The Zimbabwe Situation

http://uk.reuters.com

Thu Jan 22, 2009 10:46am GMT

By Nelson Banya

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said
Thursday he was hopeful a regional summit next week could end the deadlock
in power-sharing talks with President Robert Mugabe.

Tsvangirai and Mugabe signed a power-sharing deal last September to try to
end a post-election crisis, but the pact appears to be unravelling over
control of cabinet posts.

Monday, regional leaders failed to nudge the two parties to form a
government but called for a special summit of the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) in South Africa on January 26 in another effort
to break the deadlock.

Similar meetings have failed to persuade the rivals to agree to implement
the pact, which is seen by many as the best chance of rescuing Zimbabwe's
economy and easing a humanitarian crisis, including a cholera outbreak that
U.N. agencies say has killed nearly 2,800 people out of 48,623 cases.

"I hope that if SADC leaders approach the problem with an objective point of
view, I'm sure we should be able to resolve the matter," Tsvangirai told
reporters after touring a cholera treatment centre in a Harare suburb. "I am
anxious that we resolve these issues and form the government."

But Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was
cautious and stuck to his earlier demands: "I'm sure that everyone who is
looking at this dispute may conclude that the MDC is obstructionist. No,
we're not."

"The issues that we keep on insisting on must be resolved, have to be
resolved. We have a compelling case for the resolution of the two remaining
issues."

Tsvangirai said the crucial issues were the equitable allocation of cabinet
positions and provincial governorships, and the release of opposition
supporters and human rights activists.

He said the cholera epidemic highlighted the urgent need for a functional
government. "This suffering must end, we'll do everything in our power to
make sure that ... we take the responsibility to fix these problems for the
good of the nation and the good of the people," Tsvangirai said.

Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in the first round of a presidential election
last March, but failed to get enough votes to avoid a run-off vote
eventually won by Mugabe after Tsvangirai pulled out citing violence against
his supporters.

Critics say Mugabe's policies, such as the seizure of white-owned farms,
have ruined Zimbabwe's economy, but the ruler -- in power since independence
from Britain in 1980 -- blames Western sanctions for the crisis.

Mugabe's top army commander said Zimbabwe was ready to thwart any invasion
by Western forces to topple the embattled government, a state daily
newspaper reported Thursday.

EU to step up pressure on Zimbabwe's Mugabe

http://af.reuters.com

Thu Jan 22, 2009 2:01pm GMT

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will next Monday step up pressure on
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe to share power by urging a probe into
whether diamond sales are being used to support his government, a draft
showed.

The bloc's foreign ministers, who meet in Brussels on January 26, will also
add names to a list of Zimbabwean officials banned from travelling in the EU
because of their links to alleged human rights abuses, a draft EU paper
obtained by Reuters showed.

"The (EU) Council supports action to investigate the exploitation of
diamonds from the site of Marange/Chiadzwa and their significance in
possible financial support to the regime and recent human rights abuses,"
the document, which will be presented to EU ministers, said.

The draft urges the Kimberley Process -- an international certification
scheme set up to ensure diamonds do not fund conflict -- "to take action
with a view to ensure Zimbabwe's compliance with its Kimberley obligations".

Alongside platinum and gold, diamonds are among the natural wealth that
Zimbabwe could expect to profit from if it emerges from a humanitarian and
economic crisis that has seen thousands die of cholera and inflation rocket
to stratospheric rates.

The World Diamond Council industry body has put Zimbabwe's production of
rough diamonds at 0.4 percent of world production, mostly exported with the
Kimberley Process certificate. However in December it raised concern about
possible illegal exports "for the personal gain of a few".

Despite growing international pressure on him to step down, power-sharing
talks between Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai remain
deadlocked in a dispute over cabinet posts.

"The (EU) Council condemns the regime for its ongoing failure to address the
most basic economic and social needs of its people ... The Council urges
stakeholders to comply with the power sharing agreement," the EU draft said.

Critics say Mugabe's policies, such as the seizure of white-owned farms,
have ruined Zimbabwe's economy, but the ruler -- in power since independence
from Britain in 1980 -- blames Western sanctions for the crisis.

The EU only last December added 11 names to a list of some 160 officials,
including Mugabe himself, banned from entering the bloc. The EU draft did
not say how many more would be added.

Tsvangirai urges SADC to be objective on power sharing saga

http://www.sabcnews.com/

January 22
2009, 8:17:00

Thulasizwe Simelane

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader
Morgan Tsvangirai is calling on Southern African Development Community
(SADC) leaders to take an objective approach on Zimbabwe's power sharing
debacle. Tsvangirai says he's anxious to put an end to the nation's
suffering by resolving the long-standing impasse over the sharing of cabinet
positions.

Tsvangirai received a resounding welcome when he visited the
cholera-afflicted Harare townships, and he immediately offered a quick
reality check ahead of a deadlock-breaking summit. The raging epidemic has
claimed the lives of more than 2 000 people, and thousands more are
threatened by hunger and a collapsing economy.

Tsvangirai says people might think the MDC is obstructing the talks in
Zimbabwe, but it's not. "The issues we're raising have to be resolved. It is
SADC who have guaranteed that these issues must be resolved, and I'm sure
that if the regional leaders take an objective view of these issues, they
can be resolved, so we can form the government."

Meanwhile, political analyst Takura Zhanhazha has warned that the
dialogue must not be allowed to collapse. Zhanhazha says only SADC must to
resolve this impasse.

Zimbabwe opposition says 'suffering must end' as cholera surges

http://news.yahoo.com

Thu Jan 22, 10:44 am ET

HARARE (AFP) - Opposition chief Morgan Tsvangirai said Thursday a regional
summit could break Zimbabwe's political impasse and end the suffering of a
nation where an unchecked cholera epidemic has claimed over 2,700 lives.

The latest alarming report by the World Health Organisation highlighted the
failure of health authorities and aid agencies to rein in the deadly but
treatable disease, which has infected more than 48,000 people since August.

The new death toll of 2,755 marks a nearly 25 percent increase in fatalities
in less than a week, with the disease showing no sign of slowing.

Many of the deaths have been in Harare, a result of a devastating breakdown
in the capital's infrastructure, with broken sewage and water pipes
unrepaired while mountains of uncollected refuse line the streets of
populous suburbs.

Tsvangirai visited a cholera centre in Budiriro, the suburb at the epicentre
of the outbreak that has spread across the country and over Zimbabwe's
borders.

"I am saying that this suffering must end, for all of us, for the good of
the nation, certainly this suffering must end," Tsvangirai said.

"You are also aware that the education system is down, the health system is
down, industries are closed, the food situation is in a critical state," he
added.

Zimbabwe's economy has been in freefall for years, but a humanitarian crisis
has exploded since disputed elections last March, when Tsvangirai defeated
President Robert Mugabe in a first round presidential vote and his Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) seized its first majority in parliament.

His victory was greeted with a wave of violence blamed on Mugane's ZANU-PF
party which has left at least 180 dead, according to Amnesty International,
most of them MDC supporters.

Without a functioning government for 10 months, Zimbabwe's already battered
economy has plunged to new, bizarre depths -- a nation where cash loses its
value by the day and ordinary people use trillion-dollar bills to buy bread.

A teachers union Thursday warned that school would not open as scheduled
next week unless they receive their salaries in US dollars. This month they
were paid 26 trillion Zimbabwe dollars, worth about three US dollars.

Marathon talks Monday between the political rivals failed to find a
compromise on a proposed unity government, but now regional leaders are
preparing to meet in South Africa on January 26 in a new bid to reach a
deal.

Zimbabwe is also certain to figure prominently when the African Union opens
its summit on February 1.

Tsvangirai said negotiations between the MDC, a breakaway faction of his
party and ZANU-PF had once again stalled over the failure to address issues
related to attribution of key ministries, as well as allocation of
provincial governors and the release of detained activists.

But he said he was confident that the Monday summit of the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) would find a way to save Zimbabwe's unity
accord.

"I am sure that we should be able to resolve these issues. I am anxious that
we resolve these issues and form the government," he said.

The upcoming summit will mark the fourth time that all SADC members have
gathered to discuss Zimbabwe's crisis since the March elections.

Human Rights Watch said that if Mugabe's government failed to end the
political violence and other rights abuses, the African Union should suspend
Zimbabwe from the 53-nation group.

The international rights body wants the AU, which meets in Ethiopia next
week, to step into regional mediation efforts which it says have failed to
solve the political stand-off or act against rights abuses.

Analysis: Zimbabwe breakthrough next week unlikely

Associated Press

By DONNA BRYSON - 17 minutes ago

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) - Zimbabwe's rival political leaders failed
again this week to break their deadlock over power-sharing, and hopes are
dim that an emergency regional summit on the crisis will do any better.

The wrangling keeps politicians from grappling with Zimbabwe's dizzying
economic decline. That means more death from disease and hunger in a nation
that once exported grain and boasted health, sanitation and education
systems that were the envy of its neighbors in southern Africa.

Leaders of the Southern African Development Community nations will discuss
the crisis Monday, but they are unlikely to do more than make their usual
call on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his main rival, Morgan
Tsvangirai, to implement a power-sharing agreement stalled since September.

In their latest face-to-face meeting, Mugabe and Tsvangirai remained at an
impasse after talks that stretched from Monday afternoon into the early
hours of Tuesday. Since then, Zimbabwe's factions have only hardened their
stances.

Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980, says Tsvangirai
should join him in a unity government and work out any reservations later.
Tsvangirai refuses to enter a government before attacks on his supporters
end and until he is assured members of his party will have an equal share of
key Cabinet seats and other government posts.

Zimbabwe has been virtually without a government since an inconclusive
presidential election last March. The power-sharing deal was signed amid
great fanfare and high expectations in September, but questions were raised
almost immediately about whether it could work.

Some of Tsvangirai's allies say he never should have agreed to serve as
prime minister in a government that left Mugabe as president. Mugabe,
meanwhile, is being held back by aides in the military and government who
don't want to give up power and prestige to the opposition.

Tsvangirai won more votes than Mugabe in the opening round of presidential
balloting nearly a year ago, but he pulled out of a June runoff because of
violence aimed at opposition supporters.

Tsvangirai has little reason to trust Mugabe, who is accused of overseeing
Zimbabwe's decline, trampling on democratic rights and killing opposition
supporters.

Mugabe, who turns 85 next month, has shown little respect for Tsvangirai,
calling him a puppet of the West and repeatedly pointing to the much younger
union leader's lack of experience fighting colonialism.

On Thursday, state media in Zimbabwe - the only source of news for many of
the country's people - repeated charges that Britain and the U.S. want to
invade to topple Mugabe and replace him with Tsvangirai.

The opposition says Mugabe is engaging in "hate speech" by trying to tie the
president's foes to white-ruled nations and has included stopping such
rhetoric on a list of matters that must be addressed before it joins any
unity government.

Tsvangirai, visiting a cholera clinic Thursday, said he was sticking to his
conditions. He said the regional leaders meeting Monday in Pretoria, South
Africa, "should not be arm-twisted by Mugabe."

It has become increasingly clear that the opposition believes the regional
group has failed, largely because it refuses to publicly condemn Mugabe. The
opposition wants the Zimbabwe issue handed over to others - perhaps the
African Union or a special U.N. envoy.

The regional group itself could call for the AU to step in.

Neighboring leaders have hinted they are losing patience with Mugabe, and a
logical next step would be to move the discussion to the larger African
forum. The AU has a summit in Ethiopia at the beginning of February, and
Zimbabwean activists are already gathering in Addis Ababa.

Mugabe may not wait for the AU to weigh in, especially if he fears it will
be more demanding of him than his immediate neighbors have been.

Mugabe could unilaterally name a government, freezing the opposition out of
the Cabinet. That would mean more impasse, because the opposition dominates
parliament, and it could spark street protests.

The only certainty is more uncertainty - and more misery for ordinary
Zimbabweans.

Donna Bryson is The Associated Press bureau chief for southern Africa.

Daily cholera update and alerts, 21 Jan 2009

WHO alarmed by rising cholera toll in Harare

http://www.iol.co.za

January 22 2009 at 10:40AM

Geneva - The cholera death toll in Zimbabwe is approaching 2 500, according
to World Health Organisation statistics published on Thursday.

A total of 2 495 people have died since the outbreak which started last
August, while 47 499 others are suspected to be infected.

The new toll is 270 more than the 2 225 reported by the WHO a week ago,
while the number of people affected soared by 4 824 from 42 675.

The United Nations' humanitarian co-ordination office (OCHA) said last week
in Geneva that preventions measures were not working and that a growing
number of deaths were occurring beyond the reach of health workers in rural
areas. - AFP

Cholera levels in rural Zimbabwe may still rise - MSF

© Joanna Stavropoulou / MSF The recent outbreak of cholera in Zimbabwe is the worst the country has seen in many years. MSF is responding in a number of areas across the country to save people who have been stricken with the water-borne illness.

The southern town of Beitbridge, on the border with South Africa, has been particularly hard hit. In one week since 14 November, more than 1,500 cases were reported in this town of approximately 50,000 people. The very poor water and sanitation conditions in the town makes it easier for the bacteria to spread.

The focus of Zimbabwe's cholera outbreak is increasingly in the rural areas. Cases are appearing in many places, sometimes just a few here and there, while other areas report a steady and significant increase of cases each week. As is often seen in rural outbreaks, deaths occur more commonly in the community, before interventions can start. The concern is that the peak has not yet been reached in many of these rural districts.

Cases continue to decrease in Harare, but the number of cases occurring there and in Kadoma, another urban area, is still significant. The cases remain a serious concern because they are being found in areas that previously had only very low numbers or no cases of cholera. The lack of sanitation services continues to be a problem in the suburbs and could result in higher case numbers again, such as what was seen in November and December 2008.

Cholera cases are also being found in neighbouring countries and MSF is responding as needed. It is believed that these cases are the result of the normal cholera season and are not related to the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe.

Gen. Chiwenga: "Zimbabwe is ready for war"

http://hararetribune.com

Thursday, 22 January 2009 17:37

Zimbabwe's top army general, reacting to suggestions by Western countries to
send an international peacekeeping force to the country, said Thursday that
his troops would fight off all such foreign forces.

Gen. Constantine Chiwenga, a card-carrying member of ZANU-PF and a chief
beneficiary of Mugabe's policies over the years, said that the plans,
suggested by Britain and other powerful Western countries, were intended to
topple President Robert Mugabe and replace him with a pliant leader.

The Western countries made the suggestion late last year at the height of a
cholera outbreak which was widely blamed on mismanagement by the government.

But Chiwenga called the plan a disguised regime change which the army would
fight off if implemented.

"There are no questions about it and it shall not change. We fought and
defeated them (white rule) in 1980 and what do they still want? We will not
be slaves in our own country. This is our motherland," he said.

Mugabe's stay in power in Zimbabwe, critics and sympathizers agree, has
largely been secured by the support Mugabe receives from senior army
commaders led by Gen. Chiwenga.

At one point ahead of the March 29 elections, Gen. Chiwenga told the world
that his army would not work with any other leader of Zimbabwe except Robert
Mugabe.

In recent years, Gen. Chiwenga has allowed his soldiers to join ZANU-PF
militia units in persecuting MDC activits in the name of protecting Mugabe's
power base.

ZANU-PF corruption brings Zimbabwe agriculture to its knees

http://hararetribune.com

Thursday, 22 January 2009 16:36 Ivene Cheunga/ Herald

The chairman of the farming logistics sub-committee Brigadier-General
Douglas Nyikayaramba has admitted that ZANU-PF is a den of thieves owing to
wanton misappropriation and theft of government handouts that were meant to
boost agricultural production in the current farming season under Operation
Maguta/Inala.
Nyikayaramba said that ministers, legislators and civil servants were the
main culprits that would shortly be named and shamed. The looting of the
farm inputs has spun out of control following the donation of agriculture
aid by South African late last year that was worth millions of dollars.

ZANU PF has made it a policy that the beneficiaries of farming inputs should
wholly be of their camp and no MDC official stood to benefit. The thieves
are from that stables of losers.

With revelations of the unspeakable in the ZANU PF, Nyikayaramba who is also
the chairman of the National Resource Mobilisation and Utilisation Committee
said that year-after-year, improper handling of inputs, alleged corruption
and diversion of inputs has frustrated Government efforts to boost
agricultural productivity, giving "detractors" of the land reform programme
ammunition to attack the Government.

He said that police had already questioned several of Mugabe's ministers and
eight MPs, who will be named as soon as their statements have been recorded.

According to official confirmations some of the State officials, including
ministers, MPs, police, army officers and other civil servants implicated in
the scam have already been summoned by police to tender statements.

Nyikayaramba also fingered some of the culprits, including members of the
uniformed forces who were leading Operation Maguta programmes across the
country.

The list includes farmers who benefited from Government programmes but sold
the inputs to other farmers or shop owners, who subsequently sold the inputs
on the illegal parallel market.

"We have started legal proceedings against these people and some of them
have already started appearing in court while the names of the senior
Government officials will be exposed by the end of the week," Nyikayaramba
said.

"There are eight members of the House of Assembly who have been summoned to
the police and their names would be made public as soon as police have
finished working on their dockets."

Mashonaland East province leads in the number of cases being dealt with by
police, Matabeleland North has four while Masvingo and Mashonaland West have
three cases each.

Two cases have been handed over to the police in Harare and Matabeleland
South while Bulawayo has one case.

In some cases recorded in Mashonaland East, a transport operator, C. S.
Mudhokwani allegedly stole two tonnes of Compound D fertilizer he had been
contracted to ferry. The fertilizer was recovered and Mudhokwani is on
trial at the Marondera Magistrates' Court.

Lance Corporal Zunguza of the Zimba-bwe National Army defrauded Maguta of
eight tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate, which was stored at GMB Marondera.

The fertilizer was recovered while he was convicted and fined $50 billion or
10 days in prison.

An Agritex official, Spain Katema, who allegedly demanded from farmers in
Mutoko payment of $10 million for the transportation of each 25kg bag of
seed in November last year was also arrested and $520 million recovered.

Mutoko police were still investigating the case. In another case, 18 GMB
Timber Mills workers allegedly connived with a security guard at the company
and stole 94 bags of maize seed between October 13 and November 15 last
year.

They was arrested and appeared at Marondera Magistrates' Court where they
were remanded out of custody to January 29 this year.

Police in Macheke are also investigating a case in which nine bags of maize
seed were stolen at U9C Farm while investigations are also underway into the
theft of 126 bags of fertilizer and 100 bags of maize seed from a railway
wagon in Marondera.

In Mashonaland West, a guard at GMB Lions Den, Clever Taruona, allegedly
stole 15 bags of maize seed but the case was not pursued because of lack of
evidence.

A general hand at Chinhoyi University of Technology, identified as Muponda,
allegedly stole 49 pivot sprinklers at Hunyani Farm in Chinhoyi. The case is
still pending at Chinhoyi Rural Police Station.

On November 16, four soldiers were arrested on allegations of stealing 20
bags of maize seed and seven bags of Compound D fertilizer from Hunyani
Farm.

All the inputs were recovered and Lance Corporal C. Gurira, Private T.
Shayawabaya, Private B. Tshuma and Private A. Chidume were arraigned before
a magistrate in Chinhoyi and remanded in custody pending trial.

In Masvingo, Boniface Makura, Herbert Mise, Tamuka Matimba and Muphai Muphai
were arrested for selling urea and ammonium nitrate fertilizers at a
shopping centre in the province.

The case is being heard at the Masvingo Magistrates' Court.

Livison Kwangwari, a farmer in the province, was allotted 160 bags of maize
seed under Operation Maguta but allegedly later sold it to villagers in
Chehudo Ward 26. The matter is still pending at the courts in Masvingo.

Police in the province are also investigating a case where 40 litres of
Diamathoate, 120 litres of Dicamp, 125 litres of MCPA, 410 litres of
Paraquat, 48 litres of Triadiamenol and 50 bags of fertilizer were stolen at
Mushandike.

In Matabeleland North, Hlamulani Ndebele and Sipho Mkwananzi allegedly stole
eight bags of maize seed, four litres of Trialmenol and 40 litres of
Altrazine at Arda Balu.

Ndebele is on trial while Mkwananzi is still at large.

In another case under investigation, Mkwananzi allegedly stole 18 bags of
maize seed, two bags of millet seed, five packets of pearl millet seed, 5kg
of roundnuts, a knapsack, 20 litres of Diamethoate, 20 litres of Altrazine,
five litres of Shavit, and three litres of Thiokill at Arda Balu, but the
inputs were recovered.

Saurstown police arrested Danisa Nkomo over the theft of 120kg of maize
seed, 30kg of cowpea seed and 2kg of jatropha seed from Arda Balu and the
case is still under investigation while Nyamandlovu police were
investigating the theft of a portable battery charger from Arda Tendele in
Bulawayo.

An army officer, Warrant Officer 1 I. Kadzima, is alleged to have stolen 60
litres of diesel at Shashe Irrigation Scheme in Beitbridge. The case will
proceed by way of summons.

Filabusi police are investigating the theft of 35 500 empty bags belonging
to Operation Maguta at Mthwakazi Hall in Insiza.

Over the years Government inputs meant for farmers have ended up on the
parallel market, undermining agricultural production at a time Zimbabwe is
battling to regain its former status as the breadbasket of Southern Africa.

Zimbabwe to name ministers accused of stealing from gov't input scheme

http://www.apanews.net/

APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe's state media on Thursday said that President
Robert Mugabe's government would release names of several cabinet ministers
and lawmakers accused of stealing from a state-sponsored agricultural inputs
programme.

The official Herald daily reported that the country's National Resource
Mobilisation and Utilisation Committee would by the end of this week "name,
shame and prosecute cabinet ministers, members of parliament, civil servants
and other people" accused of abusing subsidised inputs distributed to
farmers under a government programme to improve food production.

Several ministers and eight MPs have already been questioned by the police,
according to the committee's chairperson, Douglas Nyikayaramba.

"We have started legal proceedings against these people and some of them
have already started appearing in court, while the names of senior
Government officials will be exposed by the end of the week," Nyikayaramba
told The Herald.

The ministers allegedly received fertilisers and maize seed from the
government but diverted the inputs to a thriving black market.

An earlier report on Sunday said the officials allegedly abused their
offices by allocating themselves large quantities of scarce fertiliser which
was later diverted to a thriving black market.

Some of them had no farms, while others had very small plots of land which
did not justify the large quantities of fertiliser they collected from the
government's inputs holding centre in the capital Harare.

JN/nm/APA 2009-01-22

Ministers, legislators steal Maguta inputs

From The Herald, 22 January

By Sydney Kawadza

Government will, by the end of this week, name, shame and prosecute Cabinet
ministers, Members of Parliament, civil servants and other people accused of
abusing subsidised inputs distributed to farmers under Operation
Maguta/Inala, the National Resource Mobilisation and Utilisation Committee
has said. Year-after-year, improper handling of inputs, alleged corruption
and diversion of inputs has frustrated Government efforts to boost
agricultural productivity, giving detractors of the land reform programme
ammunition to use reduced production to attack the Government. Chairman of
the logistics sub-committee Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayaramba yesterday
said police had already questioned several ministers and eight MPs, who will
be named as soon as their warned and cautioned statements have been
recorded.

Some of the State officials, including ministers, MPs, police and army
officers and other civil servants implicated in the scam, have already been
summoned by police and their warned and cautioned statements recorded.
Brig-Gen Nyikayaramba yesterday identified some of the culprits, who also
include members of the uniformed forces who were leading Operation Maguta
programmes across the country. The list also includes farmers who benefited
from Government programmes but sold the inputs to other farmers or shop
owners, who subsequently sold the inputs on the illegal parallel market. "We
have started legal proceedings against these people and some of them have
already started appearing in court while the names of the senior Government
officials will be exposed by the end of the week. There are eight members of
the House of Assembly who have been summoned to the police and their names
would be made public as soon as police have finished working on their
dockets," he said.

Mashonaland East leads the number of cases being dealt with by police with
six cases, Matabeleland North has four while Masvingo and Mashonaland West
have three cases each. Two cases have been handed over to the police in
Harare and Matabeleland South while Bulawayo has one case. In some cases
recorded in Mashonaland East, a transport operator, C. S. Mudhokwa-ni,
allegedly stole two tonnes of Compound D fertilizer he had been contracted
to ferry. The fertilizer was recovered and Mudhokwani is on trial at the
Marondera Magistrates' Court. Lance Corporal Zunguza of the Zimba-bwe
National Army defrauded Maguta of eight tonnes of Ammonium Nitrate, which
was stored at GMB Marondera. The fertilizer was recovered while he was
convicted and fined $50 billion or 10 days in prison.

An Agritex official, Spain Katema, who allegedly demanded from farmers in
Mutoko payment of $10 million for the transportation of each 25kg bag of
seed in November last year, was also arrested and $520 million recovered.
Mutoko police were still investigating the case. In another case, 18 GMB
Timber Mills workers allegedly connived with a security guard at the company
and stole 94 bags of maize seed between October 13 and November 15 last
year. They was arrested and appeared at Marondera Magistrates' Court where
they were remanded out of custody to January 29 this year. Police in Macheke
are also investigating a case in which nine bags of maize seed were stolen
at U9C Farm while investigations are also underway into the theft of 126
bags of fertilizer and 100 bags of maize seed from a railway wagon in
Marondera.

In Mashonaland West, a guard at GMB Lions Den, Clever Taruona, allegedly
stole 15 bags of maize seed but the case was not pursued because of lack of
evidence. A general hand at Chinhoyi University of Technology, identified as
Muponda, allegedly stole 49 pivot sprinklers at Hunyani Farm in Chinhoyi.
The case is still pending at Chinhoyi Rural Police Station. On November 16,
four soldiers were arrested on allegations of stealing 20 bags of maize seed
and seven bags of Compound D fertilizer from Hunyani Farm. All the inputs
were recovered and Lance Corporal C. Gurira, Private T. Shayawabaya, Private
B. Tshuma and Private A. Chidume were arraigned before a magistrate in
Chinhoyi and remanded in custody pending trial. In Masvingo, Boniface
Makura, Herbert Mise, Tamuka Matimba and Muphai Muphai were arrested for
selling urea and ammonium nitrate fertilizers at a shopping centre in the
province. The case is being heard at the Masvingo Magistrates' Court.

Livison Kwangwari, a farmer in the province, was allotted 160 bags of maize
seed under Operation Maguta but allegedly later sold it to villagers in
Chehudo Ward 26. The matter is still pending at the courts in Masvingo.
Police in the province are also investigating a case where 40 litres of
Diamathoate, 120 litres of Dicamp, 125 litres of MCPA, 410 litres of
Paraquat, 48 litres of Triadiamenol and 50 bags of fertilizer were stolen at
Mushandike. In Matabeleland North, Hlamulani Ndebele and Sipho Mkwananzi
allegedly stole eight bags of maize seed, four litres of Trialmenol and 40
litres of Altrazine at Arda Balu. Ndebele is on trial while Mkwananzi is
still at large. In another case under investigation, Mkwananzi allegedly
stole 18 bags of maize seed, two bags of millet seed, five packets of pearl
millet seed, 5kg of roundnuts, a knapsack, 20 litres of Diamethoate, 20
litres of Altrazine, five litres of Shavit, and three litres of Thiokill at
Arda Balu, but the inputs were recovered.

Saurstown police arrested Danisa Nkomo over the theft of 120kg of maize
seed, 30kg of cowpea seed and 2kg of jatropha seed from Arda Balu and the
case is still under investigation while Nyamandlovu police were
investigating the theft of a portable battery charger from Arda Tendele in
Bulawayo. An army officer, Warrant Officer 1 I. Kadzima, is alleged to have
stolen 60 litres of diesel at Shashe Irrigation Scheme in Beitbridge. The
case will proceed by way of summons. Filabusi police are investigating the
theft of 35 500 empty bags belonging to Operation Maguta at Mthwakazi Hall
in Insiza. Over the years Government inputs meant for farmers have ended up
on the parallel market, undermining agricultural production at a time
Zimbabwe is battling to regain its former status as the breadbasket of
Southern Africa.

WOZA leaders in court for remand hearing

By Violet Gonda
22 January 2009

On Thursday, a Bulawayo magistrate set aside a ruling on a case against the
leaders of the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), who are facing two 'nuisance'
charges for organizing demonstrations.

Jennie Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu were arrested in October 2008 and
June 2008 and were charged under the Criminal Law Codification and Reform
Act and Miscellaneous Offences Act respectively. Both draconian Acts deal
with issues relating to 'acting in a manner which is likely to lead to a
breach of the peace or to create a nuisance, disturbing peace, security or
order of the public'.

A statement by the pressure group said the defense team is calling for the
dismissal of these charges on the basis of a Supreme Court precedent set in
1994, that ruled that by their nature, demonstrations are public and are
held in public places and therefore will cause some form of public
disturbance. The ruling also decreed that as peaceful demonstrations are
allowed under the constitution, those participating in peaceful
demonstrations cannot be charged with disturbing the peace.

WOZA has been at the forefront of peaceful protests against the Mugabe
regime, calling for a better standard of living. The activists, in some
cases with their babies, have been arrested and beaten many time over the
years, just for exercising their constitutional right to demonstrate.

Furthermore the recent October arrest of the duo, including several WOZA
activists who were later released, was in violation of a power sharing
agreement between ZANU PF and the two MDC formations.

The group said Magistrate Msipa will decide next Tuesday whether to proceed
with the trial under the current charges, or to dismiss them.

Meanwhile civil leader Jestina Mukoko and scores of other civic and
political activists are still incarcerated at Chikurubi Maximum Prison. They
face charges of plotting to overthrow the Mugabe regime. The activists have
testified in court that they were tortured into making recorded submissions
of the alleged terrorism plot and completely deny all charges.

Lawyer Andrew Makoni said the individuals are still waiting to be taken to a
private hospital, in spite of court rulings ordering that they should be
given urgent medical attention. Some of the detainees are expected to appear
in court again on Friday for more remand hearings.

State security agents abducted the activists and their whereabouts were not
known for several weeks. A number of those abducted are still missing.

MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has demanded the immediate release of the
activists as one of his conditions for entering a unity government with
Robert Mugabe. The MDC says the continued unlawful remand and detention of
these individuals is in breach of the rule of law and the Global Political
Agreement, signed in September last year.

SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news

Regime plans forced removal of Chiadzwa villagers

By Tichaona Sibanda
22 January 2009

Plans are afoot by the regime to forcibly remove 5000 villagers from the
Chiadzwa area in Manicaland province, to facilitate unfettered access to the
diamond fields.

Newsreel learnt on Thursday that a meeting between Governor Christopher
Mushowe and some chiefs and headmen from the area is set to be held on
Saturday. Almost all those invited, including the provincial administrator
and district administrator for Marange, have close links to the Mugabe
regime.
Sure Mudiwa, the MDC MP for Mutare West which incorporates the diamond
fields, said there has been a deliberate plot by the regime to exclude some
people from the meeting.

'I'm the MP for the area but I haven't been invited. There are also two MDC
councillors from the Chiadzwa area and they've also been excluded. We are
not saying people shouldn't be moved, but all we want is transparency,'
Mudiwa said.

The legislator added; 'We know this is a national natural resource that
currently benefits an elite few, but our worry is where do they intend to
take the villagers. Is there any infrastructure, are they any clinics, is
there water in the area?'

The precious stones from the Chiadzwa fields now provide a large source of
revenue to Robert Mugabe's regime, helping them keep their reign of terror
in place. Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono estimated that the regime would
rake in US$200 million a month, if there was no interference from 'smugglers
and illegal dealers.'

By closing off the area and removing every villager from the surroundings,
the regime will have exclusive access to the diamonds, thereby benefiting
only the ruling elite.

The mining venture has also been linked to the forced labour of hundreds of
local inhabitants, and many fatalities at the hands of the security forces.
The villagers have also been caught in the middle of fighting for control of
the diamonds fields.

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights released a report late last year
detailing the shooting to death of villages from helicopter gunships and
torture, including rape and abduction, on a 'massive' scale.
Many who fled the area at the time have been prevented from returning by the
destruction of their homes, harvests and the looting of their cattle. MP
Mudiwa said he's been told by locals of numerous terrible acts by troops
deployed to 'protect' the area.

'Local people tell of those too sick to work being beaten and tortured and
even murdered for resisting orders. We must built confidence in the people
especially were natural resources are concerned. Let's get a reputable
company to do the mining and not soldiers because that is not their
profession. Soldiers are there to protect us but in Chiadzwa they are doing
exactly the opposite,' Mudiwa said.

With a ruling party focused on plunder and enriching itself, it is unlikely
that a reputable company would ever be allowed access to this source of
enormous wealth, under this current government.

SW Radio Africa Zimbabwe news

Red Cross restores water in Zimbabwe neighborhoo

http://news.yahoo.com

d
Thu Jan 22, 8:32 am ET

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - The international Red Cross restored clean
water to the neighborhood where Zimbabwe's cholera epidemic began, an agency
disaster management specialist said Thursday, but added such progress was
threatened by lack of money.

Farid Abdulkadir of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red
Crescent Societies spoke by telephone Thursday as he headed to Chitungwiza,
where the water system had been restored with Red Cross help. Earlier
Thursday, he oversaw an emergency system for a Harare prison, whose staff
and population of 10,000 was to be supplied with water taken from a nearby
quarry and then purified.

"Every day, we are seeing real progress," said Abdulkadir, who is the
international Red Cross's national disaster management coordinator for
southern Africa.

But Abdulkadir said lack of money was "slowing us down."

In December, the international Red Cross appealed for about $9 million for
what it expected to be a seven-month fight against cholera in Zimbabwe.
Thursday, Abdulkadir said donors had come up with only about 40 percent of
the budget, and that it was not clear cholera could be defeated in the
originally allotted seven months.

"We are still having the cholera cases increasing," Abdulkadir said, adding
the onset of the heaviest rains was still ahead, and there had already been
flooding. That and the weakness of the water and sanitation system made it
difficult to predict when the crisis would be controlled.

Residents of Chitungwiza, a densely populated Harare township, sued the
government in November, saying they had been without running water for 13
months, causing the cholera outbreak. The lawsuit filed with the High Court
described "large pools of raw sewage" in the streets of Chitungwiza.

Zimbabwe's first cholera cases were reported in Chitungwiza in August. As of
Wednesday, the U.N. said, 48,623 cholera cases and 2,755 deaths had been
recorded across Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe Teachers Stick To Strike To Demand Foreign Currency

http://www.nasdaq.com

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP)--A Zimbabwe teachers union Thursday vowed to remain
on strike until President Robert Mugabe's government starts paying them in
foreign currency, and urged parents not pay their children's school fees.

The start of the new school year has already been delayed by two weeks
because last year's exams weren't graded, after teachers demanded payment in
foreign currency to mark them.

Classes are now scheduled to open Tuesday, but Takavafira Zhou, head of the
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, told reporters that teachers
wouldn't show up until their demands were met.

"Whatever day the minister announces that schools are opening, our
industrial action continues unless we are paid $2,200 per month," Zhou said.

"Parents are encouraged not to pay school fees. If you pay, pay knowing that
we are not going to teach, so be warned," he added.

Teachers went on strike for the greater part of 2008 demanding to be paid
salaries in line with the ever rising inflation, last estimated at 231
million percent in July, but believed to be many multiples higher now.

This month teachers were paid 26 trillion Zimbabwe dollars, today worth
about $3 on the parallel market where most currency trading is done.

Schools have proposed charging fees in foreign currency as the Zimbabwe
dollar shrivels in value every day.

Zhou also expressed concern on the shortage of proper sanitation at many
schools, with a cholera epidemic wrecking havoc across the country, killing
more than 2,700 people since August.

"Do we have adequate sanitary facilities at our schools? Does government
have a response plan to deal with potential incidences of cholera in
schools?" Zhou said.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-22-091104ET

Passport fees leave a population going nowhere

Photo: IRIN

Hike in passport fees threatens livelihoods of cross border traders

HARARE, 22 January 2009 (IRIN) - After being accepted by a South African university, Golden Gutu thought the hard part was over, but the worst hurdles for Zimbabweans trying to further their studies were just beginning.

There was just the small matter of a passport, and then he could pack his bags. When he had last checked with the Registrar General's Office in the capital, Harare, which issues travel documents, an emergency passport cost US$200, a sum he had painstakingly saved.

Last week, he went to apply for a passport. "I was devastated when I was told that the government was no longer accepting its own currency [the Zimbabwean dollar], and that the cost of a passport for an adult had risen to US$670, while a new passport for children was now costing US$420," he told IRIN.

Adding to the costs is a US$20 supplementary charge for the application form. "I did not have that kind of money on me, and my dreams have been shattered as I have lost out on an opportunity to further my studies. There must be thousands of people who are in a similar predicament," Gutu said.

Gutu was told that he could apply for an Emergency Travel Document (ETD), at a cost of US$70, but a study visa in neighbouring South Africa would require a valid passport.

Clever Bere, president of the Zimbabwe National Students Union, an umbrella grouping for students pursuing higher education, told IRIN that the price hikes would exclude scores of students from further education, even though they had been accepted by universities.

"Most students come from very humble backgrounds and our parents are not paid in foreign currency but in the local currency, which the government is refusing to accept," he said.

The steep rise in passport fees has ended the winding queues that were a permanent feature outside the registrar's office.

Prices to high for cross border traders

An employee at the passports section in the registrar's office told IRIN: "Based on my observations and interaction with the few people who are still coming for the expensive passports, only the well-connected or the elite are the ones still able to pay the exorbitant fees."

He declined to be identified, but commented: "A few have revealed that friends and relatives working in the diaspora have contributed funds for desperate relatives seeking passports."

Zimbabwe's political stalemate, an economy in freefall, widespread hunger - nearly half the population relies on emergency food aid for survival - has seen more than three million people leave the country in the past decade, in what has been termed "The Diaspora".

There was a palpable anger at the increase in fees at a bus terminus in Harare, where cross-border traders - whose livelihoods depend on valid travel documents - prepared to travel south to South Africa.

What the government needs to understand is that the move to increase passport fees will have the ripple effect of further increasing food shortages in the country

"What the government needs to understand is that the move to increase passport fees will have the ripple effect of further increasing food shortages in the country, because many of our members will not be able to renew passports when they expire or are lost," Chipo Sevenzo, a veteran cross-border trader, told IRIN.

"A majority of households and supermarkets in the country are stocked with groceries and commodities supplied by cross-border traders, who depend on passports to trade and support their direct and extended families."

She said with unemployment estimated at nearly 90 percent, the informal traders had cushioned the effects of poverty and hunger in Zimbabwe.

Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change party led by Morgan Tsvangirai, told IRIN the price increases had put travel documents beyond the reach of most Zimbabweans.

"Because of the government's failed policies, the ordinary people are now being punished through a denial to access a basic document like a passport. Innovative Zimbabweans who want to provide for their families by buying food in other countries can no longer do so because they cannot afford the high passport fees," he said.

"Only the elite, who are responsible for the crises that we face, are the ones who will get the passports and be able to import food, while ordinary citizens have been marginalised."

Zimbabweans seeking medical treatment forced to pay in forex

http://hararetribune.com/

Thursday, 22 January 2009 18:53 Nomsa Moyo

Ordinary Zimbabweans continue facing a bleak future as council clinics have
started charging in foreign currency.

The clinics, which are depleted by both staff and medication, are demanding
fees in United States dollars.

Clinics are the first port of call for patients before they can be attended
to at referral hospitals and the foreign currency fees are a major blow to
many.

The fees have been approved by the President Robert Mugabe's regime,
according to Health Minister David Parirenyatwa. He defended the position
saying of late, many patients were opting to pay in foreign currency.

Council clinics in Harare, Bulawayo and other areas countrywide have set the
consultation fee for adults at US$5 a visit and US$3 for children.

Pregnant women are required to pay US$50 for an antenatal care booking while
those seeking family planning methods pay an average of US$2 for each
service.

Health experts say the majority of Zimbabweans cannot afford to pay the
medical fees, leaving many to die in homes.

In Harare, the city's director of health services Prosper Chonzi said: "The
public is advised that the City of Harare has been allowed to accept payment
of services rendered in foreign currency, thus United States dollars and
rands, with effect from January 1.

"When you pay in foreign currency, please ensure that you receive a receipt
with correct foreign currency amount you will have rendered."

Government hospitals are also charging in foreign currency although they
having nothing to offer. Patients are told to bring linen and food to the
institutions.

At government hospitals, patients are paying US$40 as consultation fee and
US$70 a night if admitted at the hospital. A Caesarean operation requires a
flat fee of US$150 while scans cost an average of US$80.

AU has failed Zimbabwe: rights group

http://www.africasia.com

ADDIS ABABA, Jan 22 (AFP)

The African Union (AU) has failed the people of Zimbabwe by turning a blind
eye towards human rights abuses, a Zimbabwean rights group said Thursday.

Representatives of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Forum met in Addis Ababa a week
before the start of the AU's annual summit and urged the pan-African body to
take over "failed" mediation efforts to solve Zimbabwe's political crisis.

"We are not happy that the AU has not outrightly condemned the crimes
against humanity that are happening in Zimbabwe," Gabriel Shumba, head of
the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, told AFP.

"It has generally failed the people of Zimbabwe as an institution by not
being able to stop the human rights violations going on in the country."

The rights forum also said in a resolution that efforts to solve the crisis
in Zimbabwe should be placed under the direct authority of the AU.

Humanitarian groups have sounded alarm bells over the deteriorating
situation in Zimbabwe, where a large proportion of the population is in need
of food aid and where a cholera outbreak has claimed more than 2,700 lives.

Zimbabwe's economy has been in freefall for years but a humanitarian crisis
has exploded since disputed elections last March, when opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai defeated President Robert Mugabe in a first round
presidential vote.

Political violence blamed on Mugabe's ruling party then erupted, leading to
a stalemate which mediation efforts by nieghbouring countries have failed to
break.

In a report released Thursday, New York-based Human Rights Watch said that
the African Union should suspend Zimbabwe from the 53-nation group if
Mugabe's government failed to end the political violence and other rights
abuses.

Pay journalists in forex --ZUJ

http://hararetribune.com

Thursday, 22 January 2009 17:33

Zimbabwe's largest journalists union on Thursday joined the chorus for
payment of salaries in foreign currency as a dollarisation wave sweeps
across the crisis-hit country.
Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) president Matthew Takaona said reporters
working for local media should be paid in foreign currency starting this
month in line with this week's resolution by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Union.

"All media organisations must without fail pay in foreign currency beginning
from the time of the resolution," Takaona said.

ZUJ is the largest representative body of journalists in Zimbabwe, its
intentions come a day after the country's largest newspaper group, the
state-run Zimbabwe Newspapers, announced that it had been licenced to sell
its papers in United States dollars, British pounds or South African rands.

The ZCTU, which is an umbrella body representing more than 300,000 workers,
on Monday said most workers were failing to access basic services because of
the dollarisation of the economy.

Most traders and service providers have stopped accepting the Zimbabwe
dollar as a means of payment, citing the country's runaway inflation last
estimated at 231 million percent in July 2008.

The central bank has since last September licenced foreign currency shops in
a move meant to improve the availability of products and cut the number of
Zimbabweans making monthly trips to neighbouring South Africa, Botswana and
Mozambique for groceries.

ZIMBABWE: 'Life Is Like A Casino - We Live Each Day As It Comes'

http://www.ipsnews.net

By Stanley Kwenda

HARARE, Jan 22 (IPS) - Long lines of stalls, run by women, have sprung up
next to many of Zimbabwe's highways, selling honey, milk, mushrooms,
tomatoes, onions and chickens. As prices in towns skyrocket due to
unprecedented inflation levels running in the millions, people leave their
towns to purchase basic commodities.

This precarious way of survival involves child labour and exposes the
traders to dangers ranging from bad weather and disease to robbery and being
run over by cars.

Children labour alongside the adults to eke out an existence. Small children
as young as three years are involved in the selling of goods. This is
justified by some as children being allowed to grow an enterprising spirit
and to be able to work for themselves.

Usually the places of trading have no shelter or sanitary facilities,
exposing people to the ravages of weather and disease.

Roadside trade can be dangerous for other reasons too. Several roadside
traders have been hit by cars as they try to outrun each other to reach
would-be customers on either side of the road. They are also at risk of
being robbed of their earnings by the same motorists that they seek to
serve.

''We are aware of these dangers but there is nothing we can do. It's like a
casino: we live each day as it comes,'' roadside trader Mai Chingwe told IPS
with a resigned tone.

Another trader, who refused to be named, told IPS that she has managed to
turn her life around by trading on the roadside.

''I look after my four children and the three that were left by my sister
who died five years ago. By selling things along this road I have managed to
send them to school and buy a few goats. All I am asking for is support with
agricultural inputs and fertiliser from the government and the creation of
proper places where we can operate from,'' she told IPS.

Many of the women used to travel hundreds of kilometres on an almost daily
basis, perched on top of heavily loaded trucks to sell their goods at the
main market in the capital of Harare.

''These days business is better because motorists always pass through this
place to pick up things because they have become expensive in town. If I am
to take these tomatoes to town, the price will be high because I have to pay
for transport in United States dollars,'' explained Alice Borerwa, a
roadside trader selling vegetables along the Harare-Mutare highway.

But where do these women get land to do market gardening in a country where
it is such a contentious commodity and land ownership is based on state
authorisation?

''We formed a cooperative in 2005 and approached our member of parliament
whom we asked to secure some land for us. We were given water-clogged land
which we are now using with the help of well-wishers to do market
gardening,''
Borerwa, who is a mother of three, told IPS.

I asked her to describe a typical day for her and the 15 other members of
their Kubatana Cooperative.

''We wake up around four in the morning and harvest the ripe tomatoes,
onions, carrots and other vegetables before watering the produce. We do this
in shifts, so it's either you are at the garden or selling along the
highway.

''Fortunately these days there is no need for watering the produce because
of the rains. Usually we are next to the road at five am until 10 pm,'' said
Borerwa.

Most motorists now opt to drive to out of town to buy vegetables as the
prices in the cities are out of reach for many urban dwellers. The prices of
the produce range from 10 dollars for a 10 kg bag of tomatoes or onions to
20 dollars for five kg of mushrooms. But IPS learnt that these prices are
very much negotiable, depending on availability.

Prices are also affected by stiff competition: at one roadside trading area
there can be more than 50 women selling the same commodities.

In the cities and towns high prices are pegged uniformly. ''I manage to sell
by giving extras to those who buy more. If somebody buys things for more
than 20 dollars, I will include a bunch of vegetables worth two dollars for
free,'' said Chingwe.

In some instances trade is conducted by means of barter as traders exchange
commodities for household goods such as washing soap, cooking oil or even
clothes.

''We always try and measure what's best for our families. If someone brings
school shoes or clothes that my child can wear to school, I am more than
willing to exchange these for commodities. After all, the money doesn't buy
much when you go to the shops,'' explained Chingwe.

The women have used the incomes from the roadside trade to keep their
children in school and to look after them at a time when the country is on a
rough political and economic path.

Millions of people have lost their jobs over the past decade in the troubled
southern African country as a result of business closures in the
manufacturing, service, farming and mining sectors. This has also had a
devastating effect on downstream industries.

According to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), which is the
country's main labour body, thousands of Zimbabweans are now roaming the
streets after losing their jobs. It puts the unemployment rate at 90
percent.

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) in its 2008 Manufacturing
Report stated that companies still operating are doing so at less than 20
percent capacity. It said in the same report that the bulk of the workforce
now work in the informal sector, which includes roadside trade.

The Zimbabwean government has established the small and medium enterprises
development ministry but it is yet to make its mark.

But not everybody is buying at the roadside stalls. At some of the roadside
markets, such as Macheke along the Harare-Mutare highway, Ngundu along the
Harare-Beitbridge road and Mutoko in the north-east of Harare, trucks can
still be seen carrying produce to major commodity markets in Harare and
Bulawayo. (END/2009)

ZINASU student leader reinstated by the University of Zimbabwe

http://hararetribune.com

Thursday, 22 January 2009 17:09
The ZINASU Secretary General, comrade Lovemore Chinoputsa who was suspended
at the University of Zimbabwe in June 2007 is finally going back to college.
The suspension of comrade Chinoputsa was lifted on the 20th of January 2009
after a record breaking 10 times postponement of the hearing.
The suspension came after massive protests by students over the closure of
Halls of Residence which resulted in the eviction of close to 5000 students
who were left homeless. A combination of factors including poor quality food
served in the dining halls, poor sanitation conditions which ranged from
malfunctioning toilets, blocked sewages sparked the protests.

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights through Messrs Wintertons legal
practitioner, Joshua Shekede represented Chinoputsa. Professor L.M Nyagura,
Vice Chancellor representing the University of Zimbabwe signed the letter.

"...I advise that the University of Zimbabwe Student Disciplinary Committee
which sat on Thursday, 18 December 2008 has now concluded its
investigations. The committee could not proceed with investigations.... the
Vice Chancellor has lifted Lovemore Chinoputsa's suspension from the
University of Zimbabwe with immediate effect...", said a letter signed by Mr
Sergeant Chevo the University's Registrar.

The University of Zimbabwe has suspended and expelled over 200 students in
post colonial Zimbabwe. Most of these students have been suspended using
repressive University laws enacted in 1990.

The University of Zimbabwe Act gives Nyagura powers to "..suspend or expel
any student for a period he deems necessary..". ZINASU is in the process of
challenging the constitutionality of the U.Z Act.

Zimbabwean broadcaster's bid to fire journalists over unfavourable Mugabe coverage fails

http://www.newswatch.in

Date: January 22, 2009 Author: Newswatch Desk

Zimbabwe's Retrenchment Board has ruled against the state-owned Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Holdings' (ZBH) bid to retrench six of its journalists who were
suspended in June 2008 on allegations of "acting in a manner inconsistent
with the fulfillment of the implied conditions" of their contracts, the
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) has reported.

Monica Gavela, Patrice Makova, Garikai Chaunza, Bright Paradza, Robert
Tapfumaneyi and Sibonginkosi Mlilo were suspended following allegations that
the state broadcaster had failed to adequately campaign for President Robert
Mugabe in the run-up to the March 29, 2008 elections.

The board ruled that ZBH failed to follow proper retrenchment procedures and
should have met with the Works Council before coming up with the decision to
retrench them. ZBH was then advised to start the process afresh if they
still wished to retrench the journalists.

Their suspensions came barely a month after the dismissal of the then-chief
executive officer Henry Muradzikwa on May 14 for refusing ministerial orders
to deny the opposition Movement of Democratic Change (MDC) favourable
coverage in the run-up to the elections. MISA-Zimbabwe's investigations
indicated that the journalists were being victimised for not showing enough
enthusiasm in supporting the government of President Robert Mugabe. ZBH is
run under directives of the Ministry of Information and Publicity.

Zimbabwe: state broadcaster censors song critical of ruling party

http://www.rsf.org

22. 01 -

Reporters Without Borders deplores the fact that a song by well-known
Zimbabwean singer Tongai Moyo has been censored by Zimbabwe's sole national
radio and TV broadcaster, the state-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation.
A ZBC official said the order came from the highest level of the government.

Entitled "Kukanda Nehuvhika," the song refers to the troubled power-sharing
accord signed on 15 September between President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF and
opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change.

The ZBC previously censored 30 songs by exiled musician Thomas Mapfumo, who
risks a five-year prison sentence if he returns to Zimbabwe. Another
musician, Leonard Zhakata, was censored in 2006 for being critical of
Mugabe.

Guardian undercover documentary wins Broadcast award

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk

22 January 2009

By Hannah Hudson

Guardian Films last night won the award for best news programme at the 2009
Broadcast Awards.

Zimbabwe: The Stolen Ballots was an undercover video investigation into
vote-rigging by Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party during last year's election.

It showed a Mugabe supporter getting prison officers to fill in their postal
ballots in his presence.

The film was shot in the central jail in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare by
prison officer Shepherd Yuda before - who then smuggled the footage out of
the country.

The winning submission was originally posted on the Guardian website in July
last year. It was also broadcast on BBC2's Newsnight.

Guardian Films editorial director Maggie O'Kane said: "This film wouldn't
have been possible if it wasn't for one man's absolute determination to
expose Mugabe's vote-rigging.

"The person who did that, Shepherd Yuda, was prepared to take great personal
risks to do it and we are very honoured at the Guardian to have been able to
work with such a brave man."

The award for best documentary was won by Channel 4's My Street. The
programme, produced by TV indie Wellpark Productions, looked at the lives
and stories of the people living in the same street as director Sue Bourne.

Best documentary series went to The Genius of Charles Darwin. The IWC Media
three-part series featured Richard Dawkins and was also broadcast on Channel
4.

Top musicians at Zimbabwe Vigil this Saturday (24/1)

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Thursday, 22 January 2009

Founder member Patson Muzuwa is bringing Umbane Dance Troupe to the
Vigil this Saturday. They used to perform in Zimbabwe and have performed in
the UK.

Some are regular attenders at the Vigil. We will have a taste of Zulu
dances in traditional attire. The group is comprised of enthusiastic young
men and women. They are Sandile Mpande, who is the leader, Muzomkhulu
Ndlovu, Chris Moyo, Innocent Hlongwane, Jeremiah Mtotela, Nickson Nkomo,
Dennes Sibanda, Loveness Malandu and Esther Magenga.

Vigil co-ordinators

The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes
place every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations
of human rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started
in October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair
elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk

Leon calls for sanctions against Mugabe

http://www.iol.co.za

January 22 2009 at 02:47PM

Cape Town - Diplomatic isolation and stepped-up sanctions are the key
to stopping Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's tyranny, Democratic
Alliance foreign affairs spokesperson Tony Leon said on Thursday.

Briefing the media at Parliament on DA foreign policy, Leon was
critical of the both the South African government and the Southern African
Development Community's efforts to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis, labelling
the latter organisation a "toothless bulldog".

He told journalists that Zimbabwe needed to hold properly convened,
internationally certified national elections.

"You cannot use flawed electoral outcomes as the basis for a
post-settlement government of national unity.

"It actually suggests that somehow democracy is not fit for Africa...
That you can't actually have a democratic election.

"Because if you have an undemocratic outcome, with these post-conflict
arrangements such as Kenya and Zimbabwe, you legitimise a stolen or a very
flawed electoral process."

Leon's remarks come as South Africa prepares to host another emergency
SADC summit on Zimbabwe.

The summit follows the failure on Monday of talks involving Mugabe and
his rival Morgan Tsvangirai over how to share control of powerful ministries
under a unity government in Zimbabwe.

"People across the world shake their heads at [South Africa's]
continued temporising with Robert Mugabe's tyranny. I would take a much more
hard-line approach," Leon said.

Under the protocols of SADC, Zimbabwe should forfeit its membership of
the body.

"I think [too] that Zimbabwe should be suspended from the African
Union, and I think that the normal protocols of diplomatic recognition
should be withdrawn."

Efforts by the South African government and the SADC over the past
eight years to solve the Zimbabwe crisis had come to naught. The situation
had, in fact, deteriorated massively.

"You've got to take a harder stance... You've got to use coercive
diplomacy," Leon said.

Responding to a question on whether South Africa should consider
intervening militarily in Zimbabwe, he said "all options should be on the
table".

However, he doubted whether South Africa had the military capacity.

"With only 3 000 combat-ready troops at any given moment, stretched
across the sub-continent [on peacekeeping missions], I think your question
is entirely theoretical and hypothetical, because I don't think we could
engage in Zimbabwe militarily.

"I'm not sure what the result would be if we did, because the Zimbabwe
defence force is not engaged across the African sub-continent as we are, and
quite arguably has more combat-ready troops than we do.

"I think you've got to be careful about committing yourself when your
commitments are already over-stretched. But clearly, all forms of pressure
need to be used against Robert Mugabe."

Questioned about the possible use of sanctions, he suggested these
should be implemented, and then stepped up if necessary.

"I think there should be a reconsideration of sanctions, at the very
least applying sanctions that target the leadership and the individuals in
the leadership cadre in Zimbabwe... And then I think you should start going
down the list. But you've got to start that process."

Leon said government policy towards Zimbabwe over the past eight years
involved "vague rhetoric" that was not backed up by action.

"We're now living with the consequences, with cholera outbreaks in
South Africa - a direct export from Zimbabwe - and our entire international
reputation tarnished very severely by the pro-Mugabe stance we continue to
take," he said. - Sapa

The world's worst central banker

From The Star (SA), 22 January

Fiona Forde

In a moment of total and utter economic distress, Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank
Governor Gideon Gono has recommended that the rand be informally adopted
alongside the Zimbabwean dollar as inflation reaches an all-time high and
the local currency an all-time low. Gono's recommendation is one of a litany
of remedies he outlined in the form of a 105-page recovery plan for the
failed state, a document he claims he has not authored but which experts say
could only be the work of "the world's worst central banker", as one wit put
it, complete with the shallow depth of analysis that has become Gono's
hallmark. It's not uncommon for developing or transitional economies to
formally or informally adopt a second currency. It happened during the years
of the Great Depression in the US when the scarcity of the greenback led to
the emergence of barter organisations, local groups of needy folk who issued
their own "private money", or bartering certificates, as a second currency.
It was a system replicated many years later in Argentina when locals tried
to stave off the crippling recession of 2002, the same year the US dollar
was also adopted as legal tender alongside the peso in an all-out bid to cap
inflation. Ecuador had adopted the dollar two years earlier, El Salvador in
2001. In fact, there are few markets in Latin America that are not
quasi-dollarised today.

In the former Soviet bloc, Ukraine and Kazakhstan allowed the US dollar to
circulate illegally alongside their failing currencies in the 1990s, much
like Zimbabwe has been doing in recent years when both the rand and the
dollar could be easily had for a quick nod in the right direction. Today
they are the preferred currencies over the valueless Zim dollar. And it's a
far cry from the time of independence in 1980 when there was near parity
between it and the greenback, a time when Z$1 was worth US$1,50. Today the
exchange rate between them is near unfathomable, with Z$100-trillion
equivalent to US$30, or about R300. The collapse of the currency comes with
hyperinflation, now the second highest in world history according to
November figures, although Harare-based economist John Robertson suggests it
has already broken all records. He calculates that it is in the sextillions,
a rate that forces prices to double in a matter of hours and the cash in
one's hand to devalue before the opportunity to spend it presents itself.

"Against this backdrop, it is imperative that the economy informally adopts
the rand alongside the Zim dollar," the report reads. "The economic
relationship between Zimbabwe and South Africa makes the rand the naturally
obvious currency of choice to anchor the Zimbabwean dollar." Although the
offices of SA Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni and Finance Minister Trevor
Manuel say they have not been approached by their Harare counterparts to
grant permission to extend the rand northwards, neither man would say what
they might do if such a request is put to them in the future. But whether or
not this is the work of Gono, and "the thinking of the inner circle" as
Movement for Democratic Change secretary-general Tendai Biti puts it, it
does make valid the question about the effect such a move would have on the
rand, a currency that devalued by 29% against the US dollar last year and
got off to a poor start this year amid global economic turmoil. "The
Zimbabwean economy has already been 'randified'," Robertson points out. "The
only difference is that they are now coming down from illegal to legal
circulation." So, the implications for South Africa will be negligible. It
is a view that's echoed by Steve Hanke, an applied economist with the Johns
Hopkins University in Baltimore and author of Zimbabwe: From Hyperinflation
to Growth, who adds that "if viewed in a narrow profit-and-loss point of
view, it is extremely profitable for South Africa", through seigniorage, the
revenue a central bank earns from issuing a currency whose face value
exceeds the cost of printing or minting each unit of it. It is something
that has worked very well for Washington, with 65% of all US dollars now
circulating beyond their own borders without it dragging down in value.

Victor Munyama, an economist with Standard Bank, also believes an informally
randified Zimbabwean economy could only be beneficial for South Africa, but
for different reasons. He feels that it would facilitate trade between the
two countries, echoing the view of the report that "South Africa is
Zimbabwe's largest trading partner". However, that presupposes a world in
which Zimbabwe returns to its healthy manufacturing levels of the 1990s.
This would require a workable political settlement, in the absence of which
Zimbabweans will continue to turn to South Africa for basic goods, of which
some have already been in short supply for the past few years. The shift in
South Africa's social classes in recent times, when more and more people
increased their spending power, led to such a demand on basic goods and food
items that things such as breakfast cereals, washing powders, pastas and
biscuits became critically scarce in 2006 and 2007, with the hangover
lasting through to 2008. It was also during 2007 that the country imported
less food and agricultural products than it exported, a year when more and
more Zimbabweans turned to our border towns to get by when their own
supermarkets ran dry. And if more rands are now set to continue chasing
somewhat scare goods, it could have an adverse effect on our own inflation
rates, of which food items are typically a big driver.

So it will ultimately put pressure on South Africa to adjust its
manufacturing levels accordingly. Beyond that, the only real adverse effects
for this country would come with the formal adoption of the rand in
Zimbabwe, which Gono says will never happen in his lifetime. "The Zimbabwean
dollar will not be overtaken by any other currency, formally or otherwise,
now or at any point in the future," he told The Star just a few days ago.
"But in an informal sense, it makes little difference, to South Africa or to
Zimbabwe, what you substitute the Zim dollar with right now," says Russell
Loubser, CEO of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. "The problem is not
monetary, it's political, caused by a regime that has steadily closed down
the country's production lines, forcing them to print money as a substitute,
which has put inflation where it is today. And now that people no longer
want to use the Zim dollar because it devalues by the hour, they are turning
to hard currencies. So (President Robert) Mugabe is choosing the easy way
out, but it's not the right way out." Hence the flight of fancy, spelt out
in the report.

Robertson - born and bred in Zimbabwe and one of the country's most
outspoken yet respected economists - is also in receipt of the so-called
recovery recommendations and although he can't authenticate the document, he
believes it fits with the thinking of the governor whose work he has
monitored over the years. "They are basically struggling with the fact that
they can't pay the public sector the currency that they need," he says. So
the document is not so much a recovery plan to restore Zimbabwe to all its
former glory - "the jewel of Africa" as former Tanzanian president Julius
Nyerere once put it - but a last-ditch attempt to uphold the regime by
keeping the civil servants onside with a steady flow of hard currency.
According to the document, the Zimbabwean government requires about
R3,5-billion a month to pay public salaries, honour the imported fuel bill,
keep the health system in working order and buy the required fertiliser and
seed to pump into the critical agriculture sector, with one third of the
overall expenditure allocated for "Other Government Requirements" - code for
either a slush fund or the defence bill, of which there is no other mention
in the report.

The author of the report goes on to identify export duties and the country's
rich resources of diamonds, gold, platinum, iron ore and chrome as key
sources of revenue that would meet monthly expenditure, and more. Based on
alleged exports "of US$1,7-billion or R17-billion" over the past five years,
the government could raise "US$510-million per annum or R5,1-billion at a
tax rate of 30%" in export taxes, reads the report. In addition to that,
nearly 3-billion tons of platinum are lying in the Great Dyke, while "gross
revenues from the diamond mining can exceed US$1,2-billion per month", it
continues. However, as economist and political commentator Moeletsi Mbeki
points out, these stones are not as precious today as they might have been
yesterday with the world in such a downward economic decline. And even if
they were, why didn't the regime tap into them before now?

It is this aspect of the report that worries Biti most - the convoluted
thinking to maintain the current status quo and steer clear of the hitherto
agreed coalition government with the MDC. "The message is a very simple one.
We don't have to worry about Morgan Tsvangirai. We don't have to worry about
the West. We will get our money from the diamonds and the commodities and
forget about the rest of them. This is Gono at his best. He is the mother
and father of this disastrous kind of engineering," Biti argues. It is a
sobering thought to think that if both the MDC and Zanu PF had had the
maturity in September to implement the power-sharing agreement, for all its
faults and failings, the world's superpowers and main international donors
would have part-funded a new Zimbabwe through the transition period. The
amounts that were on standby then make Gono's diamond royalty figures pale
in comparison. The sad fact is that there are few, if any, donors that would
fund Zimbabwe today, not just because they have lost trust in the
shenanigans of the political players, but because today they are bailing out
their own economies to stave off recession. They are the kind of tales that
have become typical of Zimbabwe: the lost opportunities. One can't help but
wonder how different southern Africa might have looked today with a country
as resource-rich as Zimbabwe feeding rather than bleeding the region's
growth.

End for unity govt in Zimbabwe?

JASON MOYO - Jan 22 2009 16:46

Zimbabwe’s main rivals head into Monday’s emergency regional summit hoping for the same outcome -- a formal declaration of an end to efforts to force them into a unity government.

But outside of a power sharing agreement that is unpopular on both sides, neither Robert Mugabe nor his rival Morgan Tsvangirai appears to have a workable “Plan B” in place.

Mugabe will go into the coming regional summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) hoping for an express green light from fellow Southern African leaders to form a new government without the opposition.

But the economic crisis is worsening and the once-assured bastions of his support are waning.

This week it was reported a group of soldiers had raided a farm owned by Gideon Gono, the central bank governor, claiming he “owed them money”.

Mugabe needs a large financial injection to pay thousands of civil servants, who have stayed away from work, demanding salaries in foreign currency to survive Zimbabwe’s “dollarised” economy.

Should there be no deal on Monday, fresh elections appear the most likely next step in the protracted search for a solution out of the country’s political impasse. But, in that event, it is likely that Mugabe would once again use the violent tactics of the past to cling to power, while the opposition would once again seek recourse with international assistance to rein him in.

The MDC has long been seeking an escape route out of a deal it signed in the face of opposition from both its grassroots supporters and its powerful external backers.

But it has precious little leverage over Mugabe. Its slim parliamentary majority has been whittled down in the past year and could yet disappear if Mugabe presses on with six planned by-elections. New elections would benefit the MDC only if they were monitored by international agencies, the involvement of which Mugabe would never allow.

Following the failure of this week’s 12-hour meeting to resolve the impasse about the implementation of the September power sharing agreement, diplomats in Harare say patience with the Zimbabwe crisis has almost run out.

The diplomats believe the SADC will be called upon to make “a final declaration” on the matter should, as is now widely expected, there be no resolution to the deadlock at the emergency meeting.

Tomaz Salomao, the SADC executive secretary, said South African president Kgalema Motlanthe, chair of the regional body, would table his report on the collapse of the process at Monday’s meeting, following which the SADC would make a public statement on the matter.

Mugabe hopes the region will grant him some legitimacy by allowing him to go ahead and form a new government without the MDC.

“It would be a bit much to ask the region to say: ‘We wash our hands of Zimbabwe’. But the feeling appears to be that it’s time the SADC came out with a firmer decision on where this is leading,” a senior Southern African diplomat told the Mail & Guardian on Wednesday.

Mugabe had vowed to continue talks with Tsvangirai after negotiations failed on Monday. But attempts to re-establish contact were quickly abandoned this week, said officials on both sides.

Despite the abductions of opponents Mugabe has sought to portray himself to the region as the more reasonable leader. “We are for the SADC proposal and abide by it to the full,” Mugabe said as he left Monday’s meeting. His lead negotiator, Patrick Chinamasa, also said Zanu-PF would not take any unilateral decisions before the region makes its decision at the coming SADC summit.

Tsvangirai said the failure of the talks amounted to “the darkest day of our lives”. His party entirely rejected a SADC proposal that would have seen a new government in place by this Saturday.

The SADC proposal tabled by Motlanthe and Mozambican President Armando Guebuza would have seen Tsvangirai sworn in as Prime Minister within days. But Tsvangirai put forward a sharply different proposal, one which seeks far-reaching security and legislative reforms before any deal is reached.

Tsvangirai will only enter into the unity government on condition that;

Mugabe agrees to the “equitable distribution of ministerial portfolios”, giving the MDC control of key security ministries;
A law governing the role and composition of the security apparatus is enacted;
Key appointments, such as provincial governors, the Attorney General and the reserve bank of Zimbabwe governor, are reversed; and
Detained activists are released.
Chinamasa said Tsvangirai cannot expect to be consulted on key government appointments before being sworn in to office.
MDC faction leader Arthur Mutambara declared it “a sad day” for the country and said Zimbabwe “deserves better leaders than Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai”.

Australia unlikely to grant Chingoka visa

http://content-www.cricinfo.com/

Cricinfo staff

January 22, 2009

Next week's ICC executive meeting, scheduled for Perth, could face
cancellation after the Australian government warned that Peter Chingoka, the
Zimbabwe Cricket chairman, would require "very particular grounds" to be
granted a visa to enter the country.
"Australia's sanctions are an important mechanism for applying pressure on
the Mugabe regime," a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman told
AAP. "They send a clear signal that the government holds the Mugabe regime
and its closest supporters accountable for the tragedy occurring in
Zimbabwe."

Less than a month ago Chingoka was named by the Australian government on a
list of 254 people banned from entering the country because of his links
with the Mugabe regime. However, last summer, in the light of Chingoka being
made unwelcome by the UK authorities, the ICC executive took a decision that
all members should be permitted to attend meetings.

To that end, David Morgan, the ICC president, has been in regular contact
with the Australian foreign office to try to persuade them to allow Chingoka
into the country, just to attend the get-together. Sharad Pawar, who as well
as being the ICC's vice-president is also India's agriculture minister, is
also believed to have been leaning on the authorities.

Chingoka, who is the longest-standing member of the executive by more than a
decade, could offer to stay at home, freeing the way for the meeting to go
ahead without him, but it is reported he is reluctant to do this. He already
agreed not to attend next summer's annual meeting at Lord's to allow that to
go ahead, but is said to be insistent that the issue of where he can and
cannot go be resolved.

If attempts to allow Chingoka into Australia fail then it will mean that the
ICC executive cannot meet in Australia or England while he remains
Zimbabwe's representative. The same applies to the ICC chief executives'
committee while Ozias Bvute, ZC's managing director, is in office. Sources
in Australia, however, maintain that the Australian government would be left
acutely embarrassed were they to back down so soon after declaring Chingoka,
as well Bvute, persona non grata.

The ICC on Thursday could not confirm whether Chingoka had applied for a
visa to visit Australia, and attempts by the domestic news agency,
Australian Associated Press (AAP), to contact ZC's headquarters were
unsuccessful. An ICC spokesman did, however, tell AFP that the meeting would
go ahead regardless of his absence.

Among other agenda items, the meeting is due to hear the results of the
fact-finding trip to Zimbabwe headed by West Indies board chairman Julian
Hunte in November.

© Cricinfo

Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai hopeful ahead of summit