JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE LEGAL COMMUNIQUE - February 12,
2003
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THE
FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE IN
ZIMBABWE
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INTRODUCTION
JAG
has seen the very real need to put together a plan for the rebuilding
of
agriculture in the future. It has facilitated the formation of a
committee
of experienced leaders in the agricultural and financial
community who are
currently putting together a "Vision for Agriculture".
There are three
questions that need to be answered:
1. Where is agriculture now?
2.
Where do we believe agriculture should be in the future?
3. How do we get to
where agriculture should be in the future?
This article attempts to look
at the second question. We hope it
stimulates thought and debate on the
issue on the open letter forum or
direct to JAG. All input will be very much
appreciated.
The committee will be independent of JAG and will consult
widely amongst
stakeholders and key players in agriculture, from grass roots
level up,
its support and downstream industries, civic society and the
international
community.
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Zimbabwe
is fast sliding into becoming yet another permanent member of the
donor
dependant countries in Africa.
Two thirds of the population are now
dependant on food aid and the
policies that have created the situation
appear, under the present regime,
to be cast in stone:-
· The
nationalisation of all but approximately 2% of the land.
· The deliberate
abandonment of the rule of law.
· The promoting of Marxist/Leninist economic
policies.
· The banishment of the agricultural skills base from the
land.
This potent cocktail is poisonous in the extreme - especially to
a
land-locked country where agriculture was the backbone.
The
International Community has of course come to the rescue with food
aid, but
so far, their silent diplomacy (South Africa being the main
culprit) has only
served to prop up and extend the life of the regime that
has created such
untold suffering.
Dictators come and go though, and as the flood waters
of desperate hungry
people rise, the dam will burst and cleanse the land of
the people that
have created the suffering and perpetrated the
crime.
Individuals and organisations trying to sanitise and legitimise
the regime
will always be remembered for their part in collaborating with it
- for
throwing out the rope when they should be severing it and pushing it
over
the edge. Pockets should never come before principles. Expediency
should
never come before morality.
In the meantime though, we need to
give serious thought to what we are
going to inherit once the regime has been
washed away. Are we going to
remain a beggar nation unable to ever feed
ourselves, or can agriculture
be rebuilt so that once again we are the
breadbasket and not the basket
case? Is it all irredeemably irreversible, or
have we got a fighting
chance to make Zimbabwe great
again?
Agriculture is, and always has been, the key to Zimbabwe's
future.
Within four months of good governance being established Zimbabwe
could be
producing food, creating jobs and earning foreign exchange. No
other
economic sector can say the same, as initial investment periods
are
substantially longer.
In order to achieve this, a number of
fundamental principles need to be
established to form a solid foundation for
future development and poverty
alleviation. They are summarised very simply
as follows:
1. The rule of law needs to be re-established.
2. Property
rights need to be respected and extended to areas where there
is no
title.
3. Supply and demand market driven economic principles need to be put
in
place.
4. Grants and concessionary financial arrangements for farmers
to rebuild
their farms from the ruins need to be available.
5. An
atmosphere of integrity, hope, encouragement and determination needs
to be
engendered by the new leaders so that the skills base is retained.
If any
one of these criteria is not fully addressed, the Zimbabwe of the
future will
remain a sad one made up of starving children, beggar hands
and
disease-ridden people. Poverty alleviation and eradication can only
be
combated by development and wealth creation. Development and wealth
creation
needs these criteria to be fully fulfilled.
1. The Rule of
Law:
This is a simple principle but everyone needs to be involved with it
if it
is to be re-established. The law, in essence, as enshrined in the
majority
of constitutions around the world, is formulated on the basic values
of
right and wrong. Oppressive laws that go against the constitution
have
been passed over the last few years and they need to be
repealed.
Individuals who openly flouted laws during "the third chimurenga"
need to
be prosecuted. Policemen, judges and others responsible for justice
need
to be made accountable. Individuals that have accepted stolen
farms,
illegally stopped the owners' production, evicted the owner and
his
workforce out of their houses and then gradually raped the farm of
its
fixed assets need to be evicted and held responsible. The exercise is
a
big one but if accountability is not apparent the message that will go
out
to politicians, policemen, judges and other Zimbabweans is "You can
do
what you like in Zimbabwe and get away with it". The sheer size of
the
job should not be a deterrent. A truth and reconciliation
commission
should be considered so that everything can be brought out into
the open
and dealt with. Lawlessness in the future should be dealt with
firmly and
justly with local communities playing a role in assisting the
police.
Zimbabwe cannot go forward until the rule of law and integrity
are
reasserted in a real way for all members of the community. Any
compromise
on this issue will be counter productive and will merely mean that
the
road to any kind of recovery will be a much longer and more torturous
one.
2. Property Rights:
No nation intent on creating wealth for
its citizens and eradicating
poverty has been able to exist without
individual property rights.
Hernandis de Soto, a Peruvian economist, states,
"the total value of the
fixed property held but not legally owned by the poor
of the Third World
and former communist countries is at least US$9.3 trillion
(this equates
to nearly 100 times the amount of development assistance pumped
into the
third world over the last 30 years!). The problem with all that
"wealth"
is that it is "locked up" in the absence of title.
Although
the individual theoretically owns it, he has no title deeds and
without title
deeds his security of tenure is not tradable - he cannot
raise capital to
develop his business because without title there is no
collateral. Zimbabwe
has a unique chance whilst unscrambling the chaos to
put in place clear,
enforceable property laws, which will extend into the
communal and other
state owned areas that traditionally covered over 70%
of Zimbabwe's land area
(but now effectively extends over 98% of
Zimbabwe's land area). Agriculture
of the future should see 20,000 or
more titled commercial farmers operating
for the betterment of Zimbabwe.
Present agriculture with no title, no
equipment, no inputs, no ability to
use the central infrastructure built up
on commercial farms is doomed to
unmitigated failure.
Communist state
ownership principles have failed the world over. If this
country is to
progress into a modern developed nation creating wealth and
looking after its
natural resources, property rights are fundamental. If
a good farmer, with
his farm workers, wants to expand the business and buy
another farm he should
not be prevented from doing so. Similarly, if a
farmer and his work force
wish to intensify production they should be
allowed to raise the capital by
subdividing and selling off a portion of
the existing landholding. Whatever
happens they must know that the
investment is secure and cannot be taken away
by state sponsored invasions
or at the stroke of a minister's pen. True
freedom and empowerment can
only exist through respect for property rights
and property title.
3. A Market Driven Economy:
In Zimbabwe we
have seen the economy rising to be one of the fastest
growing economies in
the world in 1996 to now becoming the fastest
shrinking economy in the world
over the last 2 years. The decline of the
economy has been so dramatic that
it has dumbfounded economists the world
over. The trend is set to continue
until such time as investments are
protected by law enforcement agents and
proper economic fundamentals are
recognised with the right policies to drive
them. Exchange controls, Price
controls and a Party controlled economy are
desperate measures made by
desperate men. Such policies only serve to drive
a black market,
corruption, inflation, and now poverty and starvation.
Markets need to be
completely liberalised and measures need to be put in
place to encourage
the growing of food crops again. The International
Community, where
starvation is apparent, has a tendency to destroy the
production base and
market with their aid handouts. Zimbabwean farmers and
their workers have
shown in the past how they can not only feed Southern
Africa but compete
on the world stage, and given the right policies they will
do so again
creating the food, the forex, the jobs and the resultant
poverty
alleviation that the country and region so desperately
needs.
4. Concessionary Finance:
Over the last three years many
farms have been literally, taken to pieces
by "settlers". As the "settlers"
have needed income they have helped
themselves to pumps, motors, electrical
equipment, roofs, window frames,
pipelines, livestock, wildlife, etc.
Billions of dollars of damage has
been done. If farmers and the 300,000 farm
workers are to come back to
the land with their skills and local knowledge of
soil types, climatic
variances, infrastructural arrangements etc. to
kick-start the economy, a
major rebuilding exercise will be required. It is
imperative that a full
loss document be completed by each individual farmer
in conjunction with
his workers with verifiable substantiation of all the
facts so that a
system of re-financing can be put in place based on the level
of
expenditure required to get the operation back up and running
again.
Farmers and their workers have in many instances spent 2 years in
town or
elsewhere; incomeless and eating into their capital in order to
survive.
Very few farmers and their workers would be able to start up again
without
a restitution programme being put in place with international
backing.
The level of destruction will require a Marshall Plan type
rebuilding
exercise to be initiated. This will only be achievable with
full
cooperation from the international community.
5.
Encouragement:
Around 80% of farmers reply in the negative when asked
"would you go back
to your farm again if you were given the chance in the
right political
climate?" They have been severely traumatised and in many
cases are
broken people. Tens of thousands of farm workers are in the same
position
and there is not even a record as to their whereabouts. If the
skills
base is to stand even a very small chance of being retained,
huge
encouragement by the new dispensation will be required.
Given the
right environment, with a positive atmosphere of hope,
determination and
encouragement in the statements and actions of a new
leadership, it will be
possible for there to be a return of these skills
to the agricultural
section.
The process of land reform must not override any of the above
criteria.
There is no doubt that there would be a lot of title to land on
offer
should compensation be made available. The donors have shown a
real
willingness to become involved if it is done in a planned and
transparent
manner. Should land reform have the above criteria as its
guiding
principles, the country could begin to benefit within months. If
the
incentives were right, much of the recently discarded agricultural
skills
base would be willing to assist in the land reform process and truly
build
a new Zimbabwe out of the crumbling ruins.
The so-called land
reform as we have experienced it as a Nation is not
land reform at all, but
land being used as a political tool to ensure
political survival. It has
destroyed the economy and is fast destroying
our Nation and its people. We
are certain that this is not what the
majority of citizens of Zimbabwe
envisaged or wanted. We must now prepare
for the next stage and I encourage
you to be part of this "Vision for
Agriculture". Become involved and
contribute to the solution of this
present destructive
situation.
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JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE LEGAL COMMUNIQUÉ - February 12,
2003
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LEGAL
COMMUNIQUÉ
Further to our communiqué last week pertaining to civil
litigation for
losses and damages incurred by farmers and reference to the
3-year statute
of limitations governing civil litigation claims. It is
imperative that
farmers facing this 3-year deadline lodge application in the
civil courts
urgently. The Charley Wood case brought by Roy Bennet of
Chimanimani can
be used as a standard format for the affidavit for court
submission and
application. Farmers are urged to complete the JAG LOSS CLAIM
document
that deals with these losses comprehensively and can be used in
these
court cases. This is very much in line with JAG's overall legal
strategy
in that legal recourse must be pursued in the courts here before
any
external litigation can be considered or initiated in the event of
failure
of the judiciary here.
Colin MacMillan and Leith Brey are
travelling around the country addressing
and assisting farmers along these
lines as well as gathering farmers'
affidavits for inclusion in the Rule of
Law
case.
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for Agriculture mailing list
To subscribe/unsubscribe: Please write to jag-list-admin@mango.zw
Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 5:39 PM
Subject: Our Country as it is (By C)
"Dear All of you,but in particular, the
ZCU,
Before seeing a copy of your letter relating to the
stance taken by Andy Flower and Henry Olonga, I had coincidentally written some
ideas of my own. I support Andy and Henry wholeheartedly and wonder why the rest
of the team don't follow their example. I am also wearing black in mourning for
the lost values of our country.
I am an ordinary Zimbabwean mother, widow,
employer, patriot of my country. My husband and daughter lie buried in this land
of my birth. I was proud of my country once, the bread basket of Africa, the
jewel of the Continent, a God given gift of Nature.
However, we all cry for our beloved country.
Another day dawns in our once happy, productive Zimbabwe, now totally devastated
in every way by its leaders. I am one of the many who toss and turn throughout
the troubled night, dreading tomorrow. There is not one basic commodity in my
kitchen- no bread, no sugar, no oil, no mealie meal for my workers, no money in
the bank and my fuel tank is hovering around empty.Every day is the same trauma,
but like other Zimbabweans I must queue to survive. It is 4 a.m. - the same
routine every day. I am fortunate to be within walking distance of the shops. I
trudge down there to join the Pensioners' queue for a loaf of bread- most
pensioners are in their 70's, 80's, or even 90's, some are balancing on walking
sticks- all are trying very hard to "keep smiling". The ordinary queue is long,
already stretching for more than a block - people are so thin that you can't
escape feeling a big lump in your throat. Many have been queueing all night,
sleeping on the side of the road, in a desperate effort to secure just ONE loaf
of bread- or even one roll -if the bread runs out, as it always does. They stand
tolerantly, patiently, enduringly (that is perhaps our fault - too tolerant, too
patient, too enduring) hour after hour after hour. Gloom and doom hangs over the
crowd. You wouldn't believe the length and depth of the surging mass of people
in another queue, all trying to obtain birth certificates, I.D.'s, passports
which will take months to process. We have totally given up finding mealie meal
or sugar. There is none - or, if the Police Camp is selling dubiously acquired
meal, that is another mission for the poor black people.
Personal experience obliges me to relate that I
gave my worker the weekend off to source some mealie meal promised by the local
policemen. She joined the queue outside the Police Station in the very early
hours. What another futile waste of time! No mealie meal again! It was
heartbreaking for her to go home once again with nothing for her children. On
Mondays she leaves her 3 children with 6 potatoes (Z$l00 plus each) and a small
packet of rice for the whole week. At least she leaves something for her
children - what about the thousands that can't? These are FACTS - NOT lies of
bumper harvests and plenty of fuel over Christmas and New Year as given out by
the Government media. Ask those unfortunate people who slept in their cars for 5
or 6 or even 7 nights in queues over the Christmas period where the promised
fuel was. Promises! promises! are all wicked lies!
The fuel queue is hell on earth. Men have it
slightly easier than we women when Nature calls - and, it often does, after 8
hours in the blazing sun. Some of us oldies take a bed pan hidden discreetly
under the car seat. How degrading! How unnecessary! Where has our dignity been
forced to vanish? Most times we queue in desperation - the tanker hasn't even
arrived, but we wait - one day, two, three, four, eternity! What most countries
take for granted - a smooth filling up of the car- is not for us. Then we wonder
if we will succeed in obtaining fuel OR will the pump run dry by the time it is
our turn? How frustrating it is when you are almost there (after being in the
queue for a minimum of 5 or 6 hours) - 4 cars, 3, 2 to go and then, "Sorry, the
petrol is finished!" Whew! B.........hell! .............!!! Is it really I
using such language that I have never used before?
and then
We hear certain leaders, despite all the suffering,
starvation, death of their people don't care a jot and become the big, big
spenders of electrical goods and imported groceries for their selfish, personal
use with OUR valuable foreign currency. How do they sleep at night when thin,
old people are eating worms and emaciated children are scarcely surviving on old
dried berries and wild fruit - if they are lucky.
A top Government Medical Aid Society recently
celebrated a belated Christmas party costing an unbelievably exorbitant amount.
From reliable sources it was disclosed that about 60 officials consumed vast
quantities of drink, snacks, a main lunch meal and THEN had an evening braai-
and they find it difficult to pay our legitimate claims for members (many
pensioners) who have been contributing funds for nearly a lifetime. Some doctors
make their patients pay cash "up front" as this Medical Aid Society is very
unreliable in their payments which are also sometimes non existent. Consequently
, it is a known fact, that many ailing patients, in desperate need of medical
help, are unable to visit the doctor - while we hear that their Society is
celebrating un grand style. Aren't you guys ashamed of your extravagance? or are
you beyond that because you are so sickeningly greedy?
I can relate to Andy Flower and Henry Olonga. I
love the awesome colours of the Zimbabwe bush, I find the sudden "fresh" smell
of imminent rainfall exciting, I have stood up for the National Anthem on what
could be a proudly patriotic sporting occasion BUT all is ruined, wrecked, full
of a dreadful sadness, as, at the back of my mind is the tragic picture of
crying, hungry children, mothers searching frantically for food which doesn't
exist- because the autocratic leaders have wickedly stolen the land of the
largely efficient and capable, experienced and hard working commercial farmers.
It has been forcibly taken for their private use and that of their greedy
relatives and friends - while they try to present a picture (totally false) of
prosperity which is too hypocritical for anyone to accept and is an insult to
the average intelligence. The reality of starving, poverty stricken, dying
people is nearer the truth. My heart aches for my beloved country, now
devastated by greed and the lust for power of tyrants.
We keep praying for a return to sanity- and we
salute those who are courageous enough to stand for their beliefs.
This is from, C"
Daily News
Comment
Mugabe is now well past his sell-by
date
2/13/2003 12:21:02 AM (GMT +2)
By Cyprian
Ndawana
If the Zanu PF government was a school child, I shudder to
imagine how
its end of year results would read. Given the socio-economic
wreckage that
lies in the wake of its 23-year rule, there is evidence galore
that it would
certainly be a dismal performer, a dull student who borders
closely on
mental retardation.
Despite inheriting a healthy
economy at independence in 1980, which
was proudly regarded as either "the
breadbasket of the region or the Jewel
of Africa", the government did not
waste time. It quickly rolled up its
sleeves and vigorously embarked on a
national economic annihilation course.
Within a few years, the economy had
been so severely ruined that it needed
to be structurally
adjusted.
The urban public transport service, which was once the
pride of the
nation because of its efficiency and reliability, was rendered a
deadly body
blow. The government "hired" buses to ferry people to the airport
to either
bid farewell or welcome the President on his infinite errands.
While the
buses were taken off their scheduled routes at very short notice,
payments
were either made late or were not even done.
Other
public transport providers, Air Zimbabwe and the National
Railways of
Zimbabwe, also experienced the same problems. They, too, find
themselves in
the same ditch as the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company. While
there are some
other reasons for the debacle that public transport finds
itself in, the
major contributing factor is the arbitrary manner in which
the government
disrupted the schedules without prompt payment.
Although signals
that the death of the Jewel of Africa was looming
flushed, they were ignored.
The government actually increased its
intransigence amid the voices of reason
calling on it to check and take heed
of the indicators. With President Mugabe
defiantly exhibiting his trademark
"everyone-is-wrong-except-me" attitude,
the government continued to
gleefully ride rough shod over all and sundry who
offered advice.
Blindly guided by some socialist ideologies, the
government pressed
hard with such naive policies as free health, education
and a host of other
unsustainable subsidies. Without the basic courtesy of
admitting to the
failures of these policies, the government discarded them.
Total silence now
envelopes such once acclaimed policies as "health for all
by 2000" and
"housing for all by 2000".
That the government has
dragged the entire country into a crisis need
not be over-emphasised. It is
so obvious that one need not be a rocket
scientist to realise the shattering
effects of the government's failed
policies. There is no social service that
is functioning well all of them
are in a state of paralysis.
If
one were to cite the public health sector for an example, a
casual
observation will expose a host of problems that are dogging the
sector. The
sector is not at all healthy. It is staring death right in the
face. With no
drugs, dressing and disinfectants in all government hospitals,
the public
health sector is, to all intents and purposes, in the intensive
care unit,
if not decomposing in the mortuary with no one to claim for
burial.
Poor government policies have resulted in an exodus of
medical
practitioners. They left in droves, fleeing from poor salaries,
working
conditions and an unavailability of such basics as gloves and
sanitary ware.
The decadence that has crept into the sector is well-known by
the
government, hence all the bigwigs get their treatment at private
hospitals
or out of the country.
The poor state of the public
health sector is perfectly symbolic of
all other social services, clearly
demonstrating the magnitude of the
government's failures. The failures are so
monumental that they are
conspicuous even from a distance. It is practically
impossible for the
government to address the problems. Expecting them to have
answers is as
foolhardy as rehabilitating a drunkard by locking him up in a
bottle store.
The government-initiated home-based care concept is
an admission that
public hospitals are unable to provide care and comfort to
terminally ill
patients.
With Mugabe soon turning 79 years old,
surely he is now living on
borrowed time. He has exceeded his sell-by date.
He now needs to take a back
seat.
The weight of running (not
ruining) the country must be relieved from
his shoulders. Nature is no
respecter of persons, therefore Mugabe need not
push himself beyond his
production possibility boundary line. He is tired,
hence he must
retire.
With the government having failed to deliver the much
promised milk
and honey, the only noble course of action to pursue is to
gently throw in
the towel. And there could never be a more opportune moment
that his 79th
birthday. It is my profound conviction that the nation will
automatically
jump-start itself from the socio-economic deathbed once the
resignation
offer is submitted.
The team that is working on the
retirement package ought to expedite
its deliberations. Although there are
some reported denials of the deal,
these need not stall the formation,
signing and sealing of the package.
As one who has had the
privilege of wining and dining with movers and
shakers the world over, Mugabe
must by now have outgrown the glitz and
glamour of fame and
fortune.
He only needs to rid himself of his self-confessed belief
that no one
can run the country better than himself. His long overdue
retirement has all
the prospects of being fun-filled. It is agreed that the
yardstick with
which true nationalists are measured is the ability to place
one's interests
behind those of the nation.
This is the test
that now awaits Mugabe.
Daily News
Feature
POSA is a fascist law applied
partisanly
2/13/2003 12:14:55 AM (GMT +2)
A
Bulawayo-based community organisation called the Bulawayo Agenda has
in the
past two months been prohibited as many times by the police from
hosting
meetings at the City Hall.
The police have on both occasions cited
the possibility that such
meetings could lead to a breakdown of law and order
in the city.
On each occasion, the personality behind the Bulawayo
Agenda, Gordon
Moyo, has been told at the eleventh hour to cancel the
meeting. The police
authorities have stated that they have the power under
the Public Order and
Security Act (POSA) to take such decisions.
We should understand and accept that once a law has been passed, never
mind
how repressive or fascist it may be, it has to be applied, and that
the
Zimbabwe Republic Police would be doing exactly that when they prohibit
the
holding of meetings by the Bulawayo Agenda.
But we should
also point out how preposterous and unjustifiable it is
for an authority to
deny an individual or individuals their constitutional
rights of association
and expression on the pretext that a breach of the law
is likely to occur if
people publicly assembled to debate a matter or
matters of national interest,
concern and value.
We should add to that observation the fact that
a law should be
uniformly applied throughout the national territory in which
it is meant to
apply.
In Zimbabwe, there seems to be a tendency
to apply POSA more against
some organisations perceived to be critical of the
government than it is
against others.
For instance, I do not recall
a single occasion of that law being
applied against Dr Shakespeare Maya's
National Alliance for Good Governance
(NAGG). Does that mean NAGG's
consultative meetings do not pose an actual or
potential threat to the breach
of the law?
It is very unacceptable that an authority should
disallow a meeting on
the mere assumption that a breach of the law could
occur if the meeting was
held. If that assumption is based on some tangible
or visible evidence, why
not confront those wishing to hold such a meeting to
convince them about the
justice of the prohibition?
If there is no
such visible or tangible evidence, why not let the
meeting be held but take
precautionary measures to contain any outbreak of
violence or any attempt to
cause a breakdown of law and order?
It is utterly unfair, nay,
unjust and fascist to deny people their
constitutional rights and freedoms on
the basis of a mere assumption.
In Matabeleland, we have been
criticised for not taking decisions on
matters that affect our region. We
have been criticised for doing or saying
nothing about the region's needs,
complaints and wishes.
Examples have been given of how some regions
are being developed by
leaders born and bred there. But when we try to do
precisely that, we are
repeatedly frustrated either by the use of some
repressive law or by being
merely ignored.
The Bulawayo Agenda
is really nothing more than a local organisation
that seeks to give local
people a platform to express their feelings and
wishes about issues of
regional or
national interest and value.
Denying it such
an opportunity may inevitably lead to it going
underground, and that would be
more dangerous to the nation than allowing
its members and sympathisers to
express themselves openly so that the
government can be better informed about
their agenda.
Having said that, a word of advice to that
organisation (the Bulawayo
Agenda): It is high time it established a pamphlet
or some other kind of
publication through which its members and sympathisers
can exchange views
and ideas.
While it is more common and
probably more effective to communicate
through public meetings, it is
extremely useful to use literacy and numeracy
to inform various
publics.
There is no point in complaining and moaning about such
fascist pieces
of legislation as POSA only at public meetings, but doing
nothing to analyse
them in black and white for posterity's sake, if not for
anything else.
As for the police authorities, a good police officer
is not the one
who uncompromisingly applies the law without question, but the
one who can
use his or her discretion when it's clearly called for to do
so.
Why? Because the law is meant to serve the nation rather than
vice
versa. We are not born to serve laws, but laws are created to
serve
humanity. That is the essence of human freedom.
POSA
should be applied, yes, because it is on the country's statute
books, but
that should be done with a great deal of discretion by the
police,
particularly where meetings are concerned lest we shall be arrested
for
attending weddings, birthday parties and funeral wakes, which, as
things
stand, is quite possible under POSA.
Daily News
Ben-Menashe denies State paid him to trap
Tsvangirai
2/13/2003 6:48:03 AM (GMT +2)
Court
Reporters
ARI BEN-MENASHE, the main State witness in the Morgan
Tsvangirai high
treason trial, yesterday said the government of Zimbabwe was
supposed to pay
him US$1 million (about Z$55 million at the official
exchange) for sprucing
up its bruised image.
This surfaced as
The Daily News received information that Ben-Menashe
failed to justify what
work he had done for the government after High Court
judge Paddington Garwe
had cleared the court room of members of the public.
Under
cross-examination by Advocate George Bizos after members of the
public had
been allowed back in court, Ben-Menashe said the government owed
his company
money for services provided.
He declined to reveal the work done
and the outstanding amount, but
said the government should have paid him US$1
million in total.
According to records of schedules of payment to
Dickens and Madson
presented in court, Ben-Menashe's company was paid US$615
000 by August
2002.
This means the government still owes the company
US$385 000.
Ben-Menashe said he was still owed money as it was
revealed in court
that his company Dickens and Madson received US$200 000
from the government
soon after handing over an audio recording of Tsvangirai,
the MDC's leader,
allegedly plotting to kill President Mugabe in November
2001.
Ben-Menashe's wife, a lawyer on the Quebec Bar in Canada also
received
another US$30 000 from the government in December 2001.
The US$230 000 was paid before Dickens and Madson and the government
signed
the agreement to spruce up the country's image in January 2002.
Ben-Menashe denied he was paid US$230 000 to trap Tsvangirai, his
party's
secretary-general Welshman Ncube, and shadow minister for
agriculture Renson
Gasela, so they could be charged with high treason.
"We never
received the US$30 000," Ben-Menashe said. "We were merely
the messengers who
transmitted the money to the people who recorded a video
tape of Tsvangirai
plotting to kill Mugabe. The US$200 000 was for a lot of
work done."
He refused to name the people who recorded the video.
Asked what
work he had done, Ben-Menashe responded: "It's
confidential. I don't know
when my company received the money, but it had
nothing to do with proving
that Tsvangirai is murderous."
The defence lawyers are saying the
contract between Ben-Menashe and
the government was a guise to pay the
Israeli a reward for trapping their
clients.
Bizos said
Ben-Menashe had earlier testified that he was never paid
for ensnaring
Tsvangirai and that the first payment he received from the
government was for
US$170 000 in terms of the agreement.
Ben-Menashe, in the trial
punctuated by heckling between the Israeli
and Bizos, said he was too busy
preparing to spruce up Zimbabwe's image at
the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting in Australia to be bothered
about the payments made to his
company by the government.
He said part of his work at the
Commonwealth meeting was "to show the
50 or so heads of State, the murderous
nature of accused number one
(Tsvangirai)" through the video of the meeting
where Tsvangirai allegedly
plotted to assasinate President Mugabe and
overthrow the Zanu PF government.
Denying he took the decision to
have the video shown on Australian
television before the accused persons had
been charged, Ben-Menashe said:
"This person (Tsvangirai) goes around the
world him and his emissaries
making false accusations against President
Mugabe and the government, false
and untrue statements about themselves that
they are democrats and they are
waiting for elections."
Daily News
Judge rules Ben-Menashe be questioned on
contract
2/13/2003 6:47:33 AM (GMT +2)
By Lloyd
Mudiwa and Fanuel Jongwe
HIGH court judge Paddington Garwe
yesterday dismissed a ministerial
certificate seeking to prevent lawyers
representing MDC president Morgan
Tsvangirai and two senior party officials
from cross-examining a key State
witness on his contract with the
government.
The judge noted that Section 296 of the Criminal
Procedure and
Evidence Act which allows a Cabinet Minister to issue a
certificate barring
the disclosure of certain information in public was
promulgated by the
Rhodesian Parliament in 1976 specifically to deal with
cases involving
freedom fighters.
Said Garwe: "In the Rhodesian
context, the intention was to prevent
any further enquiry on the part of the
court, but the situation has now
changed.
"The Constitution of
Zimbabwe now has a Bill of Rights."
The judge, however, ordered
that the cross-examination of Ari
Ben-Menashe, a Canadian-based political
consultant, on the nature of the
contract he signed with the government,
should proceed in camera.
He further ordered that the evidence in
the high treason trial given
in camera should not be disclosed to the
public.
The judge walked a tight-rope when he gave the ruling which
was a
compromise between the demands of the State and the defence lawyers.
Garwe,
who thrice postponed the ruling on Tuesday to enable him to further
consider
the parties' submissions, acknowledged that the task had not been an
easy
one.
But Dr Lovemore Madhuku, a constitutional law expert
who was present
in court, said: "The judgment shows a worrying trend that
judges are not
fully exercising their independence."
In his
ruling, Garwe said: "The court is not obliged to accept at face
value, the
certificate issued in terms of the Criminal Procedure and
Evidence
Act.
Nicholas Goche, the Minister of State for National Security,
in an unp
recedented move on Monday issued a certificate to protect
Ben-Menashe from
disclosing details of the agreement between his firm and the
government
citing national security concerns.
"In an appropriate
case the court can go behind the claim of
privilege. I am satisfied that in
appropriate cases the court can make
further enquiries," Garwe
said.
He noted that although Goche's certificate requested the
court to
uphold the privileged status of the agreement between the government
and
Dickens and Madson, Ben-Menashe had already given evidence on the
document
in an open court.
The State had also undertaken to
provide the defence team with further
particulars pertaining to the contract,
the judge said.
Garwe said the concern of the minister is not on
the privileged status
of the document but the public disclosure of the
details of the agreement.
This prompted the judge to bar the disclosure of
what happened in camera to
the public.
In issuing the order,
Garwe invoked Section 3 (1) of the Courts and
Adjudicating Authorities
(Publicity Restriction) Act, which says if at any
stage before or during any
proceedings, a court or adjudicating authority
considers it necessary or
expedient to do so, the court or adjudicating
authority may exclude certain
persons from attending or disclosing court
proceedings.
Madhuku
said since Garwe had accepted that some aspects of the
contract had already
been discussed in an open court, the judge should have
"fully stamped his
authority" by ruling that the rest of the
cross-examination should be
conducted in a public court.
In terms of Section 18 (10) of the
Constitution, such proceedings
shall ordinarily be held in
public.
Meanwhile, Moses Chamanga , a National Constitutional
Assembly
activist, was allegedly arrested outside the High Court yesterday by
riot
police manning the court entrance.
He was accused of
"dressing like a Mafia."
Daily News
Biti lashes at arrests of opposition
members
2/13/2003 6:47:08 AM (GMT +2)
Staff
Reporter
THE MDC shadow minister for home affairs and MP for Harare
East,
Tendai Biti, yesterday deplored the arbitrary arrests of members of
his
party, including himself, and those of umbrella organisations such as
the
National Constitutional Assembly.
Biti said his arrest and
that of Paul Madzore, the MP for Glen View,
and 12 party supporters on
Saturday was uncalled for.
The 14 were arrested for allegedly
contravening the draconian Public
Order and Security Act by holding a rally
in Mabvuku without police
permission.
The MPs were held at
Matapi Police Station in Mbare until Monday when
they were taken to court and
later released.
Biti said there were 16 to 18 people in a tiny cell
at Matapi. He said
they were detained under inhuman conditions.
He said his arrest and that of other members of his party was designed
to
frustrate the opposition so that the party would collapse.
Biti
said in arresting members of the opposition and all those with
divergent
views the police were flouting the country's Constitution. He
said: "The
major point is that the Zimbabwean government is not abiding by
its
Constitution which clearly states in Section 13 that no one shall be
denied
his liberty without due cause."
Biti said the situation where
members of his party were arrested on
frivolous charges and later released
without charge curtailed their
constitutional rights. The opposition party's
members were detained in
police cells for about three days.
Biti
said he and Madzore were considering legal recourse against the
police for
their detention. He, however, said the ultimate recourse was to
remove
President Mugabe and his government from power so that there would be
proper
rule of law in the country.
Meanwhile, Biti said his party was not
happy with President Thabo
Mbeki of South Africa and President Olusegun
Obasanjo of Nigeria's bid to
cancel the Commonwealth Troika
meeting.
The troika was to meet in March to discuss whether the
Commonwealth
extend the suspension of Zimbabwe.
Biti said the
MDC was concerned that the situation in Zimbabwe had
deteriorated since the
troika first met to discuss the crisis in the
country. He said Zimbabwe
should be expelled from the Commonwealth
altogether.
Daily News
State to blame for Dete disaster
2/13/2003
6:40:22 AM (GMT +2)
By Brian Mangwende Chief
Reporter
THE Dete train disaster could have been avoided if the
government had
adhered to a contract it allegedly signed with a German-based
company,
Siemens, to upgrade the centralised computer systems and the railway
lines
for about US$100 million (Z$5,5 billion).
The government
has since set up a board of inquiry to investigate the
cause of the head-on
collision which occurred nearly two weeks ago near Dete
killing more than 50
people and injuring 64 others.
According to documents in the hands
of The Daily News, in March 2002,
the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ)
wrote to Christian Katsande, the
permanent secretary in the Ministry of
Transport and Communications, warning
the government that if the computers
were not fixed an accident along that
line would be disastrous.
The document reads in part:
"The NRZ has done a detailed review of the
requirements to clear the
maintenance backlog and recapitalisation for
infrastructure and operating
equipment.
"The global requirements
amount to US$193,65 million. However, given
the shortages of foreign currency
and the need to ensure that whatever NRZ
borrows it will be able to service,
an initial prioritisation reduces the
requirements to US$153,02
million.
"Given that the CBZ facility provides US$100 million, the
net
shortfall stands at US$53,02 million plus or minus 10
percent."
A source said the Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe (CBZ) was
acting as the
financial advisor.
Contacted for comment on what
became of the US$100 million facility,
Gideon Gono, the CBZ managing
director, said he would instruct his deputy,
Nyasha Makuvise, to pull out the
files on that case and attend to the matter
immediately.
But
Makuvise turned around, saying he was not aware of the deal.
He said:
"CBZ was not mandated by anyone to act as financial advisor
unless they want
us to do so now."
A source who declined to be named said the
ministry entered into an
agreement with Siemens, an electronic manufacturing
company, to upgrade the
computers and the railway lines.
Efforts
to get comment from Katsande since Monday proved fruitless as
he was said to
be in endless meetings.
The source said talks on the upgrading
began in March 2001 between the
ministry and Siemens.
The deal
was allegedly signed in June 2002 by then NRZ general
manager, Samson
Zumbika, and a Siemens representative identified only as
Kuhn, and a local
indigenous company still to be identified.
The source said the deal
with Siemens was signed on a "Mayfair Trust
Medium Term Note".
"No
one knows what happened to the deal," said the source.
Of the
US$100 million, the source said $40 million was meant for the
upgrading of
the signals systems at Dabuka and the remainder to
refurbish
tracks.
According to the source, funding was to come
from Credit Suisse, a
financial institution whose media relations offices are
in Zurich,
Switzerland, and First Securities
International, believed
to be based in the United States.
Contacted for comment, Renate
Mauren, an official with Credit Suisse,
said she was unable to divulge any
information because of confidentiality
restrictions in terms of the Swiss
Banking Secrecy Act.
Meanwhile, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga,
the MP for Glen Norah and
chairperson for the Public Accounts Committee in
Parliament, said the
government should not hide behind a finger but
acknowledge that the accident
could have been averted.
Please send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
justice@telco.co.zw with "For Open Letter
Forum" in the subject line.
JAG OPEN LETTER
FORUM
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
1: Peter Rosenfels
Hello Mr Cloete
I've just heard on Voice of
America - Africa Edition, that you are unable
to comment on Agri SA's
communiqué, as you "haven't seen it". Well here it
is - and it's the sort of
communiqué we'd like to see from the farmers
supposedly representing us, the
farmers of Zimbabwe
Regards
Peter Rosenfels
Agri SA press
conference statement
31 January 2003
Agri SA leaders' impressions of
the Zimbabwean visit
Agri SA was invited by President Mbeki to send
delegates with Ms Didiza,
the Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs, to
Zimbabwe. They used this
opportunity to speak to Minister Didiza's Zimbabwean
counterpart, Mr Made,
Zimbabwean government officials, agricultural
organisations, input
suppliers and the leader of the Zimbabwean opposition
party, Mr
Tsvangarai. They also visited farms with the government delegation
and
later met with independent people who are familiar with the area and
the
transitional arrangements.
>From what they observed, the
delegates are convinced that the land reform
programme was aimed primarily at
securing political patronage and was
implemented in such a way that it caused
irreparable damage to the
production base of agriculture. It also offers
little prospect of
sustainable profitability for the present beneficiaries of
the programme.
It is tragic that more people have not gained access to land
in terms of
the fast-track programme and that 350 000 farm workers and their
families
now live as refugees in their own country. Moreover, 7 to 8 million
people
face starvation due to a lack of food and care.
The present
dilemma cannot be ascribed to a few administrative errors.
Whilst the need
for a fundamental land reform programme is not disputed,
the programme has by
no means contributed to economic progress, equity and
improved food security.
It was used as a tool to gain and secure control
in Zimbabwe. Agri SA's
representatives therefore do not believe that they
have witnessed a turning
point and that things will now start to improve.
They are of the opinion that
the programme is based on unacceptable and
unsustainable points of departure.
It will have to be replaced with a
programme governed by a totally different
set of values if agriculture is
to be revived to play the role it should in
that economy.
Minister Made stated clearly that the government and the
ruling party
would retain title to the land and would dish it out to
"qualifying"
persons, which in practice means to those who show support for
the ruling
party. The delegation was shocked by the blatant way in which the
minister
evaded penetrating questions in this regard and his attempt to
justify is
party's actions with thought-transference.
In most cases
the beneficiaries knew nothing about farming and many of
them were completely
unfamiliar with the farms or production information
aside from occupying the
homesteads. Although it is said that the land
would or should be used
productively, a massive decline in production is
inevitable.
When
interviewed in the presence of government representatives,
beneficiaries
sketched a rosy picture of their agricultural achievements.
Quite clearly
this was orchestrated. When probed about practices and
costs, their response
was unconvincing.
Beneficiaries do not hold title to land to use as
collateral for credit
and are therefore totally dependent on government
support for such credit
and for gaining access to subsidised inputs. They are
therefore shielded
from real costs, while market prices of controlled
products, such as maize
and wheat, are pegged at unrealistically low levels.
While this is
normally an intolerable situation, these new farmers have
indicated that
they experience no problems. This confirms that they are not
functioning
within a market discipline and are basically employed and
supported by the
government to keep commercial producers away from their
farms, farm
workers and farming operations.
These interventions,
together with the impact of a bankrupt economy, give
rise to a lopsided
economy of unknown proportions. It creates
opportunities for political and
bureaucratic mismanagement, favouritism
and intimidation, and for some an
opportunity to profit immensely. The
result is that the frustrations of
ordinary Zimbabweans are mounting,
which will be difficult, if not
impossible, to control.
Apparently, the Zimbabwean government
contemplates managing some of the
frustrating bottlenecks and deficiencies by
imposing more interventions.
Mr Made, for instance, said that the rest of the
economy should also be
"indigenised", as in the case of agriculture, to
secure control over the
supply of inputs and related economic activities. He
failed to explain how
this would solve existing problems.
He also made
no bones about the fact that South Africans with property in
Zimbabwe must
accept the reality of Zimbabwe's land programme. Agri SA
delegates are of the
opinion that he resented the presence of South
African farmers in Zimbabwe.
The fact that an investment agreement exists
between South Africa and
Zimbabwe that rules out the present confiscation
approach, is of little
concern to him. Between 160 and 200 South African
farmers are currently
subject to political theft of private assets, as is
the case for almost all
commercial farmers in Zimbabwe.
Mr Made was also irritated when
questioned on the negative impact of their
land grabbing policy on investor
confidence in general. He made it clear
that ZANU-PF was involved in a
different phase of their liberation war and
that a solution to economic
problems was a lower priority than the
successful "indigenising" of economic
assets.
With this as backdrop, including the demise of the country's
institutional
capacity, problems such as food and fuel shortages and the
outbreak of
foot-and-mouth disease are merely symptoms of an inherently sick
and
corrupt system.
The delegation is of the opinion that the SA
Government should speak out
against the lack of legitimacy of the Zimbabwean
regime, should criticize
that government's fraudulent practices and make it
clear to ZANU-PF that,
if they persist with morally wrong practices that most
Zimbabweans and the
rest of the world reject, they should not expect the
blessing or support
of South Africa as a lifeline to keep themselves in
power.
In conclusion, South Africa should endeavour to build national
consensus
on a just and implementable land reform policy and programme to
speed up
existing processes and to ensure that we do not end up with the same
messy
situation as in Zimbabwe.
The role of commercial farmers,
respect for property rights and a
constitutionally based judicial system
should also be valued and confirmed
throughout the
process.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions
of the
submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for
Agriculture.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Daily News
C'wealth yet to rule on suspension
2/13/2003 6:49:12 AM (GMT +2)
By Brian Mangwende Chief
Reporter
ZIMBABWE will not be automatically readmitted into the
Commonwealth,
said Joel Kibazo, the director of communications and
spokesperson for the
Commonwealth Secretariat.
Kibazo said the
readmission of Zimbabwe after its suspension expires
next month was not a
foregone conclusion.
Speaking from London, Kibazo said he expected
a review of Zimbabwe's
suspension from the group despite the cancelling of
next month's meeting
scheduled to discuss the matter by Nigeria and South
Africa, two members of
the Commonwealth Troika which includes
Australia.
"In March 2002, the Troika was mandated to handle the
Zimbabwe issue,"
Kibazo said. "We expect the review to take place as
scheduled next month.
The modalities are up to the leaders, whether they meet
physically or decide
their next move over the phone. What is important to the
Commonwealth is the
people of Zimbabwe. Let's not assume that the meeting
will not take place."
Kibazo's remarks were made after media
reports that the Commonwealth
Troika was split over Zimbabwe.
"We
have been betrayed, really seriously let down," Moses
Mzila-Ndlovu, the
foreign affairs spokesman for the opposition MDC, told
Reuters.
"There is nothing on the ground to justify what they are doing."
The MDC's shadow minister for foreign affairs, Tendai Biti, said
South
African President Thabo Mbeki and Nigerian President Olusegun
Obasanjo,
should have, in fact, called for Zimbabwe's expulsion from the
Commonwealth.
Lovemore Madhuku, the chairman of the National
Constitutional
Assembly, said: "What this all means is that this generation
of African
leaders, including Mbeki and Obasanjo, cannot lift Africa out of
its crisis.
"What it means is that Zimbabweans have to resolve
their own problems
as we have always said and leave Mbeki and Obasanjo to
protect the
oppressors of the African people."
Tony Leon the
leader of the South African opposition Democratic
Alliance said South Africa
had abandoned the Commonwealth multilateral
mechanism for dealing with the
crisis in Zimbabwe without even considering
the case on its
merits.
Leon said: "How can we make any sense in our call for the
United
States to be guided by multi-lateralism in respect of the crisis over
Iraq
when we have broken the spirit of multi-lateralism of the
Commonwealth?
Mbeki's spokesperson Beki Khumalo lashed out at Australian
Premier John
Howard for going public with details of a private discussion by
announcing
that Mbeki and Obasanjo had unexpectedly called off a meeting with
Howard.
The Troika meeting would have deliberated on whether or not to
readmit
Zimbabwe into the Commonwealth."
Khumalo said Mbeki and
Obasanjo had not taken a final stance and were
still consulting.
He
said: "Howard should at least speak for himself, and not on behalf
of
President Mbeki."
Last March, the Troika was mandated to handle the
Zimbabwean issue and
suspended the country from the councils of the
Commonwealth for a year for
gross abuse of human rights, muzzling the Press
and general lawlessness. The
Troika was highly critical of the March 2002
presidential election,
controversially won by Mugabe.
Obasanjo
wrote a letter to Howard, stating that he, together with his
South African
counterpart, Mbeki, were no longer interested in extending
Zimbabwe's
suspension.
In his letter made public on Tuesday, Obasanjo detailed
what he said
was progress made by Zimbabwe since the sanctions were imposed
after Mugabe'
s disputed re-election.
However, Commonwealth
observers last year concluded the polls were
neither free nor
fair.
Obasanjo said he was backed by Mbeki, leaving Howard
outnumbered as
the sole member of the Troika supporting
sanctions.
Howard was in London yesterday, where he was expected to
discuss the
crisis with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and
Commonwealth
Secretary-General Don McKinnon.
Howard heads the
Troika set up by the 54-nation group of mainly former
British colonies last
year.
Earlier, Howard was quoted by Reuters as saying Mbeki had
telephoned
him to say that he and Obasanjo wanted the meeting to be cancelled
because
they disagreed with Howard's view of extending the
suspension.
But Howard said the crisis had worsened and he planned
to lobby the
Commonwealth to continue the suspension, arguing the country's
leadership
had not done anything to warrant readmission.
Yesterday, the State-controlled Herald said Obasanjo and Mbeki
had
effectively killed the Troika by cancelling next month's
meeting.
But Kibazo reiterated: "We expect the review to take place
as
scheduled whether they meet physically or decide over the phone."
Daily News
Witness dropped from Nkala case
2/13/2003
6:49:47 AM (GMT +2)
From Our Correspondent in
Bulawayo
A State witness in the Cain Nkala murder case, Dr Michael
Cotton, who
examined one of the suspects, Khethani Sibanda, will no longer
testify in
the High Court.
Justice Lawrence Kamocha last year
ordered that Sibanda be examined
after he told the Bulawayo High Court that
he had been bitten on the arm by
Nkala as they kidnapped him.
Sibanda and five other MDC officials, including the MP
for
Lobengula-Magwegwe, Fletcher Dulini-Ncube, are on trial at the Harare
High
Court for allegedly killing Nkala.
The trial was adjourned
to 17 March. The six have all pleaded not
guilty.
During the
bail application for Simon Spooner, one of the murder
suspects who was later
acquitted early last year, Sibanda had a wound on his
arm which he claimed
were Nkala's bite marks.
Cotton's medical report said the marks on
Sibanda's arm were not bite
marks.
His report said the marks were
caused by a sharp instrument not
consistent with bite marks.
Cotton, whose report was one of the exhibits, was originally listed as
one of
the 23 State witnesses to testify, but his name has been struck from
the
list.
No comment could be obtained from the Attorney General's
Office on the
development.
Nicholas Mathonsi, one of the defence
lawyers, yesterday confirmed
that Cotton was no longer one of the State
witnesses.
Asked why the doctor's name had been struck off the
list, Mathonsi
said the State appeared to have realised that the doctor's
evidence was not
going to be of any help to their case.
"One
would actually believe that the doctor's evidence is useful to
the defence,"
he said.
So far six witnesses, who include the widow of the late
war veterans
leader, Sikhumbuzo, and his daughter, Zenzele have testified in
the trial.
Daily News
Voracious armyworm wreaking havoc
2/13/2003
6:48:37 AM (GMT +2)
Farming Editor
THE voracious
armyworm first reported in Guruve last month, had by
yesterday invaded almost
all provinces, except Matabeleland.
There are fears the country
does not have adequate chemicals to
control the invasion.
All
chemicals used to spray crops affected by the pest are imported.
Late planted maize and pastures were under threat from the worm, now
spotted
in Zaka, Gutu, Bikita, Mutema Irrigation near Birchenough Bridge,
Middle
Sabi, Chibuwe, Makoni, Rusape, Chiendambuya, Arcturus, Ruwa,
Goromonzi,
Murehwa, Marondera, Macheke, Beatrice, Bindura, Madziwa, Snake
Park, Norton,
Darwendale, Shurugwi, Pakami, Wundura farming area in
Midlands, and Kuwadzana
in Harare.
The worm is likely to worsen the vulnerability of crops
already
affected by the erratic rains since the beginning of the rainy season
last
October.
Total hectarage of maize planted is about 91
percent of 1990's average
and 86 percent of the maize-planted last
season.
Dr Godfrey Chikwenhere, head of the entomology section under
the
Department of Research and Extension, said yesterday the armyworm
was
spreading and the latest outbreak was reported in Gokwe
yesterday.
The last serious armyworm invasion was in the 1991/1992
farming
season, a drought year.
In that season, the worm
destroyed maize plants at knee level (late
planted) countrywide resulting in
serious food shortages.
Chikwenhere said the worm attacked only the
late planted maize crop,
now at knee height, while the early planted maize
was safe.
He said: "We are supplying chemicals to farmers in
communal areas and
those resettled under A1 model (villagised scheme).
Large-scale commercial
farmers and those resettled under the commercial
farming scheme (A2) are
encouraged to buy their own chemicals."
Asked if the department would be able to eradicate the pest,
Chikwenhere
referred questions to the acting director of the Department of
Research and
Specialist Services, Dr Shadreck Mlambo, who was not
available
yesterday.
Chikwenhere said: "I do not know if we will
be able to control the
armyworm. In the 1991/1992 year, we managed to
eradicate it because we had
the resources, enough vehicles and
fuel."
Contacted yesterday, some major suppliers of the armyworm
pesticide,
Carbawl 85 percent WP, said they did not have enough stocks to
deal with a
national outbreak.
Windmill (Pvt) Limited managing
director Andy Humphreys said: "We have
about three tonnes of Carbawl but it
is disappearing fast from the shelves.
It is enough for our normal supplies
but we will not be able to meet
emergencies. We will have to look for foreign
currency to import more."
An Agricura (Pvt) Limited official said:
"We do not have enough
Carbawl for a national outbreak, but we have stocks of
about one tonne."
Silas Hungwe, the Zimbabwe Farmers' Union
president, expressed concern
that the armyworm had spread countrywide while
many farmers had no capacity
to control it.
Hungwe said: "The
government should supply chemicals to both the A1
and A2 farmers because they
have no means of eradicating the armyworm. It is
catastrophic because no
plant will survive if attacked by the armyworm."
In Zimbabwe
armyworm outbreaks normally occur in drought years. The
armyworm is bred from
an insect called noctud, which normally breeds in
Mozambique and
Zambia.
It only breeds in Zimbabwe when winds caused by drought
carry the
insect from Mozambique and Zambia to Zimbabwe.
The Times
Questions of Sport
A quiet courage
that showed England how it should be done;
AS A
former Zimbabwean with a deep love for that country and its
people, I read
with tears the brave statement by Andy Flower and Henry
Olonga (Sport,
February 11, 12).
How good it would have been if the England
team, rather than
pulling out because of fears for their own safety, had
taken the moral
stance and played in Harare wearing black armbands, as the
two courageous
Zimbabwean cricketers did. The people of Zimbabwe, both black
and white,
deserve our support.
Lesley Hulley, Bath,
Somerset
Stand up and be
counted
MY MAIN regret is that Nasser Hussain (Debate,
January 3, 17;
February 4) did not have the courage and vision to take the
bull by the
horns, even a few weeks ago, and simply stand up with his team
and say: "We
will not play, end of story. You (ICC, ECB, politicians, etc)
have to accept
that and work out how you're going to deal with
it."
He would have been the hero of the story and made his
mark on
history well beyond the confines of cricket. The pity is, I really
thought
Hussain had it in him; instead he has seemed to me as dubiously
indecisive
as the administrators, which history will record. It's all too
little too
late.
A symbolic statement of withdrawal was
both powerful and
necessary from a moral and practical standpoint. Anything
done to highlight
the deplorable situation in Zimbabwe and to apply any
amount of pressure for
change must be worth pursuing. To argue that very
publicly boycotting an
important cricket match, with the world's media
watching, would not make any
difference is stupid, blinkered or, given the
commercial incentives driving
some people, cynically greedy. In ten years'
time, when we read about the
many who died at the hands of the Mugabe regime,
any gesture, large or
small, will have seemed worth it, whatever the
financial or political cost.
It has taken two Zimbabwean
cricketers, who have so much more to
lose, possibly even their lives, to
stand up to Mugabe and be counted in a
visionary and peaceful way. The only
thing that could possibly redeem this
situation is if, by the end of the
tournament, every single player and
official picks up the baton from Flower
and Olonga, and dons a black armband
on behalf of the oppressed Zimbabwean
people.
Richard Hallward, Warsaw,
Poland
Beacon of courage
WHAT
a beacon of courage shines out from the debacle of World
Cup cricket. Two men
have shown everyone that difficult decisions can be
made. Maybe their
decision to stand up and be counted has helped focus the
debate and pricked a
few consciences.
Nicky Gill, Richmond,
Surrey
Shabby pretence
THE
most shabby pretence by the ICC is that playing World Cup
cricket in Zimbabwe
will somehow promote the health of the sport in that
country. Owen Slot's
article (Sport, February 6) shows quite clearly that
Mugabe's anti-white and
anti-non-Zanu PF policy is already substantially
destroying the
sport.
Does the ICC honestly believe that the game of
cricket, let
alone the lives of many Zimbabweans, will be improved under
Mugabe's policy
of violence, beatings, political murder, general repression
and mass
starvation?
John Cooney, Esher,
Surrey
A gesture worth making
THERE is no such thing as guaranteed 100 per cent safety, so I
sympathise
with the England players. But a sense of having "ducked out"
remains. This is
quite in character with a team that, in recent years, has
slumped in
situations where everyone has willed them to stick out their
chests and
respond to a challenge.
England could have turned their
appearance in Harare into a mute
statement by wearing black armbands, or
donating part of their match
earnings to charities to ease the suffering of
at least a few Zimbabweans.
Only a gesture? Sure - but one that would have
filled them with pride.
Whatever the consequences for Andy
Flower and Henry Olonga,
professionally and personally, their dignity,
courage and the respect of the
world cannot be taken away from them. They
delivered a slap in the face to
Mugabe and his henchmen. Meanwhile, England
move on in the tournament,
probably losing points and having made a negative
rather than a positive
decision. They could have risen to the occasion. They
didn't.
Marc Beckers, Steinbach,
Germany
Too little, too late
DELAYING any decision until the last possible moment serves only
to dilute
the message. The players' security is paramount but this concern
has been
used as a smokescreen by administrators and politicians to avoid
debating
whether we should have sporting links with an evil regime. Given
the nature
of sport as a symbol of friendship between nations and their
governments
clearly we should not.
I do not blame the players for the
indecision: they are just
honest folk who happen to be good at playing
cricket. The administrators
should have been unequivocal from the start and
the Government should have
stepped in decisively at an early stage and
cancelled the fixture.
David Bradshaw, Hassocks, West
Sussex
South African threats
IF THE England team believe they had grounds to justify not
playing a cricket
match, then so be it. But when Percy Sonn, president of
the South African
cricket board, threatens to withdraw the South African
team from their tour
of England this summer, I do get mad (Sport, February
11). This is pathetic
and childish tit-for-tat bickering.
The board should have
made itself useful, for once, and
concentrated on facilitating England's
negotiations regarding Zimbabwe in
order to reach a satisfactory
compromise.
Mark Preiss, Rivonia, South
Africa
A sorry mess
I BELIEVE that
the ECB was right in its original stance that
England should play in Harare.
Unfortunately, the subsequent vacillation
left the England team in an
impossible situation. If they really had fears
about security, then they were
bound to be nervous if they had played. Not
going to Harare means the team
have given themselves a huge task in
qualifying for the second stage, without
speaking of the financial loss to
the players and to cricket in England as a
whole.
This sorry mess could have been avoided if the
Government had
made known its views when it was first aware that the game was
scheduled for
Harare, rather than waiting for an off-the-cuff remark by Clare
Short on the
radio.
Gerald Ratzin, London
SE21
Positive thought
ONE
positive thing to come out of this debate is that the
problems of Zimbabwe
have been highlighted and have reached an ever
wider
audience.
Roy Farrar, Lincoln
ICC Gives England More Time
The East African Standard
(Nairobi)
February 13, 2003
Posted to the web February 12,
2003
Nairobi
England have been given until 7pm today to hand in an
appeal to have their
World Cup Group A match against Zimbabwe moved to South
Africa.
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) spokesman Andrew Walpole
told
reporters: "We have until 7 p.m. tomorrow to deliver our legal
submission to
the World Cup technical committee." The game was scheduled for
today but the
England board refused to travel to the country because of their
players'
safety concerns.
The ECB continued to argue after losing a
supposedly binding appeal over the
issue after the International Cricket
Council (ICC) ruled Harare was safe.
The matter will now return to the
tournament technical committee for a
second time. It will decide either to
switch the match to South Africa,
cancel the game altogether and share out
the points or award a win to
Zimbabwe by default.
The ICC has yet to
set a date for the committee hearing. Sources close to
the negotiations said
the matter was not likely to be resolved until next
week at the
earliest.
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) warned yesterday
its cricketers
would not play their World Cup match against England if it was
switched to
South Africa on grounds other than safety and
security.
"If it's (the reason to switch the game) outside the issues of
safety and
security, I don't think it will be agreeable to us," ZCU chairman
Peter
Chingoka told a news conference on yesterday.
"The Namibians had
a good three days here. They were safe and secure and the
match was played in
very good spirits." - Reuters
MSNBC
US says Commonwealth should not let Zimbabwe
back
WASHINGTON, Feb. 12 - The United States said on Wednesday it
opposed
readmitting Zimbabwe to the Commonwealth until the government of
President
Robert Mugabe gave a commitment to address concerns about human
rights.
The State Department said that, although the United States
is not a
member, it was concerned at reports that Nigeria and South Africa
favor
ending the suspension of Zimbabwe's membership of the group of
countries
associated with Britain.
The 12-month suspension was
imposed last March because foreign
observers said that Zimbabwean elections
were flawed and in protest at
Mugabe's policy of seizing many white-owned
farms for redistribution to
landless blacks.
''Although we are not
a member of the Commonwealth, we applaud the
government of Australia's call
for a continuation of the suspension, which
we believe is warranted,'' said
State Department spokeswoman Anne Marks.
Australia is one of
Washington's strongest allies in its campaign to
mobilize support for an
invasion of Iraq if Baghdad does not meet U.N.
disarmament
requirements.
Marks said: ''Zimbabwe has done nothing to address the
fundamental
concerns about human rights, rule of law and basic respect for
democratic
values that led to its suspension from the Commonwealth and to
the
imposition of sanctions by the United States and other international
actors.
''Lifting Zimbabwe's suspension without its clear commitment
to
redress these problems would reflect poorly on the Commonwealth's
commitment
to promoting basic values of democracy and respect for human
rights. It
would also send a dispiriting message to the vast majority of
Zimbabweans,''
she added.
epolitix
Britain hails 'moral victory' over Zimbabwe
game
The government has hailed the cancellation of
England's cricket
match against Zimbabwe as a moral
victory.
Today would have seen captain Nasser Hussain lead
his team out
to face the national side in Harare as part of the World
Cup.
At the 11th hour the team decided to abandon the fixture
citing
security concerns.
The government was opposed
the game going ahead because of the
deteriorating situation brought about by
Robert Mugabe's government.
The Department of Culture, Media
and Sport said the decision was
a "moral victory". "Mugabe has not been
handed the propaganda victory," said
a spokesman.
The
department said that given official warnings had been made
months ago and the
international cricket authorities knew of the crisis
facing Zimbabwe, the
match should never have been planned in the first
place.
"We understand the England team's concerns for not playing on
both political
and security grounds," said a spokesman.
"We are particularly
mindful of the British dimension to this
due to the fact that there are many
ex-pats who are suffering alongside the
people of Zimbabwe as a result of the
Mugabe regime."
There was also a tribute to the members
of the Zimbabwe team who
wore black arm bands in their opening game to mourn
the death of democracy.
"That was a particularly brave
gesture, given the current
climate," said the spokesman.
England and Wales Cricket Board chief Tim Lamb said there were
"no winners in
this situation".
But Zimbabwe claims England's players would
have been safe. "The
Namibians had a good three days here. They were safe and
secure and the
match was played in very good spirits," said Zimbabwe Cricket
Union chairman
Peter Chingoka.
The Guardian
France forces fudge on Mugabe sanctions
Ian Black in
Brussels and Michael White
Thursday February 13, 2003
The
Guardian
European Union governments last night renewed a travel ban on
Robert Mugabe
and his top officials but gave the green light to the
Zimbabwean leader to
attend a summit in Paris.
Ambassadors meeting in
Brussels ended weeks of disarray by agreeing that the
"smart" sanctions
imposed on Harare's senior leadership would be extended
for a
year.
The deal was condemned as "a kick in the teeth for the suffering
people of
Zimbabwe" by the shadow foreign secretary, Michael Ancram, and by
Labour MPs
and MEPs.
"The messages to Zimbabwe have to be very clear
and this is a very muddy
deal," said Ann Clwyd MP. Glenys Kinnock MEP, who
will today launch a plan
to stop Zimbabwe sliding further into chaos,
condemned the regime's
"violence, intimidation and torture".
Yet the
EU's decision came a day after Nigeria and South Africa urged an end
to
Commonwealth sanctions against Zimbabwe, claiming progress has been
made
towards restoring democratic standards.
The envoys failed to
decide whether to postpone a planned EU-Africa summit
in Lisbon, scheduled
for April, after threats from Britain and others that
it would be boycotted
if the Zimbabwean president attended.
Diplomats said a final decision
will be made tomorrow. But the row is likely
to deepen tensions over EU
foreign policy, which is already strained by
disarray over Iraq.
It
took four meetings in as many weeks for the union to get its act together
in
the face of insistence by President Jacques Chirac that Mr Mugabe attend
a
Franco-African summit next week.
France had made clear it would not
support the extension of the measures if
it was prevented from holding its
summit. This led to a row between Britain
and France, with Mr Chirac telling
an angry Tony Blair that engagement was
more effective than
sanctions.
The measures ban travel to Europe by top Zimbabweans, as well
as freezing
their assets and maintaining an embargo on weapons that might be
used for
internal repression.
The ambassadors of Britain and several
other countries insisted on
registering their objections to the temporary
French "opt-out". This will
enable Mr Mugabe to visit Paris - a development
seen as making a mockery of
the sanctions regime and the EU's claim to have a
common foreign policy.
As he left for a trip to China last night to
discuss North Korea, Mr Ancram
called the deal proof of "double standards
adopted about human rights in
Zimbabwe by the EU. It is a cynical stitch-up
which the British government
should have resisted from the start and made
clear we would have no part
in".
Future exceptions to sanctions, such
as attendance at international
conferences, will have to be approved by
majority vote.
The move follows the protracted wrangling involving
England's cricketers and
the International Cricket Council over their first
World Cup match in
Harare.
Zimbabwean opposition groups have protested
that any avenue granted to
Mugabe to attend international meetings at which
he is treated as a
statesman is "an affront to the feelings of the people of
Zimbabwe".
The EU imposed the measures last year, accusing Mr Mugabe of
rigging
elections, fomenting violence against political opponents and
trampling over
human rights.
The decision quickly came under fire.
"The EU is being pathetic and sending
entirely the wrong message both to
Mugabe and the suffering millions in
Zimbabwe," said the Tory MEP Geoffrey
Van Orden.
"What we now have is sanc tions à la carte, with an exemption
for Mugabe."
Mrs Kinnock said:"Now is the time to start taking a serious
look at how we
strengthen sanctions and do the opposite of what African
leaders are
contemplating."
12 February, 2003
MDC STATEMENT ON GENERAL OBASANJO’S CALL TO LEGITMIZE
THE ILLEGITIMATE MUGABE REGIME.
The statement of unconditional support for the illegitimate
Mugabe regime by President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria with the concurrence of
Thabo Mbeki of South Africa confirms the dishonesty and duplicity, on their
part, that has been apparent since the fraudulent March 2002 presidential
poll.
The two have always maintained a dubious and dishonourable
agenda to subvert the mandate of the Commonwealth troika, with the ultimate aim
of covering up the crimes against humanity that the Mugabe regime perpetrates
daily on the people of Zimbabwe.
Obasanjo alleges that the ball is in the camp of the MDC to
break the impasse and that therefore the party should withdraw its election
petition in order for Mugabe to come back to negotiating table. We state
categorically that the MDC has no intention whatsoever to withdraw the petition.
To do so will be tantamount to legitimising Mugabe, which we will never do. That
is certainly not on the MDC agenda.
The international community must be reminded of the dishonest
fact that even though the Nigerian and South African observer missions had
legitimised, with subsequent validation of the nakedly fraudulent and violent
poll by the respective governments, Obasanjo and Mbeki proceeded to accept the
responsibility to serve in the troika.
The mandate of the troika represented a total repudiation of
the positions of the Nigerian and South African governments vis-à-vis the crisis
of governance in Zimbabwe. The inescapable conclusion, therefore, is that
Obasanjo and Mbeki have been partners in a huge confidence trick designed to
beguile or fool the international community as regards their real and nefarious
intentions.
Their overall stratagem all along has been to infiltrate and
subvert the Commonwealth effort in a diabolical endeavour to create an escape
route for Mugabe to avoid international censure. Tragically, this act of
disreputable leadership solidarity can only serve to exacerbate the already
dangerously high levels of crisis and polarization in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe was suspended on the basis of its failure to hold a
free and fair election. The Mugabe regime remains illegitimate, the rule of law
continues to be subverted, human rights are constantly violated, the electoral
process remains flawed, state sponsored violence constitutes a central pillar of
illegitimate rule.
All democratic space remains closed in Zimbabwe. This has
manifested itself in the torture of MDC leadership and legislators by the
regime’s security services and the blanket ban of all MDC meetings and political
activities.
The significance of the Commonwealth troika to suspend Zimbabwe
from all councils of the Commonwealth is in that Mugabe is considered to be
illegitimate. The conditions of the suspension were that Zimbabwe was to address
these problems and the review was to follow after 12 months. None of these
Commonwealth issues have been addressed.
Instead the regime’s official position has been to reject the
Commonwealth Observer mission’s election report, reject the suspension and also
to ban the Commonwealth Secretary General from entering Zimbabwe. One of the
conditions was that the regime would open negotiations with the Secretary
General in pursuance of the resolution of the crisis. This has also not been
done. It is therefore dishonest for Obasanjo and Mbeki to allege that the
concerns of the Commonwealth haven addressed.
Whatever positions the two presidents may have taken it is
essential to remind the progressive world that the crisis in Zimbabwe remains
unresolved. Mbeki and Obasanjo on their part have clearly decided to abdicate
their responsibility leaving the people of Z Zimbabwe exposed to mortal
danger.
Sadly, President Obasanjo seems to have also swallowed hook,
line and sinker the Zanu PF propaganda that the land reform exercise has been a
big success. It is an insult to the people of Zimbabwe to suggest it has been a
success when they are actually starving as a result of the chaotic land
policy.
It must also be remembered that the suspension was not based on
Zimbabwe’s land policy but as a result of its failure to hold free and fair
elections.
The decision by the leaders of South Africa and Nigeria that
the troika should not meet in the hope the suspension will lapse after if the
troika does not meet to review after the 12 months. It is our view that even if
they do not meet Zimbabwe remains suspended until the troika meets to unsuspend
Zimbabwe.
Paul Themba Nyathi
MDC Secretary for Information and
Publicity.
WOMEN OF ZIMBABWE ARISE (WOZA) Press Release
February 13 2002 Woza
Valentines Day Walk
Women of Zimbabwe Arise will go ahead with its
Valentine's Day noon walk
against violence despite the withdrawal of
clearance by police.
On Monday, police in Bulawayo had cleared the walk
but revoked this the
following day after Harare had indicated their refusal.
Bulawayo Central
District Superintendent cited 'other events that are lined
up during that
period' in their about turn.
In Harare Police declined
permission using the excuse 'Cricket World Cup
duties' and the 'Security
situation does not allow any marches or gatherings
in Harare Central Business
District'. Cricket scheduled for Thursday, the
day before the walk was
cancelled as England decided to boycott the match.
"During consultative
meetings held on Wednesday, women in both Harare and
Bulawayo resolved to go
ahead with the Valentine's Day parade. We disagree
with the decision of the
authorities as it is in contravention of our
constitutionally protected
rights to freedom of expression and freedom of
association. As Women we must
object to the violence prevalent in our lives
and lobby for a return to a
spirit of love and peace," a spokesperson for
WOZA said.
The
spokesperson said while going ahead with the walk, women would take heed
of
concerns raised by police when they refused to allow the
peaceful
procession.
"No men will be allowed to take part in the
walk. This time round, the
women will leave their pots and cooking sticks at
home. Instead of wearing
black, we will wear white to show that we are
walking in peace. We will also
have marshals positioned for the safety of
participants," said the
spokesperson.
WOZA has written to United
Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to inform
him of his selection as their
Valentine for 2003. They will deliver a letter
to the UN representative in
Harare on the day.
Solidarity messages continue to pour in and one
received for the women came
from Cricketer Henry Olonga, who said, "Keep the
faith and keep believing
that God can bring change to this
nation."
The noon walk is meant to spread WOZA' s Valentine's Day
message:
"Zimbabweans: learn to love again! Say no to hate and violence in
all its
forms and yes to love. Love us, respect us an allow us to be women.
Love
us today and everyday."
ENDS
For more information, please
email wozazimbabwe@yahoo.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------
Editors
note: please appreciate that the conveners in Bulawayo and Harare
must
respond with caution to any questions so as to secure their defence
position
if arrested. The January Political Violence report is available
from the
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum apply
to
[zimelectionchallenges@yahoo.com]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------
Letter
from the Zimbabwe Republic Police Harare Central DHQ
10th February
2003
Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)
HARARE
Attention: Sheba Phiri -
Jenni Williams
Re: WOMEN OF ZIMBABWE ARISE (WOZA) WALK AGAINST ALL FORMS OF
VIOLENCE ON ST
VALENTINES DAY - 14TH FEBRUARY 2003
1. We acknowledge
receipt of your letter dated 06 February 2003 in the above
connection.
2.
Authority has not been granted in terms of Section 25 (2) of the Public
Order
and Security Act Chapter 11:17 subject to the following:
a) We appreciate the
move, however the security situation does not allow any
marches or gatherings
in Harare Central Business District as this may
occasion public disorder and
infringe the rights of members of the public
not involved in the march.
b)
The march will interfere with the smooth flow of traffic that is both
human
and vehicles as other groups, that is political parties; street kids
and
criminals may hijack the march.
c) The Police is (sic) engaged in the Cricket
World Cup duties and will not
be able to cover this event.
d) The Police
will monitor to ensure that the above conditions are complied
with.
Signed
by (D Kupara)
Chief Superintendent Officer Commanding Police
Harare
Central District
Date stamped and delivered 12th February 2003 (Hard copy of
the letter
available upon request).