February 09, 2003 Mugabe bends minds in hatred camps Christina Lamb,
Manicaland
_____________________________________________________________________________
THE
title of the first lesson was Patriotism. It began with raised-fist salutes and
chanted slogans in praise of ³Great Leader Robert Mugabe² and ended with
denunciations of Britain¹s prime minister.
³Tony Blair is a pig and we
don¹t want to associate with the pig and his gay playmates,² the class was told.
Later they learnt how to strangle enemies of the state with their
shoelaces.
Such classes, taught by uneducated war veterans from the
ruling Zanu-PF and attended by teachers against their will, are Mugabe¹s latest
and most insidious weapon against his own people in the country where the
England cricket team is scheduled to play in the World Cup this week. The
players were meeting today to decide whether to boycott the match on moral and
security grounds.
In the past few weeks hundreds of teachers in the
central highveld and eastern highlands of Zimbabwe have been rounded up and sent
to ³reorientation² camps.
Having used his youth militia to beat
opponents, rig elections, deny food aid to supporters of the rival Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) and rape their wives and daughters, Mugabe is now trying
to brainwash the population through a sinister re-education of
teachers.
Myheart Muusha, 31, was so disgusted that he escaped from his
camp. A gentle, soft-spoken man, his decision means a life on the run, leaving
the woman he loved and the end of a teaching career which made his family so
proud that his father cried at his graduation from teacher training
college.
Trembling with fear, he met me secretly last week and gave the
first account of life inside what he termed the ³terror camps². It seemed a
world apart from the scene at the Harare Sports Club yesterday where gardeners
were putting the final touches to the manicured emerald cricket pitch awaiting
the England team.
Just two blocks away in court A of the old colonial
High Court building, Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, is on trial for his life
on what he says are ³trumped-up charges² of plotting to assassinate
Mugabe.
Less than a mile up the road, behind Harare station, Aids orphans
are trying to catch sparrows to cook. According to the World Food Programme, 7m
of Zimbabwe¹s 11m population are threatened with starvation and 2,500 are dying
each week of Aids and hunger.
Travelling undercover, I met torture
victims and teachers who emphasised that Muusha¹s account of repression is the
reality of life for millions of rural Zimbabweans.
³The ruling party
wants a situation where everything is militarised and Zanu-ised,² said
Takavafiria Zhou, president of the Progressive Teachers Union for Manicaland
province, from where many of the teachers have been taken.
³They want us
to sleep Zanu, breathe Zanu, live on Zanu food and tell our children that there
is nothing on earth apart from Zanu. It¹s pure propaganda.²
For Muusha,
the nightmare began when he returned from his holidays on January 14 to his job
as science teacher at Vumbunu secondary school in Mutasa to be told that he had
been selected, along with 10 others, for an ³in-service programme² to teach some
new syllabus material.
³I knew it was something bad,² he said. ³Mugabe is
suspicious of teachers because many of us support the MDC and we carry a lot of
weight in the community. For the past three years his thugs have come into our
school and beaten us, making us chant slogans in front of the pupils.
³We
were scared to punish any students in case they reported us to the local
Zanu-PF.²
Muusha and his colleagues were piled on to an army truck and
driven to Nyadzi with about 30 teachers from other schools. It was made clear
that this was not an optional course.
³We knew what these people are
capable of,² he said. ³There was an American called Richard Gillman who had
started helping our school, bringing in textbooks and raising money so we could
have electricity, but the Zanu people kept telling us to keep away from the
white man.²
Gillman was shot dead by police at a roadblock last November,
supposedly because he did not have his papers.
When the teachers arrived
at the camp they were ordered to remove their clothes and were given camouflage
gear and army boots. They were told that these had belonged to the fallen heroes
of Zimbabwe¹s liberation. ³They lined us up and told us, OYou are misinforming
the pupils,¹ ² said Muusha.
³They said, OYou are not teaching but
cheating and now you must learn to be responsible citizens who place the flag
and our fallen heroes at the forefront of our history.¹ ²
Then they asked
the teachers how many meals they wanted to eat a day. ³We said three,² recounted
Muusha. ³They asked why people are eating only one, so we replied, OBecause
there¹s no foreign currency, so no food.¹ They said, ONo, it¹s because of Blair
and Tsvangirai, these are the people who are vandalising the economy and must be
stopped.¹ ²
They were woken at 4am for 25-mile road runs with soldiers
who beat them if they lagged behind. Lessons started at 8am when they were
taught that Comrade Mugabe, Comrade Castro and Comrade Gadaffi were the true
leaders and that Blair was spearheading a movement to destroy
Zimbabwe.
³Between each class we were made to shout OForward with Mugabe¹
and ODown with MDC¹ and ODown with Blair¹. They kept asking us what the colours
of the Zimbabwean flag represent and the names of the war heroes. If you don¹t
know they call you a traitor.²
One of the textbooks was a Book of Fallen
Heroes which included Chenjerai ³Hitler² Hunzvi, the man behind the violent
invasions of white farms that began in 2000, and Border Gezi, a top Mugabe
lieutenant who set up training camps for the youth militia, known as the Green
Bombers, responsible for some of the worst atrocities.
They were also
shown videos of white South African police setting dogs on blacks. ³It was all
incredibly racist, anti-white,² said Muusha. ³They said we should not talk about
football or music but about the struggle and how the British have dispossessed
us. They told us about Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden and said they are doing the right
thing.²
For Muusha, the last straw came when ³they showed us how to kill
by striking someone on the back of the neck just behind the ear with a heavy
object and to strangle them with shoelaces so you wouldn¹t be detected.² He
fled.
³Now my job is gone and if they capture me I¹m dead,² he said. ³We
were told if you run away that¹s equivalent to treason.² Although petrified, he
insisted that his name be published. ³I had been proud to be a teacher,² he
added, sadly. ³I wanted to educate children to be a source of enlightenment, but
now it¹s all spoilt. The whole education system is destroyed.²
Similar
experiences were described by Memory, a primary school teacher I met late one
night in the village home of a traditional healer; and by Barnabas, another
teacher who had fled the camp and who talked to me in a safe house in
Mutare.
They were picked up last month by police and members of Mugabe¹s
feared Central Intelligence Organisation, with lists of names. ³There was no
choice,² said Memory. ³If you said no that means you don¹t support the
government.²
He was taken to Mushagashi Training Centre in Masvingo.
³They called it nationalism but it was Zanu-isation,² he said. ³It was complete
indoctrination. They said many teachers have been inclined to the opposition so
it was time we learnt the Otruth¹ about politics.²
The teachers were made
to go on 3am runs, followed by history lectures presenting Mugabe as a great
leader thwarted by the evil British.
³On the first day they showed us a
shocking video of dead bodies during the liberation war and said, OThis was the
work of the British, they killed your brothers and sisters and now they are
trying to do the same thing.¹ ²
The course defended Mugabe¹s land reform
programme which has seen 3,800 of 4,300 white commercial farmers thrown off
their property.
³They said it was to empower the blacks but the British
came in to derail the process and used the MDC as their stooges,² recounted
Memory. ³We were told the British want to recolonise and it is the duty of every
Zimbabwean to defend the sovereignty of the nation.²
At the end they
received a Certificate of National Service and a copy of Mugabe¹s Little Book
extolling the president¹s policies and achievements. They were instructed to go
back to their community and spy on other teachers and pupils and to give a
weekly report to the local Zanu-PF chairman.
³Teachers in rural areas are
very influential because the population are uneducated and poor and so go to the
teachers for advice,² explained Roy Bennett, an opposition MP from Chimanimani,
one of the areas from which teachers have been forced to go on the
courses.
³Teachers being independent spoil Mugabe¹s communist thing of
controlling everybody. But if they think they can take people for three weeks
and steal their minds they must be real idiots.²
The courses are part of
an attack on education that has seen European history scrapped from the syllabus
to be replaced by ³current history², and war veterans sitting on interview
boards to select teachers. Newspaper advertisements for teachers now state:
³Preference will be given to National Service graduates.²
It is all part
of life in Mugabe¹s Zimbabwe, a topsy-turvy world where people buy black market
petrol from rose sellers in restaurants rather than queue for nine hours at
filling stations; where the shelves of supermarkets are full of lavatory paper
and empty of foodstuffs, but where taxi drivers sell bread and meat; and where
personal banking officers in state banks will change money at 20 times the
official rate.
The surrealism was illustrated last Thursday by a
demonstration of people waving palm leaves and placards saying ³No
Cricket².
Surprised to see demonstrators < they are banned < I
asked who they were and why they were protesting. After a while one of them
admitted they were plainclothes policemen holding a pretend demonstration to
attract real protesters so they could lock them up. The true threat to Mugabe
may come from within his own party. Rumours persist of Emerson Mnangagwa, his
Zanu-PF protégé, and Lieutenant-General Vitalis Zvinavashe, the army chief,
trying to broker a deal with the opposition that would see Mugabe exiled to
Malaysia.
Another indication that all is not well in Mugabe¹s world comes
from the increasing number of people prepared to risk their lives to speak
out.
³So many of our educated people have gone,² said Barnabas. ³Some of
us must stay and fight. Every story has a beginning and an end and the end must
be Morgan Tsvangirai becoming president and me being a teacher again.²
timesonline.co.uk
Zimbabwe imports 700 tractors for tobacco growers [Source: Xinhua News
Agency
- CEIS]
Source: B&W NewsReal, 2003-02-05
Intro: Zimbabwe has
imported 700 tractors for tobacco growers, local media
reported on
Wednesday.
The country's Tobacco Growers Trust general manager Thomas Nherera
said here
that it is the first time for the trust to have imported tractors
for use by
tobacco farmers since it founded in 2001.
The tractors,
which are expected to arrive in Zimbabwe next month, have been
imported from
France, Italy, Czech Republic and India, he said.
P O Box AC 610
Ascot,
BULAWAYO
February 8, 2003
The Editor,
The Daily News,
BULAWAYO
Sir,
We are
concerned by the ongoing attempts of the Government to present the Land
Resettlement Exercise as successful and complete and that Law and Order reigns
in Commercial farming areas. This is certainly not the case in any part of our
district or to our knowledge in the rest of Matabeleland.
Although some
fortunate party chefs have profited enormously from the theft of crops and
equipment remaining behind after farmers have been forcibly thrown off their
properties, there have been no stunning success stories to emanate from our A2
settlers. Many of those allocated these supposedly commercially sized pieces of
land abandoned them without any endeavour whatsoever to produce anything at
all. A1 settlers have over the past three years studiously worked to recreate
what they left behind in the communal lands and have been singularly successful
in this regard. Fires started to clear new lands regularly spread out of
control often with devastating consequences. Newly built homes were destroyed,
sometimes twice. This required the provision of further poles so more trees
were felled. The free pole bonanza was too good to pass up and further
devastation was caused supplying building materials to the sceptical in the
Communal areas who did not believe they could occupy another person's property
in perpetuity and thus did not take up the plots on offer. Vast areas of the
Province have been reduced to a denuded state vulnerable to the ravages of the
weather. No soil protection measures have been put in place. It is indeed
remarkable that so much environmental damage has been caused in so short a
time. There was a requirement that all beneficiaries had to demonstrate their
bona fides by clearing the pieces of land allocated to them. This they did in
spite of being in Regions Four and Five that pretty well guarantees that no
rain dependant crop of consequence is ever produced. Last year yields were
abysmal and this year seems only marginally better. No industrialised country
has ever fed itself on peasant subsistence agriculture. We fail to see why Zimbabwe
thinks things will be different here.
Gullible people
took up their A1 plots and awaited the arrival of the Promised Land. It did not
materialize. No provision had been made in the installation of any
infrastructure and in most cases the settlers depended entirely on the supply
of water, for instance, from the farm owner whose property they occupied. No
symbiotic relationship existed and when the title deed holder was unable to
remain the services left with him. Originally settlers were accorded priority
in the distribution of food and initially deliveries arrived fairly often.
Sadly, perhaps as a result of the nil contribution made by the Resettlement
Programme, deliveries have effectively ceased. NGOs do not make food aid
available to those occupying private land but do assist those in need in
Communal areas. This has added to the disillusionment and semi abandonment of
some of the plots. Presently only some two thirds of A1 settlers maintain a
full time presence on the farms, the rest visit periodically, if at all.
It is our
considered opinion that no A1 settler is any wealthier today than he was when
called upon to split his limited resources and duplicate his Communal home on a
farm. He has spent the last three years impoverishing himself, his family back
home and the unfortunate farmer whose property he was promised would make him
rich. The Communal land system whilst being an effective sponge to suck up
excess population from towns and elsewhere and provide a precarious existence
to those who live there, has never made anyone wealthy. It seems
incomprehensible that any rational being would want to duplicate and expand a
system that had demonstrated so convincingly an inability to produce anything
other than poverty and land degradation.
Many are there
who have exhausted their financial resources in the implementation of the
Resettlement Dream, never once stopping to question its feasibility. Now,
unwittingly captured and locked yet again into the poverty trap from which they
were promised release there is no choice but to scavenge to stay alive. And so
the cycle repeats itself swallowing wealth instead of generating it. This is
the reason US $2500 Sable antelope [each worth the equivalent of ZW$4 250 000
which could buy 300 young steers or a good second hand tractor!] are destroyed
for food. So much for the success of the programme.
We are told the
programme is complete yet every Friday further properties are listed for
ruination. On rare occasions another previously overlooked nest egg of crops,
livestock or game, is discovered and then the harassment starts afresh and
continues until the owner is dispossessed. There are no holds barred ~ use is
made of "the law", the
police, and if these fail violence in all its myriad forms is employed. The end
result is poverty and starvation that is already occurring amongst displaced
workers and those who can no longer find food to buy in their areas. Does
completion only come about when all the wildlife is gone, all equipment
pillaged, and development that took years to build is reduced to rubble and
famine has killed the whole population?
We hear that
Law and Order has been restored. How can this be so when it was the police in
the company of the police Support Unit who went around chasing away farm workers
and confiscating farm keys? The police who in spite of orders from the Courts
refused to reverse those illegal instructions? Nor would they return the keys
improperly acquired. How can this be so when farmers are obliged to apply to
the High Court to have police officers imprisoned for refusing to carry out
orders of that court? How so when criminal charges are withdrawn countrywide
yet farmers may still not return to their homes? How so when our subverted
police force has the authority to decide what is "crime" as opposed
to what is "political"? When our police refuse to prosecute any act
that in any other country is clearly criminal as long as it is perpetrated in
the name of the party? How can there be Law and Order when even now in spite of
High Court orders farmers are still being arrested, harassed and thrown off
their properties without any legal eviction order?
How can we have
Law and Order when people are dispossessed of their property ostensibly in
terms of the Land Acquisition Act yet no compensation payable in terms of that
legislation is forthcoming? Not only that, properties conceded several years
ago, and taken and occupied by government, have still not been paid for.
Inescapably,
the Resettlement Programme is no success, nor can it ever be complete until
destruction and death is total, nor can there ever be Law and Order when the
exercise is based on extortion and theft. Nor should anyone be fooled into
believing that it is irreversible.
The inevitable
results of this destructive policy are now being visited upon Industry and
Commerce. The destruction wrought on commercial agriculture is eating its
insidious way through the rest of our economy and inexorably will continue
until all is destroyed.
It is high time
this stupidity ceases. The fast track Land Resettlement Programme should be
abandoned immediately and proper Law and Order reinstated now. There is only
one way to minimise the magnitude of the humanitarian disaster inflicted by
this murderous policy. That is to resuscitate what remains of Commercial
Agriculture and encourage the industry to grow as much food as possible. The
longer we wait the worse the catastrophe will become!
Yours
faithfully
C. M. JARRETT
NYAMANDHLOVU
FARMERS ASSOCIATION.
Two aspects MUST be considered by anyone with Zimbabwe,
its 13 million people and the environment including the fauna and
flora.
Zimbabwe is now a Police state led by a desperate
dictator who is prepared to destroy the country rather than lose power.
Because if he loses power he will stand trial for
genocide, human rights abuse and murder. So his options are simple as are those
of the England Cricket team
BBC reported - England's cricket team options are
simple - play the game or forfeit the points.
BBC interviewed a South African senior police officer
who said - he has faith in the Zimbabwe Police being able to contain the
situation. - Sadam's police are also able to contain the situation in Iraq - of
course they will in a POLICE state.
The Zimbabwe cricket union has NOT been open and
transparent in the sale of tickets.
Take the following into consideration as a scenario
- Mugabe and ZANU PF are desperate -
- Zimbabwe is a defacto Police State led by a desperate
regime clutching at power to stay out of the international court of
justice.
- The police, army and CIO under the TOTAL control of
Mugabe are acting against their own people.
- Mugabe desperately needs some form of recognition and
desperately wants to blame MDC and Morgan for his problems.
- What better way than to cause a disruption at the
cricket - he is the ONLY one with the unimpeded access to weapons etc and the
unimpeded access to the cricket via his CIO etc.
- Having caused a disruption by setting off an explosive
device - he is NOT afraid of hurting or killing - he has done it before and WILL
do it again to suit his own ends.
- After the smoke is cleared he arrests some MDC people
and blames it on them.
- He can then declare a state of emergency and continue
with his ethnic cleansing and political oppression and try and get the sympathy
( and AID ) from the international community to save his butt.
Ammerica is prepared to go to war to STOP Iraq from
killing with weapons of mass destruction
What about doing something about Mugabe KILLING by
starvation through HIS distastourous land policy - it is his plan so HE must
take the rap. THIS IS WORSE THAN WEAPONS OF MASS
DESTRUCTION.
People are dying HE is to blame.
It is just NOT CRICKET
-
watch this space - What ever happens it will be
manipulated by Bob - he hates
whites and doesn't care about killing and if he can put the blame on Tony Blair
he will
Mugabe has done more to destroy
WORLD and Zimbabwean racial harmony
in the last 2 years than the KluKlux Klan has, or Apartheid did
in its whole existence.
From R W { Topper } Whitehead
All that is
necessary for EVIL to prevail is for GOOD people to do NOTHING
Subject: Zvakwana Newsletter #3 - No fair play in
Zimbabwe
Zvakwana Newsletter 003
February
09, 2003
No fair play in
Zimbabwe.
Seven young men
beaten for trying to buy tickets to the cricket
On Friday morning some Zimbabweans began
to queue at Harare Sports Club because they heard that there were going to be
some tickets to the cricket on sale. Unfortunately for these people the CIO
decended on the queue and arrested 7 men who they later
assaulted.
Please email the
Zimbabwe Cricket Union to ask them if this is how they like cricket fans to be
treated. zcu@mweb.co.zw
Film crew arrested
outside Nigerian High Commission
Some Zvakwana activists had organised a
small demonstration at the Nigerian High Commission on Friday to protest against
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasajo's visit to South Africa and Zimbabwe this
weekend. Three media workers, two of them who work for the South African
Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), were arrested but let out after 5 hours without
any charges brought against them.
Illegal detention and harassment have
become the common tools of our politicised police force.
If you have a family member working in
the police or the army implore them to treat their brothers and sisters with
more respect and justice. Ask them not to cooperate with the regime and to
exercise restraint when dealing with members of the public. We are on the same
side, the side that believes in freedom, democracy and peace.
Street Level
Action
In the interests of public safety and to
encourage greater effective resistance to the regime please read how best to
deal with the effects of teargas.
Stay calm and focused! Fear and
confusion are the State’s major weapon. Confidence, determination, preparation
and awareness of your strength is your best weapon.
When your body heats up (from running or
panicking, for example), irritation may increase. Part of the reason is that
your pores will open allowing more absorption of the chemicals.
- Make your way to a safe space with
fresh air.
- Face the wind, open eyes, hold arms out
and walk around to let fresh air decontaminate you. Take slow deep breaths of
clean air.
- Don’t touch your eyes or your face as
you may re-contaminate yourself.
- Blow your nose, spit out
chemicals.
If you attend a public event where
you think the police will use teargas (the cricket matches, for example), make
sure that you take a cloth and some water so that you can place something wet
over your face.
Tickets to the
cricket
With the help of insiders and public
spirited Zimbabweans, Zvakwana has been donated TICKETS even though the Zimbabwe
Cricket Union made it difficult for ordinary Zimbabweans to get one.
We are
prepared. If you want to become involved and also want to donate
your ticket to a needy Zvakwana activist then please email news@zvakwana.org
There are some choices for acts of
defiance and civil disobedience during the world cup cricket:
- you can use your own ticket and get
access and join the many other protesters
- you can decide to BOYCOTT the matches
altogether and donate your ticket to a protester
- you can join the protesters outside the sports
clubs
This goes for Harare and
Bulawayo.
Join the action - on
and off the field!
Inside and
outside the grounds!
Zvakwana
– Sikwonele - Enough is Enough!
Something going on
in your area? Become a community reporter - email your news
Thanks to Vincent who wrote to Zvakwana
to suggest that we include a TIP-OFFS section on the Zvakwana web
site.
If you have some information on corrupt
policemen or profiteering shop-owners email Zvakwana to share this knowledge.
The more we keep each other informed the better we will be able to react to
injustice.
news@zvakwana.org
Parents Beware!
Stevenson warns of violent Green Bombers
Parents, do not allow your children to
be abused and brain-washed at the Border Gezi National Youth Service
Camps.
Are you aware that without a "Green Bomber Certificate", your
children may not be allowed to proceed to College, University or Training or
indeed to get a job!
However, we are also aware that the
Border Gezi so-called Training Centres have been described as centres for
brainwashing, indoctrination, sexual and physical abuse, and crime.
Do
you wish for your daughter to be raped, every night, for 3 or 6 months? Do you
wish for your son to be raped, or otherwise sexually abused? Do you want your
precious child to be turned into a violent thug? Do you want your child to enjoy
abusing others? Do you know your child will probably turn against you, after
this National Youth Service, and even have you beaten by the Green Bomber
militia?
PROTECT YOUR CHILDREN
AND YOUR FAMILY. BE COURAGEOUS!
SAY NO TO GREEN BOMBER CULTURE.
SAY NO TO EVIL.
Zvakwana says it’s time to challenge the
common belief that these practices are legitimate and constitutional. Under
which law can authorities at training institutions refuse our children their
right to an education because they have not been through one of the Border Gezi
National Youth Service Camps?
Assault, rape and violence are not the kind
of tools we wish to equip our youth and future leaders with
Zvakwana –
Sikwonele - Enough is Enough!
Hey! Become a DIVA
today – Damned Interfering Video Activist
If you’re a freelance photographer or a
filmmaker and you want to be actively involved in the fight for democracy in
Zimbabwe, use your talents to score a victory for human rights. Email
photographs that illustrate police brutality, or other unusual incidents
to news@zvakwana.org
We stand together
until democracy and justice are restored to Zimbabwe.
CNN
Diplomats: Nigeria presses Mugabe for reforms
Sunday, February 9,
2003 Posted: 3:33 PM EST (2033 GMT)
HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) --
Nigeria wants Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe
to make changes to help ease
Western sanctions imposed over his
controversial re-election and land
seizures, government and African
diplomatic sources said on
Sunday.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo paid a brief visit to Harare
on
Saturday and held talks with Mugabe, a month before a review of
Zimbabwe's
suspension from the 54-nation Commonwealth.
Officials from
both countries refused to discuss details of Obasanjo's talks
with Mugabe and
with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, but some
Harare-based African
diplomats said the Nigerian leader had urged Mugabe to
soften some of his
policies to make it easier for those working to help him.
Tsvangirai and
two senior party officials in his Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) are on
trial for treason and face a possible death sentence if
convicted of plotting
to kill Mugabe and seize power.
One source told Reuters: "What we are
hearing is that Obasanjo told Mugabe
that it would be a lot easier for those
countries that sympathize with him
if the Zimbabwe government reformed some
of its policies.
"Apparently Obasanjo's position is that the government
of Zimbabwe can
change its attitude and its antagonistic approach to
non-governmental
organizations and the opposition without losing
much."
One senior African diplomat said Mugabe had told Obasanjo that he
was open
to some political reforms, but the opposition MDC was making it
difficult by
behaving in a manner threatening state security and by pursuing
a programme
to overthrow him.
Tsvangirai declined to discuss his
15-minute meeting with Obasanjo, saying
"it was just a courtesy call, and a
brief chat about the way forward."
One private Zimbabwean newspaper said
Tsvangirai had given Obasanjo a litany
of complaints that the opposition was
facing increased political repression
from the government.
Zimbabwe
political analyst Professor Heneri Dzinotyiwei said despite
Obasanjo's second
meeting with Tsvangirai since Mugabe's controversial
victory a year ago,
there was nothing substantial to suggest that Nigeria
had changed its
approach.
"I think Obasanjo left the same old message for both Mugabe and
Tsvangirai,
and that message is: 'this is your country and you must make it
work,"' he
said.
Obasanjo told journalists in South Africa on Friday
that he opposed
"antagonistic" policies towards Zimbabwe but promised
straight-talking with
Zimbabwe's leaders.
The Commonwealth "troika" -
Nigeria, Australia, South Africa - meets in
March to review Zimbabwe's
suspension after Mugabe's re-election last year
in a poll which his main
rival and many Western nations say was rigged.
The "troika" must decide
whether to maintain or lift the suspension or to
impose stiffer
sanctions.
The Age
Aussies warned of Zimbabwe deaths
Monday 10 February 2003,
08:05AM
Zimbabwe's opposition parliamentary leader has issued
a chilling warning
against Australia playing a world cup match in the
troubled country.
Parliamentary leader for the Movement Of Democratic
Change, Gibson Sibanda,
told the Nine Network the consequences would be dire
if Australia played at
Bulawayo on February 24.
Protest against the
rule of Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe have been
forecast to prompt violent
reaction from police.
"The police are going to unleash untold terror and
deaths will be the
result, I have no doubt about that," Sibanda told a Nine
reporter who
visited Bulawayo.
"The Australian High Commission report
that Australia should not come to
Zimbabwe is very correct.
"I
think they are crazy, really crazy, to come into a country which is
embroiled
in political turmoil.
"Their coming will result in some deaths - I'm
quite convinced that death is
going to take place.
"People are going
to be killed during the demonstrations."
Mr Sibanda said the Australian
players would not be endangered but civilians
would be at great
risk.
"You will have the Australian cricket players safely inside the
match but
meanwhile the Zimbabwe citizens who are trying to make a point will
be being
killed outside that match," Mr Sibanda said.
"Their
conscience will be very guilty in the way that they've caused
somebody's
death by coming here."
Australia said it planned to play the Zimbabwe
match as scheduled while
continuing to monitor security and safety
issues.
©2003
The Herald
Fuel supplies in Harare improve
Herald
Reporter
FUEL supplies in Harare improved at the weekend, with most filling
stations
receiving deliveries.
Queues at service stations with petrol
and diesel were shorter as the
situation began to improve.
The
improvement in fuel supply comes ahead of the Cricket World Cup
matches
starting in the capital today, with Zimbabwe hosting
Namibia.
The Minister of Energy and Power Development, Cde Amos Midzi,
promised last
week that the supply of the commodity was going to improve
ahead of the
matches to enable cricket fans to be mobile.
Some of the
service stations that had fuel included Caltex in Highlands,
Wedzera in
Chadcombe and Waterfalls, BP in Nelson Mandela Avenue and Simon
Mazorodze
Road.
There was also fuel at BP Mabelreign, Engen in Speke Avenue, and
Mobil in
Warren Park.
Queues that have been stretching for several
kilometres since the end of
last year were much shorter, with motorists not
finding it a struggle to get
fuel.
Tankers could be seen offloading
the commodity at some of the filling
stations around the city.
Cde
Midzi told a parliamentary committee last week that the Government
would
start releasing at least 650 000 litres of petrol and 900 000 litres
of
diesel each day in Harare to cater for the Cricket World Cup
matches.
The supplies are above the daily consumption levels for the city
- 800 000
litres of diesel and 600 000 litres of petrol.
The fuel
crisis is also expected to stabilise after the games following a
deal between
the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe and an indigenous oil
company to supply
at least 50 percent of the country's requirements for the
whole
year.
Other deals were also being pursued, including the revival of an
agreement
with the Libyan oil supplier, Tamoil, to ensure the country got all
its fuel
requirements.
The country started experiencing fuel shortages
in 1999 owing to foreign
currency shortages.
They eased following an
agreement between the Govern-ment and Libya under
which Zimbabwe bought 70
percent of its fuel needs from its North African
friend using local currency
in exchange for investment and other business
deals for Libyan
companies.
However, the fuel woes re-emerged at the end of last year amid
reports that
Noczim had abandoned the deal with Libya.
Cde Midzi said
the fuel problems were a result of Zimbabwe's failure to
supply enough beef
and sugar to Libya as part of the deal following last
year's drought.
VOA
Crackdown on Zimbabwe Opposition Intensifies
Peta
Thornycroft
Harare
09 Feb 2003, 15:31 UTC
As Zimbabwe's
political and economic crisis deepens, visiting Nigerian
President Olusegun
Obasanjo met with President Robert Mugabe and opposition
leader Morgan
Tsvangirai. The Nigerian leader was told that shortly before
he arrived, two
opposition members of the Zimbabwe parliament and 13
supporters had been
arrested.
During his five hour visit to Zimbabwe Saturday, Mr. Obasanjo
was told that
the crackdown against the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change was
intensifying.
African diplomats say they had hoped to be
able to tell him there was
progress in normalizing Zimbabwe's political and
economic crisis.
Mr. Obasanjo and South African President Thabo Mbeki
have reportedly been
putting pressure on the Zimbabwe government to reform
before a crucial
Commonwealth meeting next month.
Mr. Obasanjo was
told that the numbers of those on the point of starvation
increased daily and
that much of Zimbabwe's urban population is suffering a
food
shortage.
The Nigerian leader also was briefed by opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai,
but details of their discussions were not disclosed
immediately.
A senior African diplomat says the Nigerians are concerned
that the Zimbabwe
government had failed to address the dramatic drop in
agricultural
production after chasing 90 percent of white farmers off their
land in the
past three years.
Well-placed diplomatic sources say Mr.
Obasanjo emerged from his meeting
with Mr. Mugabe with little hope of a
short-term solution to the crisis.
Political observers say Nigeria and
South Africa will find it difficult to
persuade the Commonwealth that
progress has been made in Zimbabwe since its
membership was suspended for a
year last March.
Mr. Mbeki and Mr. Obasanjo say they want Zimbabwe's
suspension lifted at the
upcoming Commonwealth meeting.
The opposition
said Sunday that members of parliament Tendai Biti and Paul
Madzore had been
located at Harare's central police station. They are in a
cell with 15
supporters and are expected to be charged Monday with holding
an illegal
gathering.
News24
Zim farmers stranded in Zambia
09/02/2003 18:49 -
(SA)
Jeff Kapembwa
Lusaka - More than 100 white Zimbabwean
farmers who trekked into Zambia at
the height of the land reform in that
country are reportedly stranded.
Zambia's vice president, Enoch
Kavindele, said on Saturday that the farmers
have failed to resettle in
various farmlands secured for them for lack of
funds to develop
them.
According to Kavindele, while Zambia's government has secured
various tracks
of land for the white farmers for various use including
tobacco growing,
most of them have failed to raise a minimum US$220 needed to
acquire one
hectare piece of land.
"Most of the farmers have come with
their equipment and the technical know
how on how to develop their farmlands
in various parts of Zambia, but they
lack funds to start farming," said
Kaavindele whose office is in charge of
the white farmers.
Kavindele
is hopeful that the donor community would come forward and assist
the white
farmers resettle after they ran away from Zimbabwe.
Some of the white
farmers interviewed confirmed, and said they were hoping
the Cricket World
Bank and other donor agencies would provide credit loan
facilities for them
to start farming.
"We have secured various hectares of land in various
parts of the country.
There is very good land here for farming either
tobabbaco or any other
crops, but we do not have the resources to procure
land at $220 per
hectare," said one of the white farmers that pleaded for
anonimity.
Others said they have made contacts with the World Bank in
Zambia with a
view to secure some loans, but they have not recieved a
response yet.
"We are eager to start farming as soon as we can. Some of
us want to utilise
the northern part of the country where the soils are good
for tobacco
growing, but that will depend on the availability of funds," said
another
farmer who identified himself only as Witkins from southern
Bulawayo.
However, Zimbabwean High Commissioner in Zambia, Cain Matema
described the
farmers as cheats saying President Mugabe did not chase them
from their
farmlands but that the farmers did not want to surrender some of
the idle
land from their farm settlements.
"These people were not
chased from Zimbabwe. All the president wanted was to
divide the land
equitably unlike where some were owning land as big as the
size of Brussels,
and that is not what they wanted.
He wondered weather those that have
sought sanctuary in Zambia were genuine
Zimbabweans, saying if they were,
Zimbabwe was ready to re-accommodate them
and provide loans for
resettlement.
The Australian
Starvation threat in Zimbabwe
By Gavin du Venage,
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
February 10, 2003
ZIMBABWE'S starving millions have
less than one month's food supply, pushing
the country to the brink of a
massive human tragedy, according to a new
report.
The latest United
Nations Humanitarian Situation Report says the World Food
Program's pipeline
will be cut off sometime next month when the existing
food supply runs
out.
In the report, UN special envoy James Morris says the food program
only has
pledges of support until the end of March.
Unless renewed aid
is forthcoming, the 7.2 million Zimbabweans who are
entirely dependent on
food aid face certain death.
Analysts fear the effects of a full-scale
famine could precipitate a
collapse of the social order similar to that which
has beset the Horn of
Africa over the past decade.
"Events are moving
extremely fast now," says a senior foreign diplomatic
source in Harare. "The
Mugabe Government has run out of ideas and has no
room to manoeuvre. We're in
the endgame now."
The Government may have bought itself a brief respite
with the upcoming
World Cup cricket matches scheduled to be played in
Zimbabwe. The $US10
million the event is expected to inject will, temporarily
at least, ease the
chronic shortage of foreign currency.
Lack of
foreign currency has made it impossible for Zimbabwe to import food,
fuel,
spare parts, and other economic essentials.
The money from the cricket,
however, is unlikely to win President Robert
Mugabe's Government much time. A
just published survey by the Harare-based
Mass Public Opinion Institute warns
that rolling mass action against the
Government is increasingly likely. The
survey shows that 66 per cent of
Zimbabweans want Mr Mugabe gone and that 31
per cent support the use of
civil disobedience to bring an end to his
rule.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is also coming
under
local criticism for failing to break the long-running standoff
between
itself and the Government.
Mass Public Opinion Institute head
of research Charles Mangongera maintains
the increasing build-up of
frustration among the population could severely
limit the ability of leaders
to control events.
"The persistent economic hardships and the frustration
over the blocked
transition to democratic governance are taking their toll on
people's
patience.
"A patience that could be running out against both
the Government and the
opposition," he said.
IOL
Harare pubs warned to close on CWC match
days
February 09 2003 at 05:24PM
Harare
- Bar and restaurant owners in Zimbabwe's capital have been
warned to close
their doors on World Cup match days in an apparent effort to
thwart boycotts
by protest groups.
Government officials, however, said on Sunday
that tickets for the
games had been sold out within two days, guaranteeing
that venues would be
full for all six matches scheduled to be held in the
southern African
country.
Many businessmen in Harare said they
had received an unsigned letter,
which was printed on a Zanu-PF letterhead
and featured an image of Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe with his fist
raised.
"Citizens, we at National Youth Services are saying you
must not open
your premises on February 10, 13 and 19," it said.
The writers said they were "assisting the Zimbabwe Cricket Union to
fill the
grounds because people are saying they will not go to these games".
"If you stay open and get your patrons to watch the cricket on
your
televisions, you also will be unpatriotic. Our cadres will make sure
you
will obey this rule," the letter added.
But a Ministry of
Sport official in Harare said tickets for World Cup
matches to be played in
the capital were sold out within two days.
"We have thousands of
people who might have wanted to watch the games
but there are no tickets
left," the official said on Sunday.
"Those who go to the pubs will
do so since they can't get into the
venues because of the ticket
crunch."
England are scheduled to play Zimbabwe in Harare on
Thursday but have
not yet decided whether to boycott the Group A match
because of fears for
player safety in the strife-torn country.
England lost a second appeal on Friday to have the game moved to
South
Africa, World Cup organisers insisting that Harare was safe to
stage
matches.
Champions Australia are watching the situation
intently, having also
expressed safety concerns about their match against
Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on
February 24.
Australia and Britain have
led calls for Commonwealth sanctions
against Mugabe, accusing him of rigging
his re-election in 2002 and
compounding Africa's food crisis by seizing
white-owned farms to give to
blacks.
The eighth World Cup began
on Sunday with the first game between main
hosts South Africa and West Indies
in Cape Town.
Reuters
New delay on Zimbabwe boycott
decision
By N.Ananthanarayanan
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) -
England's deeply-divided camp have decided to
delay their decision over
whether to play their World Cup match in Zimbabwe,
team officials have
announced..
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive
Tim Lamb told a
news conference on Sunday new information had come to light
which the board
and players needed to examine. He refused to answer any
questions.
The new delay, announced during the first game of the
tournament
between main hosts South Africa and West Indies, came after months
of
wrangling involving players, administrators and politicians.
Nasser Hussain are considering forfeiting Thursday's Group A game in
Harare
because of deep-seated concerns over security following social and
political
unrest in Zimbabwe.
The team and ECB officials had been agonising
over the decision in a
string of meetings since late on Friday when their
official request to have
the game switched to South Africa was thrown out on
appeal.
A wider debate, however, had been raging since the end of
last year,
involving prime ministers and leading politicians in England,
Australia --
who are also scheduled to play in Zimbabwe -- and New Zealand,
whose team
are refusing to play a game in Kenya, also over security
worries.
The confusion in Cape Town reached a climax at the weekend
when a rift
opened up between England's players and officials.
It emerged that the ECB had delayed showing the squad a letter
containing
death threats to both the players and their families.
The board
maintained they had chosen first to hand the letter to
international experts
who had confirmed it as a hoax.
The players, however, aware that
the ECB feared multi-million-dollar
compensation claims from sponsors if the
game did not go ahead, felt they
were not being fully consulted.
Hussain said earlier there were also ethical questions over whether to
play
in Zimbabwe, where half the 14-million population are suffering
food
shortages.
The main opposition leader is also facing a
death sentence after being
charged with plotting to kill President Robert
Mugabe.
Australia are still committed to playing in Bulawayo on
February 24 as
long as there is no deterioration of the situation, while New
Zealand appear
determined not to go to Nairobi after a November bombing in
Kenya killed 16
people.
Australian and Britain have led calls
for Commonwealth sanctions
against Mugabe, accusing him of rigging his
re-election in 2002 and
compounding Africa's food crisis by seizing
white-owned farms to give to
blacks.
Zim-Gateway
Sunday 09 February 2003
SA must intervene urgently
in Zimbabwe
The South African Catholic Bishops Conference (SACBC) called on
the South African government on Thursday to intervene urgently in the crisis in
Zimbabwe, in the same way it had played a part in resolving other conflicts in
Africa.
Spokesperson Archbishop Buti Tlhagale stated “There are deeply
disturbing signs that Zimbabwe is on the brink of total breakdown into civil
war, with massive food and fuel shortages, and increasing levels of organised
state terror.”
He accused the South African government of consistently
snubbing calls on it to play a more active role in exposing political and human
rights abuses in Zimbabwe. The greatest concern, Tlhagale said, was over the
role of youth militia, nicknamed the "green bombers". He said the green bombers
underwent rigorous training and political orientation, dubbed national service.
The youths were being trained by the Zimbabwe Defence Force and the War Veterans
Association. "Whilst the youths are not fully trained soldiers, they receive
basic military training, turning them into potential instruments of greater
terror."
More MDC arrests by illegitimate regime – MDC report
Seven MDC
officials and an unknown number of MDC supporters were arrested in Harare and
Hwange.
Harare South Member of Parliament Gabriel Chaibva who is also the
shadow minister of local government and four senior officials were arrested in
Hwange and are currently being detained at Hwange Police Station. The five were
picked up at the MDC provincial offices in Hwange where they were attending a
local government workshop.
The other four are Mr. Ian Makone, a senior member
of the party who was a member of the MDC negotiating team to the aborted
MDC-ZANU PF talks; Mrs. Alphinah Ndlovu, the MDC Provincial chairperson for
Matebeleland North; Mr. P Moyo and Mr. Ngwenya.
Chaibva was attending the
workshop in his capacity as the MDC shadow minister of local government while
Makone, Ngwenya and Moyo are experts in local government issues. They were
conducting a local government workshop for the local councilors.
Meanwhile,
in Harare, Tendai Biti, the MDC' Secretary for Economic Affairs and Member of
Parliament for Harare East; Member of Parliament for Glen View Paul Madzore and
several party supporters were arrested this afternoon as they prepared to
address an MDC rally in Mabvuku. All are detained at Mabvuku Police
Station.
We are not surprised at all by these routine and systematic arrests.
They are meant to harass and frustrate our members. Under this brutal regime of
Robert Mugabe no one is innocent until proven otherwise. How else can we explain
this now familiar phenomenon that people are being detained everyday for no
apparent reason only to be released without charges at the whims and according
to mood of the ZANU PF illegitimate government.
This is subversion of the
human rights which must be condemned in the strongest terms. Our officials have
committed no crime at all. Instead they should be commended for making an effort
to work with and for the people.Armed Zanu-PF thug on the loose at Bennet's farm
-MDC report
George Kanasu a soldier who is based at 3 Brigade last night
fired a shot at Roy Bennet's security personnel who were manning the
farm.
Kamasu who is known to be working with Joseph Mwale, the CIO operative
who is suspected to have killed Tichaona Chiminya the MDC activist who died in
Buhera in 2000. Mwale is also known for his notoriety in mobilizing people to
invade Bennet's farm. He is also known to have been responsible for the
brutalisation of innocent MDC supporters in Manicaland and the subsequent
displacement of thousands of them.
Kanasu arrived at the compound last night
and moved from house to house, intimidating MDC members at the farm. When he got
to the gate, he demanded that the youths who were putting on MDC T-shirts remove
them. The workers resisted and Kanasu fired one shot. He however missed. He
later left the farm in the dark of the night.
It should be noted that we have
on numerous occasions stated that Mugabe and his regime are responsible for the
lawlessness, which has taken root in the country. We do not understand why known
criminals such as Mwale are out of the cells. We also cannot understand how a
soldier would move out of a camp armed with a gun without the knowledge and
blessings of the officer in charge of the camp.
It is very clear that these
criminals are working in cahoots with high-ranking officials of the government
in this dastardly and brutal exercise and this is why they are not being
arrested.
We demand that the rule of law be applied regardless of political
affiliations of the offender. This is the only basis upon which a Zimbabwe with
a solid future can be built.
Mugabe's henchmen steal food from the mouths of
the starving povo
At least 200 000 tonnes of maize for starving Zimbabweans
has mysteriously vanished. In a story in the Financial Gazette it's reported
that the National Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZNVAC) has highlighted the
fact that the maize is missing. The ZNVAC is a task force of non- governmental
organisations working with the ministries of Agriculture and Finance as well as
the Civil Protection Unit, the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture
Organisation.
The committee undertakes surveys to assess Zimbabwe's food
supply and security situation. In its latest report on Zimbabwe's food security
situation, ZNVAC said there was a glaring discrepancy between the amount of food
distributed to starving people by the Grain Marketing Board between April and
December 2002, and the quantity of maize imported into the country over the same
period.
200,000 tons were unaccounted for. That amount of maize can feed
Zimbabwe's entire population for two months.
"One who condones
evil is just as guilty as the one who perpetrates it.”
Martin Luther King,
Jr. (1929-68)Treason Trial: day 5
The treason trial of 3 top MDC leaders has
now been going on for a week. It began on Monday with chaotic scenes as the
Police refused to allow journalists and diplomats into the High Court. The first
few days were spent with the state's main witness Ari ben Menashe on the stand.
The whole trial hinges on a video which was secretly taped in Menashe's office,
allegedly showing Tsvangirai's intention to assassinate Mugabe. The court
viewing of the tape took several days, as it was largely inaudible.
Menashe
was cross examined by South African Advocate George Bizos. Bizos said today that
Menashe had a record of meddling in foreign politics going back to the U.S.
presidential vote in 1980.
Cricket arrests and torture
7 people have been
arrested at Harare Sports Club, the headquarters of the Zimbabwe cricket Union,
and the venue for the World Cup games due to take place next week.
The seven
men had gone to buy tickets for the games on Behalf of their employer, Mr
Michael Mussa MD of a security company. He told us how 7 of his employees who
had gone to buy tickets for the Cricket World Cup were arrested and badly beaten
by police.
Harare Sports Club takes 7600 people. Only 800 tickets were
offered for sale to the public. These were all sold out almost immediately. A
small of amount of tickets became available Thursday to people who had put their
names on a waiting list.
2 Photographers Arrested
2 photographers were
arrested at a demonstration at The Nigerian High Commission.
Peter
Maringisanwa and Tsvangirai Mukwazhi were covering a demonstration against
Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo and his support for Robert Mugabe when a
riot police squad descended on the crowd and herded the 2 into a defender.
For both the arrest was not a first encounter with the police. For Mukwazhi
this arrest was the second in just 2 weeks.
Tortured activist
The police
have continued the practice of arresting, torturing and releasing people without
any justifiable reason for doing so. The victims of this abuse of power have not
been just opposition officials and high profile activists. Plain, ordinary
opposition supporters and innocent civilians are now being targeted as well.
MDC activist Emmanuel Toperesu first became a torture victim back in
December when he was arrested for allegedly distributing fliers. He has not
being feeling well since that incident. When he went to the MDC Harare offices
to seek money for treatment on Monday, he was arrested again, and tortured
again. Emmanuel was released yesterday after paying a $3000 fine.
This
newsletter is not registered in terms of the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act nor will it ever be.
Zim-gateway@lycos.com
Telegraph
England united after death threats
By Scyld Berry (Filed:
09/02/2003)
As England's cricketers went into the opening ceremony of
the eighth World
Cup, they were more united than ever in their determination
not to go to
Harare for their qualifying match against Zimbabwe on
Thursday.
But the England and Wales Cricket Board had not conceded defeat
either and
were hoping to persuade the players, before the 10.30am press
conference
scheduled in Cape Town this morning, to go to Zimbabwe after all -
or at
least to defer their refusal until after Zimbabwe's match against
Namibia in
Harare tomorrow, to see if it sparked violent demonstrations,
which would
let England off the hook.
A division had appeared in the
England party between those players who did
not want to go to Harare and the
pragmatists who wanted to play and get the
four points for beating Zimbabwe.
But this split disappeared earlier in the
week when the party received
threatening letters in South Africa.
These letters, signed by the 'Sons
and Daughters of Zimbabwe', threatened
the lives of the England players and
their families, now and in the future,
if they played in Harare. They were
far removed from the cautionary letters
which the England team had received
in Sydney setting out the moral case for
not going to Zimbabwe.
The
threats formed part of the ECB's submissions to the ICC technical
committee
and to Judge Albert Sachs when they asked for the match to be
transferred to
South Africa. The technical committee's five members
dismissed England's case
unanimously (the sixth, Michael Holding, was
travelling at the time and
neither voted nor was asked to), as did Judge
Sachs on Friday. But the
players whose lives have been threatened have given
these letters greater
credence.
With the England players now more or less re-united, their
common goal is to
avert violent clashes between Zimbabwe's heavy-handed
police and
demonstrators using the Harare match to protest against the
government of
President Robert Mugabe. The players' moral and practical
concerns have come
together in the desire to avoid trouble for themselves and
spectators.
Support for the England players' stand came inadvertently
yesterday from
Zimbabwe's head of security for the six World Cup matches in
the country,
Albert Mandizha. He told reporters in Harare that measures would
be taken
"to weed out would-be trouble-makers and other social misfits".
If
spectators were even to wear black armbands or carry red cloth, as
advocated
by Cricket Supporters for Democracy, such political interference
"will have
to be attended to".
In their desperate attempt to persuade
the players to go, the ECB and their
legal advisers met the England players
on Friday evening and again yesterday
afternoon before the opening ceremony.
England's scheduled flight to
Harare - they were due to leave Cape Town at
7.30am yesterday morning, so
they could spend three full days acclimatising
to the 5,000ft altitude of
Harare - was cancelled in favour of further
last-minute negotiations.
The opening ceremony might as well have
included this unedifying tug-of-war
between England's players and
administrators as part of the spectacle. The
glorious uncertainty of cricket
seems to have been overtaken by the
inglorious uncertainty of the politics
and arguments surrounding England's
match against Zimbabwe.
Whereas
New Zealand's players and administrators have joined together all
along in
refusing to play their match against Kenya in Nairobi on Feb 21 and
in facing
the financial consequences, England's board and players have been
at odds
throughout.
The board's concern has been the parlous financial state of
English cricket
and their inability to sustain the losses arising from the
players' refusal
to play in Zimbabwe. These are estimated at a minimum of £1
million - as the
ICC's reparation to the Global Cricket Corporation for the
loss of the TV
broadcast - and could be several times higher. Or many times
higher if
President Mugabe, in revenge, forbade the Zimbabwe players to tour
England
for their two-Test series in May (though the Zimbabwe Cricket Union
are keen
to tour in any circumstances), and if England could not find a
replacement
from the three possibilities, Pakistan, New Zealand and
Bangladesh.
Australia's cricketers too have continually stressed they
will follow their
board's advice. This is likely to be that Australia should
withdraw from
their qualifying match against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on Feb 24
if they have
defeated India and Pakistan before then, and therefore do not
need the
points.
The relationship between England's players and board,
however, has long been
one of mistrust. While David Morgan is new to the job
after taking over as
chairman of the ECB in January, the attitude of the
chief executive, Tim
Lamb, has always been that administrators should
administer and players
should simply play; and this attitude, above all, has
perpetuated the
Them-and-Us divide which underlies this dispute. Unlike the
Australians and
New Zealanders, the England players have been unable to say
they respect
their board's judgment and will be bound by it.
The same
board attitude provoked the discontent which undermined England's
morale
before the last World Cup in 1999, when the players were unhappy at
the
derisory amount they were offered if they were to win the tournament.
The
board's reaction was to send a top official, not to Pakistan were the
players
were simmering, but to South Africa in a failed attempt to sign Bob
Woolmer
as the England coach.
One of the lessons eventually to be drawn from this
damaging dispute is
already clear. In the meantime, the England players who
attended the opening
ceremony hardly seemed to be in the right frame of mind
for the successful
World Cup campaign which England desperately need to
revitalise the game and
its ailing finances.
England's last two World
Cups were botched, stemming in the first instance
from maladministration.
Whether England go to Zimbabwe or not, their
build-up has been so disrupted
by the issue that their attempt on this World
Cup appears doomed to go the
same way.
The Observer
Why we must play in Harare
Vic Marks in Cape
Town
Sunday February 9, 2003
The Observer
The perception is that
Nasser Hussain and his team are in a no-win
situation: damned if they go to
Harare, damned if they don't.
I take a slightly less gloomy view.
The
situation is obviously a mess, reaching almost farcical proportions. We
have
known about this fixture for more than two years. Four days to go and
we
still don't know whether it will be fulfilled. After a day of
contemplation
the England team are due to let us know their intentions
this
morning.
If I were in the England camp I would recommend going to
Harare. The players
have made their stand. They have made it clear they do
not want to play in
Zimbabwe, though it is less transparent whether this
decision is based on
moral or security grounds. It seems a combination of
both. Having made that
stand - stealing some of the moral high ground from
the ECB in the process -
they should not fret about public reaction back in
the UK, which has
apparently been one of their concerns.
If Hussain
and his team go to Harare they will surely not be widely reviled
in this
country. We know that they would go reluctantly and the nation
is
understandably more concerned about whether our troops will be sent
into
action in Iraq than whether Andy Caddick bowls to Dion Ebrahim on
Thursday.
The players can surely be confident that their own security
requirements
will be met. The security of spectators is not in their
hands.
England have been trekking around the globe for almost four
months. The
World Cup is the culmination of that journey. It remains a
glorious, if
unlikely, goal. All that graft could be tossed away unless they
go to
Zimbabwe and beat them. It is a vital fixture in their campaign.
Australia,
who may have already gathered enough points to qualify for the
Super Sixes
by the time their Bulawayo fixture comes around on 24 February,
can be more
cavalier about whether they travel to Zimbabwe. They may not need
the
points. England do. If I had been labouring all winter in preparation
for
this World Cup I would want to give myself the best chance of winning
it.
Finally, at the risk of diminishing the debate, there is one other
reason to
travel to Harare, even if the players are not minded to play the
game. This
might seem absurd, but it just might rain on Thursday. Presumably,
if it
rained all day and England were not in Harare they would forfeit the
points
anyway - though this should be clarified by the management. How
galling
would that be, though in many ways it would be a fitting and
hilarious end
to this saga if England and Zimbabwe gleaned two points each
from their
fixture while sitting in their hotel rooms, watching the rain
fall.