Times of India
Family backs courageous Henry
BOBILLI VIJAY
KUMAR
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2003 02:41:03 AM
]
BULAWAYO: Dr John Olonga is a proud man. He sits comfortably in
his
chic clinic and meets patients (unwell children) with the assurance of
a
born leader; there are no indications of discomfiture or any telltale
signs
that his legs have been struck by paralysis.
He
smiles confidently, almost reassuringly, and speaks with a
baritone. Nobody
messes around with him. "It's not good," he says, shaking
his head slowly. "I
am not happy with whatever is happening. It is just not
fair." Dr Olonga is
obviously talking about his second son: fast bowler,
singer and actor Henry
Olonga.
"But we are all proud of what he has done. We
believe he has done the
right thing. Everybody knows what is happening here,
and all the facts. He
hasn't highlighted anything inaccurate. He has just
re-emphasised them and
brought them to the world's notice." He is obviously
talking about Henry's
courageous act of protesting against the government. He
adds, "I guess one
has to pay a price for that. We are ready for the
backlash."
Henry's club, the Takashinga cricket club, has
already expelled him;
he was mysteriously dropped from the playing eleven too
in Zimbabwe's World
Cup match against India earlier this week. The proud
father concedes that he
was initially a little surprised by Henry's protest.
"We were not expecting
it. We didn't know about it. But we are all behind
him. We are really proud
of him."
Dr Olonga looks
wearily when asked about the ultimate sacrifice. "We
don't mind if he has to
leave the country because of all this. If it is
appropriate and the best
thing for him, we are ready for it." He adds that
even Henry is prepared to
give up everything and go away. The fast bowler
plays in Harare while his
parents, his two brothers and two sisters
(including one step sister) live in
Bulawayo. However, the Olongas are
convinced that this is not the end of the
cricket road for their son. "We
have a few plans and a few options for him. I
don't want to discuss them, as
they are more like wishful thinking now." He
reluctantly agrees that they
are all cricket-related.
Henry is just 26 years old and believes he has a lot more to offer
to
Zimbabwe cricket. "It all depends on the developments after the World
Cup,"
the doctor says. "I am sure there will be further developments in the
near
future. We shall see how things go and then plan our next move."
Reports
from England indicate that some counties are interested in
him.
There has been one positive consequence of Henry's
protest though: he
speaks to his father everyday. "He lived most of his life
in boarding
schools. He used to come down for holidays but I would be busy
with my
career. I hardly spent enough time with him." Now, of course, they
talk to
each other every day.
"Henry is fairly composed.
He sounds like he is in control. Like his
morale is not down at all. I am
sure he's feeling confident because of all
the support that he is getting
from various quarters."
Dr Olonga concedes that he wasn't
very happy about Henry's initial
interest in cricket, a white man's game.
"But he told me that he can pursue
sport only till he was young. He was very
active and good in sport.
So I agreed. I realised I had
made the right decision when he played
for his country." He doesn't, however,
watch him play too often. "It is a
very long game," he says with a smile. "It
takes up all the day and I can't
spend so much time away from my clinic. I do
follow all his performances and
achievements though. Dr John Olonga leans
back in his chair, waiting for his
next patient.
But for
once, it is clear that his mind is somewhere else: his son is
back in town
and getting ready for the Cup match against Australia on
Monday. But then,
Henry Olonga might never play for Zimbabwe again.
ABC Australia
Sunday, February 23, 2003. Posted: 07:53:46
(AEDT)
End protest or face the axe, Zimbabwe players told
Zimbabwe
cricketers Andy Flower and Henry Olonga have been warned to either
drop their
black armband protest or face being axed from their country's
World Cup
squad.
The two men were called separately to attend a specially convened
meeting of
the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) executive board in Bulawayo and
emerged
grim-faced after being told to abandon their protest.
Olonga
and Flower won world-wide praise for their courage when they wore
black
armbands in their country's opening World Cup clash against Namibia
on
February 10 and issued a powerfully-worded statement condemning the
regime
of president Robert Mugabe and the deteriorating conditions in the
country.
The Zimbabwe team is in Bulawayo to play world champions
Australia.
Flower and Olonga had been reported to the International
Cricket Council by
their own federation but the world governing body decided
not take action
against the pair.
In the match against India, the duo,
having been told to drop the armbands,
donned highly-prominent wristbands
instead.
Although Saturday's ZCU ultimatum was not from the disciplinary
committee,
it is understood that both men were warned to cease their protest
in the
match against Australia.
"I expected the matter to be dealt
with after the tournament," Flower said.
"But I can't comment on the meeting
today."
Olonga, who on Thursday was sacked by his Takashinga club for his
protest,
also refused to comment on Saturday.
SABC
Flower, Olonga grilled over Mugabe
protest
February 22, 2003, 17:30
World Cup
players Andy Flower and Henry Olonga were called to a
meeting with Zimbabwe
Cricket Union (ZCU) officials today to discuss their
continuing on-field
protest against President Robert Mugabe's government.
The
pair looked angry and deflated after the one-hour meeting at
the team hotel,
and both refused to comment before heading off for a team
practice
session.
Vince Hogg, the ZCU managing director, said: "I
think we have
covered all the issues and done what we needed to
do."
Asked if the dispute had been resolved, Hogg replied:
"It'shard
to say but I hope so."
Flower, one of the
world's leading batsmen and a former captain,
and fast bowler Olonga made a
statement mourning the "death of democracy in
our beloved Zimbabwe" before
the team's opening Group A match against
Namibia on February 10. The pair
also wore black armbands.
Reported to the International
Cricket Council by the ZCU for
bringing the game into disrepute, they escaped
censure but were asked not to
wear the armbands again.
They duly appeared against India wearing black wristbands.
Olonga was dropped
to 12th man for that match. Zimbabwe host Australia in
Bulawayo on
Monday.
The 34-year-old Flower has played 207 one-dayers and
averages
more than 50 in his 63 tests. The pair's future as international
cricketers
has been the source of speculation in recent
days.
Last week Nathan Shamuyarira, information secretary for
the
governing Zanu-PF party in Zimbabwe, told Johannesburg's 702 radio
station
that the players had been "pressured by the British and the external
forces"
to wear the armbands.
"No true Zimbabwean would
have joined in that," he said, adding:
"Olonga is not a Zimbabwean, he is a
Zambian, but he has been allowed to
play here. Flower is also not a
Zimbabwean. He is British."
Olonga, the first black player to
represent Zimbabwe, was born
in Zambia with a Kenyan father and a Zimbabwean
mother. Flower was born in
Cape Town of Zimbabwean parents and has lived in
Zimbabwe all his life. -
Reuters
Zim Standard
Mourning the death of democratic principles
overthetop By Brian Latham
THE pipe-smoking, whisky swilling leader
of a devious southern African
country has joined hands with Africa's most
corrupt nation by calling for an
end to sanctions against a troubled central
African ex-banana republic. (The
troubled central African country can no
longer be called a banana republic
because the only bananas available are
stolen bananas. Political scientists
say this makes the troubled central
African country a "stolen banana
republic," which is too verbose for Over the
Top.)
The same political scientists point out that the devious
southern
African leader's plan is twofold. On the one hand he wants to
colonise the
troubled central African regime. And on the other hand he is
intent on the
Zanyfication of his own conniving country.
This
means the future doesn't look rosy for millions of citizens in
the tricky
southern African country. It especially doesn't look good for
minorities,
opposition parties, farmers and pro-democracy activists.
Still, OTT
can dismiss rumours that the conniving leader of the
deceitful southern
African country is soon to be made honorary patron of the
troubled central
African nation's almost ruling Zany party. When pressed for
comment, Mr
Barking said, "What are the girls like?" before falling off
his
stool.
Still, the actions of Africa's two most powerful
leaders has at least
clarified one point, say western diplomats.
"It seems obvious to democratic nations that Mr Barking and Mr Banjo
believe
that arson, rape, torture and murder are acceptable tools of
governance,"
said a western diplomat. "These tools of governance are at odds
with our own
beliefs, so I'm afraid Mr Barking is clearly insane if he
thinks he's getting
any money out of us. In fact, he can stick his requests
where they fit
best."
Meanwhile citizens of the troubled central African nation
grew
increasingly bitter over lies peddled by Mr Barking and his
flamboyantly
dressed West African friend. They pointed out that the beating
up of an
elderly academic in a church hall did not seem "normal" to them.
Still, some
conceded that it was probably perfectly normal where the
well-dressed leader
of Africa's most corrupt nation came from.
But they also pointed out that the same flashily be-robed gent
presided over
a country that was simultaneously home to most of Africa's oil
and Africa's
longest fuel queues. Such a man, they said, should not be taken
seriously. In
fact, he shouldn't be allowed to use the remote control for
the television,
let alone allowed out in public to push fatuous untruths
about the troubled
central African country.
As for his friend from the Deep South,
troubled citizens wondered if
perhaps he wasn't confusing their country with
somewhere else. "It seems
likely the man is addled," said one citizen, taking
the charitable view.
Others were less kind. They questioned the
motives of a man who
condoned terror and oppression right on his doorstep.
They asked whether the
sinister leader of the Deep South wasn't perhaps
trying to get his own
citizens used to the idea of such phenomena as Dzaku
Dzaku camps in the
townships.
Asked for comment on his ludicrous
behaviour, not to mention the
manifest misrepresentations emanating from his
mouth, Mr Barking smiled
charmingly and said, "Isn't there any ice to go in
this?"
Still, political analysts were not surprised. Asking about
ice was the
most sensible thing the man has said in months, said one analyst,
who argued
that so-called quiet diplomacy was merely a cloak for Mr Barking's
more
ominous agenda.
"While he almost always wants more ice," he
said, "he also wants to
make the troubled central African nation a province
of his own country- but
I suppose if that happens at least we'll be able to
say we'll never run out
of whisky."
Zim Standard
Ben-Menashe stays with pony-tailed man
By
Chengetai Zvauya and Henry Makiwa
ARI BEN MENASHE, the shady
Canadian businessman at the centre of the
treason case against opposition
leader Morgan Tsvangirai, has been staying
with a mysterious, bearded and
pony-tailed man in his hotel suite.
An investigation by The
Standard has revealed that the man, William
Sloan, has been staying in
Ben-Menashe's ultra luxury presidential suite
first at the Harare Sheraton
and then at the Crowne Plaza Monomotapa, the
hotel he fled to after The
Standard exposed his hideout.
Even Tsvangirai's lawyer, top
Johannesburg advocate George Bizos,
failed to pin Ben-Menashe down on his
relationship with Sloan, who is always
seated in the front row of the room in
the High Court where the Tsvangirai
case is being held, but their closeness
has raised a few eyebrows.
Ben-Menashe, who was granted special
leave to travel to Canada by High
Court Judge Justice Paddington Garwe,
described Sloan as his "legal adviser"
and said he was paying his own
expenses in Harare.
It was not possible to check with either the
Sheraton or the
Monomatapa on whether Sloan was paying for his own upkeep or
whether the
government was once again doling out millions in its efforts to
build a
strong case against Tsvangirai.
It is also not clear why
Ben Menashe, who is the state's key witness
and therefore protected from
prosecution, would need a private legal adviser
to be flown all the way from
Canada when he is not the accused.
Sources this week said
Ben-Menashe and Sloan, who may have temporarily
left the country by now, were
staying in room 1902 in the Monomotapa's
executive wing and that the Canadian
wheeler-dealer was booked under the
name J. White.
The finicky
Ben-Menashe, a former Israeli spy, has also caused
problems with staff at
both hotels.
The Standard is reliably informed that Ben-Menashe
attempted to have a
chef fired for delaying delivering his food to his suite
at the Monomotapa.
The incident happened on Tuesday, 11 February
when a visibly exhausted
Ben-Menashe-who had just survived some tough
grilling by Bizos-arrived at
his lavish suite and ordered a dish of chicken
stew to be prepared and
served "in five minutes".
When the chef
failed to meet the deadline, Ben-Menashe furiously
demanded an explanation
for the poor service from the hotel's management and
then bolted out without
eating.
Hotel sources say Ben-Menashe then tried to use his clout
to have the
chef disciplined and the hotel management quizzed the worker "for
serving a
VIP guest with laxity".
"The chef was immediately put
under suspension pending dismissal but
the workers' committee disputed the
ruling, arguing that there was no way
one could make a proper meal in five
minutes," said the source.
He was finally exonerated of any
wrongdoing but he now risks losing
his quarterly bonus because it is company
policy not to award monetary
rewards to employees who stand before the
disciplinary committee.
David Rwodzi, the weekend duty manager at
the Monomotapa, refused to
comment.
Daily News
Menashe allowed to go home
2/22/2003
3:12:08 PM (GMT +2)
By Lloyd Mudiwa and Fanuel
Jongwe
ARI Ben-Menashe, the main State witness in the high treason
trial
involving three top MDC party officials, was yesterday finally allowed
to
return to Canada to attend to "pressing family and business
matters".
High Court judge Paddington Garwe, however,
postponed judgment until
Monday on a counter-application by the defence
lawyers to prevent
Ben-Menashe from returning home until he produced certain
documents in his
possession. "In the view of the court it would be unfair to
direct that the
trial continue taking into account the reasons given by the
witness," he
said. "The witness should be given the benefit of the
doubt.
"Accordingly it is ordered that he should stand down until 3
March."
Garwe said Ben-Menashe, in an affidavit, gave details of the
pressing
issues.
Ben-Menashe had said he was under the
impression the trial would be
postponed to March. He said he had been given
short notice and had not been
told he would stay in Zimbabwe for more than a
few days. Garwe said that the
trial had dragged on and Ben-Menashe had
testified for almost three weeks.
Said Garwe: "In all the circumstances and
notwithstanding that the defence
has been unable to verify some of
Ben-Menashe's reasons, his request cannot
be seen as unreasonable." The
defence team applied for Ben-Menashe to
provide certification by the State of
the agreement between the government
of Zimbabwe and his political
consultancy firm, Dickens and Madson. It
wanted copies of the agreement and
returns of activities and payments lodged
with the United States government,
as well as a copy of registration of any
variations to the contract and all
returns of activities or payments made
thereafter.The team demanded names of
Dickens and Madson's employees and
agents employed between 2001 and 2002, and
the company's annual financial
accounts for the same period. Ben-Menashe was
also supposed to provide his
company's certificate of incorporation and a
report of any work they did for
the government. The prosecution said it would
oppose the demands. Earlier on
Ben-Menashe was cross-examined on the
contentious video filming of Morgan
Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, conspiring to
assassinate President Mugabe at a
meeting at his firm's headquarters in
Montreal, Canada, on 4 December 2001.
As the video-tape was
replayed, Ben-Menashe failed to pick out
instances where he had earlier
alleged Tsvangirai outlined the plot. He
ended up interpreting the
proceedings on the video-tape instead of pointing
out where Tsvangirai
schemed Mugabe's demise and his Zanu PF government's
ouster. Garwe later
ruled that the witness was only required to point out
exact words used by
Tsvangirai and not to interpret or contextualise them.
Advocate George
Bizos, for the MDC, challenged Ben-Menashe to point
out where Tsvangirai
uttered the words "murder," "assassination," "coup d'
etat" and where
he
indicated that he wanted to be President of Zimbabwe by the end
of
2001. "Maybe those words were not used but the context was
definitely
there," said Ben-Menashe.
"I don't remember what
words he used but, as can be seen on the tape,
the main subject
of
the discussion was his need for help in a transitional government
after the
elimination of Mugabe," Ben-Menashe denied Bizos' suggestion that
the meeting
was a charade meant to entrap Tsvangirai."It was not a charade!"
he yelled.
"A murderer came to us asking for help to commit murder. Nobody
gave a false
identity. Your client, accused number one (Tsvangirai), came to
us
voluntarily."
Daily News
Man faces charges for insulting Ben-Menashe
2/22/2003 3:09:16 PM (GMT +2)
Court Reporter
MUNYARADZI Mupazviripo, an MDC activist, has been charged with
obstructing
the course of justice for allegedly insulting Ari-Ben Menashe,
the key
witness in Morgan Tsvangirai's treason trial
Mupazviripo allegedly
insulted Ben-Menashe as he left the High Court
three days ago.
Mupazviripo, 30, appeared before Harare magistrate Sukai Tongogara
on
Thursday. He was remanded to 10 March on $10 000 bail.He was also ordered
to
report to the police thrice a week. Prosecutor Mehluli Tshuma said on
17
February, Mupazviripo was angered by Ben-Menashe's evidence against the
MDC
leaders that day. Tsvangirai, the MDC president, is being jointly
charged
for high treason with Welshman Ncube, the party's secretary-general
and
Renson Gasela, the MDC shadow minister for agriculture.
Tshuma
said the accused then confronted the Israeli, accusing him of
accepting
bribes from the State to testify against the MDC leaders.
Mupazviripo is also
being accused of insulting Ben-Menashe.
He is alleged to have said:
"Why do you come here to lie? Right now
you are eating chips and rice and you
are staying in a fabulous hotel.
Mupeyi Kenya mhani! (Give him yellow
maize-meal to eat!)He was allegedly
restrained by police officers manning the
High Court gates.
Daily News
Feature
Passion for education earns Chavunduka
family place in history
2/22/2003 2:17:27 PM (GMT
+2)
By Foster Dongozi Features Writer
WHEN it
comes to prominence and hogging the limelight in their chosen
professions,
few families in Zimbabwe can match the Chavunduka family, which
has produced
luminaries like Gordon, Dexter, Sarah, Alice and the late Mark
Chavunduka,
who made his mark in journalism.
Professor Gordon Chavunduka, who
spoke on behalf of the family, was
quick to add that while the
above-mentioned were well-known because of their
high-profile jobs, there
were many others in the Chavunduka dynasty who had
reached the pinnacle of
success in their chosen professions.He said the
family owed its successes to
his father, Solomon, who was an agriculture
teacher at St Augustine's Mission
in Penhalonga, Manicaland, in the 1930s.
"My father recognised the
value of education and encouraged the entire
Chavunduka clan to take
education seriously. "He also encouraged children in
the large family to work
hard and value honesty." He said in those days, it
was rare for black people
to be employed in respectable professions like
teaching. "Because of my
father's unique position, he became a role model
for the young and elderly
members of the Chavunduka family. Everybody in the
family wanted to emulate
him by attaining an education."
Born on 16 August, 1931, Gordon
Lloyd Chavunduka naturally pursued his
primary and secondary education at the
school where his father taught. He
did part of his primary
education
at Inanda School in Durban, South Africa. "My father wanted
me to have the
experience of living with different people away from home and
the experience
helped later in life as I spent many years studying in other
countries.
"After completing his secondary education, he received a
scholarship in 1960
and from 1961 to 1964, he studied at the University of
California, Los
Angeles, in the United States for a BA in Sociology and
Social
Anthropology.
From 1965 to 1966, he was at the University of
Manchester in the
United Kingdom, studying for a Master's degree in
Sociology. Chavunduka,
whose thirst for education had not been quenched,
proceeded to the
University of London from 1969 to 1972, studying for a PhD
in Medical
Sociology. After serving in various capacities as a senior
administrator at
the University of Zimbabwe from the early 1970s, Chavunduka
reached the
pinnacle of his university administration career when he was
appointed
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe between 1992 and
1996. He is
also the president of the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers'
Association
and sits on the boards of several companies and organisations. He
is the
father of internationally-respected newsreader Alice. When Alice moved
to
South Africa several years ago, she broke many records set by the
apartheid
system when she became the first black female
foreigner to
anchor some programmes.
Professor Chavunduka, who was lauding the
celebrity status of his
daughter, said with pride: "She is no longer working
for anybody. Actually
she is now a consultant and anybody who wants Alice to
work for them hires
her on a consultancy basis. "Gordon's younger brother is
Doctor Dexter
Chavunduka, the country's first black veterinary surgeon. "From
our father's
influence, it was inevitable that Dexter should have an
unquenchable thirst
for education. "Naturally, the family was also proud of
his achievements as
he rose to the top of his chosen profession and was at
one time responsible
for the entire country's animal disease control
department. Up to now, he
still has a radio programme on which he discusses
animal diseases with
farmers." Just as elder brother Gordon sired prominent
journalist Alice,
Dexter went on to father award-winning journalist Mark, who
died last year.
Unlike many Zimbabwean journalists, Mark was not content with
being an
employee and when he died at 37, he was a shareholder of The
Standard.
He was the paper's founding editor. Mark also held a
controlling stake
as major shareholder in Thompson Publications, publishers
of Parade
magazine, widely viewed as the country's most popular monthly
publication.
Mark was surely set to leave his mark in his profession had not
the icy hand
of death descended on a young man who had such promise and
potential.After
his death, Trevor Ncube, the publisher of The Standard said
about Mark: "As
the founding editor of The Standard, he was a young man with
a passion for
journalism, a young man who will be remembered for standing up
to this
regime, and a young man who, by being tortured, brought to the
attention of
the world, the kind of thing Robert Mugabe would do to try and
silence
people."
Mark hit the international news headlines in
1999, alongside Ray
Choto, a journalist at
The Standard, after they
published a story about an alleged foiled
coup in Zimbabwe. They were
unlawfully detained and tortured by security
officers. Success in the older
Chavunduka generation was not limited to
males only. Professor Chavunduka
said: "My father had a younger brother
called Percival and that uncle of mine
was father to Sarah Chavunduka, who
later married Malawian diplomat Joe
Kachingwe. "Sarah Kachingwe will always
have her place in history as she was
the first black woman to be enrolled at
the then University of Rhodesia and
Nyasaland in 1957.As a condition to be
accepted into the country's highest
learning institution, young Sarah
undertook a crash course in Latin and
algebra, which would normally have
taken four years. At the university she
was allocated the entire second
floor of Carr-Saunders hostel which she
shared with male black students.
"Although I was initially apprehensive about
the accommodation arrangement,
it ended up strengthening my resolve to
acquire a degree," she said.
"The male students who shared the hostel
with me were very respectful
and regarded me as their sister. They did not
behave in an untoward manner
towards me." Kachingwe said as the first black
woman to be enrolled at the
university, she was aware of the opportunities
and doors that education
could open. "I encourage parents to educate all
their children and give them
the necessary support when they want to continue
with education." Mrs
Kachingwe went on to become the first female permanent
secretary in the then
Ministry of Information, Posts and
Telecommunications.
Daily News
Fuel supplies improve marginally in Harare
2/22/2003 1:43:27 PM (GMT +2)
By Chris Mhike Business
Reporter
FUEL supplies have improved slightly in Harare and other
parts of the
country following the start of the Cricket World Cup, and the
conclusion of
a series of deals.
For weeks before the onset of the
Cricket World Cup games, sources in
government suggested that huge amounts of
fuel were being withheld for
release during the international sporting event,
so that the visiting teams
and accompanying delegations would get a positive
image of the country.
The supply control was followed by
the sealing of a deal at the end of
January, where mining giant Anglo
American would provide the government with
US$30 million (Z$1,65 billion)
from its off-shore account for the
procurement of fuel. In January the
government had secured at least US$10
million from the Arab Bank for Economic
Development in Africa (Badea), for
the importation of fuel. The
unavailability of foreign currency has been at
the centre of Zimbabwe's
perennial fuel problems. The foreign currency
crunch deepened three years ago
when export productivity started plunging,
and multi-lateral creditors
started shunning the country for its warped
economic and political
policies.
Two weeks ago Amos Midzi, the Minister of Energy and
Power
Development, announced that the government had entered into a deal with
an
indigenous company to import fuel, in a move to circumvent the State's
poor
credit-worthiness. Key figures in the fuel industry said Exxor was
most
probably the indigenous company involved. The deals were expected to
improve
the fuel supply situation. In its periodical update, Fuel Facts,
an
information sheet on the fuel situation as compiled by various players
in
the industry, acknowledged this week that the situation had
somewhat
improved. "There has been an overall improvement in the availability
of
fuel. The Petroleum Marketers' Association of Zimbabwe and the National
Oil
Company of Zimbabwe are working closely with all oil industry
stakeholders
to ensure adequate stock levels and sustainable supplies of all
fuels to
service stations," said Fuel Facts.
The companies
contributing to the information sheet, however, urged
motorists to avoid
unnecessary trips as the supply situation was yet to be
restored to normal
levels.A motorist in a relatively short queue in Harare
said yesterday:
"Indeed the situation has improved, but for as long as we
have to queue for
petrol and diesel, no matter how short the queue, we
cannot say the problem
has been solved."Hordes of commuter omnibuses, and
winding queues at bus
termini were still visible by the end of yesterday,
thereby suggesting that
the slightly improved fuel supplies had not
translated into the improvement
in the availability of public transport.
Daily News
Leader Page
Does Mugabe care about fate of the
common man?
2/22/2003 4:00:47 PM (GMT +2)
The
shopping spree of our First Lady, Grace Mugabe in Paris this week,
at a time
when thousands of Zimbabweans are reeling under a crippling
economic crisis
and scrounging for basic food, makes very disturbing
reading. The First
Family was reportedly wining and dining in some of the
best restaurants while
the government of President Jacques Chirac made
available to them the most
prestigious Renault and Peugeot limousines for
them to enjoy
Paris.
Ironically, back home, the long queues for food and
fuel continue. The
streets of Harare and Bulawayo are teeming with scantily
dressed, hungry
kids who have abandoned their families because of grinding
poverty and
starvation. Daily, these wretched little fellows beg for money
and for food
to sustain their lives. Our honourable Grace, who has a penchant
for buying
expensive designer clothes, was part of the large entourage
accompanying
President Mugabe for a Franco-African meeting in the French
capital. Mugabe
ignored an international public outcry that he should not
attend the Paris
summit because of the lawlessness in the country and his
mismanagement of
the economy.
The European Union (EU)
governments, led by Britain, Zimbabwe's former
colonial master, reluctantly
allowed Mugabe to attend the Paris meeting
despite renewing, for a year,
their travel ban on Mugabe, his family and
close associates. The ban was
imposed in February last year, in protest
against human rights abuse by
Mugabe and his government. The EU has been
very critical of Mugabe's
government, especially the manner in which it has
taken over thousands of
commercial farms from whites on the pretext that it
would redistribute them
to landless peasants, when, in fact, as has now
become common knowledge, the
government was taking them to give to Zanu PF
leaders.
This
ill-planned land redistribution programme, used by Mugabe's Zanu
PF to win
votes in the 2000 parliamentary election, has been the major cause
of the
economic malaise that has befallen the country today. Zimbabwe's
economy is
agro-based and most of the foreign currency in our reserves has
been earned
from the sale of agricultural produce, mainly tobacco. The
destruction of the
agricultural sector was akin to killing the goose that
lays the golden egg.
The French date came hard on the heels of a holiday
trip by the First Family
to Singapore and will soon be followed by a trip to
Malaysia where Mugabe is
expected to attend a Non-Aligned Movement summit.
That Mugabe enjoys
travelling is without doubt. What is highly questionable
is his wisdom in
taking with him, each time he travels abroad, a sizeable
entourage, which
usually includes our profligate First Lady, as these trips
are a big drain on
the State coffers.
This lavishness is highly irresponsible and
selfish considering that
the entourage's per diem and accommodation bills are
paid in foreign
currency, a commodity which, needless to say, is very scarce
in this
country. The Mugabes appear to have abandoned their supporters as
they
continue to siphon the national coffers of much-needed foreign
currency
reserves while the national economy continues on its suicidal
free-fall. It
is very doubtful whether the First Family cares any more about
the country's
suffering citizens. Companies continue to close down because of
viability
problems and unemployment figures increase while high schools churn
out
thousands of students who face a bleak future on the job market. Still
fresh
in the people's minds is the recent shopping spree in South Africa by
Mugabe
's blue-eyed boy, Jonathan Moyo and his family.
But while
the Mugabes don't seem to have learnt anything from past
experience,
Zimbabweans are amazingly timid, as if they endorse the status
quo.
Will someone, please, step forward and bell the cat?
Dear Family and Friends,
Recently I was told the shocking story of children
sucking lumps of coarse salt in a little town not far from where I live. The
children suck salt to make themselves thirsty. Their thirst makes them drink
more water and this fills their stomachs and helps supress the hunger in their
bellies. It is almost beyond belief that three years ago Zimbabwe was called the
breadbasket of Africa. We were exporting large amounts of our food and living an
almost first world life style. Now we have reached such depths of depravity that
children are sucking salt.
While this is going on and 6 out 10 people in the
country are hungry, our President has shocked the world and caused an
international furore by attending the Franco African summit in Paris. The press
has been full of reports of the luxury and extravagance of the Paris hotel where
the Zimbabwean delegation were staying. Talk has been of menus including black
truffles and caviar, pate and filet of pigeon. Apparently the entire 33 roomed
wing of the hotel was reserved for Zimbabwe and the cheapest room per night
costs the equivalent in Zimbabwe of over three quarters of a million
dollars. For that price you could buy over thirteen thousand loaves of
bread which would certainly help feed more than a few hungry children
sucking pieces of salt.
All the news coming out of Zimbabwe these days is
shocking but more and more people are beginning to stand up for their rights.
Last weekend over 70 women were arrested when they went on a Valentine's march
in Harare and Bulawayo. Carrying red flowers and handing them out to people on
the streets they walked together for love and peace. Some of their posters read
"Yes to Love" and "No to violence." The women were arrested for not having
police permission for their action and the women in Bulawyo were kept in police
cells all night. A friend wrote to me of her experience and described how
barefoot and bra-less they were sent to open air cages before later being moved
to dark and stinking cells where 18 women were crammed into a 15 square metre
room. At some point during their night of horror the women were allowed food and
effects from their families. She said: "In the bag of goodies provided by my
husband was a red rose - my most romantic valentine gift yet. I clutched that
poor rose all night." Amongst the women arrested in Harare and Bulawayo were an
83 year old woman, and elderly nun and a catholic priest.
I'm not sure how to make any sense of what is
happening in Zimbabwe anymore. Our leaders seem to be totally out of touch and
unconcerned about the enormous suffering of their people. We take everything one
day at a time and some days I think if I don't see or hear something normal I'm
going to scream. We all look for the silliest of things to give us sanity. For
me, today, it is a very large orange caterpillar sitting on the branch of a
Msasa tree outside my window. For as long as I can remember these caterpillars
have been a thing of great trepidation and fear. Their hairs are bright orange
and well over a centimetre long, but today I discovered that the hairs are as
soft as silk.
I'm sorry I'm still not advertising my web site
address, there continue to be problems with the server and I think it safer that
I keep a low profile.
MSNBC
Mbeki says Chirac to help resolve Zimbabwe
crisis
PARIS, Feb. 22 - South African President Thabo Mbeki has
asked French
President Jacques Chirac to help resolve Zimbabwe's deepening
political and
economic crisis, French newspaper Le Monde reported on
Saturday.
Chirac sparked a diplomatic row with Britain after he
invited
Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe to this week's Franco-African
summit.
Britain, Zimbabwe's former colonial power, and Western governments
accuse
Mugabe of rigging his re-election a year ago and repressing
political
dissent.
Mugabe has also been under a European Union
travel ban but Chirac,
who had a Thursday night personal meeting with the
Zimbabwean leader, has
argued that it is better to talk to him than to
isolate him.
Mbeki told Le Monde in an interview that Mugabe had
agreed to the
involvement of the French president.
''In fact, with
Robert Mugabe's agreement, we decided here in Paris,
that President Chirac
should join us, help us,'' said Mbeki, without giving
further
details.
''Our common position is that the solution to Zimbabwe's
problems is
found in Zimbabwe, and not outside... Together, we will try to
play a role
to help Zimbabweans find solutions to their problems,'' he
said.
IOL
SA Tourism shuts Harare office
February 21 2003 at
10:02PM
By Charles Molele
South African Tourism is to shut
down its office in Zimbabwe's capital
Harare at the end of this
month.
The decision to close the office comes at a time when the
Zimbabwean
government is grappling with a grave economic situation and a
crippled
tourism sector.
However, SA Tourism authorities would not be
drawn to comment as to whether
their decision to close their Harare office
was precipitated by the
situation in Zimbabwe, which is in economic ruin and
facing widespread
hunger.
But Moeketsi Mosola, South African Tourism's
chief operating officer, said
the move had nothing to do with the Zimbabwean
political situation.
He said the decision is in line with a marketing
strategy to co-ordinate all
tourism activities throughout the Southern
African Development Community
region as a whole from its head office in
Illovo, Johannesburg.
"This allows us to increase our flexibility within
the region, enabling us
not only to position South Africa more appropriately
as a preferred tourist
destination within the region, but also to service
stakeholders far more
effectively than in the past," said Mosola.
The
SA Tourism staff at the Harare office will be relocated to the
Johannesburg
office at the end of the March. The office was established
in
1958.
The announcement of the closure of the office in Harare comes
barely a week
after the Zimbabwean tourism and environmental minister Francis
Nhema
announced his country's ambitious plans to woo back international
tourists
to Zimbabwe.
Nhema said his country had recently opened
offices in New York, Frankfurt,
London, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, Sydney
and Beijing in a bid to market
Zimbabwe.
Sunday Times (SA)
Zimbabwe to change key laws
Sunday Times
Foreign Desk
Zimbabwe is to table controversial amendments to its
Citizenship Act when
its parliament resumes this week.
The changes are
intended to allow immigrants from the region, especially
Zambia, Malawi and
Mozambique, to become Zimbabwean citizens and own land.
Other
legislation to be amended is the draconian Access to Information
and
Protection of Privacy Act, which was challenged by the
Independent
Journalists' Association of Zimbabwe last year. The matter is
awaiting a
Supreme Court ruling. The changes apparently follow diplomatic
pressure by
President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa.
Zim Standard
Local News
By Walter Marwizi
WHEN astute lawyer and veteran Zanu PF politician Eddison Zvobgo
strode into
one of his up-market hotels in Masvingo 10 years ago, patrons
would rise from
their seats to honour his presence.
They would jostle to chat with
the man, revered in local and national
politics. He would talk to an ardent
audience about political trends in the
country.
"We knew him as
the undisputed Mr Masvingo who had the potential to
become Mr Zimbabwe,"
recalls Danny Chagunda, a Masvingo municipal worker, as
he enjoyed his
favourite lager at Flamboyant-one of the two hotels owned by
Zvobgo-on New
Year's eve.
In those days Zvobgo, a Karanga, was held highly by
tribesmen who
believed he had all that it took to bring the presidency to
Masvingo. It
didn't look like a far-fetched dream considering that Zvobgo, a
highly
educated man with the requisite war credentials as well, commanded
great
respect in the entire country.
Although he wouldn't
publicly admit it, those close to him disclosed
that the veteran politician
often indicated that he considered himself the
future president of
Zimbabwe.
"That is now water under the bridge," said Chagunda,
adding: "Zvogbo's
enemies in Zanu PF have conspired against him and succeeded
in destroying
his power base in Masvingo. He no longer has any pad to launch
a bid for the
presidency. After all, age and ill health have taken their toll
on him and
those disgruntled with Zanu PF, now pin their hopes on Morgan
Tsvangirai."
Chagunda is not the only resident of this fractious
province who has
these sentiments.
In fact, thousands of people
in Zimbabwe who had hoped that Zvobgo
would one day be president, regularly
discuss this issue with concern. It
appears Zvobgo has now been forgotten, as
the spotlight has shifted to
Tsvangirai who almost defeated Mugabe in the
March 2002 presidential
elections.
After the emergency of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) in 1999, Zvobgo is mainly
blasted for his drafting of the Presidential
Powers Amendment Act which gave
Mugabe executive powers in 1997.
After a colourful political career
in Zanu PF dating back to the 60s,
things were never the same for Zvobgo when
Vice President Simon Muzenda
decided to leave his Gweru constituency, opting
to come home to Masvingo
where he hoped to leave "some landmarks in
1995".
Muzenda, the second secretary of Zanu PF, hoped that
everyone would
acknowledge that he was the most senior party official in
Masvingo but soon
realised that Zvobgo and his supporters thought
otherwise.
The bitter turf war between the two political
heavyweights, tore the
province, once considered a united Zanu PF province,
into two distinct
camps-the Josiah Hungwe camp, supportive of Muzenda-and
Zvobgo's camp.
Hungwe, the governor of Masvingo province and a
relative of Muzenda,
charged that Zvobgo and his followers wanted to create
"a super Zanu PF" in
Masvingo that would ultimately topple President Robert
Mugabe.
Zvobgo, whose right hand man was former Zanu PF Masvingo
provincial
chairman, Dzikamai Mavhaire, denied the charges.
In
May 1996, President Mugabe, in a cabinet reshuffle, gave Zvobgo,
formerly the
Mines minister who had just recovered from a road accident, the
obscure post
of Minister without Portfolio, signalling the beginning of his
fall from Zanu
PF grace.
Mavhaire also worsened matters for Zvobgo when he made
the famous
"Mugabe must go" statement in Parliament in 1997, which fuelled
suspicion in
Zanu PF that Zvobgo was bent on dethroning Mugabe.
Mavhaire was slapped with a two year suspension from the party and
also
stripped of his post by the Zanu PF Central Committee.
This
development, which in one stroke, gave the Hungwe faction the
best chance to
take control of the party's provincial executive through the
back door,
marked the end of the supremacy of the Zvobgo faction in
the
province.
Zvobgo remained a member of the largely
ineffectual central committee,
while many from his camp-including
Mavhaire-were reduced to ordinary party
members, leaving his faction severely
handicapped.
This scenario forced the veteran politician who was
loathed by many
Zanu PF stalwarts, to watch from the sidelines while
some
Johnnie-come-latelys (mafikizolos) now dominated the political
arena.
And in January, Zvobgo whom it now appears is cognizant of
the dangers
of ruffling feathers within Zanu PF, refused to answer written
questions
from The Standard regarding his political fortunes and those of a
country
undergoing its worst economic and political crisis.
"I
am a member of parliament, ask me about my constituency," said
Zvobgo who had
earlier on promised to make a written response.
A Zanu PF insider
told The Standard that had Mugabe decided to
relinquish power about five
years ago, it was possible Zvobgo could have
become president.
"I should admit the political landscape has tilted in favour of MDC.
It
appears Zimbabweans are not interested in a Zanu PF president with the
way
things have gone; they want someone from another party for the sake
of
change," said the insider.
Now, as Zvobgo walks into his
hotel in Masvingo, very few patrons
bother to even give him a second glance,
let alone engage him in matters of
state.
Although he has lost
none of his intelligence, Zvobgo is now a
different man
altogether.
He is now a rather subdued character who has emerged
with scars from
his seven year protracted struggle with opponents in Zanu PF,
notably his
home boys, Muzenda and Hungwe.
While the veteran
politician walked, patrons remained engaged in
conversations regarding the
likely outcome of the ongoing treason trial of
Tsvangirai, the politician
many Zimbabweans believe holds the key which
could lock Mugabe and Grace out
of State house.
The Herald
Bredenkamp swindled out of $2m
Court
Reporter
BUSINESSMAN and international financier Mr John Bredenkamp was
recently
swindled of $2 million by two foreigners who posed as sons of the
late
former Democratic Republic of Congo Prime Minister, Patrice
Lumumba.
Mr Bredenkamp was approached by the two suspected conmen,
Hussein Lumumba
(27) a Congolese and James Sila (27) a Ugandan national, at
his Thetford
farm in Mazowe on February 9 this year.
It is alleged
that the two went to Mr Bredenkamp's farm and introduced
themselves as
Hussein and Isa Lumumba.
When Mr Bredenkamp asked how the two got his
name and address, they claimed
that they had retrieved it from a contact book
belonging to their late
father.
They lied further that their other
brother was in the United Kingdom
together with his son.
The accused
then told the business tycoon that they needed help in investing
US$800 000
inherited from their late father's estate.
Mr Bredenkamp decided to
discuss the issue with them at a city hotel the
following morning.
On
February 10, Mr Bredenkamp met with the two as planned.
At the meeting,
it is alleged the two, who were now in the company of
another person
identified as James Lumumba, said they had a lot of money
donated into their
father's estate.
They proposed to give Mr Bredenkamp the money to invest
on their behalf.
They also asked that Mr Bredenkamp give them parental
guidance, as they
wished to attend school in Zimbabwe.
The accused
allegedly claimed that a woman called Betty, from the Red Cross
offices in
Belgravia, who had assisted them since their father died, had a
total of
US$800 000.
They also claimed that the woman was assisting them to
acquire Zimbabwean
student permits through the Ministry of Home
Affairs.
Through this misrepresentation, the pair would ask Mr Bredenkamp
for money
claiming that they wanted to settle their hotel bills. The pair was
given a
total of $29 000 cash to settle their bills.
On February 11,
it is alleged that the two together with Betty, telephoned
Mr Bredenkamp
asking for US$3 750, which they claimed, was for paying for
the pair's
luggage in storage. Mr Bredenkamp, unsuspectingly gave them the
US$3
750.
Again on February 12, the pair visited Mr Bredenkamp with a
briefcase, which
they claimed had the US$800 000.
Mr Bredenkamp's
worker Robson Matonhodze was asked to look after the
briefcase. On this
occasion the two allegedly demanded a further $30 000
which they claimed was
for settling another hotel bill.
Mr Bredenkamp then smelt a rat and he
called the police, leading to the
arrest of the two.
Police opened the
briefcase only to find a bunch of black papers rolled in a
United States of
America flag.
As a result of the misrepresentation, Mr Bredenkamp lost a
total of $2
million.
It was also established that the two criminals
were on the police wanted
list for many other crimes. They also established
that the two were not
related to General Lumumba.
The two were
yesterday brought before a Harare magistrate's court on charges
of theft by
false pretences. They were alternatively charged for breaching
the
Immigration Act.
Provincial magistrate Ms Sukai Tongogara remanded them
in custody to March
10 this year.
JAG Open Letter Forum No 32 - 21st February 2003
Some of my letters have been
perceived as attempting to destroy the CFU, and that Justice for Agriculture has
a hidden agenda. Mr. Gavin Conolly, Matabeleland Branch President, has been very
direct to us in saying that the sooner JAG and CFU can get together, the better,
and JAG accepts his suggestion. I am fully aware that you, as Director have
attempted to facilitate this meeting - a closed meeting and I thank you for your
effort. It is more than likely that I have been a bit over the top at times, and
I have to accept responsibility for that. However, I would like to take the
opportunity to point out to all farmers, whatever their situation, or belief,
the official CFU policy and line that was published in January,
1991. This
was put together by the CFU team at the time, under the leadership of A.D.P.
Burl Esq., CFU President.
Please could you as director,
furnish every Council Member with a copy of the paper at your earliest
convenience - if for some reason you do not have access to it, I will ensure
that you get some copies.
At the outset I must tell you, and
the farmers, that this is CFU material and that I am only quoting some of the
pertinent points, but am asking you to ensure that Your Council read the full
paper.
The paper came about as a result of
the Land Policy by way of the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 11)
Bill.
1. "While it may not be the
intention of Government to use these powers in an unreasonable or disruptive way
now, they remain enshrined in the Constitution and may be used at some future
date. Consequently, Government is simply not in a position to give an assurance
as to how these powers will be used in the future, especially when the powers of
acquisition are so wide and vested in one Minister and outside the scrutiny of
the Courts. Rarely has constitutional protection from deprivation of property
been rendered of so little value."
- shortly after the referendum,
exactly three years ago, the farm invasions "miraculously"
started?
- I personally had never heard of
Dr. J. Made twelve years ago.
2. "It is unfortunate that with
few notable exceptions, the majority of resettlement schemes to date have led to
a serious loss of productivity, denudation of resources, insufficient income and
even food aid being required by settlers."
3. "500 000 Ha of the 2,8 million
Ha purchased by Govt. has not yet been settled."
4. Commercial farms consisted of
11 270 Ha or 28,8% of Zimbabwe's land in
1989.(CFU figures)
At that stage (1991) the Govt. was
wanting to take 6 million Ha or 53% of the commercial land. The CFU team then
projected a number quantified effects.
i) Tobacco - 35,6% drop in
production. ii) Soyas 35,7% drop. iii) Horticulture 47,9% drop. iv)Wheat 36,7%
drop. v) Beef 32,1% drop. vi) Dairy 42,0% drop.
The covering notes were:- "Sugar
and tea- assumed not affected." "Poultry -two major producers assumed not
affected."
5. "THE MOST IMPORTANT SINGLE
ISSUE FACING ZIMBABWEANS OF THE FUTURE WILL DEPEND UPON HOW THE LAND QUESTION IS
MANAGED TODAY." - seven million people can now vouch for this, it
seems.
6. About overgrazing in the
communal lands, by non resident stock owners the CFU said "This lack of
accountability is arguably the single most important contributor to
mismanagement of these areas." - take a look at the southern half of Zimbabwe to
substantiate this.
7. "The CFU fears that those who
look at Zimbabwe from the outside will be less willing to be helpful in terms of
contribution to both FINANCING and INVESTMENT of this development as one of the
conditions of their participation is traditionally, that THE RULE OF LAW and
that JUSTICE is seen to be done.
Zimbabwe's impeccable record since
Independence in this regard has now been SEVERELY IMPAIRED by the substantial
reduction in constitutional protection afforded property owners." - did the
Government read this part of the paper - twelve years ago, or three years ago?
How about going back to the 1998 donor's conference?
8. "Zimbabwe's sound economic base
must not be eroded or jeopardised for short term expediency."
- 200%
inflation, massive unemployment, no fuel, mealie meal, sugar, cooking oil,
bread, etc...
9. "Hybrid and certified seed for
maize, soyas, cotton, wheat, sorghum, and potatoes is produced extensively by
large scale farmers." - is there a seed shortage today?
10. "The downstream effect of this
(land grab) on industry, its productivity and employment potential will be
serious." - unemployment figures?
Hendrick, every time I read this
paper I marvel at how all encompassing it is. I believe that Justice for
Agriculture embraces the paper put out by the CFU, in 1991, fully. Extrapolate
the land taken, and the corresponding loss of production will probably be
proportionate - 75%?
Taking things to their logical
conclusion, Justice for Agriculture is made up of people who were very much CFU
in 1991, obviously. CFU schooled an Ostrich and a Dairy Chairman for JAG, a
Regional Executive Enunciator, a ZTA Council member, a Wildlife Vice Chairman,
and then a few FA chairmen or commodity representatives.
If I am the impediment to Justice
for Agriculture and the CFU coming together, I ask you one thing.
Please reply in writing and tell
me. Perhaps, I must now say "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my
course, I have kept the faith?"
Yours faithfully,
J.L. Robinson.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter 2: John and Judy
Trav
Dear John,
Firstly, Thank you and your team
for keeping us all in touch on a daily basis. Living in this desperate isolation
it is good to hear real news, however distressing and to keep closely in touch,
we do appreciate it enormously.
We have a bush Camp snuggled into
the base of Castle Kopje, which is in actual fact in the Nyala Park. It is
seriously basic and very rustic... But it is bush, and there is a lovely dam'
Squinks Dam' beside the camp. There is the silence that we all need so much...
and of course there is the game ... which has to be the greatest healer of all.
If you know of anyone who is needing time out ...we would love to share this
peace with them... the bush peace that is and the fishing peace. (Fishing is
great, Norman catching bream daily on his fly rod.)
They would have to book as we feel
just a family at a time during the school term. Also we would need to get a
watercart up there. And of course bring all their own kit... there is nothing
there, except loos, water, rondavels, showers, stars, hippo , nightjars and of
course feed the Rhinos in the evenings..........if they want to do a Game Drive
... then they would have to pay..... or a supper in the lodge at night would be
an added. But to Chill it comes with all our love!!!!!
If there has been one very valuable
lesson learnt in this whole 3-year saga it is the lesson of community life. My
gosh!, it is damn hard living in a ghost district. But our destiny is obviously
right now to look after the game...which I have to say is becoming more and more
of a nightmare as the hunger strays.
Any way John there you are. If you
know of anyone farmer in need to chill and they have a sleeping bag*give us a
ring on 022354.
Lots of love John and Judy
Trav
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter 3: J.L.
Robinson
The Chairman, NADF CFU
Harare.
My dear Stoff,
Hot on the heels of your invitation
to the Dairyperson Dinner, came the SA Dairy Mail. In it is a most interesting
article by yourself, under "Uit die Possak." There are a number of questions
that arise from the article, as well as some areas of common
ground.
Firstly, I fully support your
ideas:
-"The most important message is to
never stop thinking." -this is great and you are obviously a disciple of
Descartes, and I hope that you can engender this into your fellow Council
members, possibly starting with Colin and Doug.
-"Those who fail to study history
are doomed to repeat its mistakes." - I tend to follow history too, and concur
with your belief.
Secondly, I need to be fully
enlightened, on the following statements in your article that I cannot answer
myself, and have caused me to think even more and come up with some more
questions for you. Thank you for making me think.
1. "The Government of Zimbabwe is
the single most important stakeholder in the Zimbabwe dairy industry. As an
industry we have tried to publicly demonstrate our recognition of this fact, and
our desire to work with our government to meet its goals and
policies."
- I am lead to believe that when
you took over as Chairman in July 2000, the daily collection figures were about
400 000 litres, and that at the moment they are about 260 000 litres. A drop of
35% or 140 000 litres daily.
- May I assume that this has been a
planned goal by yourself and the Government?
- Taking this to its logical
conclusion, how much further do you and government intend to reduce milk
production by, by say July 2003? 50 000 or
100 000 litres?
- Historically, there must have
been dairy farmers in Yugoslavia, Romania and Germany when those countries
experienced similar upheavals to this country.
Did you get `our desire to work
with government' from the historical perspective of their respective NADF
Chairpersons? For example, in say
1943, was the NADF (Germany) working with
`the Government of the day' (your words) when about six million Jewish people
were systematically starved, and then gassed?
- Are you comfortable with the
figures put forward that in Zimbabwe, there are about seven million people
facing starvation - meaning that we are likely to surpass the Nazi affair?- and
that you "worked with government to meet its goals and policies?" May I assume
that you are participatory in the 200% inflation that Zimbabwe now boasts? -
least of all by reducing milk supply by 140 000 litres daily in less than three
years, and that there may well be further planned reductions in supply based on
any other bilateral agreements you may have entered into?
2. "We have consistently walked a
road of dialogue with our government*this has resulted in less disruptions on
dairy farms in general, compared with those experienced by other commodities.
*The biggest challenges facing the Zimbabwean dairy industry are economic not
political."
- I find the above statement very
difficult to comprehend, but I am a simple fellow.
- Jan Smuts, followed by Savory
have covered the science of Holism. Put simply, a country needs a wide range of
skills, goods and services and thus agriculture needs to be broadly based, just
as industry, commerce, mining etc. do as well. I tend to think that your
smugness is short-sighted, and will be short lived as well. Most dairy farmers
need by products from soya beans, cotton, sugar cane, maize, wheat and tobacco
(Rhodes grass hay). To operate in isolation of these would require a lot of
water, land, equipment and expertise to achieve total self-sufficiency as a
dairy production unit. The eventual effect of the three years of this
"government and CFU land reform programme" has taken longer to show itself in
the dairy industry, but as I write there is no stock feed at one factory in
Bulawayo. The effects of your "personal master plan with government" will
probably be much more spectacular in the coming months. Using your own words, I
hope that you will also "be brave enough to adapt and manage for change."
Probably, much longer queues for fuel, mealie meal, bread, sugar, margarine,
cooking oil, biscuits, breakfast cereals, MILK and meat products.
- Perhaps I am way out of touch -
for you to say that we face economic challenges, not political ones is beyond
me. Does the economic problem not spring from the political one - in line with
the thinking of Smuts and Holism?
- Your bravery is unsurpassed in my
humble opinion. To put your name forward in support of what has happened to
Commercial Agriculture in Zimbabwe over the last three years (page 72 and 73 of
"Dairy Mail," February 2003) takes a huge amount of guts, and I commend you for
sticking to your convictions in supporting the government agrarian reform - in a
Voltaire like manner that is. ("I disagree with what you say but will defend
your right to say it.")
3. Lastly, your quote from Claude
Moller. I thoroughly enjoyed his presentation at Congress. "The learners will
inherit the earth while the learned will find themselves beautifully equipped
for a world that no longer exists."
- our friend Moller has got me
foxed. At what stage will a learner become learned?
- Are the seven million people
facing starvation, learners or learned, about the life experience they are
having as a result of commercial agriculture having been
destroyed?
- Is it a catch 22 situation where
the political leaders, communistically schooled, have found themselves
"beautifully equipped" and we commercial farmers are also "beautifully equipped"
- but in both cases, for a world that no longer exists for either
group?
- At what stage will commercial
farmers, or politicians, change from learners to learned?
- Personally, I find it impossible
to adapt to a new world of drugs, deceit, theft, arson, lawlessness, land abuse,
poverty, street kids, theft, rape, torture and murder. I have attempted to seek
Justice - so I am not sure if I am a Learner or Learned, or both.
Stoff, I would like to hear from
you regarding the above questions, and then you can share your views with the
readers of the Open Letter Forum.(justice@telco.co.zw) and get them
thinking, of course.
Yours faithfully, J.L.
Robinson.
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Daily News
Musekiwa in trouble
2/22/2003 3:57:02 PM
(GMT +2)
By Brian Mangwende Chief Reporter
TAFADZWA Musekiwa, the Member of Parliament for Zengeza, is in
trouble. The
MDC's national executive has issued an ultimatum to the runaway
MP to return
home by 26 February and serve his constituency or risk
disciplinary measures,
insiders said yesterday.
As a result of Musekiwa's absence,
jockeying for his seat started in
Zengeza last week in anticipation the
legislator would not return. Last
year, Musekiwa fled into what he called
temporary exile in London, citing
what he suspected was a plot by ruling Zanu
PF officials to eliminate him
and other "Young Turks" in the opposition MDC,
including his close friend,
Job Sikhala, the MP for St Mary's. He alleged the
plot was being spearheaded
by Jonathan Moyo, the Minister of State for
Information and Publicity in the
President's Office. One insider said: "At
the national executive meeting we
held about two weeks ago, it was decided
that Musekiwa should return home by
26 February or face disciplinary measures
in absentia. "The issue of his
safety upon return was also raised. Gibson
Sibanda, the MDC vice-president,
and Innocent Gonese, the MP for Mutare
Central and party's Chief Whip, were
tasked to approach the Speaker of
Parliament on the matter.
"The people of Zengeza have complained that
they now do not have
representation, especially at a time when there are
shortages of basic
commodities with maize grain allocations and relief food
aid allegedly being
monopolised by Zanu PF activists."
Sibanda
said: "Gonese and I approached Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Speaker
of Parliament,
about Musekiwa's safety if he were to return and he assured
us that he could
return without any fear whatsoever. "He reiterated that a
Harare magistrate
had ordered that those who tortured Sikhala should be
punished. That's the
assurance I got. "I later telephoned Musekiwa and
relayed the message that we
had been assured he would be safe. I told him
his constituency was unhappy
with him because of his long absence. "He told
me he was going to consult, I
believe his relatives and friends, and then
get back to me, but he has not
done that yet.
Yahoo News
Reuters
UPDATE - S.African Anglo's swap relieves Zimbabwe $
shortage
Friday February 21, 8:33 am ET
By Hilary
Gush
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Mining giant Anglo American Plc
said on
Friday it had transferred $35 million to Zimbabwe's forex-strapped
state oil
company, enabling it to import fuel amidst a crippling shortage, in
exchange
for local currency.
South Africa's biggest company denied
a newspaper's allegations that the
move, which follows the introduction by
Zimbabwe of a new "export incentive"
rate for the local dollar, was a bailout
of the Harare government.
Acting on behalf of a consortium of seven
exporters, Anglo American entered
into a currency swap with the National Oil
Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM).
Anglo said the exporters -- two of which it
controls -- were starved of
local currency to fund
operations.
Zimbabwe, facing its worst economic crisis since independence
from Britain
in 1980, is battling an acute foreign currency shortage which
the Anglo deal
will help alleviate.
Fuel supplies have been erratic
since 1999 due to the foreign currency
squeeze, but the fuel crisis
intensified late last year when Libya halted
shipments due to non-payment and
Zimbabwean drivers were stranded as
supplies dried up.
Anglo spokesman
Michael Spicer denied the deal had political overtones after
Johannesburg's
Star newspaper called it a "bailout" of President Robert
Mugabe's
government.
"It's an entirely commercial transaction between parties who
have different
needs. It is a not uncommon phenomenon now given the
exigencies of doing
business (in Zimbabwe). The counterparty just happened to
be NOCZIM," Spicer
told Reuters.
He said Anglo had initiated the deal.
"We had been pushing to get a more
commercially realistic exchange rate so
that we can get some Zim dollars."
Anglo said the transaction "in no way
constituted a loan to the Zimbabwe
government". Spicer said the deal,
effected about 10 days ago, was done at a
new exporters rate of 800 Zimbabwe
dollars to one U.S. dollar.
On Wednesday, Zimbabwe effectively devalued
the official exchange rate for
key export sectors to just over half its black
market value against the
dollar. It set a so-called "export incentive" rate
of 800 Zimbabwe dollars
to the U.S. unit for export earnings from sectors
such as gold and tobacco.
The official exchange rate is $1 for 55
Zimbabwe dollars, but on the black
market, the currency trades at around
1,500.
EXPORTERS UNDER PRESSURE
Spicer said it would have been
"ruinous" for the exporters to have exchanged
currency at the earlier
official rate.
Anglo said the swap, which was authorised by the
Zimbabwean central bank,
involved "export earnings which are required to be
ultimately remitted to
Zimbabwe in terms of their exchange control
regulations".
"Currency swaps have been common business transactions in
Zimbabwe for the
past two and a half years in which fair value is exchanged
by the parties
involved," it said.
Anglo -- one of the biggest foreign
investors in Zimbabwe -- did the deal on
behalf of Mimosa Platinum Mines,
Makwiro Platinum Mines, ZIMASCO, Cotton
Company of Zimbabwe, Ariston
Holdings, Bindura Nickel Corporation and
Zimbabwe Alloys.
Anglo has
majority stakes in Bindura Nickel, which owns the Bindura
nickel-copper mine,
smelter and refinery, and in Zimbabwe Alloys -- a chrome
alloy
producer.
Its interests also include the Unki platinum project and Hippo
Valley sugar
group.
Relations between many big businesses and the
Zimbabwe government have been
strained since political unrest broke out in
2000, when President Robert
Mugabe's government initiated its controversial
land programme to move white
farmers off their land and resettle poor,
landless blacks.
Anglo CEO Tony Trahar said in 2000 the company was
suspending all new
investments in Zimbabwe, citing political and economic
uncertainty in South
Africa's northern neighbour.
GMB Splashes $1,5 Billion On Vehicles As Millions
Starve
Zimbabwe
Independent (Harare)
February 21, 2003
Posted to the web February 21, 2003
Augustine Mukaro
THE Grain Marketing Board (GMB) has splashed over $1,5
billion on new vehicles, some of which have been used for Zanu PF campaigning at
a time when millions of Zimbabweans are starving, the Zimbabwe Independent
established this week.
The parastatal, which has struggled to raise money for the
government's humanitarian operations, has bought at least 100 trucks for its
managers, raising questions about its priorities.
The food situation in the country is set to worsen as World
Food Programme humanitarian assistance is scheduled to end next month.
Highly-placed sources said the GMB had purchased three
consignments of Mazda B1800 trucks and twincab vehicles, many of which have been
allocated to Zanu PF taskforces. Other vehicles would be given to the
middle-level management staff throughout the country.
"The first consignment of over 30 vehicles was bought in
February 2002," sources said.
"The main beneficiaries of this consignment were mainly
national taskforce members handpicked by government to co-ordinate food
distribution which was used as a campaign tool for the ruling party in the
presidential election."
Government appointed a pool of army officers, Central
Intelligence Officers and police details into a national taskforce to
co-ordinate the movement of grain at the parastatal in 2001 when it was rocked
by a spate of corruption allegations.
"The second batch of vehicles were delivered in October 2002
and some of them have since been dispatched to various depots dotted throughout
the country. The remaining vehicles would be dispatched to the various provinces
for provincial co-ordinators," the sources said.
The parastatal will soon appoint provincial co-ordinators
who will be directly responsible for the distribution of food at provincial
level.
The vehicles are currently parked at Dura House, the GMB
head office in Harare. The GMB has over 50 depots throughout the country. The
market value of a B1800 truck is $19,8 million. The GMB also purchased four
twincab vehicles for its directors, which were delivered last month. The market
price for a twincab Mazda vehicle is $38 million for petrol and $42 million for
diesel.
The vehicles were bought from Willowvale Mazda Motor
Industries
(WMMI). WMMI officials confirmed having supplied GMB with
vehicles but could not give details of the deal, citing client
confidentiality.
Sources said the parastatal has been turned into the ruling
party's main weapon of campaigning to regain support, especially during the
current drought.
"Government is abusing GMB monopoly over grain and cereals
to whip the vulnerable people into their direction. All strategic positions in
GMB are being filled with either ex-military or military personnel to ensure
that Zanu PF ideology is followed without questioning," sources said.
Government recently appointed Lieutenant Colonel Samuel
Muvuti as GMB acting chief executive.
To date, the parastatal has managed to import a paltry 685
784 tonnes of maize instead of 1,9 million tonnes needed to stave off the
looming famine.
Sunday Times SA
Truckers fume over chaos at Beit Bridge
Bongiwe Mlangeni
Supplies to Zimbabwe - including much-needed food
and petrol - were all but cut off this week as hundreds of trucks were prevented
from crossing the Beit Bridge border from South Africa.
A line of trucks stretched for 7km along the N1 national road in South Africa
as Zimbabwean customs officials allowed no more than five trucks a day to cross
into the country.
The bottleneck was caused by the construction of a parking lot and the
renovation of a road for the use of trucks on the Zimbabwean side of the border,
according to the South African head of customs, Vusi Shabalala.
"They are renovating their parking and so there is not enough space for the
trucks. There is nothing we can do," he said.
Construction workers at the scene said work was progressing slowly because of
cement and diesel shortages in Zimbabwe.
A Zimbabwean customs officer who refused to be named confirmed that road
construction on the Zimbabwean side was the reason for the delays.
South African customs officials said only five trucks were being allowed to
go through each day, even though about 40 trucks joined the queue every evening.
For more than a week trucks have only been moving a few metres a day. The
trucks are on their way to Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi and are carrying food,
fuel, chemicals and vehicles. Cars, however, are crossing the border without any
problems.
On Friday, the mood among the truck drivers was turning ugly after more than
a week of having to do without water for washing and toilet facilities. Some
threatened to blockade the N1 and the border post unless the South African and
Zimbabwean governments solved the problem.
Many drivers - who were relieving themselves at the side of the road - said
that they had run out of money to buy food, prices of which had risen
dramatically . A plate of food was being sold for R12, almost double the price
only two weeks ago.
The drivers said the problem had been developing since the previous Friday
but that nothing had been done to address it.
This Friday the air along the N1 was heavy with the stench of faeces and
urine, rotting food and sulphur leaking from a chemical carrier as trucks baked
in the sun.
"This is a definite health hazard ," said South African diesel tanker driver
Aubrey George, who had been stranded at the border crossing since last Thursday.
"The sulphur gas, the lack of toilets, the lack of clean drinking water and
nourishing food - it all spells death for us."
George said that despite waiting for eight days, he was still more than a
kilometre from the border. Drivers were also furious that they had been ticketed
- in some cases as much as R1 000 - for illegally parking on the side of the
road.
"Where can we park?" asked Obert Makamure of Malawi.
"We all want to go through. Every time we hear someone starting their truck,
we all rush and do the same, hoping we will be let through. The authorities must
come and deal with this problem and not punish us for something we have not
created."
Max Sithole from Zimbabwe, who is transporting petrol to Bulawayo, said no
one had bothered to explain the reason for the traffic jam.
He said most truck drivers had been waiting for a week and had all received
clearance from the South African customs office.