many of
the
wonderful characters on display at the Bird and Game Sanctuary, are
there
at all! One notable example is Khan, the young male leopard born on
the
farm, and hand raised in Sarah's home! Sarah used to help with our
orphaned
wild life on a part time basis, but has now come on board full time,
( a
welcome development! ) and is operating the Bally Vaughan Bird and
Game
Sanctuary under lease.
The long and the short of it all is that
Bally Vaughan Game Park / Mwanga
Lodge, and Bally Vaughan Bird and Game
Sanctuary is still on the map, and
is still functioning! We have a great team
on board, and look forward to
making progress / further contributions both to
conservation and animal
welfare, and to providing an inspiring natural
retreat to all the folk who
visit us and support us, "far from the maddening
crowd".
The first rains have fallen, and the game park is under-going a
miraculous
transformation from a barren dry landscape, to a vibrant green
vista
replete with swirling flocks of European Bee Eaters, and newborn
zebra
foals "finding their feet" in a brave new world. Experience it in
style
from the comfort of Mwanga Lodge, or explore it on a day safari. The
view
from an elephant back ride will never leave you.
We are only 40km
from Harare! By visiting our Bird and Game Sanctuary, or
joining us on a day
safari or over night experience at Mwanga Lodge, your
contribution will help
support the needs of a vast array of wild life here
at Bally Vaughan. Plus,
we offer a great wild life experience to boot!
Gordon and Debbie
Putterill
BALLY VAUGHAN
gamepark@mango.zw
www.ballyvaughan.co.zw
Contact
:-
Sarah Carter
Bally Vaughan Bird and Game Sanctuary
www.ballyvaughan.co.zw
or
:
Janet
Mwanga Lodge
gamepark@mango.zw
Tel:
04-776341
--------------------------------------------------------------------
All
letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions
of the
submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for
Agriculture.
The Herald
(Harare)
December 8, 2005
Posted to the web December 8,
2005
Harare
ERRATIC coal supplies are hampering tobacco curing
with some farmers
resorting to firewood, thereby compromising the quality of
tobacco that
should only be cured by either washed coal peas or coal
cobbles.
Agriculture Minister Dr Joseph Made yesterday said A2 farmers
with tobacco
ready for curing were desperate.
"I am pleading on
behalf of the farmers that here we are, way behind again,
without the
necessary material that would enable our farmers to properly
cure their
tobacco and come up with a high quality product," Dr Made said.
He said,
once again the blame was on his ministry when in actual fact some
A2 farmers
were failing to maximise production owing to factors ranging from
lack of
commitment by some commercial banks to finance the farmers and
dragging of
feet by other supporting sectors.
Hwange Colliery Company acting
marketing and public relations manager Mr
Mandla Mangena yesterday confirmed
that there had been problems in the
mining of coal owing to servicing of the
dragline.
"The dragline is now back from service and we are now making
our usual
production and supplies to the farmers," Mr Mangena
said.
He attributed the slow supply of coal to farmers to few wagons to
ferry the
coal to designated points countrywide.
"On average we load
up to 15 wagons a day and sometimes as less as five
wagons. Each wagon
carries 40 tonnes of coal."
Mr Mangena said at least 120 wagons were
needed to adequately cater for all
the farmers in the country.
"We
are producing over 6 000 tonnes of coal per day and it is enough for the
country's daily needs in various sectors that include electricity and for
hospitals if there are modes to transport the commodity."
Dr Made
said agriculture remained the mainstay of the country's economy,
hence the
need to always question the actions of some people and sectors who
seemed
not to understand the importance of the land reform programme.
He said
although there were bound to be hurdles along the way, all
stakeholders
needed to show commitment by understanding the plight of
farmers and
supplying inputs such as fertiliser and providing tillage on
time.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president Mr Davison Mugabe
said farmers
were supposed to access coal through commercial banks which
directly pay
Hwange Colliery.
"There is no coal and the bulk of
commercial farmers are financing their own
activities," Mr Mugabe said.
The Herald (Harare)
December 8,
2005
Posted to the web December 8, 2005
Harare
FUEL prices have
shot up to $120 000 per litre as oil companies are now
openly selling
privately-imported diesel and petrol on the market.
Official fuel prices
increases were last effected in September from $10 000
for petrol to $22 300
and $20 800 a litre for diesel, up from $9 600 per
litre.
The
gazetted prices have however become uneconomic owing to the fall in the
value of the Zimbabwe dollar which is now trading at $73 000 to the
greenback.
Some fuel companies are selling the commodity using a
complicated system of
coupons while others are openly accepting
cash.
Other oil companies were awaiting cheap Government fuel supplies at
the
regulated prices of around $20 000 per litre and were not sure whether
the
authorities had given suppliers the green light to charge their own
market
prices.
It is understood that most companies were using last
week's sentiments by
the Minister of Finance Dr Herbert Murerwa that it was
"critical that market
pricing mechanisms be embraced, which are central to
ensuring the viability
of industry, as well as the well-being of consumers"
to mean that there were
no more price controls.
Dr Murerwa said this
would bring back most products that had disappeared
from the formal market
but were finding their way onto the black market.
It is also understood
that the latest increases in the price of fuel were
necessitated by the cost
of importing the commodity.
Government relaxed conditions of importing
fuel to allow local companies as
well as individuals to make direct
imports.
The Minister of Energy and Power Development, Lieutenant General
Michael
Nyambuya, could not be reached for comment last
night.
However, an official at the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe said
the new
prices were meant to recover the full cost of importing the
fuel.
"There has not been any price increases as far as we are concerned.
They
(filling stations) are charging the prices to recover their costs of
importing the fuel into the country," said the official, who declined to be
named.
A survey carried out by The Herald yesterday showed that some
service
stations run by Exor, Royal Oil and Mobil were selling fuel at
between $100
000 and $120 000 a litre.
According to an attendant at
Exor in Kamfinsa, they were importing their own
fuel and supplies were
steadily coming into the country.
However, they were only selling the
commodity to motorists who wanted 20
litres or more. For 20 litres one has
to fork out $2,4 million.
"Fuel is abundant here and if you want you can
buy your coupons and get as
many litres as you want.
"Even if you
want to fill up drums, it's up to you," the attendant said.
At a Mobil
filling station along Mutare Road, fuel was readily available and
was being
sold at $110 000 a litre.
There were no queues at the filling stations
visited yesterday. A handful of
motorists could be observed filling their
tanks.
Zimbabwe has been facing fuel shortages owing to the
unavailability of
foreign currency arising mostly from the constraints of
the illegal
sanctions imposed by some Western countries.
At present,
the country imports refined petroleum products.
Fuel imports account for
up to 25 percent of the country's total annual
import
receipts.
According to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the country is
estimated to earn
US$1,96 billion from exports, of which US$500 million goes
towards fuel
imports.
The Herald
(Harare)
December 8, 2005
Posted to the web December 8,
2005
Fidelis Munyoro
Harare
GOKWE, Zimbabwe's prime cotton
growing area, is facing acute transport,
water, health and communication
problems because of poor infrastructure
which is hampering development in
the area.
Poor road network is causing much suffering to people in Kana,
Mbungu and
Ndandura in Gokwe South as there are no buses plying theses
routes.
The same acute transport shortage is experienced in Zumba,
Mashame, Sikwiti
and Choda in the northern part of Gokwe as some bridges
that collapsed over
the past years are still to be repaired.
In an
interview with The Herald recently, Chief Mkoka, Mr Wilson Nkomo,
expressed
concern over lack of development in the area.
Chief Mkoka said the most
disturbing thing was the death of sick people,
especially pregnant women and
those attacked by malaria, on ox-drawn carts
on their way to Kana Mission
Hospital, the only health facility for the
entire community.
The
buses which used to ply the Gokwe-Kana route pulled out in October last
year
and people were now using lorries which rarely come to the area because
of
poor roads.
"In most cases people spend three to four days waiting for
transport which
is hard to come by," said Chief Mkoka.
"People are
forced to use the slow ox-drawn carts to take their sick
relatives to Kana
Mission Hospital for treatment, but the sad thing is that
a number of them
are dying on their way."
Chief Mkoka said the poor infrastructure has
caused many teachers to abandon
the area while clinics were being run by
unqualified staff who always refer
the sick to the Roman Catholic-run Kana
Mission Hospital for treatment. The
chief called on the Government, through
District Development Fund, to
intervene and ensure that the roads are
repaired.
He said Gokwe, if given enough support, has the capacity to
produce enough
maize to feed the whole nation and cotton to earn the country
a substantial
amount of foreign currency.
In Chireya, people are
forced to fork out $200 000 to travel a distance of
20 kilometres by lorries
whose drivers take advantage of the acute transport
shortage to charge
exorbitant fares.
Gokwe-Chireya legislator Cde Leonard Chikomba and the
DDF have so far
donated over 300 bags of cement to repair Katsvanzva Bridge
linking Zumba,
Madzivazvido, Mashame and Choda.
The Herald (Harare)
December 8,
2005
Posted to the web December 8, 2005
Harare
FOUNDING
editor-in-chief and chief executive of the Zimbabwe Mirror
Newspaper Group
(ZMNG) Dr Ibbo Mandaza was yesterday issued with a fresh
letter to suspend
him soon after collecting his court order that allowed him
to go back to
work.
Dr Mandaza had on Tuesday won a reprieve to continue work at the
ZMNG after
High Court judge Justice Bharat Patel declared his suspension
null and void.
The order was only signed yesterday and when Dr Mandaza
collected it, his
joy ended prematurely after the newspaper group handed him
a fresh
suspension letter.
Justice Patel had nullified the previous
suspension letter on the basis that
it was defective because it did not
specify the grounds for Dr Mandaza's
suspension.
ZMNG vice chairman
Mr John Marangwanda said the board had now issued and
served Dr Mandaza with
a fresh letter of suspension that specified the
grounds for his
suspension.
"The grounds are... three counts of fraud. Act or conduct
inconsistent with
the fulfillment of the express or implied conditions of
his employment as
chief executive officer and editor-in-chief and willful
disobedience to a
lawful order given by the employer," he said.
"All
this has been done because we as the employer have reasons to believe
that
acts of misconduct have been committed and that we will take this
matter to
its logical conclusion in terms of the Labour Relations
regulations."
When contacted for comment, Dr Mandaza's lawyer Mr
Joseph Mandizha of
Mandizha and Company said they were in the process of
considering the letter
of suspension.
Mr Mandizha said his client
would shortly be going back to court for
redress.
He said the letter
of suspension handed over to Dr Mandaza yesterday invited
his client to
resign.
In his order, Justice Patel said: "Respondents and all their
agents and
directors as the case may be, be and are hereby interdicted,
prohibited and
restrained from holding or continuing any disciplinary
proceedings with
respect to applicant's unlawful suspension."
Dr
Mandaza said the action by the company board to issue him with the fresh
letter of suspension was a clear breach of the court order.
Accra Mail (Accra)
December 7,
2005
Posted to the web December 8, 2005
No bird flu risk for
consumers from properly cooked poultry and eggs Chicken
and other poultry
are safe to eat if cooked properly, according to a joint
statement by the UN
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World
Health Organization
(WHO) issued to national food safety authorities.
However, no birds from
flocks with disease should enter the food chain.
FAO/WHO made the
statement to clarify food safety issues in relation to the
current avian
influenza crisis. The statement has been issued through the
International
Food Safety Authorities Network (INFOSAN).
In areas where there is no
avian influenza outbreak in poultry, there is no
risk that consumers will be
exposed to the virus via the handling or
consumption of poultry or poultry
products.
Cooking of poultry (e.g. chicken, ducks, geese, turkeys and
guinea-fowl) at
or above 70°Celsius throughout the product, so that
absolutely no meat
remains raw and red, is a safe measure to kill the H5N1
virus in areas with
outbreaks in poultry, FAO/WHO said.
This ensures
that there is no active virus remaining if the live bird has
been infected
and has mistakenly entered the food chain. To date, there is
no
epidemiological evidence that people have become infected after eating
contaminated poultry meat that has been properly
cooked.
Poultry
From the information currently available, a large
number of confirmed human
cases of avian influenza acquired their infection
during the home
slaughtering and subsequent handling of diseased or dead
birds prior to
cooking. FAO and WHO emphasize that in the process of killing
and preparing
a live bird for food, slaughtering poses the greatest risk of
passing the
virus from infected or diseased birds to humans.
Most
strains of avian influenza virus are mainly found in the respiratory
and
gastrointestinal tracts of infected birds, and not in meat. However,
highly
pathogenic viruses, such as the H5N1 strain, spread to virtually all
parts
of an infected bird, including meat. Proper cooking at temperatures at
or
above 70°C in all parts of the product will inactivate the virus.
When a
diseased bird is slaughtered, defeathered and eviscerated, virus from
the
bird can transfer to humans through direct contact. Infected poultry
excrete
virus in their secretions and faeces. Exposure might also occur when
the
virus is inhaled through dust and possibly through contact with surfaces
contaminated with the virus.
In areas where marketing of live birds
is common, the practices of home
slaughtering, defeathering, and
eviscerating increase the exposure to
potentially contaminated parts of a
chicken. These practices therefore
result in a significant risk of infection
in areas with outbreaks in
poultry.
It is not always possible to
differentiate infected and non-infected birds
in outbreak areas. Some avian
species, such as domestic ducks, may harbour
the virus without displaying
symptoms. Therefore, people need to be fully
informed about preventive
measures, including the use of protective
equipment. The practice of
slaughtering and eating infected birds, whether
diseased or already dead,
must be stopped, FAO and WHO warn. These birds
should also not be used for
animal feed.
Even in areas or countries where outbreaks are currently
occurring, the
likelihood of infected poultry entering an industrialized
slaughtering and
processing chain, and eventually being marketed and handled
by a consumer or
a restaurant worker, is considered to be very low, FAO/WHO
said. Good
hygienic practices during preparation and cooking poultry at
temperatures of
70°C or above will further contribute to the safety of
cooked poultry meat.
Proper vaccination of domestic poultry is considered
to be a useful tool as
part of an overall integrated strategy for the
control of Highly Pathogenic
Avian Influenza. It must be implemented in
accordance with existing
standards and procedures for vaccination. With
appropriate monitoring
programs in place, vaccinated poultry can enter the
food chain without
particular risk for the
consumer.
Eggs
Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus can be
found inside and on the
surface of eggs laid by infected birds. Although
sick birds will normally
stop producing eggs, eggs laid in the early phase
of the disease could
contain viruses in the egg-white and yolk as well as on
the surface of the
shell.
Proper cooking inactivates the virus
present inside the eggs. Pasteurization
used by industry for liquid egg
products is also effective in inactivating
the virus.
Eggs from areas
with outbreaks in poultry should not be consumed raw or
partially cooked
(i.e., with runny yolk), FAO/WHO advise. To date, there is
no
epidemiological evidence to suggest that people have been infected with
avian influenza by consumption of eggs or egg products.
Recommended
good hygienic practices to reduce exposure to the virus in areas
with
outbreaks in poultry
-No birds from flocks with disease should enter the
food chain.
-Do not eat raw poultry parts, including raw blood, or raw
eggs in or from
areas with outbreaks in poultry.
-Separate raw meat
from cooked or ready-to-eat foods to avoid contamination.
Do not use the
same chopping board or the same knife. Do not handle both raw
and cooked
foods without washing your hands in between and do not place
cooked meat
back on the same plate or surface it was on prior to cooking. Do
not use raw
or soft-boiled eggs in food preparations that will not be heat
treated or
cooked.
-Keep clean and wash your hands. After handling frozen or thawed
raw poultry
or eggs, wash your hands thoroughly with soap. Wash and
disinfect all
surfaces and utensils that have been in contact with the raw
meat.
-Cook thoroughly: Thorough cooking of poultry meat will inactivate
the
virus. Either ensure that the poultry meat reaches 70°C at the centre
of
the product ("piping" hot) or that the meat is not pink in any part. Egg
yolks should not be runny or liquid.
SABC
December
09, 2005, 07:45
Trevor Ncube, the owner and publisher of the Mail &
Guardian in Zimbabwe,
says he is considering legal steps after his passport
was confiscated upon
landing in Bulawayo.
The Zimbabwean government
has barred him from returning to South Africa.
The confiscation of
Ncube's passport is based on recent constitutional
amendments which allow
the withdrawal of citizenship from those the
government deems to be "harming
the country's interests".
Ncube says government has made a list of
enemies of the state.
Washington Times
By Betsy
Pisik
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
December 9, 2005
NEW YORK -- The
U.N. official in charge of humanitarian relief yesterday
described a
four-day visit to Zimbabwe as "heartbreaking" and expressed
frustration with
the government's handling of crises in food, housing and
AIDS.
Although the government of President Robert Mugabe had begun to erect
permanent shelters and seek outside assistance, aid director Jan Egeland
said the effort was far too little to accommodate the desperation he saw in
the cities of Harare and Bulawayo.
"Zimbabwe is in a deep crisis,"
Mr. Egeland told reporters. "There are
millions of people with their backs
to the wall trying to feed themselves."
Inflation is up to 400 percent,
while food stocks in Zimbabwe, once the
marketbasket of southern Africa, are
dwindling. Power and water shortages
are increasing. Life expectancy has
dropped from 60 years to 32, Mr. Egeland
said.
He described
grandmothers caring for AIDS orphans, and families living
in open fields and
in shelters fashioned out of branches and plastic
sheeting. Still others
have crowded into the homes of friends or family,
creating desperate health
and sanitation conditions.
The United Nations put up tents, but the
government tore them down in
October, Mr. Egeland said, because the tents
created the appearance of a
crisis.
Additionally, U.N. and other aid
groups have been unable to penetrate
overlapping layers of red tape to
deliver emergency supplies and erect tents
and sanitation.
"At the
speed they have now, it will take decades to put people in
permanent
shelter," he said.
Human rights groups and aid organizations also have
criticized the
government, saying it has tried to coerce people to leave the
cities and
relocate to the country, where jobs and government services are
scarce.
In May, Mr. Mugabe ordered soldiers and police to begin tearing
down
shantytowns and many marketplaces, leaving more than 700,000 already
impoverished Zimbabweans homeless or jobless.
Another 2 million have
been affected by the program, which the
government describes as urban
renewal and others characterize as a brutal
effort to consolidate political
power and punish the urban areas that
supported rival parties in the last
election.
A U.N. report on Zimbabwe's Operation Sweep Out Trash said the
springtime destruction "was carried out in an indiscriminate and unjustified
manner, with indifference to human suffering and, in repeated cases, with
disregard to several provisions of national and international law."