Pierre Schori  Thursday, February 28, 2002

Mugabe beyond the pale
 
STOCKHOLM Last Friday, after my expulsion from Zimbabwe on Feb. 16 and the consequent departure of the other observers from the European Union, two members of the South African observer mission were attacked while meeting with members of the leading opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change.
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The meeting place was surrounded by more than 200 members of ZANU-PF Youth, a branch of President Robert Mugabe's ruling party. The building was stoned and at least two MDC members were taken to the hospital. The South African car was also stoned.
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On Sunday three observers from the Southern African Development Community were attacked by ZANU-PF elements in Chinhoyi. A car belonging to the Commonwealth observer team was also stoned.
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These incidents confirm one of the elements of my report to the 15 EU foreign ministers in Brussels, namely, that compared with the parliamentary elections of 2000, violence is greater and has spread to urban areas.
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This time various government branches are interfering more brutally in favor of the president. Military top brass recently declared that they would not accept an election result which went "against the revolution." Freedom of the media and the right of citizens freely to express their views have been drastically restrained by new laws, just in time for the elections.
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In my case, the Immigration Office was unleashed upon me four times in order to force my signature on a document in which I would state that I was in Zimbabwe on holiday.
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The reason for this was that, according to the government, a tourist cannot talk to the press or be employed. It was clearly said that talking about the EU mission would be seen as a political statement and hence a breach of law, as well as "working" in that mission.
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As I had not entered the country with a tourist visa nor ticked "tourist" in the appropriate box of the entry form at the airport, it was necessary for the government to get me to sign in as a tourist. They would then feel free to restrict my speech and activity as head of the EU observers.
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I refused to do so, while expressing admiration for the beauty of the country, so they canceled my visa and ordered me to leave the same day.
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The government had invited the EU (with the exception of Britain) to observe the elections. Then, when the EU had designated me as chief observer, the authorities excluded another five states. The remaining mission would also have to be integrated with the ACP group, which consists of 77 countries from Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific regions, and come under its leadership, a surprise also to the ACP.
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Given the restrictions and harassment that we were confronted with, I came to the sad conclusion that this was no environment for a credible and effective EU election observer mission. The only other time I have been expelled from a country was in October 1969, during the colonial dictatorship in Portugal. The reasons: for meeting with the opposition leader, Mário Soares, later the democratically elected prime minister and president, and also, ironically, for Sweden's support of the liberation struggle in Southern Africa, including that of Robert Mugabe.
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Eight years later, at a UN anti-apartheid conference in Lagos, Mugabe asked to meet me and Olof Palme, then Sweden's opposition leader. Mugabe thanked us for our solidarity and expressed admiration for Sweden. He said he wanted to send his wife Sally to study our social welfare system.
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The European Union has supported Zimbabwe ever since its independence in 1980. Today Zimbabwe receives two-thirds of all its foreign assistance from the EU; the aid is mainly focused on poverty alleviation and anti-AIDS projects. Zimbabwe also has trade privileges for export of tobacco, beef, cut flowers and ferro-alloys.
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President Mugabe has been in power since 1980. Our recommendations after the 2000 elections said that it was imperative for the government to move swiftly to re-establish the rule of law and to act against those who had been involved in human rights abuses. Instead the human rights situation has worsened with increased political violence and severe restrictions on the media and political parties. All this is in contradiction with international standards for free and fair elections.
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The EU foreign ministers agreed on Feb. 18 that Zimbabwe was in violation of the Cotonou Agreement, signed in June 2000, which regulates, for the next 20 years, an integrated framework of privileged relationships between the EU, the largest donor and trade partner of developing countries, and the 77 ACP countries. The agreement covers trade and investment policies, development aid and the environment, gender issues and culture, institutional reforms and political dialogue, good governance, human rights, democratic principles, the rule of law and the involvement of civil society.
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The EU wants to build a strong partnership with a democratic Zimbabwe and has shown its commitment to this goal for more than 20 years.
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African leaders met last year in Abuja, Nigeria, to discuss Zimbabwe. Nigeria, South Africa, Mozambique and Malawi have since voiced their concern, as has UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan in a Jan. 15 statement.
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This is not a confrontation between developed and developing countries. It is not about "the EU being an arrogant bully with colonial attitudes," as the government newspaper, The Herald, keeps repeating. It is a matter of universal values, laid down in the UN Charter and the Cotonou Agreement.
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It is about the principles that the peasant is equal to the president on election day, that the power of the people lies in the secret vote, that the revolutionary legitimacy of the bullet must be replaced by the democratic legitimacy of the ballot.
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Above all, it is about how we must work together in this increasingly unjust, highly competitive and globalized world, where sound economic performance, good governance and international cooperation are a must.
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In Zimbabwe the Cotonou Agreement is encountering its first major challenge. Developed and developing countries must forge new and lasting relations in forthcoming UN conferences, in March in Monterrey, Mexico, on financing for development, and in September in Johannesburg, on sustainable development.
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The writer, Sweden's ambassador to the United Nations, who led the EU observer mission for the presidential election due in Zimbabwe on March 9 and 10, was expelled from that country last week. He contributed this comment to the International Herald Tribune.  
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The Guardian

 

 

By Chris Patten

 

THE EU has always been a good friend of Zimbabwe since independence. EU aid accounts for about two-thirds of aid going to Zimbabwe and the EU imports over 750 million of Zimbabwean goods (ZS38 billion) each year. It has been a friendship based on shared values ñ faith in democracy and determination to fight against poverty. But the events of the last couple of weeks have left me sad: sad for the people of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is gearing up for election in March. Like voters everywhere, Zimbabweans have a right to hear all the arguments and make up their minds on polling day. They have a right to a free press, and to a campaign waged through words, not violence. This is what democracy means the world over. And I still hope that the people of Zimbabwe will have their say in these elections, free from intimidation.

 

Some people have said that the EU has no business to take a view of elections in Zimbabwe. That it has not right to impose its views on another country. However electoral observation is not about imposing views. Rather it aims at strengthening a democratic process, through confidence building, conflict prevention measures and technical support. When the EU, Zimbabwe and the other ACP countries signed the Cotonou Agreement in 2000, we all said in Article 9 that respect for human rights, democratic principles and the rule of law should underpin all our policies. We were reaffirming shared beliefs that are the basis of our friendship. And we took these shared belief seriously. That's why we all also said in Article 96 that any party that did not respect these shared beliefs could face sanctions. But this was no imposition. This was an agreement between friends, a free covenant between sovereign states reaffirming the basis of our friendship.

 

Furthermore, the standards by which the elections in Zimbabwe would have been assessed - and which we were using in our own election observation mission -are not European rules, but universal norms also adopted by the South African Development Community. The EU wanted to provide election observers because it wanted to give Zimbabwe the chance to show that it took its democratic obligations under the Cotonou Agreement seriously. Political violence had been escalating. New laws to curb civil rights and press freedom were deeply worrying. We consulted with the government of Zimbabwe, but heard nothing to put our minds at rest. Election observation was, and still is, Zimbabwe's chance to reassure the EU and the world that democracy in this wonderful country is still in good health. We have the greatest respect for those who now remain to observe the elections and indeed, we will continue to support both the SADC mission, and the local observers.

 

So why did our observers leave? The last straw was the expulsion of our Chief Observer, Pierre Schori. But the Government of Zimbabwe had also tried to exclude over a third of the countries in the European Union from the observation mission. The EU doesn't work like that. We are a single entity, not something to be cut up and divided. Saying that some EU countries could not come would be like saying that players from Kwazulu-Natal could not play in the South African soccer team! The attempt to pick and choose between our members was another sign that the government of Zimbabwe was not acting in good faith. The Zimbabwean Government has said that our Chief Observer, Pierre Schori, entered Zimbabwe under false pretences, claiming a tourist visa rather than presenting himself as an election observer. That was the pretext for expelling him. This is completely untrue. The Zimbabwean Embassy in the USA issued Mr Schori a six-month, multiple entry visa. The European Commission clearly told the Zimbabwean Government in writing in advance of his arrival that Mr Schori would be the EU's Chief Observer. Mr Schori presented himself as a member of the EU Observation Mission to the Immigration Department at Harare Airport. Mr. Schori's visitor visa was no different from the visas issued to all the other observers that later received accreditation. But these misunderstandings are symptoms of a bigger problem. The EU has decided to impose sanctions not because of these unhappy details, but because of what these events showed about the government's approach to the shared values that underpin our Cotonou partnership.

 

Over several months, the European Union has been asking the government of Zimbabwe to prove us wrong: to show us that it is willing to abide by the principles of democracy and human rights that it signed up to in Cotonou. Unfortunately, it has chosen not to do so and this is clearly evidenced by the continued degradation of the political and economic environment. Those who continue to suggest that we have acted in this matter as though we considered ourselves in some way superior, as though we wished to push Zimbabwe around, are missing a crucial point. We enter into agreements with our partners as equals. The rules of Cotonou apply to us as much as to any of the African signatories. If they have concerns about our conduct, they can use the same procedures to voice them. Many people from Africa have been invited to observe elections in Europe - including in Sweden, where Mr Schori comes from. All sides have to keep their word. The sanctions that will now come into force have been specifically designed to avoid hurting the people of Zimbabwe whom we will continue to directly support where possible. These sanctions specifically impose travel restrictions and freeze the assets of those persons considered to be mainly responsible for the present government policies. They have also been accompanied by a ban on the sale of any kind of weapons or equipment from Europe, that could be used to suppress dissent in Zimbabwe. Meanwhile we will be doing everything we can to make sure that EU aid continues to reach the ordinary Zimbabweans who are facing ever-increasing social challenges. What matters now is that the people of Zimbabwe rediscover peace and security in their daily lives, that no-go areas cease to exist and that immediate steps are taken to overcome the present dramatic economic and social problems facing the country. What matters today is how the elections take place and how the country will be led in the future for the benefit of the people of Zimbabwe. I look forward to the day when all Zimbabweans can enjoy a happier partnership with their friends in Europe.

 

 Patten is the European Commissioner for External Relations.

Australia urged to go ahead with Zimbabwe tour for good of troubled nation

 

By Trevor Marshallsea

 

Zimbabwe's cricket administrators and players desperately hope Australia will still tour their country as scheduled in April despite grave fears of instability surrounding its presidential elections next month.

 

Australian cricket authorities have been closely monitoring events in Zimbabwe as an international backlash grows against President Robert Mugabe and fears mount that the country will descend into violent turmoil after the March 9-10 poll.

 

The Australian Cricket Board is taking advice from Canberra's Department of Foreign Affairs, which has issued security alerts to Australians in Zimbabwe ahead of the election, urging them to "maintain a high level of personal security awareness" and "avoid large gatherings or public demonstrations".

 

Violence has been escalating ahead of the election. Hundreds of Mugabe supporters ambushed opposition backers after a rally in Mugabe's home town of Chinhoyi on Sunday, capping a week in which police shot at opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's campaign convoy, militants attacked an opposition office and self-styled liberation war veterans forced a white family to flee their farm.

 

Australia's cricketers are scheduled to play in Zimbabwe for a month after their tour of South Africa.

 

Three one-day matches against Zimbabwe - who are coached by former Australian opener and coach Geoff Marsh - are scheduled for April 13, 14 and 17, with two Tests set down for Bulawayo from April 25 and Harare from May 3.

 

Althought the Zimbabwe Cricket Union has promised high-level security for the world's No1 team, Test captain Steve Waugh recently admitted the rising tension in the country was causing himself and his teammates concern. The strong chance exists that if Zimbabwe descends into chaos following the poll, Australia's matches against the Africans will instead be played in South Africa.

 

Cricket bodies in the provincial towns of Benoni and Potchefstroom, near Johannesburg, have reportedly been placed on stand-by to host the Tests. However, cricket figures in Zimbabwe remain eager for the Australians to tour.

 

"Zimbabweans needs something different to get their minds off what's been happening," said left-arm spinner Dirk Viljoen, who as a Test cricketer and a white farmer is qualified to comment on two much scrutinised facets of Zimbabwean life.

 

"It would also bolster the national self-image just to know that Zimbabwe would be in the news overseas for something other than politics."

Sydney Morning Herald

 

With friends like these...

The latest crisis in Africa has cast a shadow over this weekend's Commonwealth summit, but could also give it relevance. Michelle Grattan and Craig Skehan report.

 

When Malcolm Fraser hosted the 1981 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Melbourne, he was riding high on his central major role in bringing majority rule to Zimbabwe. Fraser was a hero to African leaders. And Robert Mugabe was at his first CHOGM, one of seven speakers at the opening session.

 

For Fraser, a Commonwealth man who made a name for himself on the big African issues of his day, this meeting was very special, even if visiting leaders did read headlines about their host's health (the media speculated he'd attended a cancer clinic) and leadership troubles (the Peacock forces were stirring).

 

It's an irony that the Coolum CHOGM, opening on Saturday (also with some domestic distractions, this time around the Governor-General), has the Mugabe regime's appalling behaviour as its toughest issue, and Australia one of Zimbabwe's harshest critics. But Mugabe, aging and ailing (now 78 after 22 years in power), almost certainly won't be there. The Zimbabwe delegation is expected to be led by its foreign minister.

 

This week, after Zimbabwe's opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, was charged with treason, Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, said that if the situation deteriorated, the Commonwealth could withdraw its group monitoring the March 9-10 elections (which includes former Australian Electoral Commissioner Bill Gray and Federal Liberal MP Julie Bishop). Also, Australia would "impose a series of targeted sanctions on Zimbabwe".

  

Australia and Britain argued unsuccessfully at the January Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) meeting in London that Zimbabwe should be suspended from the Commonwealth. They were stymied, largely by African nations. However, the meeting did find Zimbabwe in "serious and persistent violation" of the Harare principles, which prescribe minimum democratic standards. Australia settled for sending the election monitoring team.

 

The action group will consider Zimbabwe's position tomorrow. Yesterday, sources believed it was most likely to give the heads of government options rather than a firm recommendation - suspension or "wait and see". Sources said a likely element of the "wait and see" option was a trigger mechanism under which CMAG would implement a suspension if there were serious rights violations in the last week of the election campaign or immediately after it.

 

Australia is thinking about "smart sanctions", already imposed by the US and Europe. These centre on travel restrictions and freezing funds, although such actions by Australia would have minimal bite compared with those of America and Europe.

 

While there is an extremely strong case for suspending Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth, a problem is African resistance.

 

Zimbabwe will be debated on the conference's opening day. This puts John Howard, as chairman and host, in a difficult position. If the CMAG group has not recommended Zimbabwe's suspension, how hard should Howard go? Does he take the toughest stand on principle at the risk of being rebuffed? Or does he, if he senses the writing on the wall, go with a less confrontationist line? Sources indicate Howard feels very strongly but Commonwealth realities are strong too. The Commonwealth works by consensus, not votes.

 

CHOGMs have always been most potent when big African issues have been on the agenda. Of course, these have been easier for the leaders when the "villains" were white regimes which were resisting majority rule.

 

However, CHOGM has grappled with outrages perpetrated by black leaders. Nigeria was suspended after human rights activists were executed by the coup-installed military government in 1995.

 

Howard has never used the Commonwealth as an international stage in the way Fraser did. Nor is Howard at home with African issues. At the last CHOGM, in Durban, the Australian PM was not a main player.

 

Tony Eggleton, a former Liberal Party director who once worked for the Commonwealth, is as much responsible as anyone for Australia hosting this CHOGM. Eggleton, as executive director of the 2001 Centenary of Federation council, thought having CHOGM here would be an appropriate part of that celebration. The meeting, however, was delayed after September 11.

 

The venue was moved from Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast for security reasons. It will be different from earlier CHOGMs because the informal "retreat" will be at the same place as the main sessions (usually leaders are taken to some resort - at Coolum they are already at a resort). The program has been further compressed (Paul Keating, not much of a one for CHOGM, got it shortened when he was prime minister).

 

About 800 delegates are accredited, outnumbered by media (947 as at yesterday).

 

The Commonwealth, with its 54 members (one of them, Pakistan, is still suspended and ineligible to attend, but this meeting welcomes back Fiji), is simultaneously an anachronism and very modern. It is the former, because the central link that binds it is the old British empire, and in some part the latter because it embraces such a huge range of countries, developed and developing, wealthy and poor, vast nations and tiny island states.

 

Commonwealth leaders might be in a club-like atmosphere, socialising at their "retreat". But it's a mistake to think of this as a rich man's club. The white, affluent countries - Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - are in a minority. Much of the non-headline grabbing work of the Commonwealth is on issues such as development and the problems of small states.

 

These, for instance, are worried about a crackdown by the World Bank and other institutions on offshore banking, vital to some of their economies. Countries in the Caribbean are struggling with the decline in the tourist industry since September 11. CHOGM's discussions will include international terrorism and it is expected to produce a strong pronouncement.

 

Aware that the Commonwealth as an institution has to jostle for relevance in today's world, the Durban meeting set up a 10-leader review group, headed by South Africa's Thabo Mbeki and including Howard. Among its recommendations: that the Commonwealth's "good offices" (intervention in trouble spots) role should be strengthened.

 

Howard declared yesterday: "I will be encouraging leaders to agree on clearer procedures for the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group, the political teeth of the Commonwealth, to follow when dealing with serious or persistent violation of Commonwealth values, including good governance and human rights."

 

The main way in which the Commonwealth can stay relevant is to have the courage to act strongly in situations when conscience requires it - such as Zimbabwe.

 

Until the next CHOGM meeting - next year - Howard holds the ongoing role of chairman of the Commonwealth. It might be quite an interesting time.

 

From The Financial Times (UK), 28 February

 

 

Harare Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe suffered two potentially serious setbacks in the courts yesterday when both the Supreme and High courts gave judgments against his government that are likely to boost the opposition vote at next month's presidential election. The legal challenges were mounted by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and civil rights groups. One of the three controversial bills rushed through parliament last month - the General Laws Amendment Act - was struck down by the Supreme Court in a four-to-one judgment. This act contains 40 different laws covering a range of electoral issues, including the appointment of monitors, voter education and the security of ballot boxes after the polls close. Opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai's advisers believe the judgment will boost his campaign.

 

The act precludes election monitors other than those appointed by the government. Now this has been struck down, there will be demands for international and independent domestic observers to be accorded monitor status, which will enable them to keep a much closer watch on the actual polling process and reduce the extent of voterigging. One of the act's provisions entitles polling officers to demand evidence of residence or citizenship from people already registered on the voter roll. Opposition activists feared this would be used by government polling officers to minimise the turnout, since it is widely believed that a large turnout on March 9-10 will favour Mr Tsvangirai. The General Laws act has also been used to give Mr Mugabe temporary powers to take over white-owned commercial farms without going through the courts. This too has been struck down, which means that government land acquisition orders can again be challenged in the courts.

 

Because the act was struck down by a majority in the Supreme Court, the government cannot appeal against the judgment. Lawyers say, however, that Mr Mugabe may use his presidential powers to override the Supreme Court, as he has done in the past. By contrast, the High Court ruling by Judge Ismail Adam, which extends the period during which residents with dual citizenship may renounce foreign citizenship, is likely to be taken to appeal by the government. The judgment is electorally important because it means thousands of Zimbabweans who have a technical right to citizenship of another country, but who did not renounce that right by the end of last year, will still be eligible to vote.

From News24 (SA), 27 February

 

 

Harare About 50 trainee polling agents of the opposition MDC party were attacked and severely injured on Sunday after Zanu PF supporters raided a house at a local mission school, 20km west of Gweru, where they were being trained. Police confirmed the attacks and said some of the injured were still at Lower Gweru Mission Hospital while others were at Gweru General Hospital. "We have arrested five suspects, among them two war veterans identified as Silas Wafawanaka and John Ntini," said an official at Gweru Rural Police Station. Renson Gasela, the MDC Member of Parliament for Gweru Rural described the attacks as unfortunate as they were unprovoked. The latest attack is part of a series of disruptions on the activities of the opposition countrywide in which police and war veterans banned 120 political rallies, especially in the rural areas.

 

"Our polling agents were being trained on how to conduct themselves on election dates March 9 and 10 when they were beaten up badly," he said. The training was being conducted at MDC activist Livingstone Moyo's house. The attacks occurred a few minutes before a Zanu PF campaign rally addressed by parliamentary Speaker Emmerson Mnangagwa, kicked off just two kilometres away. "The ZanuPF supporters locked us inside and attacked us with stones, logs and machetes. We only managed to force our way out when they threatened to set the house on fire," a shaken Moyo said. The supporters later looted several household goods and fled to their hired buses. They are believed to have been bussed from Gweru and Kwekwe on Ziscosteel Company and Gweru Teachers' College buses. Moyo said the police only arrived at the scene of the attack six hours later although the police station is just two kilometres away. On Tuesday, several groups of observers, including two South Africans visited the area and talked to some of the survivors, he said.

 

President Mugabe seems determined to do everything possible to win the election. The government has reduced polling stations in opposition party's strongholds, while increasing the numbers in areas where the ruling Zanu PF enjoyed support. "Many Zimbabweans will be disenfranchised by the RegistrarGeneral's decision on the number of polling stations," said Learnmore Jongwe, the MDC information and publicity secretary. "The strategy is carefully designed to produce long queues in MDC strongholds, slow down the voting process and frustrate the people in these areas so that they will not all vote." In Harare and Chitungwiza, both MDC strongholds, the number of polling stations have been reduced by 30% from 240 in the June 2000 parliamentary election to 167 in next month's election.

 

For example, in Harare East constituency, the number of polling stations has fallen from 21 to 11. In Harare North, the polling stations have been slashed by nearly half from 17 to nine, while the Zengeza constituency now has seven polling stations compared to 12 in the June 2000 election. In Bulawayo, which has eight constituencies, the polling stations have been reduced by 18% from 164 to 134. Bulawayo North has lost eight polling stations. For Gweru, the number of polling stations has been reduced by 34% from 44 to 29. In Kwekwe, the polling stations are down to 13 from 17 during the last election. No explanation for the reduction of polling stations was given. "While the urban constituencies have lost polling stations, rural areas, which are erroneously perceived by the ruling party as its strongholds, have made significant gains. In rural Midlands for instance, the number of polling stations has increased by 34% from 497 to 699. The major beneficiaries are the Gokwe constituencies which have gained 124 new polling stations," Jongwe said. The chief elections officer, Retired Brigadier Douglas Nyikayaramba, said he knew nothing about these developments. "The Electoral Supervisory Commission has not yet been presented with the full list of polling stations by the RegistrarGeneral. We are having a meeting on February 28 with the Registrar-General when we will know the exact figure of the polling stations," he said.

From The News Room ZWnews, 27 February

 

 

Nine MDC activists, arrested on Saturday in Marondera appeared in the local magistrates’ court on Wednesday morning. They are accused of planning and executing a petrol bomb attack on a Zanu PF vehicle parked at Marondera police station. The nine deny the charges, and in addition showed the magistrate the injuries they claim to have received during beatings by the police while in custody. They were remanded in custody until Thursday morning when the hearing will continue.

 

Tafadzwa Musekiwa, the MDC MP for Zengeza, had his house severely damaged after an attack by Zanu PF youths from the party's base in the area. The attack, which took place in the early hours of the morning, was carried out by an estimated 200 youths who chanted antiMDC slogans. The roof of the house was severely damaged while neighbouring houses had their windows broken. Police did not attend to the incident; they termed the incident political and therefore outside their jurisdiction. Musekiwa said he would institute legal action against the police and government.

 

In Karoi on Tuesday, Biggie Murove was recovering from a stressful day he had spent at the police station arranging for the release of eight MDC activists jailed for the past month without trial, when a group of about 300 Zanu PF youths were dropped by council trucks a few metres from his home. At around 10 pm, the youths started throwing stones at his house. Although police witnessed the incident, they were unable to stop the attack. The gang later went on the rampage in Chikangwe Township where they destroyed and burnt fruit, vegetables and other items at Mrs Murove's open market. They also destroyed all windows of houses belonging to the eight MDC supporters and a shop belonging to a retired Catholic elder. Early on Wednesday morning, the police arrived at Murove’s house claiming they were searching for "fugitives". Their search was unsuccessful.

 

Degrees in Violence: Robert Mugabe and the Struggle for Power in Zimbabwe by David Blair

 

A new book on Zimbabwe is published today. Enquire at your local bookstore. This book is probably not available in Zimbabwe...

 

Robert Mugabe is a unique figure among African leaders. Having led the struggle against colonial rule, he has held office uninterruptedly since independence. Now, after 21 years of dominance, Mugabe is waging a bitter struggle to hold power against an opposition born from the spiralling economic and social collapse of Zimbabwe. This timely and compelling book tells the story of Zimbabwe from the hopeful era of new independence to the present reality of petrol queues, food riots and a terror campaign waged by Mugabe supporters. David Blair is a staff foreign correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. Born in Malawi in 1973 he grew up in Lesotho and began working as a journalist in Uganda. He was recently named Young Journalist of the Year by the Foreign Press Association. He was forced to leave Zimbabwe in June 2001 as Robert Mugabe's government sought to silence the media. He left a country in turmoil, gripped by a ferocious battle for power.

Daily News

 

Matabeleland villagers flee to South Africa as terror mounts 

 

2/28/02 7:39:58 AM (GMT +2)
 

 

From Sandra Mujokoro in Bulawayo

 

An unspecified number of Zimbabweans are reportedly fleeing to South Africa through illegal exit points as violence mounts in Matabeleland’s rural areas ahead of the presidential election.

 

Over 100 people have been killed in political violence since the 2000 parliamentary election.

 

At Beitbridge border post, up to 50 border jumpers are arrested daily by South African immigration officers and the numbers are expected to increase as the election draws nearer, an official said.

 

South African soldiers have set up a 24-hour checkpoint, two kilometres from the Beitbridge border post in Limpopo province as part of the special security arrangements.

 

A border post official who declined to be named said most border jumpers were from the politically troubled rural areas of Matabeleland.

 

Most cross the crocodile-infested Limpopo River into South Africa looking for jobs on farms while others make a living by selling hand-carved artifacts in the northern frontier town of Messina.

 

A Zimbabwean immigration officer said: “They obviously will not have the right papers and opt to leave the country illegally.

 

“But hundreds of others are applying for political asylum and if their papers are in order they go through,” he said.

 

He said the immigration officers are overwhelmed by the flood of people travelling to South Africa for one reason or another.

 

Botswana deported over 1 000 Zimbabweans last month. Most people fleeing to Botswana and South Africa are from Bulawayo where Zanu PF youths have launched a reign of terror in the high-density areas.

 

Malawian immigration officials said the flow of Zimbabweans into the country has not changed significantly. Hudson Mankhwala, the public relations officer for the Department of Immigration, said most of the visitors take advantage of Malawi’s liberal immigration laws.

 

“In the wake of sanctions and threats of sanctions against Zimbabwe, we have had cases of Zimbabweans coming here to try to fraudulently acquire Malawian passports to travel to Europe,” he said.

 

Over 200 Zimbabweans are reportedly camped at cheap lodges and inns in
Blantyre and Lilongwe.

 

Hundreds of Zimbabweans are leaving daily for the United Kingdom.
Air Zimbabwe has recorded fully booked flights since the middle of last year despite the deportation of many would-be asylum seekers.
 

Daily News