The Telegraph
By David Blair in
Johannesburg
(Filed: 10/02/2006)
By the time Vernon Nicolle lost his
farm in Zimbabwe to a High Court judge,
all his equipment had been looted
and an irrigation system for 4,000 acres
lay in ruins.
His fertile
fields were reduced to neglected wastelands. The disclosure that
president
Robert Mugabe's regime will give some dispossessed white farmers
back their
land fills him with suspicion and incredulity.
"I had a gem in Zimbabwe,
a real gem, and it's all been vandalised," Mr
Nicolle said. "I find it very
difficult to even consider going back."
All but a handful of Zimbabwe's
4,000 white farmers have been stripped of
property and a community that was
once closely knit is now scattered across
the world.
Australia, South
Africa, Britain and Portugal have provided havens for
families who once
tilled huge tracts of Zimbabwe and formed the backbone of
the nation's
economy.
Asked if they might return if an offer from Mr Mugabe was
forthcoming, the
refugees point to the immense practical difficulties. Many
of their farms
have been wrecked. Their workers also lost homes and jobs and
have been
scattered across Zimbabwe.
How could the workforce, the
tools and the expensive infrastructure, built
up over decades, ever be
restored? And who would foot the bill?
Yet more than anything else, many
farmers will never trust Mr Mugabe again.
As chairman of a farmers'
association, Mr Nicolle, 62, met him after
Zimbabwe achieved independence in
1980.
The new leader promised him a secure future and went out of his way
to
reassure the country's white farmers.
"I heard Mugabe tell farmers
they had nothing to fear," said Mr Nicolle. "It
was on this promise that we
encouraged farmers in our area to stay."
Mr Nicolle was eventually forced
off Gwina farm near Banket in June 2003.
Most of his land was handed to Mr
Justice Ben Hlatshwayo of the High Court,
who has not proved a successful
farmer.
Mr Nicolle's brothers worked on neighbouring farms and, between
them, the
family grew 25,000 acres of maize, wheat and soya.
In the
late 1990s, the Nicolle family accounted for 24 per cent of the
country's
winter wheat crop and 20 per cent of its soya.
All this has gone by the
board, helping explain why Zimbabwe now depends on
the World Food Programme
to feed its people.
Mr Nicolle emigrated to Australia, where he earns a
living by making bricks
in Margaret River, south of Perth and inhabits what
he calls a "shed" near
the Indian Ocean. "At least we can now sleep at night
and we don't think
about having our throats cut," he said.
Bitter
memories of the ordeals inflicted by Mr Mugabe's henchmen also deter
farmers
from ever returning. In 2002, Peter Horsman, 71, lost the 2,200 acre
cattle
farm which had been his home for 32 years. He now lives in Portugal.
"How
demoralising it would be to have to deal with the same thugs who did
such
unspeakable things," he said.
"How on earth do you get started again?
It's just unimaginable."
Dear Friends,
Attached please find the motion I brought before Parliament
yesterday, the 8th February 2006. Unfortunately Parliament is no longer
producing Hansard so I cannot let you have a transcript of my speech. If I get
it I will forward it to you.
Regards,
David Coltart
MOTION BROUGHT BY THE HON. DAVID COLTART REGARDING THE AFRICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS RESOLUTION ON ZIMBABWE DATED 5TH DECEMBER 2005
NOTING the resolution of the resolution of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights on the situation of human rights in Zimbabwe passed in Banjul on the 5th December 2005 set out in full below;
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights meeting at its 38th Ordinary Session in Banjul, The Gambia from 21 November to 5 December 2005;
Considering that Zimbabwe is a Party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other international human rights instruments;
Recalling the recommendations to the government of Zimbabwe contained in the African Commission Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe in June 2002;
Further recalling the recommendations to the government of Zimbabwe by the United Nations Special Envoy on Human Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe contained in her Report published on 22 July 2005;
Deeply concerned by the continued undermining of the independence of the judiciary through defiance of court orders, harassment and intimidation of independent judges and the executive ouster of the jurisdiction of the courts;
Further concerned by the continuing human rights violations and the deterioration of the human rights situation in Zimbabwe, the lack of respect for the rule of law and the growing culture of impunity;
Alarmed by the number of internally displaced persons and the violations of fundamental individual and collective rights resulting from the forced evictions being carried out by the government of Zimbabwe;
Done at Banjul, 5th December 2005
NOTING that the resolution and the calls made in it appear to have been ignored to date by the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe;
CONGRATULATES AND THANKS the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights for speaking out so boldly and frankly on behalf of the victims of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe;
MOVES that this honourable House call on the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe to implement without delay the specific calls made by the African Commission to ensure that the Republic of Zimbabwe complies with her obligations in terms of The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights adopted by the eighteenth Assembly of Heads and States and Government in June 1981 in Nairobi, Kenya.
Mover:
_____________________________
The Honourable David Coltart MP
Seconder:
______________________________
The Honourable MP
Scoop, New Zealand
Friday, 10 February 2006, 3:35 pm
Press
Release: Green Party
10 February 2006
Greens meet Zimbabwe opposition
representative
A high profile member of the Zimbabwe Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC),
Mrs Sekai Holland, met with Green Party Foreign
Affairs Spokesperson Keith
Locke in Wellington today. Mrs Holland is a
national executive member of the
MDC, which is the major opposition party to
the rule of Zimbabwe President
Robert Mugabe.
Mrs Holland also
visited the Hon Jim Sutton, Minister of State, and is
meeting
representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and
development and human rights NGOs this afternoon.
"Mrs Holland was
appreciative of the actions that the New Zealand Government
and Green Party
have taken to isolate the Mugabe regime. She also asked that
New Zealand
support calls for the International Criminal Court to prosecute
President
Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe Government officials for crimes against
humanity
such as the bulldozing of thousands of homes," Mr Locke says.
"The ICC
can initiate an investigation on two grounds - if the state
concerned has
ratified the Rome Statute or if the United Nations Security
Council refers
it. Zimbabwe has signed the statute but has not ratified it.
Therefore we
need the UN Security Council to order an inquiry into Zimbabwe.
The New
Zealand Government should be actively lobbying for this to happen,"
Mr Locke
says.
Mrs Holland is available for media interviews in Wellington on
Friday 10
February between 2.00pm and 3.30pm, and in Auckland on Saturday
and Sunday.
VOA
By Carole
Gombakomba
Washington
09 February 2006
Officials,
farmers and millers report unprecedented shortages of maize meal
and bread -
Zimbabwe's staple foods - raising concerns that already
widespread hunger
could become even more common throughout the Southern
African
nation.
Deputy Agriculture Minister Sylvester told parliament this week
that the
country has no foreign currency to pay for grain imports. The
government is
also accusing farmers and millers of diverting grain for sale
on the more
lucrative parallel or black market.
A spokesman for the
Millers Association of Zimbabwe denied the charge,
saying that its members
are operating at under 16 percent of capacity due to
grain
shortages.
Reporter Carole Gombakomba of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe
asked Movement for
Democratic Change shadow minister for agriculture Edward
Mhkosi, a member of
the parliamentary agriculture committee, what he makes
of these
developments.
Zim Daily
Friday, February 10 2006 @ 12:05 AM
GMT
Contributed by: correspondent
President
Robert Mugabe said on Thursday that he might stand for
a sixth term in
office if his ruling Zanu PF party asked him to. Nothing can
stop Mugabe
from serving a sixth term as head of state as he amended the
constitution in
1989 to even serve as life president. His party now enjoys
two thirds
majorities in both houses of parliament. Asked in an interview
outside the
Zanu PF offices after a "strategic meeting" if he would consider
standing
again if Zanu PF asked him, the former guerrilla leader responded:
"One
cannot ignore the call by the people, because the people are the ones
who
make the final decision".
Parliament, under the tutelage of
the late Eddison Zvobgo
altered Zimbabwe's constitution in 1989 when it
abolished the post of Prime
Minister and introduced an executive presidency
to allow Mugabe to rule as
many terms as he wish. Mugabe took power at
independence in 1980 after a
landslide election victory, and was popular
with the poor black majority
back then as well as many of Zimbabwe's
privileged white community until his
decision to confiscate white owned
land, a move that decimated commercial
agriculture, the mainstay of the
economy. Diplomats and senior party
officials who spoke to Zimdaily however
said Zanu PF members were divided
over whether Mugabe, who turns 82 on
February 21, should be asked to stay,
or should stand down to pave the way
for a younger candidate to stand in
presidential elections expected in 2008.
Mugabe said whoever was elected
would face the challenge of "promoting
economic development and safeguarding
the country's
sovereignty."
"Our sovereignty is a priority above all
priorities," he said.
Asked whether he had changed his plans to retire after
more than two decades
in power, Mugabe, who has always been ambivalent on
his retirement plans,
replied: "I would like to do that, sure. As long as I
am assured that those
we fought yesterday are thoroughly beaten and that the
carpet they now stand
on, the economic carpet, has been removed from their
feet and it has become
our carpet," he said. "The political struggle and the
political victory
alone. No. We need economic victory as well and that is
why we are taking
the land," Mugabe added.
There is
speculation that the ex-guerrilla fighter - who led the
former British
colony of Rhodesia to independence in 1980 - may step down in
favour of Vice
President Joice Mujuru. But Mujuru is failing to garner
enough support and
now Mugabe is making plans to push the presidential
elections to 2010.
Mugabe has embarked on a drive to seize at least five
million hectares of
the 12 million hectares owned by 4,500 white farmers for
blacks. He has
vowed not to pay compensation for the land on the grounds
that the land was
"stolen" from blacks when Britain colonized the southern
African country in
the 1890s.
Mugabe said his government was not to blame for a
severe
economic crisis that has fuelled opposition to his rule. He said the
economy
was suffering from low commodity prices, a squeeze on foreign aid,
and
sabotage by white industrialists. "They (critics) are saying that
because we
are going for the heart of the economic strength of the whites -
land. "Once
we have the land and are producing all that can be produced, we
are home and
dry. We have received rains this year. We should be okay,'' he
added.
Mugabe, deviating from his recent conciliatory tone,
criticized
the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for cutting
aid, and
vowed that he would not compromise on his political policies.
Foreign
donors - worried about the government's land grab - have withheld
badly
needed aid to Zimbabwe. "When you are fighting a just cause, you must
be
prepared to suffer for it. Even to die for it," Mugabe said, waving his
fist. As Mugabe continues talking tough, many of Zimbabwe's 12,5 million
people are jobless, and inflation is fast approaching 600%.
Zim Daily
Friday, February 10 2006 @ 12:05 AM GMT
Contributed by:
correspondent
Joseph Chinotimba has been appointed the new
president of the
Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU) following the
expulsion of the
trade union's president Alfred Makwarimba on allegations of
mismanagement
and embezzlement of funds. Chinotimba, who last week told
Zimdaily he was
the "alpha and omega" of ZFTU emerged as the new president
following a
meeting convened by the ZFTU general council on Wednesday that
lifted his
suspension and immediately appointed him to act as president
until the next
general meeting to be held within a
fortnight.
Makwarimba's expulsion followed a vote of no
confidence that was
passed by 23 affiliate unions during a heated meeting at
the union's office
at Makombe Building in Harare. Two other members of the
organization,
organizing secretary, Tawanda Mupeti and information secretary
Kenias
Shamuyarira were also expelled because they were unconstitutionally
appointed since they were both unemployed. The general council also lifted
the suspension of Bernard Dhanda, the union's secretary
general.
Contacted for comment, Makwarimba, Mupeti and
Shamuyarira denied
the allegations leveled against them. The three said that
their expulsion
from the ZFTU was unconstitutional. "The general council has
no power to
dismiss us from the union. Besides it is unconstitutional and we
will not
accept the dismissal over flimsy and unfounded allegations," Mupeti
said.
Zim Daily
Friday, February 10 2006 @ 12:04 AM GMT
Contributed by: correspondent
The Attorney General has written to
the government-appointed
administrator of Mutumwa Mawere's extensive
business interests, asking him
to explain how they became indebted to
government. Government has taken over
Mawere's empire under a controversial
law passed last year- the
Reconstruction of State-Indebted Insolvent
Companies Act- claiming it was
owed up to $115 billion. Mawere, who is in
the middle of a convoluted legal
battle with government, which has also
spilled over into the United Kingdom,
denies the claims, saying he is the
victim of a complex plot to expropriate
his assets.
The
attorney general is understood to have demanded an
explanation from
Gwaradzimba, how government ended up being owed $115
billion by the firms.
Parmanathan Mariemuthu a director of Mawere's African
Resources Limited, SMM
Holdings and THZ, makes the revelation in an
affidavit lodged with the High
Court in Harare in the case against Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa, who
has led government efforts to dispossess
Mawere of his
assets.
The latest court action seeks to set aside an order
handed down
by Justice Kamocha in Case No. HC 5633/05 confirming the
reconstruction
order issued by the Respondent in relation to SMM Holdings
(Pvt) Ltd in
terms of the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures)
(Reconstruction of
State-Indebted Insolvent Companies) Regulations 2004
(published in Statutory
Instrument 187 of 2004.
"Even the
Attorney General asked Mr. Gwaradzimba to explain how
the government got
involved in all these transactions and to date no
response has been
received. "In relation to this matter, the letter from the
Attorney General
is instructive. I quote below the relevant sections: "You
have also availed
to us a schedule of SMM's indebtedness to the Government
which you labelled
as Appendix A and is annexed "G". The schedule serves to
demonstrate to the
GOZ by way of listing the respective amounts owed to: (i)
ZESA; (ii) MMCZ;
(iii) NSSA and (iv) RBZ.
"However in order for that
information to be useful, it needs to
be supported by evidence. It is a
legal requirement that the creditor should
enforce his rights by way of
calling for the debt before the intervention of
the guarantor. Hence it will
be necessary to prove that the money was due
and had been called for the
creditor. However, there is no supporting
evidence from these institutions."
Mariemuthu says Gwaradzimba's failure to
furnish the AG with information
requested in the December 19 2005 letter
'would tend to support Applicants'
notion that there are ulterior motives
behind the issue of the
Reconstruction Order.'
Zim Daily
Friday, February 10 2006 @ 12:03 AM
GMT
Contributed by: correspondent
A Bulawayo
court has declined an application for discharge by
Paul Siwela, the
president of the fringe opposition political party ZAPU FP,
and political
activist Jethro Mkhwananzi who are facing charges of violating
a section of
the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) for inciting Ndebele
people to rise
up and fight with spears to eject President Robert Mugabe
from power.
Siwela, who participated in the disputed 2002 presidential
election and
fared dismally, and Mkwananzi, a fierce critic of President
Robert Mugabe,
allegedly incited people in Matabeleland to rise against the
Zimbabwean
leader whom they accused of sending the Fifth Brigade to murder
the Ndebele
people.
It is also alleged that Siwela called on the people
of
Matabeleland to eject all Shona-speaking people from the region, accusing
them of occupying influential positions at workplaces.
Lawyers representing the duo yesterday told Zimdaily that the
state had
refused to discharge their clients on charges of inciting violence
when they
addressed a political gathering in December 2002 convened by a
non-governmental organisation to discuss a document fanning tribalism that
had been circulating both locally and internationally. The lawyers had
applied to have their clients discharged on the grounds that the state had
no sufficient evidence to pin Siwela and Mkhwananzi, but a regional court in
Bulawayo this week threw out the application and directed that the duo be
put on their defence.
"The court has refused the
application for discharge at the
close of the state case and ordered that
they be put on their defence on the
basis that the magistrate believes that
the state has shown that they have a
case to answer," said Nicholas Mathonsi
of Bulawayo-based law firm Coghlan
and Welsh. "As defence, we are
disappointed because we thought we had put up
a good case for the
application for discharge that we were seeking," said
Mathonsi, adding that
his clients had been remanded to March 21 2006. "This
is the date we will
continue the defence," said the lawyer.
Siwela and Mkhwananzi
were arrested on December 6, 2002 for
allegedly making subversive statements
during a public meeting. The ZAPU
leaders allegedly told the public
gathering that the Ndebele people were
marginalised and should stand up and
fight using spears. According to the
court documents, Siwela allegedly
accused President Mugabe of causing
unnecessary suffering to the Ndebele
people and further urged the people of
Matabeleland to demand compensation
for atrocities allegedly committed by
the Gukurahundi.
It
is also alleged that Siwela called on the people of
Matabeleland to eject
all Shona-speaking people from the region, accusing
them of occupying
influential positions at workplaces. Mkhwananzi, who also
addressed the same
meeting, is alleged to have said that President Mugabe
scored a diplomatic
coup against the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo by
"slaughtering" six
tourists along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway and
shifted the blame to
dissidents largely believed to have been backed by PF
ZAPU. The tourists
were from Europe. Mkhwananzi, according to court
documents, alleged the
"slaughter" of the tourists was meant to deceive the
world into believing
that the Gukurahundi in the early 1980s was a just war
against the Ndebele
people.
New Zimbabwe
By Crisford
Chogugudza
Last updated: 02/10/2006 09:40:21
I AM one of the many
Zimbabweans living, working and studying in the United
Kingdom and
grotesquely concerned about the fast deteriorating
socio-economic and
political situation in Zimbabwe.
When the current crisis started a few
years ago, there was a general feeling
amongst the so called patriotic or
brainwashed Zimbabweans that the crisis
was temporary and a passing phase.
The majority of the skeptics were
resolute on the fact that the country was
irretrievably moving in the wrong
direction or political Siberia. It was the
beginning of the death of a
nation-state which no one in the world of order
and sanity would dare deal
with in its current form.
Those of us who
talk about a turnaround of the Zimbabwean economy under the
current corrupt,
inefficient and lethargic administration are not only day
dreaming but
fooling themselves. To start with, the current administration
does not
uphold the basic qualities of an accountable and competent
management team.
Zimbabwe being an agrarian economy one would have expected
the country's
policies to be tailor made to equip and support those that
have the
capability to develop agriculture.
What we have instead is a government
that adopts a controversial land reform
policy, which is least oriented
towards supporting agricultural production.
There is general consensus on
the need for land reform, nobody disputes
that. This chaotic land reform
policy created a situation of accelerated
poverty and disempowerment. The
disposed commercial farmers have ostensibly
been turned into near destitute
and their former labourers now live in
absolute poverty.
The once
very vibrant farms are now derelict. To make matters worse the few
viable
commercial farms lefts continue to be senselessly invaded by the Zanu
PF big
wigs and top brass of the ruling elite. No body sensible and
responsible is
doing anything about it. Dr Gideon Gono the so-called
technocrat with
messaic attributes was brought in at a crucial time to
revive the economy
but in reality all that he is doing is 'damage control'.
His efforts however
determined and credible they have been it is unfortunate
that he has not
succeeded a great deal. The reason why Gono has failed is
not because of the
alleged shallowness of his fiscal and monetary policies
but because of lack
of support and sabotage from within the ruling elite.
The poor Dr,
honorary though, has struggled to keep government expenditure
and inflation
down. He has presided over the worst shrinking economy in
recent times. His
calls for fiscal discipline have fallen into deaf ears.
The inflation rate
now hovering between 400-800% is unheard of in economies
outside war zones
not even in the Germany of 1929. It is a shame that a
pound which was worth
about Z$100 only a few years ago is now worth Z$250
000 on the parallel
market. Zimbabwe will soon be the first country to
introduce new $1 million
dollar denomination, honestly something is not
right and should be corrected
now.
We Zimbabweans in the Diaspora once revered for our high literacy
rate among
other accolades feel very embarrassed to even disclose our
nationality. It
appears there are people somewhere somehow who are
benefiting from the chaos
and socio-economic disintegration of the country.
The reality on the ground
as well as conventional wisdom point to the fact
that not even the revered
retired US financial guru Alan Greenspan, UK
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Dr
Gordon Brown nor divine intervention can
save the Zimbabwean economy under
the current administration. No book of
economics based on either the US,
Chinese, Japanese or Malaysian economic
prudence applies to the current
Zimbabwean economic malaise.
Any turn
around of the Zimbabwean economy can only be brought about when the
following among other issues have been adequately addressed;
* There
is need for a complete reconfiguration of the geo-political
situation in
Zimbabwe by way of freeing more political space for the
opposition and civil
society.
* Restoration of the rule of law.
* Allow more press
freedom by scrapping the draconian media laws operating
in Zimbabwe today.
Revered media personalities such as Trevor Ncube of the
Zimbabwe Independent
and a few others who are consistent campaigners for
press freedom and civil
liberties have been restricted by these ludicrous
and dangerous
laws.
These laws have made independent media practitioners prisoners of
conscience
in the country of their birth. Zimbabwe has become more dangerous
to
practice journalism than Iraq. The media should be allowed to exercise
their
democratic right of informing the majority of neglected Zimbabweans
who have
become subjects of a carefully orchestrated campaign to silence
them. Those
who use their pens and microphones to excesses can easily be
dealt with by
libel laws fairly in an impartial court of law not the court
of public
opinion largely dominated by partisan views influenced by state
media.
The absence of press freedom has worsened the culture of silence
in
Zimbabwe. When people are scared to talk they become vulnerable to
manipulation by the strong and dominant forces. Like what Dr Martin Luther
King Jnr once said 'Our lives begin to end the moment we keep quiet about
things that matter to us'.
This is exactly what is happening in
Zimbabwe today.
* Cross party efforts to re-engaging the international
community with a view
to co-operating with other progressive countries of
the West with the
capacity to guaranteeing our credit worthiness and
acceptability in the
progressive world. This may lead to the end of the
painful economic
sanctions in Zimbabwe today.
* Re-establishing
positive relations with the international monetary network
comprising the
IMF, World Bank and other multilateral finance institutions
paving the way
for significant direct foreign investment. This could result
in solving the
foreign currency crisis in part.
* Adoption of progressive policies aimed
at reviving and reinvigorating the
economy.
* Establishing a
non-partisan anti-corruption department staffed and headed
by a neutral and
respected senior judicial officer.
* Instilling a new culture of
accountability, greater tolerance and
acceptance in government. This may be
interpreted as a process of
re-socialization. This also involves the formal
acceptance of people with
divergent political and religious views bringing
an end to the bi-polar
political scenario existing in Zimbabwe today. Its
unfortunate that the Zanu
PF state machinery whose political experiment is
fast becoming moribund has
not realized the simple logic that by ostracizing
and demonizing the
opposition, they make it more popular amongst the rank
and file.
The presumption of incompetence or doubt on the abilities of
the MDC party
president Tsvangirai has proved to be a tactical mistake as
the majority of
voting Zimbabweans fall in the same category of Tsvangirai's
educational
frame. This denigration of Tsvangirai's literacy level has had
the effect of
increasing his approval ratings as many people become both
scared and
skeptical of 'Nutty' professors and 'super graduates' whose
political
performance has been shameful and catastrophic over the years and
there is
overwhelming evidence to support this view. These people are better
kept in
University corridors where there 'expertise' is most wanted. They
should not
be allowed to practice politics because they confuse and
complicate things
for the common electorate. The history of 'intellectual
politicians' in
Zimbabwe has been pathetic.
* The adoption of a new
home grown constitution reflective of among other
things the background and
history of Zimbabweans. However, this constitution
will need to address
issues such as who qualifies to rule the country, how
they are elected and
for how long. Of paramouncy is the creation of an
impartial judicial system
capable of making critical decisions for the
benefit of the country not a
particular individual or group of individuals.
Equally important, the new
constitution should be a product of all
Zimbabweans irrespective of
political affiliation. There is no need to
convene a constitutional
conference as all the evidence required to draft a
new constitution can be
obtained from the Government Constitutional
Commission and the National
Constitutional Assembly material gathered for
the failed referendum in 2000.
This effort can be spearheaded by impartial,
competent and respected legal
and political personalities whose only basic
interest is the building of a
new Zimbabwe nothing else.
Lastly and most importantly, there should be
clear programme of action with
regards to when the President is leaving
office. Currently, there is
mistrust amongst Zimbabweans as to when exactly
the President calls it a
day. The most worrying thing being that neither the
government, Zanu PF
party nor the President himself has addressed
Zimbabweans particularly
during this period of crisis as to when he is going
and the plans for his
succession. Succession is a taboo subject in Zanu PF's
Zimbabwe. All that
people hear is that the President has told a CNN reporter
in an exclusive
interview not seen by many Zimbabweans or at a press
conference in Malaysia
or Addis Ababa that he intends to step down in 2008.
The honest truth is
that before the current crisis, the man did a lot for
the country but cannot
do much more and naturally as he is getting too old,
lethargic and senile
like most octogenarians. An announcement from the man
to say the exact date
he is going will undoubtedly help in the recovery
process.
Cris Chogugudza is a Zimbabwean social commentator based in
London. He can
be contacted at chogukcris2001@yahoo.co.uk
New Zimbabwe
By Staff
Reporter
Last updated: 02/10/2006 09:40:07
TWO Zimbabwean men and an
Indonesian have appeared in a Queensland court
over a scam involving about
$150,000 in stolen cheques.
Abisha Katerere, 22, and Garikayi Maya, also
22, both from Zimbabwe, who
were living in Surfers Paradise, and Indonesian
national Curianto Ng, 27,
who was living in Brisbane, appeared in the
Southport Magistrates Court on
Wednesday.
They were charged with two
counts of fraud which involved $70,000 and one
count of attempted fraud
involving $80,000.
It is alleged the cheques were stolen from letter
boxes, then washed,
altered and deposited into different accounts by
recruited decoys.
The accused were bailed to reappear at a later
date.
No plea was entered.
Police said investigations were
continuing with further charges and arrests
expected.
New Zimbabwe
By Msekiwa Makwanya
Last updated: 02/10/2006
09:40:18
IT IS a noble idea for the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
delegation
led by Isaac Matongo, comprising of Hon. Nelson Chamisa, Hon
Thokozani
Khupe, and Ian Makone to engage Zimbabweans in the Diaspora on
matters of
national interest.
There is a significant Zimbabwean
community out of the country which will
always welcome fellow
Zimbabweans.
These meetings in the UK have been well advertised and they
are not being
attended by people who are just there to sing praise, but
rather raise those
difficult questions and giving people the opportunity to
speak their mind.
It is also hoped that the MDC delegation will document
and take into account
all the views from abroad to inform their approach
when they go back home.
There is an important message for people in the
Diaspora as well as the
touring MDC delegation to remember. When people
attend these meetings, they
should do so with an open mind, realising that
the politics of truth is a
political mine-field.
Tsvangirai has
dispatched a team to listen to people's feelings and no doubt
anxieties.
This is a positive development and indicative of his appreciation
of the
fact that even his faction cannot go it alone. There is a battle 'for
truth', or at least 'around truth' and specific effects of power attached to
the truth.
The people of Zimbabwe are desperate for the change of
governance, not just
the government, and this message resonates with
Zimbabweans across the
world.
Dr Gono has aptly summarised the
feeling in the Diaspora during his monitory
policy review, "If ... we do not
resolutely stamp-out growing corruption,
especially among us people in
positions of authority and influence ... we
will soon discover, too late,
that policy formulations, implementation and
decisions
have been based on
self-interest, racial overtones, regional and tribal
considerations at the
expense of national good."
Conflicts are part of life and certainly,
politics is a game of compromise
and you will never say never in politics so
it is hoped that the message
from the Diaspora will encourage unity of
purpose and an opportunity for
reflection within the MDC. Let me borrow Dr
Gono's recent wisdom and
observation to say that, "As Zimbabwe, we cannot go
it alone, and it is
imperative that we seek to work with other international
business partners,
particularly those that see the virtues and sincerity of
our efforts and
wish us well."
Zanu PF cannot go it alone if Zimbabwe
cannot go it alone, and it common
cause that Zimbabwe is more than the
ruling party.
To the two MDC factions, there is a view in the Diaspora
shared by many at
home that a strong opposition is vital for democracy and
that both parties
should
postpone their congresses and come together once
again.
Professor Ncube and Morgan Tsvangirai have to make this tough
decision as
part of their leadership challenge. It is not too late listen to
one
another, angry and disappointed as people on both sides are. It is no
longer
a question of being right or wrong, or even the truth, it is a matter
of
survival.
It is better to have a delayed and united congress than
a hurried and
divisive congress. Some people agree with Professor Ncube on
one point but
disagree with him on another, and the same goes for
Tsvangirai.
Both Tsvangirai and Professor Ncube and their followers are
not necessarily
wrong or correct on everything. To press ahead with the two
separate
congresses will give a hard time to people who respect both leaders
but who
will be forced to choose a side. It is like forcing children to
choose
between their father and mother.
Tsvangirai and Professor
Ncube have to think again; some people still
consider and respect both them
as their leaders. It is hoped that people
will not continue to be put in
this awkward position between their leaders.
The new parliamentary caucus
set up is yet another scenario putting MDC MPs
in a very difficult and
trying position of choosing between pragmatism and
moral positions when in
fact they need both in politics.
It might well be that the leaders have
reached a point that requires people
to lead them. In such a situation, the
leaders will have to respect the
possibility that the ordinary members might
want to have the final say.
The MDC is a party that prides itself for
consulting it membership. The
question is: Has the leadership consulted the
people before taking such a
serious decision of splitting a party which they
were given as one six years
ago, and worse still when their mandate has
already expired?
People are right to ask the leadership: If you cannot
keep a party together
how will keep the country as one? So what will
Tsvangirai and Professor
Welshman tell their congresses?
Let us warn
them in advance, it will not be enough for Tsvangirai to blame
it on Zanu
PF, that is the party he was asked to remove, and will not be
enough for
Professor Ncube to blame it on the "kitchen cabinet". Some of us
are tempted
to believe that the so called restructuring exercise that was
done after
October 12th was more of strategic positioning of loyalists than
a proper
renewal of the party. What is important is for both factions to
know that
Zimbabwe is now like a patient in a critical condition, and
recovery is
going to be a matter of expertise and sound judgement and
political
competence.
The solution may lie in both Tsvangirai and Welshman moving
to the
background and postponing the congress to a later date so that other
untainted members can come forward to unite their party. Our fears and
anxieties are that posts will be given to people simply because they are
available not because they are competent and that will not be good for the
MDC, democracy and Zimbabwe either.
Msekiwa Makwanya is a social
commentator based in England. Contact can be
made through makwanya@yahoo.com
New Zimbabwe
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In
an article published by the Zimbabwe Independent on 17th June 2005, Dr
Alex
Magaisa wrote aptly about the misuse of corporate vehicles in
disguising
beneficial ownership and control. He argued that if the
government was
serious about tackling corruption through the Anti-Corruption
Commission, it
had to target this key area and develop mechanisms to
identify beneficial
owners of corporate vehicles.
New Zimbabwe.com editor Mduduzi Mathuthu's
expose` on how certain figures in
Zanu PF have managed to bust the sanctions
regime using corporate vehicles
goes some way to suggest that the use of
corporate vehicles is quite
widespread and at high levels. Here New
Zimbabwe.com reproduces Magaisa's
article on this
issue:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By
Dr Alex Magaisa
Last updated: 02/10/2006 09:40:04
IN attempts to tackle
the problem of corruption the government needs to
confront the key and
highly sensitive issue of beneficial ownership and
control.
In very
simple terms, the problem of beneficial ownership and control arises
in
situations whereby a person uses a corporate entity or individual as a
front
to obscure his real identity in commercial transactions or holding
assets.
Although corporate vehicles have been used in this way for
legitimate
reasons, there is concern that they are at risk of being used for
illegitimate reasons.
This is a key area in tackling corruption
because most people involved in
high-level corruption have an interest in
not disclosing their identity and
they increasingly employ highly
sophisticated corporate structures to
achieve this end. While by no means
giving an exhaustive account, this
article seeks to highlight key features
in this area and argues that if the
efforts to fight corruption are serious
policy-makers should consider giving
this issue priority.
The issue
of beneficial ownership demonstrates recognition of the fact that
a person
who may often be represented as the legal owner of a property or
party to a
commercial transaction may not necessarily be the real
beneficiary of that
property or transaction. The key is to understand and
appreciate that there
is often a distinction between the appearance and
reality in the ownership
and control of corporate vehicles. While the use of
corporate vehicles may
be done for entirely legitimate reasons, authorities
need to be alert as
they can be used to perpetrate corruption.
In recent years there has been
much concern at the international level over
the use of corporate vehicles
for illegal activities, which include money
laundering, corruption, bribery
etc. Research carried out by the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) in 2000
demonstrated that corporate vehicles may also be
used to manipulate markets,
engage in insider dealing or simply to
circumvent state regulations.
There are two lines of interest: firstly,
how corporate vehicles can be
misused for purposes of perpetrating corrupt
acts and, secondly, what needs
to be done to tackle this problem. This is an
area that will test the
seriousness of authorities in confronting the
problem of corruption.
The first point is best illustrated by way of
example. Let's assume that the
government decides to construct a sports
stadium. The rules state that all
cabinet ministers are prohibited from
having any financial interest in the
project.
However, a group of
five ministers decides to disregard the rule against
participation. The only
way they can do so is to disguise their identities.
They engage a corporate
service provider who sells them a shelf company. The
shareholders of the
company are nominees and two other people with no
obvious connection to any
of the ministers.
The small company gets into a partnership with a
foreign company and they
call this a "consortium". In fact, they receive
massive bribes from the
foreign company, which is paid to the local company
as "consultancy fees".
The consortium bids for the contract to build the
stadium. Two of the
ministers are key decision-makers in the awarding of the
contract and the
others pay bribes to members of the Tender Board to award
the contract to
the consortium.
The beneficial ownership and control
of the ministers in the consortium is
obscured by the fact that a corporate
vehicle has been used to hide their
true identity. They will claim that it
is the company, not them, which is a
party to the contract. The proceeds,
which are essentially products of
corruption, ultimately reach the ministers
although the apparent legal
arrangement does not show them to have any stake
in the consortium.
A simpler and perhaps more common illustration in the
context of Zimbabwe is
where two farms have been allocated to a trust and
the wife of a cabinet
minister. The trust beneficiaries are the minister's
children. He can claim
that legally he has no farm at all, that the two
farms are owned by his wife
and the trust whose beneficiaries are the
children. On the face of it at law
the minister has not farm yet in reality
he is the beneficial controller of
both farms. He has simply used the
corporate vehicle (the trust) and another
person closely connected to him
(his wife) as fronts to disguise his
beneficial control. Technically there
is no violation of the law, but in
reality the minister has by corrupt means
sought to make himself the
ultimate beneficiary of all
properties.
Clearly, the misuse of corporate vehicles is quite common and
lies at the
very heart of the corruption problem. As noted in the examples
individuals
can also be used as fronts to disguise the identity of the real
beneficiary.
An individual can be the one who receives the bribe on behalf
of a
high-ranking government official.
The question is how many
people have distributed their assets to or conduct
their business through
trusts or companies that are in the names of their
toddlers or spouses and
claim to have no legal title to them yet in truth
they are the beneficial
owners and controllers?
As I have indicated, there are many people who
form corporate vehicles for
entirely legitimate reasons but there may also
be a large number that simply
do so to hide proceeds of corruption. This is
likely to be the case in
respect f political figures who choose to hide
behind sham companies in
order to distance themselves from their corrupt
tendencies.
Are the authorities prepared to tackle this issue and see
what lies beneath
the surface of these corporate vehicles?
Of course,
the more cunning ones often stash the proceeds of corruption in
foreign
countries in the names of corporate vehicles, which disguise the
true
identity of the beneficiaries. In some jurisdictions that have strict
bank
secrecy laws, it is very hard to trace the beneficial owners of bank
accounts some of whom might be stationed in countries that are badly
affected by corruption.
It is for this reason that Western
governments also have an obligation to
developing countries to prevent the
use of their financial institutions to
hide assets through obscure corporate
vehicles.
Nonetheless, if Zimbabwe is serious about tackling corruption,
it must begin
by undertaking a massive overhaul of its systems of
collecting, verifying
and maintaining information on beneficial ownership of
the thousands of
corporate vehicles that are in use in the country. Greater
cooperation with
other jurisdictions across the world will yield yet more
information on the
use of corporate vehicles for illicit purposes.
It
is important to bear in mind that it's not only to identify legal
ownership
but also control no matter the artificial legal barriers that
might be in
place. To do this, however, it is necessary to set up the proper
legal
framework that balances the need to protect human rights while
fighting
corruption effectively. Once the fight against corruption
unreasonably
invades individual liberties, it loses credibility and it will
be hard to
get international co-operation.
The OECD recommended in 2001 that the key
approach to tackling the problem
of disguising beneficial ownership and
control is to develop mechanisms that
are aimed at the prevention of misuse
of corporate vehicles. The key element
of this strategy is to enable
regulators and law enforcement authorities to
collect, verify and share this
kind of information.
Therefore, it is necessary to establish mechanisms
for the collection of
information about the persons behind the ownership or
control especially of
corporate vehicles. Three broad ways have been
identified:
* placing an obligation for up-front disclosure of beneficial
owners at the
time of incorporating the company and continuing obligation to
inform of
changes;
* using corporate service providers to obtain and
retain information which
can be accessed by authorities whenever necessary;
and
* relying primarily on investigative systems.
All three
options may be used in combination. (There is limited scope to
discuss these
mechanisms in this article.)
Since we have seen that the misuse of
corporate vehicles is also an
international problem it is necessary that
there be mechanisms for sharing
information with foreign regulators and
authorities. The success of
international cooperation and sharing
information and assistance in
extradition of accused persons is dependent on
the existence of the rule of
law in the individual jurisdictions.
At
a minimum there must be confidence in the judicial system and in the
existence of laws that are fair and just. The problem that Zimbabwe has
faced in recent years is the lack of confidence in the justice system as a
result of the perceived lack of judicial independence and laws that are seen
as going beyond the generally accepted standards. Since sharing information
requires international cooperation, Zimbabwe will have to surmount the
difficulties pertaining to its justice system if its fight against
corruption is to be successful.
In conclusion, an exploration of
beneficial ownership and control is a key
part of the policies that ought to
inform the architectural design to fight
corruption. This policy must define
mechanisms by which information on
beneficial ownership and control should
be collected, verified and
maintained for future use whenever needed. This
is a key area that requires
investment in ideas and resources.
The
crucial question is whether those in authority have the political will
to
open this can, which is potentially laden with vast amounts of worms. The
government would go some way to demonstrate its seriousness and persuade the
public to believe in this exercise by taking on this issue and exploring
ways of exposing beneficial ownership. However, if the people that ought to
be leading the fight against corruption are actually involved in the use of
corporate vehicles to disguise beneficial ownership, then chances of success
are limited. In such a scenario, political will is very limited.
The
problem, of course, is that if those in authority are the beneficial
owners
and controllers of these corporate vehicles or individuals, such a
policy
may never be pursued.
For the new Anti-Corruption Commission, it might be
an issue worth
considering.
Dr Magaisa is a lawyer and can be
contacted at wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk
New Zimbabwe
By Staff
Reporter
Last updated: 02/10/2006 12:20:09
A ZIMBABWE court on Wednesday
slashed by 12 years a 32-year jail sentence on
appeal for one of President
Robert's Mugabe's most vocal ecclesiastical
backers -- self proclaimed
prophet Madzibaba Godfrey Nzira.
Nzira, 32, will now serve 20 years after
being convicted of rape.
Nzira who in 2002 said Mugabe was a "divinely
appointed king of Zimbabwe and
no man should dare challenge his office" had
sought the quashing of both his
conviction and sentence imposed by a court
in 2003.
Justice Lawrence Kamocha conceded that the sentence was
excessive, but
dismissed the appeal against conviction.
Several
churchmen have lined behind Mugabe in support. Anglican bishop
Norbert
Kunonga shocked the world when he said Mugabe was "actually more
merciful
than God Himself."
Two other prominent backers of the President, Obadiah
Msindo and Lawrence
Katsiru of the apostolic sect, have also had run-ins
with the law.
Msindo, head of the Destiny of Africa Network, faces arrest
for allegedly
raping his maid five times before dismissing him from
work.
Katsiru was last month slapped with a seven year sentence for
raping a 13
year old girl from his sect.
New Zimbabwe
By
Staff Reporter
Last updated: 02/10/2006 12:16:00
ZIMBABWE'S main
opposition leader was last night accused of "vitiating the
concept of
constitutionalism" after his advisers published a draft party
constitution
giving him an unlimited term of office.
Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai was elected
into office in 2000 under the
current party constitution which says the term
of the party president is
limited to two five-year terms.
According to the current MDC
constitution, Tsvangirai's term expires in 2010
after which he would have to
pave way for a new leader.
However, Tsvangirai's advisers, fearing that
the ruling Zanu PF government
may postpone the next elections to 2010 -- the
time when Tsvangirai's term
expires, have pushed through a constitutional
amendment which they hope to
pass at a planned congress later in
March.
The amended draft, made available to New Zimbabwe.com Thursday,
only imposes
a limit on the president's term "after assuming governing power
of the
Republic of Zimbabwe".
Article 6.1.2 of the amended draft
reads: "After assuming governing power of
the Republic of Zimbabwe, the
President subject to being re-elected by
Congress, shall serve for a maximum
of two terms as party president but
eligible for election in other party
positions thereafter."
The MDC split irreconcilably between two factions
last November after
Tsvangirai's colleagues, led by his deputy Gibson
Sibanda, accused him of
"dictatorship" following his rejection of a vote of
the party's national
council to participate in senate elections.
The
two factions plan to hold two separate congresses where they will both
elect
their new leaders. However, observers say short of an "amicable
divorce"
negotiated between the two groups -- the matter over who can
rightly claim
control of the party can only be settled by a court of law.
On Thursday,
Sibanda's group declared that they now controlled the
parliamentary party
after 23 (initially 22) MPs out of the MDC's 41 in
parliament swung behind
them. They immediately elected a new chief whip and
rolled out a new shadow
cabinet.
Last night, a Zimbabwean political journalist watching the
developments in
the MDC told New Zimbabwe.com: "This looks like a project
for feudal
dictators. Tsvangirai is behaving like 17th century monarchs who
rigidly
opposed the march of constitutionalism.
"This makes nonsense
of Tsvangirai's pretences that he is fighting for a
democratic dispensation.
This is an entrenchment of authoritarianism and an
absolute vitiation of the
concept of constitutionalism."
The draft constitution also gives the
president power to appoint or dismiss
members of the party's national
council.
The journalist added: "All these measures are designed to give
Tsvangirai
untrammeled power as party leader. What this demonstrates is that
Tsvangirai
has irredeemably lost the plot. Political blunders can be made
and forgiven.
But a deliberate tampering with a party constitution cannot
pass for a
blunder."
MDC sources said the draft constitution was the
work of Tsvangirai's
unelected advisers, dubbed the "kitchen cabinet" by his
critics.
Tendai Biti, a lawyer who supported Tsvangirai's stance on the
senate, is
said to have been critical of the document and put together
another version
which restricts Tsvangirai's term to two years. Tsvangirai,
however, is said
to favour the draft drawn up by his
advisers.
Professor Welshman Ncube, the MDC's secretary general, now
critical of
Tsvangirai, told New Zimbabwe.com Thursday: "Our problem with
Tsvangirai and
his kitchen cabinet has always been that they don't want to
play by the
rules. The draft constitution which they have drawn up is a
shocking
document which concentrates power on one person. You always thought
that was
a Zanu PF way of doing things."
zimbabwejournalists.com
By Bill Saidi
WATER and electricity,
without which modern Humankind cannot survive,
have been used as torture
instruments for years.
Water, without which the human body cannot
survive, forms 80 percent
of this unique creation. The Earth itself consists
mostly of water.
God didn't create electricity in the six days that he
created the
Earth. Thunder and lightning did exist then, but it took
Humankind to create
electricity as we know it today. It also took humankind
to use electricity
as an instrument of torture.
It's quite likely
that had God even suspected to what devilish use
humankind would put
electricity, He might have prevented the idea from
germinating in the
fertile mind of His most unique creation.
The fact is that water and
electricity were used - according to
reliable information - in the alleged
torture of two Zimbabwean journalists,
Mark Chavhunduka and Ray
Choto.
The two journalists of the independent weekly, The Standard,
were
subjected to this torture by soldiers of the Zimbabwe army, over a
story
they published concerning an attempted military coup against the
government
of President Robert Mugabe.
The two men narrated how
"things" were done to them during the hours
they spent in the captivity of
the soldiers. Some of this involved water and
electricity, specifically
being applied to their genitals.
The purpose was to force them to
disclose their sources. Chavhuduka
and Choto stood firm. The price was high.
For months, they had to undergo
therapy. The mental and physical trauma was
enormous and although they may
eventually have recovered, there is no doubt
some of it remained in their
subconscious.
Chavhunduka died later,
as untimely a death as you are likely to come
across anywhere. Choto left
the country and is now working in the United
States.
In Zimbabwe
today, many urban citizens are convinced the government is
once again using
water and electricity as psychological weapons of mass
destruction. The
idea is to destroy their resistance to the political
blandishments of the
ruling party.
Since the parliamentary elections in 2000, the urban
voter has
repeatedly rejected Zanu PF. By the time of the 2002 local
authority
elections, this rejection had spread to the city and town
councils. Harare,
Bulawayo, Mutare and Gweru were among cities which voted
in local
councillors belonging to the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC).
In the aftermath, Zanu PF sent its thugs into Chitungwiza, for
instance, to inflict retribution on the voters. Some reports spoke of
soldiers whipping revellers in bars if they did not answer certain questions
correctly. The idea was to show them that not voting for Zanu PF carried its
own deadly risks.
Some of the stories of retribution sounded as if
they had been
garnished for special effect. But in general the stories were
so graphic and
detailed, most reporters with no political axe to grind found
them eminently
credible.
There were reports of people being hounded
out of their neighbourhood,
out of their jobs and, in one or two bizarre
cases, they were even hounded
out of their marriages.
Zanu PF was
determined to remind the urban dweller that, in future
elections they would
know what fate awaited them if they did not vote for
the "right"
party.
To this day, there are voters who have sworn never to vote for
Zanu
PF, even if it means laying down their lives or giving up their job,
wife or
friend.
Their reasons are not difficult to detail. The
country has gone down
the drain, politically and economically and there is
no prize for guessing
who is to blame - Zanu PF and Mugabe.
The
current campaign of the psychological torture of the urban dweller
probably
started inadvertently. But many are convinced that Zanu PF saw an
opportunity to profit politically from this accident of
inconvenience.
The government has no money to repair anything any more
- aircraft,
trains, bridges, roads, sewer and water systems, electrical
power stations
or the transformers that service them.
So, there are
constant power and water cuts in almost every urban
centre. Predictably,
this led to disease: there have been outbreaks of
cholera, dysentery and
diarrhoea in a number of centres, with deaths
reportedly affecting mostly
children.
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority, created by the
government last
year to take complete control of all water systems in the
country, is new to
the job and has committed a number of blunders. It has
cut off water to the
big urban centres, allegedly for non-payment of dues,
but its officials have
been red-faced with guilt when reports have emerged
that each such centre
haw faced an epidemic resulting from ZINWA's rash
action.
The power cuts have resulted from the power utility parastatal,
(Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority) Zesa's inability to pay for power
imports from South Africa. Zesa has also pleaded for foreign currency to buy
essential spares for its power stations.
But most people ascribe
Zesa's inefficiency to either endemic
corruption or to an attitude common to
all of Zmbabwe's parastatals: the
government will bail them whatever
over-expenditure they incur.
So, people go for weeks or months without
water or electricity.
"The idea is to blame everything on the MDC
councils," said one
resident. "In any case, the government has fired most of
them, except in
Bulawayo. In Harare, a government-appointed commission is in
charge, but
they have made a real mess of the city."
Yet the story
persists that the government is determined to remind
urban dwellers that not
voting for Zanu Pf at the next elections would be
very unwise.
This
psychological combat may not, in the end, alter the urban voters'
perception
of Zanu PF. Stories of corruption in high places have recently
heightened
people's awareness of how recklessly Zanu PF abuses its
authority.
Stories of Zanu PF leaders hijacking essential drugs intended for
people
suffering from HIV/Aids have infuriated many. It is known that a good
number
of the people around Mugabe have succumbed to HIV/Aids. The president
himself a few years ago disclosed publicly that some of his colleagues had
died of the disease.
The Standard newspaper last year carried a
story in which it asked a
number of leaders about the state of their health.
Most were quite candid,
admitting that they had gone overseas for a course
of treatment and were now
better. There was no mention of HIV/Aids, but most
readers must have guessed
what ailed the leaders.
Some of the
leaders appear on public television, looking so
underweight only their loved
ones can fail to conclude that the disease had
taken its toll on
them.
Rather morbidly, one wag predicted that what the MDC or any other
opposition party could not do in the last 25 years, HIV/Aids might
accomplish in one fell swoop.
IPSnews
Nhamoinesu
Mseyamwa
BULAWAYO, Feb 9 (IPS) - Sachikonye Lunga's face twists at the
mere mention
of the word "elephant", which doubtless evokes memories of his
eldest son
being trampled to death last year by one of the
animals.
"We were not threatened by elephants before, but now they are
everywhere,"
says the 70-year-old traditional healer from Siyabuya village
in the Zambezi
valley, north-west of Zimbabwe's capital,
Harare.
According to the 2005 annual report by the Community Areas
Management
Programme or Campfire, an initiative to ensure sustainable
wildlife
management, elephants were responsible for 12 deaths last year, an
increase
from the 10 recorded in 2004.
Edward Mbewe, spokesman for
the Department of National Parks and Wildlife
Management, says most of those
killed had ventured into elephant habitats in
search of food, as Zimbabwe
endured its third year of drought.
But, Lunga believes it is the
elephants which are encroaching: ôWe no longer
bang empty tins to scare
elephants away lest we anger them, but just watch
as they descend on our
fields and graze on our crops."
With drought persisting, the number of
deaths may increase still more as
elephants and humans compete for
resources. Current conditions have also
taken a severe toll on the animals:
over a 100 elephants died last year -
something blamed on serious shortages
of water and grazing.
Mbewe says Zimbabwe's national parks are now home
to over 100,000
elephants - even though they can only sustain 45,000. The
population has
more than doubled since 1999, he adds. According to the parks
department,
4,200 elephants are born in Zimbabwe every year.
While
Mbewe attributes this increase to the country's "ability to protect
and
conserve" wildlife, a 2005 report from the World Conservation Union
warns it
could be the result of elephants crowding together in protected
zones for
their safety after fleeing to escape human pressure.
"Most elephant
surveys are restricted to protected areas, and it is
precisely to protected
areas that elephants flock when their range is
compressed by expanding human
populations," says one of the report's
authors, Julian Blanc.
"A high
concentration of elephants in protected areas can give a misleading
impression of increasing numbers."
Nonetheless, Environment and
Wildlife Minister Francis Nhema believes the
current situation is not
sustainable, and that culling is necessary.
Zimbabwe has tried without
success to offer some of its elephants for free
to western countries. In
October last year, government also attempted to
relocate a number of the
animals to Namibia; however, this initiative hit a
snag when the Namibian
Department of National Parks and Wildlife said it was
facing similar
problems to Zimbabwe.
Namibia has 16,000 elephants of its own, some of
which have been involved in
human-elephant conflict in the north-eastern
Caprivi Strip, again due to
drought.
Elsewhere in the region,
Botswana is also encountering difficulties with
elephants.
Last year,
President Festus Mogae said a growing elephant population was
responsible
for the destruction of perimeter fences around the Chobe
National Park that
had made human-elephant conflict an almost permanent
feature in the north of
the country.
South Africa's recent call for culling to control elephant
populations in
the north-eastern Kruger National Park -- home to about
12,500 of the
animals -- has been dismissed as cruel by certain conservation
groups.
A statement from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)
said the
country's reputation would suffer if it killed off elephants.
"Culling is a
cruel, unethical and scientifically unsound practice," the
IFAW brief read.
For Johnny Rodriguez, chairman of the Zimbabwe
Conservation Taskforce
(ZCTF), the best method of dealing with high elephant
populations lies in
the creation of better-managed habitats such as
trans-frontier parks, and
migration corridors to allow greater movement of
animals between countries.
The ZCTF was formed by a group of Zimbabwean
nationals in 2001 in response
to concerns about poaching.
"The
country cannot afford more losses because it has already lost too much
valuable wildlife to commercial and subsistence poachers since farm
invasions began in February 2000 as part of the controversial fast-track
land reform programme," says Rodriguez.
He has also suggested the use
of contraception to control population growth;
however, the National Parks
and Wildlife Management Department claims this
would be too
expensive.