The Herald
Masvingo police bust $30m sugar
scandal
From Isdore Guvamombe in MASVINGO
POLICE in Masvingo
yesterday bust a scam in which more than 500 tonnes of
sugar worth $30
million were bought clandestinely from Triangle Sugar
Estates in Chiredzi, by
a Harare businessman, at a time when the country is
hit by an acute shortage
of the commodity.
If sold on the black market, the impounded sugar, is
worth $200 million.
The gazetted controlled price of a kilogramme of
sugar is less than $100,
but the commodity is being sold for up to $500 on
the black market.
Out of the 500 tonnes of sugar bought by the Harare
businessman (name
supplied), 210 tonnes had already been delivered from the
estate's mill.
The businessman is believed to have been working in
cahoots with some senior
workers at Triangle Sugar Estates.
Sources in
the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe said 500 tonnes of sugar are
enough to feed
the country for two weeks.
There was drama at the sugar mill when two
30-tonne trucks hired by the
businessman to carry the sugar, drove off in a
huff after police had
intercepted a third truck carrying another 30 tonnes of
the basic commodity.
Police believe that the vehicles were fitted with
inter-communication
gadgets given that once police stopped one of the
vehicles, about five
kilometres outside Triangle town, the other truck
drivers simultaneously
drove off from the mill.
Masvingo police
spokesman, Inspector Learn Ncube yesterday said papers in
the hands of the
police indicated that the businessman was sold 500 metric
tonnes.
"He
had collected at least 210 tonnes of sugar by the time we discovered
what was
happening.
"One of the truck drivers is in custody and we have impounded
one of the
vehicles with 30 tonnes of sugar until we see the direction of
our
investigations," said Insp Ncube.
"Our investigations now need to
establish how he got to buy the sugar, where
he is selling it and we want to
see the legality of his deal."
Police, said Insp Ncube, believe that if
the deal was genuine, his drivers
would not have fled when the law
enforcement agents intercepted the first
load.
The sugar, it is
suspected, was bound for the more lucrative export
market.
The
Herald
Amnesty beneficiaries go on housebreaking
spree
From Midlands Bureau
At least 10 prisoners released
under a Presidential amnesty early this month
have gone on a housebreaking
rampage in the Midlands, stealing property
worth millions of dollars, police
said on Thursday.
Police spokesman Inspector Oliver Mandipaka said some
of the break-ins were
allegedly hatched while the prisoners were still in
prison, and committed
hours after they got their freedom.
He said so
far 10 people, who benefited from the Presidential pardon, had
been arrested
in the province after being implicated in criminal activities.
"Some of
them committed crimes on the day of their pardon on their way
home," said
Insp Mandipaka.
He said in one case, three former convicts went on a
spate of housebreaking
and theft in Kwekwe and Redcliff and stole electrical
goods and clothes
worth $1,4 million.
The trio was incarcerated at
Kadoma Prison where they hatched a plan to
embark on criminal activities on
their release.
Insp Mandipaka said the trio broke into Club Zero in
Mbizo, Express Store in
Redcliff and several houses, stealing property which
included stoves, radio
receivers and video recorders.
"They were
arrested in a bush near Mbizo by members of the Zimbabwe National
Army while
sharing the loot," he said. After their arrest, one of the
suspects escaped
from police custody and was still being sought by the
police.
The
Zimbabwe Prison Service started releasing beneficiaries of the amnesty
on
January 2 and a total of 5 600 inmates would be released from the country
's
jails in a bid to reduce the population from 24 500.
Zimbabwe's 40
prisons have a combined holding capacity of 16 000.
Herald
Police recover gadgets worth
$20m
Herald Reporter
Police recovered stolen electrical
gadgets and bundles of copper and
aluminium cables worth over $20 million in
Mbare and at a house in Hatfield,
resulting in the arrest of 10 suspects this
week.
Part of the aluminium and copper cables and other stolen goods
were
recovered in a hole that had been dug out in the Hatfield
house.
This comes after the launch of a joint operation by police and the
Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority, to curb rampant thefts of Zesa
property early
this month.
Mbare Police Superintendent Shakespear
Marange yesterday said the operation
recovered 200 electrical switches of
various voltages and nine line tapes
all valued at $10,4
million.
Aluminium and copper cables whose value is estimated at more
than $12
million were also recovered.
"Police raided some cabins in
Mbare at around 11 pm on Wednesday, following
a tip off from some members of
the public. Eight suspects aged between 19
and 30 were arrested," Supt
Marange said.
He said investigations carried out so far have revealed
that there was a
gang of thieves going around suburbs stealing switches from
Zesa subsidiary
offices.
Supt Marange said switches with a low voltage
were being stolen from houses
and schools around greater Harare before they
were taken to Mbare market for
sale.
"We are convinced that the
arrests of the suspects will help resolve other
cases of theft of Zesa and
vandalism of council properties," he said.
On Thursday, police officers
patrolling the Hatfield area cited two men who
appeared to be waiting for a
lift at midnight.
When the officers approached the two, they discovered
more than 100 bundles
of cables hidden in an isolated area a few metres away
from where the two
stood.
"The two were arrested and took the police
officers to their hideout in
Hatfield. They were probably waiting for a
vehicle to pick the loot and
deposit it somewhere," he said.
Supt
Marange said upon searching the house, police discovered that there was
a big
hole that had been dug out under one bed in the house, where other
stolen
goods were stored.
"In most cases, the aluminium and copper cables are
sold to some illegal
dealers in the country who smelt it down before
exporting it to South
Africa."
He said the case has since been
referred to the CID Gold Squad for further
investigations.
Meanwhile,
two of the four criminals who stole formica planks worth $8,5
million from a
Harare company were arrested at around 2 am on Thursday.
The two, who
were in the company of two other accomplices who are still at
large, broke
into the company building after they had threatened to shoot
security guards
who were manning the premises if they alerted the police.
After what
appeared to be a successful housebreaking and theft spree, two
suspects drove
out of the company premises while the other two followed on
foot.
The
two on foot met with police officers patrolling Hatfield before they had
got
to the getaway vehicle.
IMF Concerned With Crisis
Zimbabwe
Independent (Harare)
January 17, 2003
Posted to the web January 17,
2003
Barnabas Thondhlana
THE International Monetary Fund (IMF)
has expressed deep concern about
Zimbabwe's sharp decline in economic
activity and per capital income, the
rise in poverty and human suffering, the
acceleration of inflation and the
accumulation of domestic and external
payment arrears, all of which gathered
pace in 2001.
In its June 2002
Country Report on Zimbabwe, which became available in
December, the IMF
directors said the deteriorating situation in the country
was the result of
inappropriate economic policies aggravated by violence and
disruptions to
productive activity related to the government's fast-track
land reform
programme.
"Directors expressed concern that Zimbabwe's economic and
social problems
are having adverse spillover effects on neighbouring
countries, which adds
to the urgency of taking decisive corrective action,"
the IMF report said.
"Directors agreed that significant changes in the
government's economic
policies, together with improvements in governance and
the adoption of a
transparent and orderly land reform programme, are urgently
needed to
prevent a worsening of the economic crisis."
The report said
the directors stressed in particular that the land reform
programme should
minimise disruptions to the productive sectors and to
domestic food supply,
and urged the authorities to honor commitments made in
Abuja and work closely
with the United Nations Development Programme in
formulating a programme that
would receive broad domestic and international
support.
The IMF
directors said bringing the fiscal deficit under control would be
crucial to
restoring macro-economic stability, and acknowledged the limited
progress
achieved in 2001 to reduce the fiscal deficit, but noted that the
targeted
reduction in non-interest expenditure had not been achieved. They
said most
of the budgetary savings were attributable to a decline in
interest outlays
due to the forced restructuring of the government's
domestic debt.
"A
loose monetary policy has aggravated economic imbalances and
fuelled
inflation, and has increased the vulnerability of the banking
system,' the
report said. "Authorities should to take immediate corrective
measures to
mop up excess liquidity, allow interest rates to become positive
in real
terms and dismantle the distortionary subsidised credit facilities.
(There
is) need to ensure the health of the banking system by dealing
promptly with
non-viable institutions, and to fully enforce prudential
regulations and
capital adequacy requirements."
The IMF directors
noted "with concern" that the over-valuation of the
Zimbabwe dollar had
seriously hampered the country's competitiveness, and
had resulted in a
shortage of foreign exchange, the exhaustion of usable
foreign reserves, a
large accumulation of external payment arrears, and a
wide spread between the
official and the parallel exchange rates.
"An adjustment in the official
exchange rate to a more realistic level,
supported by tight monetary and
fiscal policies, is urgently needed to
restore external viability and reduce
the rent seeking associated with
foreign exchange rationing," the report
said.
"While this adjustment could be achieved by a substantial
up-front
devaluation, followed by a return to the previous crawling peg
arrangement,
several directors considered that a unified floating exchange
rate should be
the ultimate objective."
The report said while Zimbabwe
had made a commitment to make quarterly
payments on its overdue financial
obligations to the Fund, such payments
"would not be sufficient to eliminate,
or even stabilise Zimbabwe's
arrears".
"Zimbabwe's arrears to the PRGF
Trust could reduce the availability of
resources to other eligible
countries," the IMF said, urging Harare to
promptly settle overdue financial
obligations to the Fund.
afrol.com
Zimbabwe police accused of
poisoning opposition activists
afrol News, 17 January - The Zimbabwean
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
opposition party today accuses the
police of poisoning and torturing its
leaders and activists in custody. The
party leadership presents a list of
several MDC activists that were "made to
drink an unspecified liquid" - most
of them needing medication after their
"treatment".
Revelations that MDC parliamentarian Job Sikhala, who had
been tortured
while in police custody, "was also made to drink an unspecified
liquid," had
been the final confirmation of the opposition's fears that
something
frightening was going on. According the MDC Secretary-General
Welshman
Ncube, this further proved the party's suspicions that "all MDC
leaders and
activists who have been in police custody in the last few months
have been
poisoned."
Examples of these included MDC parliamentarian
Tichaona Munyanyi, "who fell
extremely ill immediately after his release from
police custody as he
developed a serious headache and an incessant diarrhoea
that lasted 10 days
after his release." Munyanyi had to spend 5 days at West
End Clinic as a
result of his illness.
Further, Solomon Silas
Chikowero, an MDC Security employee, had been "forced
to drink a substance
from a bottle while he was blindfolded on 27 August
2002 after his arrest and
torture at Chinamora Police Station in Domboshava.
Ever since he continues to
experience an incessant diarrhoea and dizziness,"
the MDC statement
reads.
Stephen Chasara and Davies Mtetwa, who were in the MDC
Chitungwiza
provincial executive, were "arrested and tortured in police
custody and told
of being forced to drink an unnamed substance. They both
subsequently died
within 7 months." Mtetwa died on 26 April 2002, while
Chasara died on 15
June 2002.
- The two had been abducted on 14
November 2001 at 3 am from Chasara's home
where Mtetwa also lived, Ncube
recalls. "They were tortured the whole day
and Chasara was released the same
day at around 6pm while Mtewa was released
on 15 November. They both had
serious injuries under their feet and on their
backs from being beaten with
sticks at Harare Central. They had also been
tortured by being subjected to
electric shocks."
Also Robbie Siyanai, an MDC Provincial Information
Officer, had been
abducted on 7 April 2002 from the party's provincial
offices and "severely
tortured by state agents and was also made to drink an
unnamed white
liquid." Siyanai was said to immediately have "felt dizzy and
remains
seriously ill thereafter." He has been on medication ever since. His
sense
of hearing was severely affected and now he can hardly
hear.
Ex-MDC spokesman Learnmore Jongwe had died under similar
circumstances at
Harare Remand Prison on 22 October 2002, "after chloroquine
had been
introduced into his body. One day we will know how and by whom
that
chloroquine was introduced into his body," Ncube says.
Further,
last year, MDC Treasurer-General Fletcher Dulini Ncube, who also
holds a seat
in Parliament, "was held in handcuffs while in a hospital bed
where he had
just underdone surgery to remove his eye. His eye had developed
an infection
as a result of the fact that he was denied his special diet and
treatment
while in police custody." Dulini is a diabetic patient.
The MDC
Secretary-General protested what he calls the "reign of terror that
Robert
Mugabe has unleashed." He also used the opportunity to protest the
disputed
organisation of the World Cup Cricket in Zimbabwe. "The World Cup
authorities
must know that they bear the responsibility for the current
terrorization of
Zimbabweans by the Mugabe regime in a last ditch effort to
silence its
critics before the start of the World Cup cricket games,"
Ncube
stated.
Daily Telegraph
Mugabe aide
criticises land grab
By Peta Thornycroft in
Harare
(Filed: 18/01/2003)
A senior figure in President Robert
Mugabe's regime admitted yesterday that
the mass seizure of white-owned farms
had caused a slump in production.
Peter Chanetsa, governor of Mashonaland
West province, Zimbabwe's
agricultural heartland, said more than half those
allocated white-owned
farms had failed to show up to claim their
gains.
With fields lying empty, he predicted a fall in production. The
first
official admission of failure comes amid the worst food shortages
in
Zimbabwe's history. More than six million people are dependent
on
international aid.
Mr Chanetsa's remarks were in the report of a
committee of MPs, sent to
evaluate the confiscation last year of 90 per cent
of white-owned farms.
"Some of those who took up their plots are only
cellphone farmers who manage
their plots from urban centres, or visit the
farms during weekends with very
little production," Mr Chanetsa
said.
This week at least 10 of the last surviving group of 200 tobacco
farmers
received eviction notices in the Karoi district. They have to leave
their
land within 90 days, before harvesting their crops.
As the
crisis deepens, Zimbabwe's seniormilitary commander has called for
the
formation of a task force.
General Vitalis Zvinavashe, the armed forces
chief of staff, appeared to
rebuke the government when he called for measures
to deal with the economic
crisis.