The Age, Australia
February
20, 2006 - 11:34AM
President Robert Mugabe has charged that the
International Monetary Fund
(IMF) had turned into a "political monster",
used by former colonial power
Britain to accomplish a regime change in
Zimbabwe.
Mugabe, who spoke in a 90-minute interview on state television
two days
ahead of his 82nd birthday, said his government had seen through
Britain's
scheme and cleared its major debt arrears to the IMF.
"The
IMF is an international organisation but the British wanted to use the
fact
of our owing the IMF to bring about the change of the regime here,
squeeze
us economically, so politically," Mugabe said.
"It's only in regard to
Zimbabwe that the IMF became this political monster.
The IMF now must turn
into a political instrument that can bring about
transformation that they
(the British) are after."
Zimbabwe last week averted possible expulsion
from the Fund by clearing its
major debt arrears.
The IMF however
made no reference to Zimbabwe's hopes of fresh loans
although a mission that
visited Harare last month said the institution was
ready to help if Mugabe's
government implemented comprehensive reforms.
The southern African
country is battling a deepening economic crisis which
critics blame on
Mugabe and which has driven inflation to the highest level
in the world,
according to IMF data.
Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980, said
Zimbabwe has used its
resources to settle the IMF arrears although it had an
option to source the
money from outside.
Zimbabwe was last year
reported to be in talks with big neighbour South
Africa over a loan to help
clear the IMF debt and secure agriculture inputs.
The talks were never
concluded.
"We also realised that they wanted to use our neighbours,
that's why we
decided to pay the money ... we didn't go out to ask for it,
we could have
done that," Mugabe said.
He added that Zimbabwe would
soon clear the remaining debt to get the IMF
off its back.
A six-year
recession marked by shortages of foreign currency, fuel, food and
an
unemployment rate of over 70 per cent has impoverished many
Zimbabweans.
Mugabe, who denies mismanaging the economy, said his
government would print
money to shore up the economy, echoing sentiments by
central bank governor
Gideon Gono who said the bank had printed money to buy
foreign currency to
pay the IMF.
© 2006 AAP
Reuters
Sun Feb 19, 2006 11:24 PM GMT
By Cris Chinaka
HARARE (Reuters) -
President Robert Mugabe on Sunday branded African leaders
cowards for not
standing up to Western powers over Zimbabwe, and said
outsiders must not
interfere as there was no crisis requiring intervention.
Critics accuse
Mugabe, who turns 82 on Tuesday, of plunging the southern
African state
which he has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980
into a severe
political and economic crisis in the last six years with a
raft of
controversial policies.
In a 90-minute interview with Zimbabwe state
television to mark his
birthday, Mugabe portrayed himself as a brave and
principled African
nationalist and his opponents as either imperialists or
political stooges.
Mugabe said his government would print money to help
it ride over its
economic problems -- including food, fuel and foreign
currency shortages and
the world's highest inflation rate, which he blames
on Western sanctions and
intermittent droughts.
Mugabe, who last week
suggested he was ready to repair strained relations
with Britain which he
regularly accuses of seeking to recolonise Zimbabwe,
again said his
country's major problems were largely caused by London.
"Our erstwhile
former colonisers still wants to govern us by remote
control," he said
repeating charges denied by Britain that it is sponsoring
Zimbabwe's main
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Asked whether he felt
lonely in his fight against Western critics and
whether countries and
organisations which have tried to intervene in
Zimbabwe's crisis were
justified, Mugabe said:
"I don't feel lonely. There are others who think
as I do, whose ideals I
share. But what one notices is lack of courage... a
kind of surrender to
European authority, I suppose it's because of
poverty."
Mugabe said although African states had declared Zimbabwe's
disputed
elections in the last five years legitimate, they had generally
shied away
from taking on Western powers, including Britain and the United
States who
maintain the polls were rigged.
"None of them will stand
up and say to them 'go to hell'.
"We shrink in asserting our rights. We
need much more courage in the African
Union," he said.
The veteran
African leader said Zimbabwe had a democratic system but his
Western
opponents wanted a "puppet" opposition MDC in power.
In what appeared
like an direct message to African countries, including
South Africa, which
has been quietly trying to broker a political settlement
between the MDC and
his ZANU-PF party, Mugabe said there was no room for any
foreign
intervention in Zimbabwe's affairs.
"As for outsiders they should keep
away," he said.
"We have entertained them because we did not want to
offend, some of them
are our friends but really there have nothing to
intervene here about,
nothing at all. We have a democratic environment, a
democratic
constitution," Mugabe said, raising the tempo of his
voice.
Mugabe said Zimbabwe's economic crisis required unorthodox
solutions,
including printing money despite galloping inflation, which the
International Monetary Fund says at 613 percent is the highest in the
world.
"Those who say printing money will cause inflation are suggesting
that you
just fold your hands and say 'aah, let the situation continue and
let the
people starve.'
"The Good Lord up there has given you a brain
and the brain must function,
not in a stereotyped manner but in a flexible
manner ... so I will print
money today so that people can survive," he
added.
Zim Daily
Monday, February 20 2006 @ 12:05 AM GMT
Contributed by: correspondent
In a clear case of increasing
desperation, President Robert
Mugabe yesterday pleaded with British premier
Tony Blair to open up vistas
of cooperation with his crisis torn country.
This is the second time in a
week that Mugabe has extended an olive branch
to the British premier to mend
their relations that went frosty in 1999
following Mugabe's widely condemned
land reform
programme.
Speaking in an interview broadcast on national
television
yesterday, Mugabe said he was willing to repair relations with
his British
counterpart. "Tony Blair must talk to us," Mugabe pleaded. "But
each time he
sees me, uyo otiza (he runs away)." He said he was fed up with
the frosty
relations with Blair. Just last week, Mugabe urged the new UK
ambassador to
help repair relations between the countries. The relationship
has been
frosty since 2000, when London criticised poll fraud and human
rights
violations.
Since then, Mugabe has never missed an
opportunity to criticise
Prime Minister Tony Blair and his government. But
now, Mugabe has adopted a
conciliatory tone, telling the new ambassador that
he wants help in building
what he called "formidable bridges". In the
interview yesterday, Mugabe
admitted that sanctions were hurting the economy
badly. "We need to
normalise our relations," Mugabe said. He said South
African president Thabo
Mbeki had told him that Blair had admitted that he
was wrong on Zimbabwe.
"Both Blair and Bush are telling lies," Mugabe said.
"To them lying does not
touch their minds. To us if you lie like that about
a country it must hurt
your heart. But we are saying lets work towards
normalising our relations.
The current state of affairs is
unsustainable."
Resorting to the now familiar denunciations,
Mugabe said: "As
long a my people say I am right that is what I listen to,"
he said. "Those
who say I am wrong, I am a dictator, if you look at them,
Britain, America,
they never supported us from day one of independence and
during the
struggle." Mugabe said he was willing to cooperate with Blair as
long as he
was open to him. Mugabe said the European Union sanctions on
Zimbabwe were
also hurting Britain, because most foreign firms in Zimbabwe
were
British-owned.
Mugabe turns 82 next week, and has
been in power since
independence in 1980. His critics blame him for ruining
Zimbabwe's economy
with his controversial land reform programme. Food, fuel
and foreign
currency are all in desperately short supply, and last month
inflation
topped 600%. But Mugabe openly declared that he was not willing to
relinquish power anytime soon, warning "overambitious" officials in his
ruling Zanu PF party to stop holding clandstine meetings to discuss his
succession. "When the moment comes they will be able to do it (campaign),"
he said. "There are people vying for power. They must not become divisive
and overambitious, holding secret meetings and denouncing others. I want to
believe there are cadres who can lead but they are still developing," Mugabe
said. Mugabe last week told a press briefing that he was willing to serve a
sixth term if his ruling Zanu PF party asked him to.
Zim Daily
Monday, February 20 2006 @ 12:04 AM GMT
Contributed by: correspondent
By IOL/Zimdaily
Three weeks ago, a soldier presented himself at the Zimbabwe
Human Rights
Association (Zimrights) office in Harare, asking to meet with
its head,
Arnold Tsunga. When told he was not in the office, the soldier
explained
that a hit squad of the Military Intelligence Corps was monitoring
Tsunga's
movements and had received an order to kill him. The soldier
claimed that he
had come to warn Tsunga of the danger. But the Southern
Africa Litigation
Centre (SALC) believes the soldier himself was sent to
kill Tsunga. The
latest human rights body to come under siege by President
Robert Mugabe's
regime is the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), of
which Tsunga is
also head and which was blacklisted in December at the
ruling party Zanu-PF
congress.
The SALC has begun distributing an alert urging
concerned
individuals and organisations to write protest letters to the
Zimbabwe
government urging it to desist from its harassment of the ZLHR.It
also urges
similar protests to be sent to Foreign Minister Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma
urging South Africa to intervene and ask for the protection of
human rights
defenders in Zimbabwe. The SALC chronicles a number of
incidents in which
the ZLHR has come
under attack from the
Zimbabwe government.
The ZLHR was behind the representations
which resulted in a
December resolution condemning human rights abuses in
Zimbabwe by the
African Commission on Human and People's Rights. This has
infuriated the
Zimbabwe government. SALC director, Nicole Fritz, said there
was growing
fear that with a weakened political opposition and an
effectively silenced
media, the Zimbabwean government now viewed its most
vocal, dangerous
critics as
individuals and groups such as
the ZLHR and Tsunga. "It is
especially worrying that human rights lawyers
are being targeted, as they
are now often the last and only protection
available to human rights
defenders," said Fritz.
Tsunga
has received numerous death threats while the ZLHR
offices have been placed
under military surveillance. Its lawyers are
arrested and threatened with
arrest for defending human rights activists,
according to the SALC. The ZLHR
has long been recognised and acclaimed
internationally for its courageous
opposition to the Zimbabwean government's
repressive measures. Of late, the
ZLHR has sought to challenge the state's
unlawful evictions campaign and its
increasing clamp-down on media freedom
and civil society
organisations.
The SALC said events over recent weeks
suggested that the ZLHR
faced even greater, more extensive threat. Irene
Petras, programmes
co-ordinator of the ZLHR, said fewer Zimbabwean lawyers
were willing to take
up the cases of human rights defenders for fear of
state harassment. "Given
this shortage, the ZLHR must take on an increasing
number of these cases and
so is increasingly the target of the state's
attentions," she said. The SALC
said Tsunga appeared to be at particularly
grave risk. A few weeks ago, in
the early hours of 21 January 2006, two
police officers and one soldier
forcibly entered Tsunga's home. Not finding
Tsunga at home, the officers
took his housekeepers to the police station.
The police would not release
the workers until Tsunga presented himself for
questioning and arrest - an
increasingly common feature of the Zimbabwe
policing system, known as ransom
arrests.
While in
custody for four days, the three workers were severely
beaten and one
suffered a perforated eardrum as a result, the SALC said.
When Tsunga
reported to the police station, he and five others were
charged
with operating a broadcasting service in Zimbabwe
illegally, a charge the
SALC dismissed as spurious. Soon thereafter, on 26
January 2006, a soldier
presented himself at the Zimrights office, asking to
meet with Tsunga.
Tsunga was not in the office. The SALC said the soldier
explained that a hit
squad of the Military Intelligence Corps was monitoring
Tsunga's movements
and had received an order to kill him. The soldier
claimed that he had come
to see Tsunga to warn him of the danger. It is
possible that this soldier
intended to kill Tsunga, according to the SALC.
ZLHR lawyer,
Tafadzwa Mugabe, representing Tsunga and the other
five
trustees charged, found himself threatened with arrest for
obstructing the
course of justice. On Wednesday he was arrested and detained
in Harare for
coming to the assistance of his clients, 192 women and five
infants arrested
for participating in the annual Valentine's Day march
organised by Women of
Zimbabwe Arise. A further 181 were arrested in
Bulawayo.
Zim Daily
Monday, February 20 2006 @ 12:03 AM
GMT
Contributed by: correspondent
Self-exiled
tycoon Mutumwa Mawere, whose vast business
interests, held mainly under SMM
Holdings, were expropriated by the state in
controversial circumstances, has
turned the heat on his tormentors and last
week wrote the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) over the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe's murky role in the
takeover plot. Mawere caused no little bother
in Harare when he wrote the
IMF last year claiming that part of the surprise
US$120 million payment
Zimbabwe made to the IMF was taken from earnings made
by his expropriated
firms.
This week Parmanathan Muriemuthu, a director at SMMH,
wrote to
the IMF and appended various documents chronicling key events and
providing
detailed information on how the state, through its appointed
administrator
at SMM, Afaras Gwaradzimba, had wrongly taken over Mawere's
businesses under
the guise that they were indebted to the state. "I am
bringing this matter
to you and your colleagues in the hope that you can
situate the state of the
rule of law in Zimbabwe and the disrespect of
property rights that now seems
to characterise the government of Zimbabwe's
actions. I have brought this
matter to the attention of President Robert
Mugabe in the hope that he was
not involved in this corruption to no
avail.
"I trust that this correspondence will go a long way
to
confirming our position that the funds used to pay your organisation are
directly connected to the actions of the RBZ governor," Mariemuthu wrote in
a letter dated February 13 2006 and addressed to IMF managing director
Rodrigo de Rato. Mariemuthu also reveals that Mawere will soon visit
Washington DC to meet with some IMF directors. Zimbabwe, whose position in
the IMF is due for review after the Fund began motions for its compulsory
expulsion over a year ago, can scarecely ignore Mawere's latest
move.
Although authorities in Harare scoffed at the
businessman's
initial contact with the IMF over the source of funds paid to
reduce
Zimbabwe's arrears, the issue has refused to go away and formed the
basis of
much of the discussions when a staff delegation from the IMF
visited the
country last month. The IMF, which has long criticised
Zimbabwe's disregard
for property rights following the violent seizures of
farms belonging to
whites since 2000, is also likely to take interest in how
the government
took over Mawere's vast assets in the
country.
Meanwhile, government institutions, which provided
the state
with the pretext under which it took over Mawere's firms, have
failed to
prove that the loans extended to the firms were delinquent,
necessitating
the precipitous action taken to 'reconstruct' the firms. This
coincides with
the demand, by the civil division in the attorney general's
office, that the
government proves how Mawere's firms ended up being
indebted to the state.
ZESA Holdings executive chairman, Sydney Gata, when
prodded to reveal how
the power utility got to be owed about $8.24 billion
(7 percent of total
alleged debt) and if there was any correspondence
between ZESA and SMM to
that effect, stated categorically that "no
correspondence was exchanged
between ZESA and SMM with regards to
outstanding bills between June 2005 to
date as SMM timously honoured its
bill payments."
Gata also stated that in any case, ZESA would
disconnect
defaulting customers, although big organisations, such as SMM,
enjoyed the
benefit of negotiations on how to expunge the debt. "The
Electricity Acts do
not expressly provide for the state to collect debts on
behalf of ZESA
Holdings and its subsidiaries which are bodies corporate
empowered to
perform all acts that bodies corporate may by law perform,"
Gata said,
blowing the state's claim, that it was recovering funds from SMM
on behalf
of ZESA and other quasi-state bodies, out of the
water.
Addressing the same questions on behalf of the Reserve
Bank of
Zimbabwe, the central bank's legal counsel Fortune Chasi reveals
that SMM
got a total of $66 billion in Productive Sector Facility funding,
but was
availed a total of almost $1 trillion up to the end of January 2006.
"Subsequent disbursements have since been made on a regular basis in line
with instructions from the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe received
through the Financial Intelligence Inspectorate and Evaluation and Security
Division, bringing the total principal disbursements to the company as at 26
January 2006 to $976 329 350 878.33 as per the attached schedule," Chasi
wrote. A close look at the schedule of PSF disbursements to SMM, with dates
ranging from 29 January 2004 and 14 October 2004, shows that only $20
billion was due when the government took its drastic action on SMM.
New Zimbabwe
By Staff
Reporter
Last updated: 02/20/2006 11:24:17
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe
appeared to rule out hand picking his successor
Sunday, instead suggesting
that the matter should be put to vote within his
ruling Zanu PF
party.
Mugabe was speaking in a pre-recorded interview to mark his 82nd
birthday
broadcast on Zimbabwe's state television Sunday night. He is 82 on
Tuesday.
The Zimbabwean leader who married his secretary, Grace, and has
three
children has recently stated that he wants to retire to write his
memoirs
and read books.
"I think when the moment has come they will
be able to do it (elect a new
leader). You will always get this vying for
power. They should go about it
the right way," said Mugabe, Zimbabwe's sole
ruler since independence from
Britain in 1980.
He added: "There is
time to campaign, but campaign at the right time and not
become divisive and
over-ambitious, with secret meetings taking place and
denouncing and
denigrating others and so on.
"Sure, we will always rely on the
leadership that is elected at congress and
not from clandestine meetings -
they will never win, never."
Mugabe said he was keen to protect his
legacy, and hoped that leaders could
come from within his Zanu PF party to
enforce his policies.
"Yes, I want to believe there are enough cadres,
some are still developing.
I am sure there will be those in the future who
will be prepared to uphold
our sovereignty and die for the defence or our
country."
Mugabe's term expires in just over 24 months, and his legal
team have been
trying to come up with a smooth exit plan for
Mugabe.
One of the options, according to Justice Minister Patrick
Chinamasa, would
be to postpone the presidential elections from 2008 to
2010, and have a
President elected by parliament in the two
years.
The other alternative would be to bring forward the parliamentary
elections
from 2010 to 2008 so that they are held concurrently with the
presidential
elections.
Alternatively, said Chinamasa, the
harmonisation of presidential and
parliamentary elections could be done in
2015, meaning that the President
elected in 2008 will serve for seven
years.
New Zimbabwe
By
Kuthula Matshazi
Last updated: 02/20/2006 06:44:03
THERE has been some
tendency to deny or trivialise the marginalisation of
the people in
Matabeleland when the issue is discussed.
Carefully crafted ideological
arguments have been deployed to shoot down the
plight of a people who are
suffering in their home country. Some have said
that it is not the
Matabeleland people only who are suffering this
marginalisation; other
provinces and districts are marginalised too.
Sure, but they have the
right to speak out about their own circumstances and
get recourse. It should
not be wrong for the Matabeleland people to express
their marginalisation
just because they are supposedly not the only people
in the
predicament.
Dr. Alex Magaisa writes in this forum questioning the
reality of
marginalisation in Matabeleland. He seems to believe that we, as
Matabeleland people do not clearly understand the extent of our
marginalisation problem because our deep emotional involvement blurs
it.
In defending his position, he first wants to problematise the
socially
constructed concept of Ndebele and Shona implying that it is not
clear-cut
on how we can define or distinguish the two groups. But we have
our commonly
agreed to cultural codes of representations within a social
context that
give us common language to define what becomes Shona or
Ndebele. But to
undercut this argument, Magaisa would suggest that what if
an individual,
with his rights chooses not to be bound by these codes of
representations?
Granted, but the individual gets his rights from and also
practices them in
a group. So if they cannot subscribe to these codes then
they might as well
exercise their rights outside of the group because they
would infringe upon
the rights of other individuals who subscribe to the
group notion.
This long philosophical point is made in an attempt to
disarm the group, in
this case the Ndebeles from claiming their identity as
a group, but as
disparate individuals who are in a competitive market place
where
socio-economic chances are not rewarded as a group but individuals.
That
could be true, but in the case of Matabeleland it is not
true.
In Matabeleland the social, political and economical institutions
deny
rewards to a disproportionate number of individuals. On the contrary,
these
institutions have disproportionately favoured many people from outside
of
the region. For instance, right from public service workers and private
sector employment, tertiary education to ownership of businesses there is a
disproportionate representation of people from outside Matabeleland
province. Magaisa doubts this and calls for research. Others simply dismiss
it as politics or tribalism. It is still strange that there are some people
who still deny the fact despite so many studies carried out by various
Matabeleland groups on the wide extent of the problem. This trend has also
been widely communicated to the central government and other stakeholders
and yet we still get people who still deny the extent of the
problem.
Just to illustrate the extent of the problem. Shona has become a
language
for business transaction in Matabeleland even among our old parents
who do
not understand it. People who indicate that they cannot speak Ndebele
man
most offices. This scenario does not exist in Mashonaland. Let's for
once
suspend our bias and ask ourselves why such a skewed pattern exist? Of
course, Ndebeles are said to be only about a fifth relative to the rest of
Zimbabwe but why is it that in proportion terms they are underrepresented in
decision making positions, tertiary education and business ownership in
their home province - except only in unemployment and poverty?
When I
accompanied my mother to Bulawayo's 8th Avenue Jewel Bank in November
to
sort out her bank account, we were made to speak in Shona. When I told
the
particular manager that my mother could not speak Shona, he changed to a
mixture of English and Shona! This is not to undercut the importance of us
to be able to speak both Shona and Ndebele since they are the national
languages but it is a problem when one assumes more importance than the
other. Unwittingly, it has drawn consciousness to a policy that is being
practiced.
It is also a problem when people from other regions are
brought in to
disproportionately take away employment, education and
business ownership
and/or opportunities. As a result many of our sons and
daughters fail to
have opportunities within their province. These
opportunities are almost
non-existent for them in other provinces. Should
the people of Matabeleland
keep quite so that we project a country at peace
with its citizens?
It is futile to theorise or try to ignore the reality.
Yes, we could keep
quite, as we have continued over the years but abantu
bayakhala madoda! And
that is why we shall always see the current trend
where the people of
Matabeleland do not want to identify themselves with
Zimbabwe. Without
seeming to promote secessionism - what is in for them? The
issue of
marginalisation would persist unresolved as long as Zimbabweans
deny its
existent or extent and instead choose to bury it.
Matshazi
-- a recipient of the Millennium Excellence Awards Scholarship for
academic
excellence and effective leadership -- is a journalist currently
studying
Communication and International Development Studies at York
University,
Toronto. Feedback: kuthulamatshazi@yahoo.co.uk
One of our supporters, Tsungi,
has just lost her mother and this sad news
rather overshadowed our day. She
was the seventh of her family to die in
the present crisis. We may be far
away but the reality of Zimbabwe is
always with us. How many more must die
before the situation is resolved?
Our petition signed by passers-by calls on
the UN Security Council to
intervene.
We were pleased to have the
Reverend Dr. Martine Stemerick with us. She was
grieving the death of Sheba
Dube Phiri of Bulawayo who worked tirelessly for
orphans and widows in
Zimbabwe. Martine had worked very closely with her.
Sheba died very
suddenly of what Martine believes was exhaustion. Martine
came at noon to
support a special demonstration for WOZA and stayed on for
the Vigil. We
are always behind WOZA and it was good to see some old
friends from the
early days of the Vigil.
But best of all was to have four ladies from
Liverpool. That's a long way
away: the bus must take three or four hours in
each direction. So here's to
the Zimbabwe Beatles: Sarah, Chiecko, Fungai
and Palma - always something
good out of Liverpool. And also out of
Tunbridge Wells from where Francesca
and her group brought a new supply of
wristbands "Make Mugabe History".
They reported back on their church service
for Zimbabwe last week which
attracted a bumper congregation.
For the
first Saturday in ages we had rain but our green tarpaulin kept us
dry. It
was quite a sight - so many people huddled together and singing to
the sound
of drums.
FOR THE RECORD: 77 attended the Vigil today.
FOR YOUR
DIARY: Monday, 20th February, 7.30 pm, Zimbabwe Forum, Upstairs at
the
Theodore Bullfrog pub, 28 John Adam Street, London WC2 (cross the Strand
from the Zimbabwe Embassy, go down a passageway to John Adam Street, turn
right and you will see the pub). This week's Forum will discuss the Court
of Appeal Hearing scheduled for 6th - 8th March. This appeal will give a
ruling which is important to all current Zimbabwean asylum seekers. The
Refugee Council has suggested a demo outside the court to show support for
the Zimbabwean appellants and publicise the plight of Zimbabwean asylum
seekers. This will be followed by brainstorming on long term planning for
the Forum: speakers, topics etc.
Vigil co-ordinator
The Vigil,
outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place
every Saturday
from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of
human rights by
the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in
October 2002 will
continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair
elections are held
in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk
This Day, Nigeria
From Yinka
Kolawole in Ilorin, 02.19.2006
Harvest of grains commenced over the
weekend at the Zimbabwean pionered
commercial farms in Shonga, Edu Local
Government Area of Kwara State with
the harvest of 80,000 bags of 50 Kg
maize.
Speaking to newsmen that were conducted round the farm site by the
Special
Assistant to the Governor on Media and Communication, Alhaji
Abdulraheem
Nurudeen Imaam, the senior commercial farmer Mr, Dian Swart said
as the
grains are ready for the market, the farmers are warming up to start
another
planting which is expected to yield 500,000 bags of maize this
year.
Swart stressed that over 8 tons of Soya Beans have also been
harvested,
adding that higher tonnage is expected in the coming planting
season.
He emphassied that maize would be stored and released to the market
at an
appropriate time, adding that commercial farmer are looking at selling
it
between N45,000-N50,000 per ton.
Speaking further on other areas like
vegetable, the commercial farmer noted
that 3 hectres of tomatoes was
planted and each is expected to yield 70
tonnes.
Meanwhile, ThisDay
checks at the farm revealed that most of the harvesting
were done mainly by
the local people and supported by commercial farmers'
staff.
Official of
the Oyo State government sighted at the farm site, Mr Remi
Olajide who
claimed to be Special Adiver to Oyo State government on projects
said the
state is fully ready to tap from Bukola's farming experience.
He pointed
out that the experience was very encouraging and advised that
it should be
taken over by all levels of government.
Mr Olajide stressed that the
government of Oyo State would soon
commence her own commercial farming
saying that the Kwara commercial farming
has recorded a huge
success.
New Zimbabwe
By Dr Alex Magaisa
Last updated: 02/20/2006 06:43:59
THE
news of Professor Arthur G O Mutambara's return to take an active
leadership
role in the MDC and on the Zimbabwe political landscape generally
has
generated a lot of interest and speculation in various circles.
That is
hardly surprising given the profile of the man and his history in
the
critical and opposition movement in Zimbabwe. Mutambara already has a
place
in the history of post-independent Zimbabwe - having participated as
President of the University of Zimbabwe Students' Union at the germination
stage of the opposition movement in the late 1980s.
Alongside cadres
at the university and the likes of Tsvangirai at the ZCTU,
Mutambara led the
initial critical challenges against the regime at a time
when Zanu PF was
intent on establishing a one-party state. But then
Mutambara seemed to have
disappeared from the political scene, having gone
on to pursue higher
education in which he has emerged with sound
achievements and impeccable
credentials.
It was in recognition of his academic prowess and potential
as a future
leader that he earned the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship to
study at Oxford
University. In that respect he is in rarified company as
many world leaders
past and present have followed a similar route. Here is a
man who had been
exceptional in and out of the lecture room, so he pursued
the academic dream
and in the process, has earned key skills beyond the
laboratory which can
now be fully deployed for Zimbabwe's cause.
More
significantly, Mutambara's entry brings a new, welcome impetus in the
opposition movement and governance of the country in general. For months now
the opposition movement has appeared to lose force and focus. They appeared
to get tired and die of thirst as the palm trees appeared on the horizon.
The movement has needed fresh impetus; something of a renewal in order to
pursue the much-needed change. People appeared to be disillusioned by the
repeated failures to achieve political power and consequent squabbling in
the opposition party. They were withdrawing into their shells, away from
politics.
The interest generated by news of Mutambara's entry
suggests that there is a
good chance people who were otherwise turning away
could be brought back
into the fold. There was a tendency, which is
evidenced by some critical
voices against Mutambara, to denigrate new
players in the party, to call
them disparagingly as Mafikizolo, regardless
of the fresh ideas and impetus
they could give to the party. The
incorporation of Mutambara shows a certain
level of maturity and tact that a
few months ago may have been missing. Now
people in and out of the country
with an interest t play leading roles, can
look with confidence at the
avenues that are available. Mutambara's entry
pens that route, which can
only be good for Zimbabwe seeing the talent that
abounds
everywhere.
But therein lies a big challenge for Mutambara - there are
very high
expectations and in some cases doubt among the people The people
who know
Mutambara and those who have heard of his exploits have grand
expectactions.
The people who are out there are wondering whether he can
speak their
language, whether he can provide the voice. Who is he? He has
been away,
does he understand our problems? These are inevitable questions
he will be
facing in the next few days and weeks. Mutambara has the task of
ensuring
that he strikes a chord with the people. In order to survive in the
desert,
you have to understand the language of the desert. If you fail that
test,
the desert will bury you. Mutambara needs to speak the language of the
people and that requires an understanding of the circumstances of the people
at this stage. But we must trust Mutambara's judgment - and hope that he is
bright enough to do the right thing. We can only hope that when he first
speaks, he does so in a language that people identify with and in a manner
that demonstrates that despite his physical absence he has not forgotten the
language of the suffering in his homeland.
In any event, the view
that he has been outside and therefore incapable of
understanding and
dealing with the political challenges is weak because it
ignores the social,
intellectual and political capital that he has gained
during that time. As
those in the Diaspora may testify, observing and
participating from outside
will have given him a chance to reflect on the
challenges and learn from
others how to deal with the problems. Mutambara
will have networked and
interacted at high levels, all of which will be
immensely helpful to the
country in time to come. Additionally, evidence
suggests that contrary to
the perception among some, Mutambara has been a
key participant in business
and politics in Zimbabwe albeit at levels less
prominent to the common
observer. From time to time he addressed the
Zimbabwean business community
and interacted with the civil society
movement. This may not have exposed
him to the general public over the
years, but it shows that he is well in
touch with the issues in Zimbabwe and
would not have accepted this challenge
if he did not.
The greatest thing is that for this is one of the very few
cases in our
history when someone is prepared to place on the line a
lucrative and
controversy-free career that has been carefully cultivated and
put his
reputation and impeccable credentials on the line. It is evident
that
Mutambara is a learned man and can pursue a rich and rewarding life
without
politics. Mutambara could have joined politics at the height of his
public
profile in the late 80s and early 1990s, when the Zimbabwe Unity
Movement
(ZUM) was in vogue. But Mutambara was no opportunist. Instead he
probably
realized that his time had not yet arrived and that he could make a
better
leader with more experience and having learnt the ways of the world.
He
wanted to chew first, before swallowing. He has had time to chew and
understood the language of the world. He is back and the best Zimbabwe can
do is give the man a chance. At a time when allegations of tribalism are
ripping life out of opposition politics, here is a man whose impeccable
credentials speak louder than his tribal origins or any other
index.
Finally, Mutambara will have known that he joins any opposition
movement
that is severely divided. There are some who will question his
choice of
faction. That is all very well. It seems however that if he can
make
overtures and manage to bring the warring parties together, it may be
for
the good of the country in the long run. He knows Tsvangirai well -
having
worked with him during his time in student politics. He knows others
too,
like Chamisa. It is possible that there is mutual respect between him
and
leading members of both factions, and perhaps admiration. Nothing can
take
away the part played by Tsvangirai, Ncube et al in the current
struggle.
Some have faltered but their place in the history of the movement
remains.
Mutambara will know only too well that each faction has its
sympathisers and
that there is probably more merit in drawing synergies
between the two
rather than ignore the political reality on the ground. If
he can pull it
off, all the better for Zimbabwe. No doubt there are great
challenges -
living up to the high expectations of his supporters and
observers and also
convincing the doubters that he is the real deal. But
whatever the case,
there is enough to show that exciting times lie
ahead.
Dr Magaisa is a lawyer and can be contacted at wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk