Breaking news.ie
Zimbabwe: 5.8 million
go hungry as food emergency deepens
28/01/2005 - 14:24:26
Nearly half the population of Zimbabwe is facing hunger and
needs food assistance as the country's food emergency deepens, a famine early
warning group reported today.
Urgent action was required to help 5.8
million people in the country of 12.5 million who are now at risk from food
shortages, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, a food security monitoring
group, said in its latest report.
The report sharply contradicts
government assertions that the country has harvested more food – mainly of the
corn staple – than it needs to feed the nation.
“Staple food availability
is declining as market prices continue to rise,” Fewsnet said.
It said
malnutrition and related diseases were expected to peak ahead of the next
harvests.
In many urban and rural areas, families were forced to
drastically reduce food consumption “or spend the whole day without having a
meal at all” while programmes to help the elderly, the chronically ill, orphans
and other vulnerable groups were grossly inadequate, the group said.
It
echoed concerns earlier this week voiced by James Morris, head of the UN World
Food Programme, over the refusal of international food aid by President Robert
Mugabe’s government.
The country consumes about 1.8 million tons of corn
meal a year, or 5,000 tons a day.
According to UN and independent crop
estimates, Zimbabwe produced about half its food needs last year, but the
government insists 2.4 million tons of food were harvested.
Morris said
Zimbabwe produced less than 1 million tons in 2003 and described such a massive
recovery in the following year as “staggering, if true”.
Fewsnet, a
US-funded global research and food security organisation, listed the Zimbabwe
food emergency second in Africa to Ethiopia, where 8.2 million people are at
risk from hunger.
It said food shortages in Zimbabwe were worsened by
inefficiency, transport shortages and “erratic” distribution of supplies at the
state grain monopoly, the Grain Marketing Board.
The board’s is the sole
buyer and seller of grain in the country.
The opposition Movement for
Democratic Change has accused the government of using the board to control food
distribution as a political weapon, especially ahead of elections scheduled in
March.
Agricultural production has collapsed in the five years since
Mugabe ordered the seizure of about 5,000 white-owned commercial farms for
redistribution to black Zimbabweans.
In what was once a regional
breadbasket, some 5.5 million Zimbabweans received food handouts from
international agencies in 2003.
But most food aid agreements were
cancelled when the government last year declared they were no longer
necessary.
Mugabe himself, in a television broadcast last May, defended
his land reform policy as correcting unfair colonial-era land ownership and said
the United Nations and international agencies were “foisting” food aid on the
country to disparage the land redistribution program.
“We have enough. We
are not hungry. We don’t want to choke on their food,” he said.
Zimbabwe
is suffering its worst economic and political crisis since Mugabe led the nation
to independence from Britain in 1980. Inflation is 132%, one of the highest in
the world and an estimated 80% of the population are living in poverty. Acute
shortage of hard currency, gasoline and medicines and other imports are
routine.
Zim Indep.
Farmers Hamstrung By Lack of Support
Zimbabwe
Independent (Harare)
January 28, 2005
Posted to the web January 28, 2005
Augustine Mukaro
WITH her nine-month old baby girl strapped to her
back, Sarudzai Humbwe struggles to clear overgrown weeds and grass overwhelming
her now yellowing maize crop.
Sarudzai's husband and her three other children
are busy preparing the land with an ox-drawn plough, two months after the
planting period. The Humbwe family is still hoping against the odds to produce
enough food to feed themselves and contribute to national output.
Their
initial crop was planted on land that was not ploughed at all - the zero tillage
concept - and had used untreated seed. They had no fertiliser and other critical
inputs. They planted their maize unprepared land because they had no tillage
facilities and other essential inputs.
This is what the Zimbabwe Independent
news crew which visited Mashonaland Central and West's farming areas on Tuesday
this week discovered.
The Humbwe family's plight is generally reflective of
what is happening to most newly resettled farmers, be they A2 or A1 farmers,
across the country.
New farmers who spoke to the Independent during the visit
attributed delays in planting and the poor crop to lack of support in the form
of capital and inputs. Government has been claiming that it was supporting the
new farmers in various ways to ensure they produce for themselves and the
nation.
However, the situation on the ground shows that the new farmers are
struggling to due lack of support.
"The biggest drawback over the past four
years we have been here has been the unavailability of tillage facilities," said
Obediah Mupanganyama, an A1 farmer at Vairona Farm in the Mazowe area.
"The
majority of the farmers proceeded to plant on untilled land which brings us to
the problem you are looking at. The weeds have overwhelmed the crops and we have
no machinery or chemicals to deal with it."
Most farmers said the District
Development Fund (DDF) never turned up to till their land despite being paid for
the services.
"Settlers at Sekerere Farm teamed up to pay for tillage in
October last year but the DDF tractors only turned up at the farm last week,"
another farmer who only identified himself as Mukoko said. "Their excuse was
that they have no capa-city to service each and every farmer in the
country."
Mukoko said the new farmers could not afford to hire private
tractors.
"Private tractors are charging $300 000 per hectare excluding fuel
and $350 000/ha including fuel," he said.
Other than the tillage problem,
farmers at Bally Hooly Farm in Glendale said the supply of inputs was erratic
such that most of them used untreated seeds.
"At the moment we can't access
ammonium nitrate which is very critical for production considering the stage our
first crop is at. We have managed to come up with a crop from our own initiative
but the yield will drop signifi-cantly if we cannot get fertiliser in two weeks'
time."
Agricultural experts have said despite numerous promises by government
to provide farmers with inputs and tillage, very little if anything has been
provided. The current harvest season is likely to be one of the worst ever due
to a combination of factors such as poor planning, lack of adequate financing
and erratic rains.
Usually by this time, the late planted maize crop
throughout the country would be at knee level. But this week's tour showed that
a number of farmers were still planting.
The chaotic land reform programme,
condemned by international donors and the opposition as unworkable and a recipe
for disaster, is turning out to be just that. Over the past four seasons,
production in all facets of the agriculture sector has plummeted, dragging the
economy down with it. Most farmers estimate production to have fallen by
70%.
This year government resorted to secret importation of grain to cover up
shortages despite claims of a bumper harvest and barring humanitarian aid
organisations from bringing in food. Government claims a record 2,4 million
tonnes were harvested but this was shot down when a lands and agriculture
parliamentary portfolio committee reported that only 388 558 tonnes were
produced. The figure represents only a sixth of the country's
requirements.
Inherent policy contradictions have demonstrated that even
amendments to the Land Acquisition Act, the appointment of a series of audit
committees or taskforces, have done nothing to improve production.
Six
committees were appointed to audit the achievements of the land reform programme
but facts on the ground show that agriculture has been completely ruined by the
land reform which was characterised by widespread violence and grabbing of farms
for self-aggrandisement.
Farming activities require proper financing,
planning and expertise which have been conspicuously absent over the past four
years.
Special Affairs minister John Nkomo in Jan-uary last year admitted
that the land reform exercise had failed in some places. "In some cases, the
percentage of people who took up the farms that they were allocated has not been
encouraging. Only 40% of people who were allocated land have taken it up," Nkomo
was reported to have said.
Nkomo blamed lack of finance, saying farmers who
wanted to take the land had difficulties obtaining bank loans. He was quoted as
saying there was confusion on the ground caused by the listing and delisting of
farms.
SABC
January 28, 2005, 16:45
The ANC has backed plans by the Congress of South African Trade Unions
(Cosatu) to make a controversial visit to Zimbabwe next week despite a warning
from that country's government that the delegation could be deported.
In
a move likely to increase pressure on Mugabe ahead of March elections, leaders
of the ANC, Cosatu and the South African Communist Party (SACP) alliance said
the union visit could help ensure Zimbabwe meets regional governance
guidelines.
South Africa, Zimbabwe's most important trading partner and
key regional ally, has in recent weeks stepped up emphasis on the March
elections as a test for Zimbabwe's troubled democracy.
Cosatu, which saw
a similar delegation expelled from Zimbabwe in October, said this week it
planned to make another trip to highlight the country's political
crisis.
"The alliance reaffirmed the commitment of all partners to the
creation of conditions in which the people of Zimbabwe can collectively and
democratically resolve the challenges that country faces," an alliance statement
said late yesterday.
"The success of the forthcoming elections will be a
key milestone in achieving this outcome and it is therefore important that every
effort be made to ensure that the electoral process complies with the SADC
(Southern African Development Community) protocols," the statement
said.
Accountability
South African political leaders appear
increasingly eager to hold Zimbabwe to its commitments under the Southern
African Developing Community's (SADC) electoral guidelines agreed last year,
said Shadrack Gutto, the head of the Centre for African Renaissance Studies at
the University of South Africa (Unisa).
The alliance said dialogue
between South Africa and Zimbabwe could help resolve Zimbabwe's political
impasse. "Cosatu's forthcoming visit to Zimbabwe should be seen in this
context," the statement said.
Political analysts said the statement does
not necessarily mark a shift in South Africa's official position on Zimbabwe.
However, it does show new unity among the ANC and its key domestic political
partners, which had sharp public disagreements last year over President Thabo
Mbeki's policy of "quiet diplomacy" toward Harare.
'No banana
republic'
Paul Mangwana, Zimbabwe's public service, labour and social
welfare minister, said proper procedures for the visit are not being followed
and that the South African group will be deported if it arrived without
government approval. "Cosatu wrote a letter saying they wanted to come here but
we have told them that we are a sovereign country, we are not a banana
republic," Mangwana told reporters.
Cosatu has said it will go ahead with
the visit whatever Harare's response to its written request.
Harare's
expulsion of the first Cosatu team sparked a row between the powerful labour
group and the ANC, which this month signalled a change in tack when it called on
Mugabe's government to create conditions for free and fair parliamentary
elections.
Zimbabwe's elections in 2000 and 2002 were criticised as
deeply flawed by mostly Western observers and the main opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC). - Reuters
EU Hunts for Mugabe Treasures
Zimbabwe
Independent (Harare)
January 28, 2005
Posted to the web January 28, 2005
Gift Phiri
WITH less than eight weeks to go before the European Union
reviews its targeted sanctions against President Robert Mugabe and his
officials, investigators in Britain and the United States are working flat out
to track assets held by those under review.
The Zimbabwe Independent heard this week that the Jersey
Financial Services Commission, in conjunction with the Joint Financial Crimes
Unit, has intensified its search for funds that could be held in offshore
accounts by Mugabe and his cronies in the Channel Island.
Financial investigators believe members of Zanu PF have used
proceeds from 25 years' access to the national treasury to buy houses and other
real estate in the UK, the US and elsewhere.
While the investigators have revealed that proof of
ownership has probably been hidden several layers deep beneath "shell
corporations" and intermediaries, the investigators think the expertise and
records exist to make tracking possible.
The commission on its website has listed Mugabe, his wife
Grace, and 95 ministers and advisers as "politically exposed persons" who
require scrutiny by banks to ensure there was no "reputational risk" to the
institutions.
"Politically exposed persons" are identified with what the
commission calls "potentate risk", a term given to the risk associated with
providing financial and business services to officials of countries tainted by
"corruption, bribery, scandals and scams".
"President Mugabe and his associates clearly fit the
definition of a 'politically exposed person' as defined in the commission's
guidance issued in the Anti-Money Laundering Guidance Update," the commission
said.
The Independent understands that as yet, no-one has been
able to quantify the scale of the assets in question, and some may be a great
deal more difficult to locate than others.
The commission, which regulates Jersey's 250 trust
companies, 150 investment firms, 70 banks and 30 fund administrators, said
financial institutions should "review files" to determine whether any links
existed with the listed individuals.
Jersey is a self-governing British dependency, which has
grown to become prosperous because of "offshore" bank accounts held there.
EU and US officials have of late been intensifying the
trawling of financial institutions for possible holdings by political and
military leaders of the Zimbabwean regime.
But the commission seems doubtful.
"We have no reason to suppose Jersey is being used for
this."
But it also said: "Nevertheless, regulated institutions
should review their files to determine whether or not they have any connection
with any of the named individuals. They will then wish to satisfy themselves
that they know the customers concerned and have taken any appropriate action to
address any reputational risks that may arise."
Focus On Quality of Health Service
The Herald
(Harare)
EDITORIAL
January 28, 2005
Posted to the web January 28, 2005
Harare
ALL is not well in Zimbabwe's health delivery sector and it is
time Government seriously considered taking a microscopic look at the
problem.
Having established a massive health delivery infrastructure
throughout the country, the Government needs now to focus on the quality of the
service itself.
Access to health is a fundamental right for every citizen
of this country and reports about the collapsed services at Zimbabwe's major
referral medical centre, Harare Central Hospital, are worrying.
For so many
years, Zimbabwe's medical services were the marvel of the African
continent.
The sector was specialised in so many fields ranging from primary
health care to specialist services that included family planning, radiotherapy
for cancer patients, physiotherapy and many other surgical services.
Zimbabwe
also trained thousands of medical personnel from the region and admitted
patients from all over Africa for specialised treatment.
However, the picture
today is a very sad one. It is unbelievable that the simplest procedure like
delivery of babies is no longer a joyful experience.
Some mothers have been
discharged from Harare Central Hospital with premature babies carried in between
their breasts because incubators that are supposed to keep them warm and alive
until they are strong enough to go home are dysfunctional.
It is
disheartening that basic services such as lifts to carry patients and the dead
up and down the floors do not function at an institution providing such a vital
service to the nation.
Surely the sight of corpses being pulled down the
stairs must be traumatic for hospital staff, patients and visitors.
We
believe the present conditions prevailing at Harare Central Hospital do not
encourage sick patients to think of recovery.
The intensive care unit is for
caring for the critically sick, but right now it is the hospital that needs to
be placed in that unit.
The situation at Harare Central Hospital appears like
some fictitious story. But the fact remains that deterioration did not take
place overnight.
It was disintegration over many years.
The hospital
started showing signs of decay many years ago and authorities could have
postponed dealing with the issues as they were presented.
Some doctors have
left this country for "greener pastures" out of alleged desperation as some of
the reasons cited included the lack of equipment for use at these
hospitals.
By 2003, there were 2 000 registered doctors in Zimbabwe and only
1 000 were working in the country.
We have reached a desperate situation that
is very serious. The patient to doctor ratio by 2003 stood at 1:12 000 and that
is way off what is recommended by the World Health Organisation.
Hospitals
need to be equipped and refurbished urgently so that medical personnel can be
retained.
Some doctors are prepared to continue working under conditions of
improved provision of hospital equipment.
However, the very sad
development is that the University of Zimbabwe is no longer able to train the
number of doctors as before because the lecturers, who are also doctors, are
leaving.
We are encouraged though by reports that some foreign currency has
now been sourced to replace the elevators, but a lot more still needs to be done
to revamp the hospital, which has always been regarded as the best in terms of
expertise and care.
South Africa: ANC/Cosatu Agree Conditions in Zim Not `Conducive' to Free
Poll
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
January 28,
2005
Posted to the web January 28, 2005
Johannesburg
South Africa's
ruling African National Congress (ANC) and its alliance partners have concluded
that conditions are not believed to be "conducive" to holding "free and fair
elections" in Zimbabwe in March, an official told IRIN.
The ruling alliance
secretariat, made up of the ANC, the Congress of South African Trade Unions
(COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP), met on Thursday to
develop a common understanding of the issues touching Zimbabwe, among other
items.
"All the alliance members were in agreement on that position. To
ensure that the electoral process in Zimbabwe complies with the SADC [Southern
African Development Community] protocols, all alliance partners have been asked
to take whatever course they can," COSATU spokesman Paul Notyawa
said.
Following the meeting on Thursday, the members announced that COSATU's
upcoming "fact-finding" mission to Zimbabwe, reportedly scheduled for next week,
should be seen as a "people-to-people exchange between South Africans and
Zimbabweans" for the creation of a "climate of dialogue".
"The aim of the
visit is not to undermine the government of Zimbabwe, but to interact with the
people of that country and listen to their concerns. We cannot announce the
coming Zimbabwe national elections as being free and fair if we do not have a
true reflection of the problems of the people of Zimbabwe. The aim of the trip
is to experience these problems ourselves," Notyawa explained.
The ANC gave
the COSATU mission a thumbs-up earlier this week, after the labour movement's
first "solidarity" trip to Zimbabwe in October last year was criticised by South
African President Thabo Mbeki. The 14-member delegation was deported by the
Zimbabwean authorities.
The SACP announced that it also intends sending a
mission to Zimbabwe. "Our visit, the timing of which is still to be decided,
will also be part of our initiative to engage all the role- players. We are not
calling for the postponement of elections; we see the holding of timely
elections as a critical component of democracy in Zimbabwe. We have to, however,
ensure that they are free and fair," said SACP spokesman Kaizer
Mohau.
ZANU-PF spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira declined to comment, but told
IRIN that his party would issue a statement on Monday.
[ This report does not
necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations ]
SABC
January 28, 2005, 21:45
Zimbabwe has expressed surprise at reports that the ANC has thrown its weight
behind a second planned fact-finding mission by Cosatu to Harare.
A
statement by Simon Moyo, the country's top envoy to Pretoria, says reports that
the ANC has changed its mind about Cosatu's visit are contrary to what they have
learnt from the party itself. Yesterday, the Alliance Secretariat, made up of
the ANC, Cosatu, the SACP and the SA National Civic Organisation said the labour
federation's planned visit was part of efforts to create a dialogue that would
ensure free and fair elections in Zimbabwe. Moyo says Zimbabwe is not for sale.
This will be Cosatu's second visit to Harare following their abortive
attempt last year when they were booted out of the country. The alliance
partners were divided on the issue with the ANC criticising the union's actions
as undermining Zimbabwe's sovereignty.
VOA
Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Encourages Rice to Visit Country
By Tendai Maphosa
Harare
28 January
2005
|
|
 |
| Condoleezza Rice |
Zimbabwean
Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is free
to visit Zimbabwe to acquaint herself with the political situation in the
country. This follows Ms. Rice's description of the country as one of six
outposts of tyranny.
In the state-controlled Sunday Mail newspaper, Foreign Minister Stan
Mudenge referred to testimony Condoleeza Rice gave to Congress during her
confirmation hearing. He says she overlooked, what he called, the Zimbabwe
government's "positive signals through a decrease of open violence against
political opponents".
One critic, who does not support the Zimbabwe government, says Ms. Rice's
description of Zimbabwe as an outpost of tyranny is too strong.
University of Zimbabwe Professor Heneri Dzinotyiwei says while the situation
in Zimbabwe is far from perfect, Ms. Rice's comments are inaccurate. And he
says, the United States singling out Zimbabwe is unfair, considering its ties
with such country's as Saudi Arabia and Libya.
"Is it simply because Libya now has given some gesture that it wants to
cooperate with the outside world, particularly the western world and the United
States, that they see it as more democratic than Zimbabwe? Can anybody say that
really? So, in short, democracy must not be used to mean governments that are
pro-American, but genuinely countries with governments that reflect the
interests of their own people," he said.
Professor Brian Raftopolous, also of the University of Zimbabwe, agrees.
"The second aspect is the sense of hypocrisy when this kind of condemnation
comes from a U.S. government that is itself conducting repressive politics in
places like Iraq, Afghanistan," he said. "So there is that ambiguity in our
response to the Condoleezza Rice position."
But Mr. Raftopoulous and Mr. Dzinotyiwei agree the United States and the
international community should play a key role in resolving the crisis in
Zimbabwe. Mr. Raftopolous says that role should involve supporting regional
efforts.
"I think the role that they can play is to support whatever initiatives are
coming out of the region around trying to get discussions internally in
Zimbabwe," he said. "But I think the fundamental resolution of the Zimbabwe
question lies within Zimbabwe itself with the assistance of those in the region
and on the continent who have a constructive intentions within the Zimbabwe
situation."
 |
| Robert Mugabe |
Government
officials from President Robert Mugabe on down often accuse the governments of
the United States and Britain of demonizing the Zimbabwe government with the
goals of effecting regime change. And they accuse the opposition party - the
Movement for Democratic Change - as being the agent of those governments.
Some opposition officials say privately that comments such as those made by
Ms. Rice actually play into the hands of Mr. Mugabe in his efforts to paint the
opposition as an enemy of the people of Zimbabwe.
Xinhua
| Zimbabwe spends 8.5 million
dollars monthly for power imports |
|
| www.chinaview.cn 2005-01-29
07:00:55 |
|
HARARE, Jan. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority
(ZESA) is spending 8.5 million US dollars monthly for power imports and settling
of arrears, an official said Friday.
ZESA Manager Obert Nyatanga said the parastatal was paying about 4.5
million dollars in advance for power imports to regionalpower houses and 4
million dollars toward servicing its debt to suppliers.
"We had actually asked for about 12 million dollars, with the remainder
from the payment of imports and arrears being used to acquire spare parts," he
said.
He said the power authority had cleared most of its foreign debt and the
rest 7 million dollars owed to Escom of South Africa and Hydro Cabora Bassa of
Mozambique will be cleared in two months.
Zimbabwe, he said, was importing about 650 megawatts or about 35 percent
of the country's electricity requirements.
Meanwhile, Nyatanga dismissed allegations of load shedding saying
electrical blackouts were mainly a result of vandalism.
"We have improved our payment record with regards to imports from
Mozambique, South Africa and from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and we
are meeting the expected demand. If there is no power, it's because of a fault
that has occurred as a result of vandalism," he said.
ZESA said it incurred losses of more than 5 billion Zimbabwean dollars
(about 862,069 US dollars) through vandalism last year andhas called for
deterrent penalties to curb the practice. |
Warning on Zimbabwe food crisis
AP in
Harare
Saturday January 29, 2005
The
Guardian
Nearly
half of all Zimbabweans are facing hunger as the country's food emergency
deepens, a monitoring group said yesterday.
Urgent action is required to help 5.8 million people out of a population of
12.5 million who are now at risk from food shortages, the US-funded Famine Early
Warning Systems Network said in its latest report.
It ranked Zimbabwe's food emergency second in Africa to Ethiopia's, where 8.2
million people are at risk from hunger.
The report contradicted Harare's assertion that the country had harvested
more food - mainly staple corn - than it needs. "Staple food availability is
declining as market prices continue to rise," it said. Malnutrition and related
illnesses were forecast to peak in March, before the next harvests.
In many areas, families were forced to reduce food consumption drastically,
while projects to help the old, the sick, orphans and other vulnerable groups
were said to be grossly inadequate.
The report echoed concerns voiced this week by James Morris, the head of the
World Food Programme, over Harare's refusal of international food aid.
Agricultural production has collapsed in the five years since Robert Mugabe
ordered the seizure of about 5,000 white-owned farms for redistribution to black
Zimbabweans.
In what was once a regional breadbasket, about 5.5 million people received
food handouts from international agencies in 2003. But most food aid agreements
were cancelled last year as the government said they were no longer necessary.
JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE LEGAL COMMUNIQUÉ - 28th January
2005
Email: jag@mango.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
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Sent: Friday, January 28, 2005 9:48 PM
Subject: Press Release for the Demo on the 29th January in
London
PRESS RELEASE
Please find below a press release for immediate release and more
information on speakers about the demo on the 29th January 2005 at the Home
office in london.
Zimbabwean
Community Campaign to Defend Asylum Seekers
ZIMBABWEANS TO PROTEST AGAINST THE RESUMPTION OF FORCED
REMOVALS OF SO-CALLED ‘FAILED’ ASYLUM SEEKERS
Contact: ZCCDAS Press Officer Brighton Chireka on
07960209253
Hundreds of
Zimbabweans will be protesting outside the Home Office tomorrow afternoon
against the resumption of forced removals of so-called ‘failed’ asylum seekers
to Zimbabwe. Deportees face detention and torture on
their return and the UNHCR has recently reiterated that
Zimbabwe unsafe for removals.
Coaches and
other transport are bringing protestors from Manchester, Leeds, Leicester, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Derby, Northampton, Coventry, Luton, Loughborough, Bournemouth, Scotland, Wales, and London and the South East.
The headline speakers
are: Tony
Benn; Jean
Lambert MEP; Tim
Lezard, NUJ Deputy President;
and Lindsey
German, Convenor of Stop the
War Coalition.
They will be joined by
Crispin Kulinji, Tracey Ndovi, Themba Moyo and the journalist Adolf Mukandi -
Zimbabweans who have experienced torture, detention in the
UK and the
threat of deportation. These and
others like them will be available to speak to the media between
2.30-3.30pm.
Please call the press
officer if you would like to arrange an interview.
Speakers are also coming from the following
organisations: Association of University Teachers; Committee to Defend Asylum
Seekers; Communication Workers Union; Natfhe; National Coalition of
Anti-Deportation Campaigns; Public and Commercial Services Union; Refugee and
Migration Network; and the Zimbabwean Community Association.
Backing and solidarity
statements for the demonstration have been received from: Jeremy
Corbyn MP; Jeremy
Dear, NUJ President;
George
Galloway MP; Billy
Hayes, CWU General Secretary;
London Region UNISON International Committee; John
McDonnell MP; Paul
Mackney Natfhe General
Secretary; and Mark
Serwotka, PCS General Secretary.
The demonstration will
be held between 1.00-5.00pm outside the
Home Office, 50 Queen Anne’s Gate,
SW1H
9AT (nearest tube: St James
Park on the District Line). Further information on the deportations will be
on-hand for the press.
Dr B Chireka Publicity Officer UK ZIMBABWEAN COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN TO
DEFEND ASYLUM SEEKERS (ZCCDAS) Tel 07960209253 or 07787591904 To those who
choose silence, let me adapt the Rev Niemoller's famous words.FIRST THEY CAME
FOR THE NDEBELE,BUT I WAS NOT A NDEBELE SO I DID NOT SPEAK OUT. Then they came
for the farmers, but I was not a farmer, so I did not speak out. Then they came
for the farm workers, homosexuals and the trade unionists, but I was neither, so
I remained silent. Then they came for the journalists, but I was not a
journalist so I did not speak out. And when they came for me,there was no one
left to speak out for me. STOP THE REMOVALS NOW!!!
