The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.

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Farmer 'beaten to death' in rural Zimbabwe
          February 10 2005 at 09:26AM

      By Peta Thornycroft

      Harare - One of the last white farmers in the Banket area - about 80km
north of Harare - has been murdered. Norwegian-born Ole Sunde, 66, was
apparently beaten to death at the weekend, but his family do not know
exactly how he died because Zimbabwe no longer has a state pathologist.

      On Wednesday his daughter-in-law, who asked not to be named, said that
there were signs of struggle in the house, and Sunde was found dead on his
bed, covered in bruises.

      She said Sunde, who came to Zimbabwe about 30 years ago but carried a
Kenyan passport, had hardly been able to farm because of political
disturbances in the area, which used to be the top food producing district.

      a.. Journalists Karima Brown and Peter Fabricius report that South
Africa's High Commissioner to Zimbabwe, Jerry Ndou, has played down concerns
about the latest moves by the Zimbabwean government against farms owned by
South Africans.

      Cases involving 15 South African-owned farms are now going before the
administrative court in Harare to legalise the seizure of the farms.

      These cases appear to contradict an agreement with Zimbabwe that land
owned by fellow-members of the Southern African Development Community would
not be touched.
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Mail and Guardian

      Mugabe supporters denied bail after weekend rampage

      Harare, Zimbabwe

      10 February 2005 03:51

            Thirty youths from President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF were
denied bail on Thursday following their weekend arrest in Zimbabwe for
beating up opposition supporters and stabbing a police officer.

            The young Zanu-PF members commandeered cars from local residents
and attacked opposition supporters in the town of Norton, west of Harare.

            When police arrested one of the assailants, the mob reportedly
attacked a police station. One police officer suffered serious stab wounds,
according to the state-run Herald and independent Mirror.

            "The accused are facing a very serious offence that is always
prevalent during elections and releasing them on bail will put the entire
justice system into disrepute," Magistrate Cremmah Chipere ruled during the
court appearance of the 30 youths.

            "The offence is violent and infringes on the rights of other
people to personal security," said Chipere.

            A 16-year-old girl, arrested along with the 30 other youths, was
released.

            Stunned friends and family members looked on in silence as
prison wardens led the 30 youths into the holding cells at the Harare
Magistrate's Court.

            A new court appearance was scheduled for February 25.

            The violence came ahead of the March 31 parliamentary elections,
which will be closely watched to gauge whether Zimbabwe will live up to its
pledge to hold free and fair elections.

            The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party
has agreed to field candidates in the vote, even though its leaders said it
is doubtful that the elections will be democratic.

            Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and police chief Augustine
Chihuri this week warned against violence in the run-up to the elections.

            "Any perpetrators will meet the full wrath of the law. There
will be no excuses, no one to run to," Chinamasa said.

            Elections in 2000 and 2002 in Zimbabwe were marred by violence
and widespread allegations of fraud.

            In a separate incident, rival factions of Zimbabwe's main
opposition party clashed on Wednesday in the southern town of Masvingo,
according to media reports and a party official.

            Witnesses told the Mirror and the Herald that violence broke out
when MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai's bodyguards blocked supporters of a
lawmaker who lost in the party's primary polls as they tried to barge into
the meeting.

            Two local councillors were among those injured in the Wednesday
clashes, according to media reports.

            MDC youth chairperson Nelson Chamisa confirmed the clashes,
which he blamed on lawmaker Silas Mangono. He accused Mangono of busing in
supporters to disrupt the meeting.

            "Mr Tsvangirai was having a meeting with officials from the
party structures to discuss the party's election campaign strategies for the
province but Mr Mangono, who was defeated in a free and fair excercise,
brought his sympathisers to disrupt the meeting," Chamisa said.

            Police said no arrests have been made yet but they are
investigating. -- Sapa-AFP

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http://baltimorechronicle.com/020905Mathilde.shtml

Don't Forget Zimbabwe's Tragedy
by Mathilde Soyer

"You hold between your hands the jewel of Africa," said president of
Mozambique Samora Machel to the new leader of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, on
April 18, 1980, the day this former British colony gained independence; "and
now, take great care... "
            Zimbabwe sets a sad example of the difficulties of exporting
democracy to Third World countries.

More than 20 years later, this country is one of the five worst nations
regarding human rights. Since Mugabe became President, the country has
descended into complete tragedy. When elected in 1980, Mugabe was invested
of all the hope and confidence of the population. But he quickly turned out
to be a weak" leader surrounded by a dishonest and corrupt administration.
His promises to his people were empty. This sad example shows yet again the
difficulties of exporting democracy to Third World countries. In spite of
numerous protestations and sanctions coming from the international
community, the leaders of such new-born "western style" democracies all too
often fail in their stewardship.

Zimbabwe--formerly South Rhodesia--was once a thriving British colony, with
good transportation, modern and secure cities, a thriving agriculture that
included tropical fruits and corn, and increasing exports. Precious
minerals, including gold and chrome, were dynamic industries.

All was not paradise, however. Though considered a paradise for white
people, South Rhodesia suppressed black people politically and economically.
When the nation eventually won its war for independence in 1980, the people
eagerly hoped for a better future, regarded as possible thanks to Zimbabwe's
significant human and material resources. It didn't happen this way, and the
primarily responsibility for this failure lies with Robert Mugabe, abetted
by the astonishing silence of left-wing intellectuals and the failure of the
international community.

At first, President Mugabe enacted laws to eradicate corruption, but he was
never able to enforce them. Instead, he has himself been progressively
involved in corruption. In 1990, while a terrible famine was occurring in
the country, the government exported food and he personally benefited from
the proceeds. Further, in the absence of political will, all reforms for
free public education have failed.

            In its 25 years of independence, Zimbabwe's democracy has been
foiled by Robert Mugabwe's increasingly repressive regime. A parliamentary
election slated for March 31, barring oversight from the US and EU, is not
expected to improve the situation.

The country's economy, too, has been a disaster. In 2000, for example, the
price of a woman's purse was equal to the average citizen's monthly income.

Agriculture has suffered as well. Until 2000, Mugabe continued to refuse all
agrarian reforms, even though they were backed by the country's rich white
farmers. Then he decided to play a new role and started reform, but this has
been done harshly, with all white owners divested of their plantations. The
country is so poor, however, that the plantations' new owners have nothing
to work the land with.

Seventy percent of Zimbabwe's working-age population is unemployed. The
country is experiencing the exodus of skilled physicians and nurses who are
escaping from extremely poor working conditions.

In the face of all these setbacks, Zimbabwe is undergoing increasingly
severe political repression, even though it still calls itself "a
 democracy." The CIO--the Central Intelligence Organisation, similar to
Saddam Hussein's "Republican Guard"--is a political police totally dedicated
to Mugabe and in charge of silencing and suppressing the opposition.

Response to Zimbabwe's problems from the developed world has been
inadequate. The US and the European Union, for example, have been feeding
Zimbabwe's population for years, but have not dealt with the roots of the
nation's problems. The coming election can be expected to serve as evidence
of this oversight: they are unlikely to be free, fair and democratic.
Members of Mugabe's party are already pressuring citizens to vote for the
dictator's party. Last week, Zimbabwean Cathy Buckle reported that the
dictator's militia is already stopping by each inhabitant's residence,
obliging everyone to register to vote. The population is paralyzed, and
fears repression if they do not back the man on power.

Observers of the deteriorating situation in Zimbabwe believe it is essential
that the international community become involved in framing and monitoring
the country's election process (as is done in many other countries). Failure
to do so in this case would legitimize--through a pretended democratic
process--Mugabe's power and his policies of state violence.

Morgan Tsvangirai, president of the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change party, said in his Feb. 9 column on Zim Online, "I wish to
record...that today, millions are denied [the right to vote in Zimbabwe]
simply because of their ancestry, bureaucratic inefficiency or place of
residence. Those driven out of the country by the regime's policies, by
economic insecurity or by any other reasons have a right to determine
Zimbabwe's future and must be allowed to vote."

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, headed by pro-Mugabe High Court Judge
George Chiweshe, was appointed last month to oversee the election process.
Critics have charged that there is not enough time for the commission to
prepare for the March 31 parliamentary election.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sources:
THE TRUTH ABOUT ZIMBABWE
Pleure, ô Zimbabwe bien-aimé
Zimbabwe: the terror and abuse goes on
Date set for Zimbabwe elections
Zimbabwe: In Search of a New Strategy
Zim Online
MDC attacks Mugabe over election date
Mathilde Soyer, a political science student at the Institut d'Etudes
Politiques in Rennes, France, is an intern with this newspaper.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright © 2005 The Baltimore Chronicle. All rights reserved.

This story was published on February 9, 2005.
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Daily News online edition

      Botswana MP warns of war against Zimbabwe

      Date: 10-Feb, 2005

      JOHANNESBURG - The Botswana government has been blasted for practising
"silent diplomacy" over Zimbabwe, amid warnings from a member of parliament
that the country is heading for war with Harare if nothing is done to
prevent illegal immigrants from flooding the country.

      Paul Rantao, the MP for Gaborone West, and a University of Botswana
academic, Professor Kenneth Good, said the silent diplomacy can lead to
serious civil disorder and war psychosis.

      The comments by the two come in the wake of reports earlier this week
that Botswana has toughened its crackdown against Zimbabwe's illegal
immigrants, who once caught now face fines of up to Z$7,2 million and five
months in jail before deportation.

      In interviews with the Gaborone newspaper Mmegi/Reporter, the two
warned that Botswana was heading for disaster unless something drastic was
done to rectify the situation over the immigration issue, which had become
explosive.

      "This country, I am telling you, is heading for serious civil unrest
and even war, but our government seems not to care. There are always clashes
between Batswana and Zimbabweans; this tells you that something somewhere is
wrong," Rantao said.

      The MP questioned the usefulness of the round-up operations that are
often launched by the police and army against illegal immigrants. He said
while the officers arrested and deported many Zimbabweans, they returned
immediately to Botswana, causing a drain to the taxpayer's money.

      "What members of the Botswana Police and BDF (Botswana Defence Forces)
always do is a ping-pong exercise - they deport the Zimbabweans today and
tomorrow they are back. This wild session of always chasing them like
impalas and kudus is a game and it must stop. The question that we should
also ask ourselves is, has that yielded our country any meaningful results?
Definitely not. What we always do is to spend a lot of money deporting
them," Rantao said.

      He added that since the clean-up operations did not seem to work,
there was need for more effective solutions.

      "I think our government must be vocal on this. It must start at local
and then international level. At the local level, it must start at our
parliament and as legislators we must speak up. Internationally, our country
should consult with organisations like Southern African Development
Community (SADC) and even African Union (AU) to see how this situation can
be best dealt with. I see that as the only viable way. We cannot keep on
chasing the Zimbabweans away and be silent. It will not work."

      Rantao suggested that once the international bodies were consulted,
Botswana should seek mediation from one of its neighbouring countries.

      The university academic, Prof Good, attacked Botswana's President
Festus Mogae, Vice President Ian Khama and Foreign Affairs Minister Mompati
Merafhe for failing to fully exercise their powers to deal with the
Zimbabwean immigration issue.

      He alleged that the three have been silent on the problem and compared
their stance to the "quiet diplomacy" of South Africa's President Thabo
Mbeki, who never said anything about Zimbabwe's problems even though they
were heavily affecting his country.

      Prof Good said: "Mogae's leadership of silent diplomacy is affecting
this country negatively, and considering that this country is small, the
consequences might be even bigger. I think Mogae, Khama and Merafhe must
stand up."

      He exhorted Mogae to meet President Robert Mugabe in person because
the previous meetings between junior officials have failed to produce
results.
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Daily News online edition

      Economists warn against payouts for detainees

      Date: 10-Feb, 2005

      HARARE - The Zimbabwean government's decision to award a large
increase in pension payouts to former liberation war activists from this
month is expected to have long-term repercussions, economists have warned.

      The Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Paul
Mangwana, announced last week that former nationalists who had been detained
by the colonial government would receive a hike of more than 1000 percent in
their state pensions as a once-off payment.

      Gideon Gono, governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), warned
the government last year that such a large payout would throw plans to
reduce inflation off course.

      Compensation under the Ex-Political Prisoners, Detainees and
Restrictees Act, awarded to thousands of people who were detained,
restricted or imprisoned by the colonial government, will reportedly run
into trillions of Zimbabwean dollars.

      The independent Standard newspaper said the once-off payments would be
worth Zim $10 million (about US $1,654) each, amounting to Zim $60 billion
(US $9.9 million). There are reports that former detainees who did not
register with the veterans association are now

      scrambling to do so, which could push the number of beneficiaries to
25,000, raising the bill to US $41 million.

      Last week the government also reportedly raised the allowances and
salaries of headmen and village heads by 150 percent, with effect from
January.

      Most of the former liberation soldiers have remained loyal to the
ruling ZANU-PF, while village chiefs have been important to the party's
strength in the countryside.

      Economist and member of the RBZ's advisory board, Eric Bloch, said the
payouts made more political than economic sense.

      "That is blatantly an act of vote buying ahead of elections in March,
and that will have a negative impact on the government's deficit, as it will
have to resort to more borrowing. The decision will counteract the bank's
efforts to fight inflation," Bloch told IRIN in an interview.

      In 1997, the government made an even larger payout to war veterans
after they protested their living conditions - a move that had disastrous
consequences for the economy. - IRIN

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Daily News online edition

      MDC denies attacking Zanu PF offices

      Date: 10-Feb, 2005

      JOHANNESBURG - The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has
denied claims that its members attacked the offices of Zimbabwe's ruling
Zanu PF party in South Africa at the weekend.

      The chairman of the Johannesburg office of Zanu-PF, Bigvai Gumede,
claimed that about 30 to 50 chanting MDC supporters surrounded his office on
Sunday. Around 17 of them, some in MDC T-shirts, damaged the office and
tried to throw staff from the second floor window.

      "There were knives," he told Reuters, adding that two people,
including himself, had been hit but no-one was stabbed. "Their aim was to
vandalise the office or kill people. They had a mission."

      While Johannesburg police said they were investigating and
interviewing witnesses, Gumede said the police had not seen any of the
damage since it had been cleaned up.

      The MDC dismissed the story as an attempt to discredit them before
next month's parliamentary elections.

      "We believe it is a strategy by Zanu-PF to show that MDC is now
promoting violence," MDC spokesperson Nicholas Dube said. "We are a peaceful
party and we have never been involved in violence."

      Human rights groups and diplomats have long accused Zimbabwe of using
political violence against MDC supporters.

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Daily News online edition

      Britain hails launch of new Zimbabwean newspaper

      Date: 10-Feb, 2005

      LONDON - The House of Commons in Britain on Wednesday congratulated
former chief executive officer of the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe,
publishers of The Daily News and The Daily News on Sunday, Wilf Mbanga for
launching a new weekly newspaper called The Zimbabwean.

      Launched in London on February 10, the paper will be aimed at
Zimbaweans in the diaspora and will be published simultaneously in London
and Johannesburg. It aims to give a voice to texiled Zimbabweans, who
constitute about a quarter of the country's total population

      The motion reads in part: "That this House congratulates Wilf Mbanga
and his colleagues on the publication on 10th February of the first issue of
The Zimbabwean newspaper; notes that more than 65 journalists have offered
their services in this new weekly paper, to be published simultaneously in
London and Johannesburg and made available in Zimbabwe; and welcomes the
project, which will provide Zimbabweans living abroad and the general public
with the opportunity to read views and news about Zimbabwe free from
official censorship."

      The newspaper has an initial target of 120 000 copies per issue.
Weekend press reports quoted Mbanga, the newspaper's founder, as saying the
project would seek to " harness the energies and synergies of exiles, many
of whom were isolated, marginalised and voiceless, although they constituted
Zimbabwe's professional, skilled and intellectual cream".

      It is widely believed that more than a million Zimbabweans live in
exile in the UK and more than two million live outside Zimbabwe in Southern
Africa.

      According to Mbanga, the newspaper will, for the first time, give a
voice to these Zimbabweans, who constitute about 25% of the country's total
population
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Daily News online edition

      SA farmers challenge Zimbabwe land grab

      Date: 10-Feb, 2005

      JOHANNESBURG - Lawrence Nicholson, 81, a South African citizen, is
about to lose his home, a small dry ranch about 150km north of Beitbridge.

      His land was not invaded by President Robert Mugabe's supporters
during the five years of chaos in the commercial farming sector.

      But his was the first case to go to the Administrative Court in Harare
on Monday as Zimbabwe's justice system began to catch up with the paperwork
of Mugabe's land seizures, or land reform, as it is called by the
government.

      All the land to be "acquired" by the state is owned by whites, and
many of the cattle farms going under the judicial hammer in the south at
present are owned by South Africans. Some of them are still functioning.

      Nicholson was not in court. He is on holiday with his children
somewhere in South Africa, but he instructed the Commercial Farmers' Union
to hire a lawyer and defend his home and livelihood.

      Harare lawyer Rodney Makavsi opposed the government's application to
"acquire" Nicholson's home on two grounds. He raised the issue of the
independence of the judiciary, because he said many judges were
beneficiaries of farm redistribution and were therefore interested parties
to the "acquisitions".

      "They are judges to their own cause, and this denies the respondent a
fair hearing which is required by the constitution of Zimbabwe," he said.

      And he slammed recent changes to land laws which, he said, deprived
people of their only homes.

      Mr Justice Andrew Matema adjourned the case until Tuesday and asked
for proof that judges had been beneficiaries of the programme.

      In the second case, lawyer Munyaradzi Muzah spoke with passion on
behalf of a client she has never met, Rudolph van den Heever, believed to be
a medical doctor in Johannesburg. He inherited his farm, which is still
operating and is run by his sister and brother-in-law, also in the dry
south.

      "Several judges, including the honourable chief justice, have accepted
offers of land from the applicant" (the minister for land, land reform and
rural resettlement), she said.

      "In the present circumstances, where the bench has benefited from the
land reform programme, this prejudices the respondent and the bench can no
longer look impartially at land issues."

      The cases were heard in the only courtroom in the colonial-era
building. The court clock has apparently been stuck at 5.45pm for at least
10 years and the plaster and pale green paint have been crumbling and
peeling for decades.

      Upstairs, two new court rooms are in process of construction and in
the meantime recently appointed judges are hearing land cases in their
chambers to speed up the process.

      Regional Commercial Farmers' Union chairman Mike Clark was in court
watching the proceedings on behalf of his members whose land and homes are
being "processed". He says South African diplomats, who were not in court
yesterday, have tried to help and have succeeded in buying a little time for
some farmers.

      Clark believes the sudden rush by the government to do its paperwork
is political.

      "There seems to be a mass acquisition programme going on now, with
fast-tracking of cases to court and it has to be connected with the
elections. With amendments to the Land Acquisition Act and changes to the
criteria of what land can be taken, the message coming out now is that no
South African or foreign investment can be safe," Clark said. - Cape Argus
News, South Africa.

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Daily News online edition

      Violence within MDC cause for concern

      Date: 10-Feb, 2005

      THE feud between rival factions of the main opposition, the MDC, which
ended in violent clashes in Masvingo this week is cause for concern. It
rings a very discordant note and does not bode well for the party,
especially as the nation gears itself for crucial parliamentary elections
slated for March 31.

      According to the Press, supporters of the out-going Masvingo Central
Member of Parliament, Silas Mangono, clashed with those of Tongai Mathuthu,
who won the right to stand for the MDC in the primary elections.

      Mangono is crying foul, alleging that there was election rigging. Some
of his supporters are demanding a rerun of the primary elections, but the
MDC leadership has already endorsed Mathuthu.

      Some MDC supporters loyal to Mangono feel that the MDC leader, Morgan
Tsvangirai, should not have officiated at the primary elections which were
won by Mathuthu. They claim that Mathuthu was in fact imposed on the
electorate.

      The clashes in Masvingo were allegedly sparked by Tsvangirai's
bodyguards, who beat up MDC supporters loyal to Mangono who were
demonstrating at the Civic Centre Hall, the venue of a meeting where the
party leader wanted to resolve the impasse between the two rival candidates.

      Some senior MDC members were reportedly barred from entering the hall
and others were injured in the clashes, which were really needless.

      It is most unfortunate that the MDC, the party that most Zimbabweans
look up to for positive change in the country is seen washing its dirty
linen in the public glare, when it should be consolidating its position as a
possible successor to the ruling Zanu PF of President Mugabe.

      There have been echoes that the clashes were a product of enemies of
the party - meaning those involved in the feud might not be loyal members of
the party. The MDC should not be like Zanu PF, which is quick to point a
finger at colonialism, at Washington and at London for anything untoward
that befalls it.

      Both leaders and ordinary card-carrying members of the MDC are
fallible human beings. When they are in the wrong, they should accept it and
learn from their mistakes.

      The leaders should not only spread the gospel of non-violence, they
should stamp out indiscipline and punish those found guilty of promoting it.

      The MDC should demonstrate a higher degree of seriousness and desist
from dwelling on trivia and concentrate on real issues facing the nation.

      The leadership has a mandate to ensure that democracy, especially
during elections, is not just lip service, but is upheld fully. Charity,
after all, begins at home.

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Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe

Chiyangwa loses farm

Clemence Manyukwe
issue date :2005-Feb-11

BUSINESSMAN and politician Phillip Chiyangwa's problems continue to mount,
amid revelations he is set to lose his Citrus Farm in his home province of
Mashonaland West.
Chiyangwa, whose chairmanship of Zanu PF in the province is also under
threat after the provincial leadership passed a vote of no-confidence on
him, is currently in remand prison on espionage charges.
Sources in the province told The Daily Mirror by phone yesterday that
Chiyangwa's farm would be  "taken any time" from now and handed over to
Chinhoyi City Council.
The sources said plans to gazette the farm for acquisition were advanced.
Yesterday, Chinhoyi mayor Risipa Kapesa confirmed his council's intention to
take over the farm.
The mayor said emphasis was not on Chiyangwa's property alone, as 14 others
had also been earmarked for take over.
"From the onset, that farm was meant for peri-urban development. We have
already been given all the 14 farms, and we are awaiting their gazetting.
"As for Chiyangwa's, we want it for commercial purposes. All those on the 14
farms have been told to vacate. Everything should be in place after the
elections as everyone is busy at the moment," Kapesa said.
The mayor said they wanted the farms, including Chiyangwa's, to expand the
Mashonaland West capital.
Council had already made submissions to provincial Governor Nelson Samkange
to extend the municipality's boundaries to include the 14 farms, the mayor
added.
In an interview, the governor acknowledged council's plans to take over
Chiyangwa's farm.
The farm would soon be gazetted for acquisition, he added.
"This action is not only directed at Chiyangwa's farm. It just happens to be
one of many. What is now left is for its gazetting, so that the council
takes it. It does not matter who owns that farm," he said.
The Governor went on: "This is part of government's policy to take over
farms surrounding cities for expansion purposes. You can ask (Ignatius)
Chombo (the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National
Housing). He knows about the intention to take over these farms in the
province."
Samkange explained that the imminent take over of the farms was part of the
town's "planning policy for the next 30 years".
Chombo could not be reached yesterday, with the ministry's permanent
secretary David Munyoro only saying: "It is wrong to refer those questions
to me."
However, Chiyangwa's young brother Jimmy, professed ignorance of the new
development.
"I am not aware of that because no one has informed us (the family).
Actually, we have just taken fuel to that farm," he said.
Mashonaland West Zanu PF interim boss, John Mafa, said there was nothing
wrong with the move, if it was done for expansion purposes, and so long
there was compensation in kind.
"As an example, I was given a farm in Norton and if Norton want it for
expansion purposes, they can take it. What is important is to be given a
replacement," Mafa said.
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Xinhua

      Cholera kills five in Zimbabwe

      www.chinaview.cn 2005-02-11 01:58:48

          HARARE, Feb. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Cholera has killed five people,
including a child and a Mozambican national, in Manicaland province in
Zimbabwe, a health official said Thursday.

          Provincial environment health technician, Andrew Tangwena, saidthe
deaths occurred last week in Mutasa district.

          He said the deceased, were suspected to have contracted the
disease in the neighboring Manica province of Mozambique, where a cholera
outbreak has been raging for a while.

          "The last two persons were known to be illegal border jumpers who
used to travel to Manica in Mozambique, where there is an outbreak of
Cholera," he said.

          Tangwena said at least 27 other cholera cases were reported in the
province, including four deaths of cholera that have been reported in Mutasa
and Mutare district.

          "The first case was of a Mozambican who was picked up at Sakubva
Musika on January 8 this year and out of 27 cases of cholera, 10 confirmed
positive," he said.

          He said the Ministry of Health and other health-related agencies
had launched an awareness campaign in affected areas to bring the outbreak
under control.

          "Environmental health technicians are working flat out
togetherwith their teams, which comprised of district nursing officers
andother staff from their respective districts to combat the outbreak," said
Tangwena.

          "The teams discovered that there was danger of the disease, as it
was spreading rapidly because of poor sanitation in the area where people
use pit latrines and people fetched water from unprotected wells," he said.
Enditem
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Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe

Chiyangwa still in

Farirai Machivenyika
issue date :2005-Feb-11

INCARCERATED Zanu PF Mashonaland West chairman Phillip Chiyangwa is still in
charge of the province, despite a vote of no confidence passed by some
members of his provincial executive, the ruling party has said.
Zanu PF political commissar Elliot Manyika ruled that the decision by the
province to strip Chiyangwa of the chairmanship was unprocedural and,
therefore, could not be endorsed by the party's hierarchy.
The gaudy businessman is languishing in Harare's remand prison on
allegations of contravening the Official Secrets Act - a charge he has
denied.
Manyika told The Daily Mirror after meeting party provincial executives from
Mashonaland West over the issue that the commissariat had instructed them to
respect the party's constitution and revert to the old structure.
He accused them of not adhering to laid down party procedures when making
structural changes.
"The normal procedure is that the case is referred to the party's national
disciplinary committee and after looking at the merits of the case, they
would then make their decision," Manyika said. "So I told them to go and put
their case in writing to the disciplinary committee and until that is done
the situation remains the same."
Asked who the party's leader now is in Mashonaland West in light of
Wednesday's developments, Manyika said: "There is an acting chairman and he
would remain so until the normal procedure is finalised. As I have said
before, until the national disciplinary committee passes its verdict, that
situation remains the same."
Last week, the Mashonaland West executive members passed a vote of no
confidence in Chiyangwa arguing that his long absence would affect the
ruling party's campaign for the crucial parliamentary elections slated for
March 31 this year.
Zanu PF officially launches its election campaign today at the Harare
International Conference Centre.
Chiyangwa has been languishing in remand prison since December last year
when he was arrested, together with three other Zimbabweans on espionage
charges.
His deputy, John Mafa, has been acting chairman since then.
Judgment on the lawmaker's bail application has since been reserved by the
High Court.
Concerning Chiyangwa's future in Zanu PF after the provincial executive's
bid to muscle him out of the vanguard party, Mafa said the move was taken
for the good of the party in view of the forthcoming general polls.
He told a local daily last weekend: "The provincial executive sat yesterday
(last Saturday). It is now a long time since Chiyangwa was arrested and we
are heading into crucial elections. We decided that we should find someone
who could move party business ahead."
"Even if he is released today it would be difficult for him to do party
business. So we passed a vote of no confidence on him. At first we thought
he would resign but we have discovered that he is not willing to do so,"
Mafa added.
Yesterday, Mafa said: "We met him (Manyika) and submitted our report to him.
It's now up to them (commissariat department) to decide on what action to
take."
But Mafa was evasive on whether Manyika had endorsed their decision.
"We did not talk about that and besides, I am still the acting chairman," he
said.
Former banker, Tendai Matambanadzo, Zanu PF director for external affairs
Itai Marchi and Zimbabwe's ambassador-designate to Mozambique, Godfrey
Dzvairo, were this week jailed for a combined 16 years after they were found
guilty of breaching the Official Secrets Act.
Zanu PF security director, Kenny Karidza is also on trial on similar
charges.
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Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe

ZABG subsidiaries'

Shame Makoshori
issue date :2005-Feb-11

THE Registrar of Banking Institutions yesterday slapped two subsidiaries of
the Zimbabwe Allied Banking Group (ZABG) - Royal Bank and Barbican Bank -
with further three month periods of curatorship, effectively throwing the $2
trillion banking behemoth's future into further uncertainty.
ZABG is the brainchild of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon
Gono whose mandate is to fill the vacuum that was created by the closure of
seven banks last year due to imprudent banking practices.
When the ZABG opened to the public last month, only three banks - Barbican,
Trust and Royal - were incorporated into the new brainchild.
Others were left out for various reasons, with Time Bank for instance, being
sidelined after filing papers with the High Court contesting the curatorship
and incorporation into ZABG.  Royal and Trust took similar action later last
month.
Efforts to contact Cornelius Sanyanga, recently appointed by the RBZ as
chairman of the 12-member board of directors, were fruitless, as his phone
remained unanswered.
Stephen Gwasira, the ZABG chief executive officer (CEO), yesterday said that
he was in a meeting when contacted for comment and told the Business Mirror
to fax questions instead.
Analysts were yesterday confused as to the meaning of the extensions of the
curatorship tenures of the two banks, noting that while the ZABG was in
operation, the developments implied that as soon as these periods of
curatorship were completed, the ZABG could cease to operate, as the banks
could be individually resurrected if given a clean bill of health.
"This is confusing but what it effectively means is that the future of the
ZABG itself is uncertain since two of its subsidiaries' curatorship has been
extended.
"While the ZABG has been opened, what is confusing is the logic behind the
extensions," one banker said yesterday.
He said the latest challenges on the ZABG could have been precipitated by
the court actions filed by Trust and Royal Banks barring the ZABG from
utilising their properties.
Trust Bank was, however, not part of the list published yesterday by the
Registrar of Banks, which probably took over the announcement of the
curatorship from RBZ since the latter is now an interested party in the
courts.
"The RBZ extended the curatorship for Royal Bank for the period up to April
30 2005.
"The RBZ extended the period of curatorship for Barbican Bank for a
three-month period on January 31 2005," the Registrar of Banking
Institutions said in separate statements.
It also noted that the curatorship of Intermarket Holdings and its
subsidiaries;- Intermarket Discount House, Intermarket Banking Corporation
and Intermarket Building Society - had been extended.
The three are not part of the ZABG. From inception, the ZABG had been
saddled with hiccups that included an alleged delayed opening - later to be
denied by the RBZ - as the central bank strove to come up with proper
integration strategies.
It was, however, greeted with immense government support as legislative
proposals, that came up with the Troubled Financial Institutions
(Resolution) Bill, were promptly tabled before Parliament.
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Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe

Mugabe launches campaign

The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-Feb-11

ZANU PF First Secretary and President Robert Mugabe is expected to
officially launch the ruling party's anti-Blair election campaign today at
the Harare International Conference Centre.
At least 3 000 delegates from the party's 10 political provinces will attend
the launch that was twice put in the deep freezer to allow divisions that
threatened to tear the party down the middle to subside.
Of  the 3 000 delegates, 120 confirmed parliamentary candidates are expected
to officially meet their leader.
"The preparations have gone very well and all the logistics have been put in
place. The event will begin with a march from the party's provincial
headquarters in the morning and end at the conference centre. His Excellency
is expected to address delegates at around 10 in the morning," Steven
Chidawanyika, Zanu PF's director for information, said yesterday.
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Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe

Inflation up

The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-Feb-11

The year on year inflation rate for the month of January 2005 as measured by
the consumer price index gained by 0.9 percentage points from the December
rate of 132.7 percent to 133.6 percent.
The month on month inflation for January 2005 was 14.1 percent gaining 14.1
percent from the previous month's 3.9 percent.
The increases were attributed to increases in the price of beverages, meat,
rent and rates, communication and fruit vegetables.
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Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe

GMB manager sent on forced leave

The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-Feb-11

GRAIN Marketing Board's (GMB) regional manager for the Midlands, Goodwill
Shiri, facing allegations of abusing the parastatal's maize and vehicles
during the recent Zanu PF primaries has been send on forced leave.
Sources at GMB told The Daily Mirror that Shiri was placed on leave last
week shortly after the parastatal resolved to haul him before a disciplinary
committee for possible misconduct emanating from allegations he used the
parastatal's grain to win votes.
Shiri's woes began soon after losing the right to stand for Mberengwa East
on the ruling party's ticket against Minister of State for State Enterprises
and Parastatals, Rugare Gumbo, who later emerged the victor.
The GMB's regional manager initially won the poll, but was dislodged after
counting was done in two more centres after Gumbo appealed for their
inclusion on grounds they had been omitted.
Yesterday both Shiri and the GMB's acting Chief Executive Officer, Samuel
Muvuti refused to say whether the former had gone on leave on his on or had
been forced to do so.
Shiri said: "Hazvinei newe kuti ndiri paleave. Kana President vari paleave
ungavabvunze here kuti sei vari paleave? Unodirei kunyora nyaya dzakadai?
Washaya here nyaya dzinotaura nezvedevelopment yenyika? (It has nothing to
do with you that l am on leave. If the president is on leave, do you ask him
why he is on leave? Why do you want to cover such issues? Are you saying
there are no stories to do with the development of the country?)
On the other hand, Muvuti said before his phone went off: " Why do you want
to write on this matter? I have told you that it is an internal matter."
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Business Day

Call for focus on solution to Zimbabwe crisis
Wyndham Hartley

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parliamentary Editor

CAPE TOWN - Foreign-policy experts and opposition political parties want
President Thabo Mbeki to address the issue of Zimbabwe and its elections
next month more forcefully in his speech tomorrow.

Mbeki has had a whirlwind year in the foreign policy arena - cited as worthy
of a Nobel Peace Prize for his mediation work in Côte d'Ivoire but also
resulting in French President Jaques Chirac saying Mbeki did not understand
west Africa.

His brainchild, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad), is
under renewed scrutiny following a virtual coup in Togo, where the son of
the former dictator was appointed president in clear violation of the
constitution.

African countries' response to Togo will be measured by the world as to
whether Nepad is working and if African promises to the Group of Eight
nations, particularly on peer review, can be trusted.

There has been a toughening of the African National Congress (ANC) position
on Zimbabwe following the recent three-day meeting of its national executive
committee.

The national director of the South African Institute for International
Affairs, Greg Mills, said Zimbabwe remained the most pressing problem for
Mbeki because of its potential to do enormous harm to SA and the region.

He said he hoped Mbeki would emphasise the necessity of free and fair
elections in Zimbabwe.

Mills also hoped for encouragement of the Middle East peace process and a
move away from castigating the Israelis, to one of urging Palestinians to
take the peace effort seriously.

The head of international relations at Wits University, John Stremlau, said
he would look for a message on Togo as it was "such an affront and so
counter to everything he (Mbeki) has been trying to do with Nepad".

Stremlau said he would also expect Mbeki to pay some attention to British
Prime Minister Tony Blair's Commission for Africa.

Freedom Front Plus leader, Pieter Mulder said 10 years ago SA held the moral
high ground as a champion of human rights, and this was being slowly eroded
by events in Togo and Zimbabwe.

"The only way to deal with them is to break the African solidarity issue."

He said that the Commission for Africa represented a last opportunity for
the continent to demonstrate that it would use aid properly.

The Democratic Alliance's foreign affairs spokesman, Douglas Gibson, said he
hoped Mbeki would change the government's emphasis from widespread
diplomatic representation all over the world to one of trade with other
nations.

"This will attract foreign direct investment and help create jobs and
infrastructure. The focus should be on jobs, even from the foreign
 minister," he said.

"The government must apply every possible pressure to ensure that Zimbabwe
complies with the Southern African Development Community guidelines," Gibson
said.
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From News24 (SA), 10 February

'Multiparty' observers to Zim

Waldimar Pelser and Mandy Rossouw

Cape Town - South Africa will "definitely" send a multi-party team of
parliamentary observers to Zimbabwe's parliamentary elections on March 31.
Luphumzo Kebeni, spokesperson for parliament, said parliament will also send
a representative to join the observer team of the Southern African
Development Community (SADC). A final date has not yet been set for the SADC
team's departure, but March 16 has been mentioned, Kebeni said. This comes
after complaints from the Zimbabwe opposition on Wednesday that President
Robert Mugabe's government has not yet invited foreign observers to monitor
the elections in seven weeks' time. SADC guidelines determine that a SADC
team must be invited at least 90 days before the elections and must start
their observing mission at least two weeks before election day. Mugabe
signed these guidelines in August 2004. Dr Kasuka Mutukwa, secretary general
of the SADC parliamentary forum (SADC-PF) who criticised the 2002
presidential elections in Zimbabwe, said from Windhoek the forum was
"expecting an invitation" and would like to send a team of 35 members of
parliament.

The Election Institute of Southern Africa (Eisa), which monitors all
elections in the region "in principle", said the election date was announced
only recently. Eisa will decide this week who will lead its team of 40.
However, neither Eisa, nor the SADC-PF have been invited yet. Sa Ngidi of
Eisa said an invitation was a prerequisite and if they did not receive one,
they would definitely complain to Zimbabwe's election assessment committee.
Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),
said the refusal to invite observers in time shows that Mugabe has
"skeletons in the closet". Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, shadow minister
of foreign affairs, said in Harare that the African Union has also not been
invited yet and "it is clear that the (Zimbabwean) government is not at all
serious about observers". The president of the National Association for Good
Governance in Harare, Douglas Chihambakwe, said opposition parties should
exert pressure on Mugabe to invite observers. However, it would be
"senseless" to have observers only on election day. Zimbabwean minister of
justice, Patrick Chinamasa, announced in January that public servants,
rather than independent observers, would monitor the elections. He said
public servants could be "brought to book if they are up to no good".
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Daily News (SA)

      African solidarity at its very best
      February 10, 2005

      By Max du Preez

      The national South African discourse is increasingly being stunted
because of a fear that certain positions or criticisms could be perceived as
"playing into the hands" of the parliamentary opposition, or whites in
general.

      Eleven years after becoming an open democracy and with virtually all
political power securely in black hands, any point of view held by the
Democratic Alliance or other group of whites, regardless of its merits and
of how many blacks share that view, is automatically declared suspect.

      In the process, crazy things start happening. The parvenus of the ANC
Youth League leadership and others of their ilk accuse the movement most
strongly committed to black advancement, Cosatu, of doing the bidding for
the West and white racists. The puerile Gucci suits in their BMWs accusing
the trade union movement, the workers of this country, of being
reactionaries?

      The cushy ANC apparat-chiks, apparently following the lead of their
president, brand the man who did more to force the apartheid regime into a
corner than a thousand exiles or a brigade of guerrillas, Desmond Tutu, an
enemy of the ANC (read: the people).

      The Zimbabwean government this week used the word that the ANC
propagandists had on their tongues, but didn't actually use: Tutu is a
sell-out and a vassal of Western imperialism.

      To call this phenomenon political immaturity is too weak a judgment.
It is childish, opportunist and dangerous.

      And yet many prominent opinion formers, commentators and political
columnists merrily dance along with this tune. To some it is just a matter
of not having enough courage; others do it because they aspire to get on (or
remain on) the ruling politicians' social invitation lists, or simply in the
hope that sucking up will further their chances of getting their snouts into
the trough of wealth filled by those in power.

      Let's put the evidence of the latest manifestation of this disease on
the table. When Robert Mugabe realised some years ago that his shine as
guerrilla leader had worn off after twenty years in power and his
op-position threatened to unseat him, he lost all the taste for democracy we
all thought he had. In the name of giving his people their land and their
dignity back, he transformed Zimbabwe into a state riddled with oppression,
fear, violence, poverty and hunger. In five years he did more to discredit
the dream of an African Ren-aissance than Thabo Mbeki and Olesugun Obasanjo
had done to promote it.

      African governments suddenly suffered from erectile dysfunction, some
praising Mugabe with faint condem-nation, others openly declaring him an
African hero. Thabo Mbeki seems to think the best way out is to wait for
Mugabe to die one day.

      And now, in 2005, there is a small window of opportunity to change
Zimbabwe around: an election scheduled for March. But that election can only
be a real window for Zimbabwe's rebirth if it is a truly free and fair test
of the people's will.

      With the judiciary in Mugabe's pocket, tens of thousands of young
Zanu-PF thugs running around with orders to intimidate and disrupt the
opposition, draconic legislation and no free media, that election can only
be a sham.

      Those who really care about Africa and its people should be deeply
concerned about this state of affairs. Cosatu clearly does and decided to do
something about it. They did it the right way: concerning themselves with
their fellow workers in Zimbabwe ("an injury to one is an injury to all")
and generating pressure by sending delegations to that country.

      They stated clearly that they were concerned about the human rights of
Zimbabwean workers and the prevailing conditions before the elections.

      Cosatu launched similar actions around the rights of Swaziland workers
in the past and is also closely involved in Lesotho.

      This is African solidarity at its best. The two Cosatu dele-gations
were refused entry to Zimbabwe, but the incidents increased pressure on
Harare and highlighted the repression in the pre-election period. The
actions would have been even more successful if Cosatu's comrades in
government did not sell them out. (Labour Minister Membathisi Mdlad-lana
really let the cat out of the bag when he declared - in Harare - that
African governments were alarmed that trade unions were jockeying for
political position.)

      All good Africans should therefore praise rather than lambaste Cosatu.
And yet the Youth League, other ANC leadership elements and assorted
commentators vilified Zwelin-zima Vavi and his colleagues, criticising their
"futile exercise" and, of all things, accusing them of meddling in the
affairs of another country.

      Cosatu's actions only benefited the Democratic Alliance, white South
Africans and the West, many said.

      It shouldn't matter who also thinks the political climate in Zimbabwe
is bad and dangerous and what the motivation for that thinking is.

      The same applies to issues like HIV and Aids, mother tongue education,
electoral reform in South Africa, political interference in sport, a basic
income grant for the poor and the narrow focus of black economic
empowerment.

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