Reuters
Fri Jan 5, 2007 5:04 PM GMT
HARARE (Reuters) - A strike
at Zimbabwe's state hospitals intensified on
Friday, virtually paralysing
most public medical care as senior medical
personnel joined junior doctors
boycotting work.
"I can safely say every doctor -- except one percent --
is on strike and we
are saying this time that whatever comes our way we are
prepared for it,"
Kudakawashe Nyamutukwa, head of the Hospital Doctors'
Association, told
Reuters.
Junior doctors at state hospitals, who
earn about $350 a month, went on
strike last week to demand better pay,
saying an inflation rate of more than
1,000 percent had left them struggling
to make ends meet amid a deepening
economic crisis.
Health Minister
David Parirenyatwa told state media on Friday he had met
striking doctors
and urged them to return to work while the government
considers their
demands, which include pay rises of more than 8,800 percent.
But the
strike broadened on Friday to include most senior doctors, leaving
hospital
emergency rooms staffed largely by nurses and interns and waiting
rooms
packed with patients, many on stretchers.
President Robert Mugabe's
government has singled out health workers among
government employees barred
from boycotting work because they performed
essential services.
The
government has not said what action it will take against the doctors,
but
has previously said striking doctors were in breach of their work oath
not
to strike.
Staff at the private clinics have not joined the strike, but
most
Zimbabweans receive medical care through state hospitals and
clinics.
Doctors have staged a series of strikes in recent years to push
for wages
they say have been eroded by inflation, while thousands of doctors
and
nurses have abandoned the country seeking better-paying jobs in
neighbouring
South Africa, Britain and Australia.
Economic analysts
have warned Zimbabwe is likely to see more strikes in the
coming months by
dissatisfied workers grappling with a economic recession
largely blamed on
Mugabe's government.
Urban workers have borne the brunt of the crisis
marked by the highest
inflation rate in the world, rising unemployment and
poverty levels,
collapsing public services and shortages of foreign
currency, food and fuel.
Bread ranges between $2.80 and $4.80, while a
two litre can of cooking oil
costs about $30 and a commuter bus fare costs
around $4.
On Thursday workers from the state power utility ZESA Holdings
briefly
downed tools and disconnected consumers in the capital to press for
a 1,150
percent hike in salaries. ZESA says it can only pay 144
percent.
The Zimbabwe dollar is officially pegged at 250 to the U.S.
greenback but
trades at up to 3,000 on a thriving black market.
[This report does not necessarily reflect
the views of the United Nations]
HARARE, 5 Jan 2007 (IRIN) -
Zimbabwean employees marked the first week of
2007 by taking industrial
action for better pay, against the background of
inflation that continues to
hover around 1,000 percent.
Hundreds of patients were left stranded
during the Christmas holiday period
as junior doctors in public hospitals
across the country went on strike to
press for better salaries and working
conditions, while the power supply was
disrupted in the capital, Harare,
when Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority
(ZESA) employees decided to stay
away from work this week.
The employees of ZESA, a parastatal company
that is the sole power supplier,
were demanding a salary increment of 1,150
percent to cushion themselves
against the prevailing inflation
rate.
The resulting power outages lasted for at least three hours on
Thursday,
affecting communication services in the busy capital and forcing
dimly lit
shops, including clothing retail outlets selling school uniforms,
to operate
without being able to issue receipts.
The lowest-paid ZESA
employee, said the unions, earned about US$91 a month,
hardly enough to rent
a single room in a modest suburb. Many skilled
staffers have opted to
migrate in search of better salaries. Last month, the
Consumer Council of
Zimbabwe reported that the cost of living, including
non-food items like
transport and rent, amounted to just over US$800 a month
for an average
family of six.
Junior doctors, who earn about US$223 a month, were
demanding a monthly
salary of around US$19,000. Most people are struggling
to survive in an
economy characterised by hyperinflation, unemployment of
more than 70
percent and biting shortages of foreign currency, basic
commodities, fuel
and electricity, as well as a shrinking industrial
base.
Nurses have been overwhelmed by the numbers of people seeking
assistance at
the Harare and Parirenyatwa hospitals in the capital, and the
Mpilo and
United hospitals in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city, which are
the
country's four main referral centres and used by most people because
they
are more affordable than private institutions.
A notice in one
casualty reception area announced the junior doctors' the
strike and said
only emergencies would be attended to.
Bridget Sadza, 34, a housewife,
was hit by a haulage truck in the small town
of Chivhu in Mashonaland East
Province on Christmas Eve and sustained a
broken arm, which nurses said
might need to be amputated.
"I was transferred from Chivhu hospital to
Harare because of the seriousness
of my injury but, up to now, no doctor has
visited me. The young nurses here
tell me that if I don't get attention
soon, the injury might turn septic,"
Sadza told IRIN in a barely audible
voice.
She said the single expatriate doctor on duty at the hospital
could not
attend to her because he had a backlog of sick people. Unable to
afford the
US$798 needed for admission to a private health facility, Sadza
had to wait
her turn at Harare Hospital.
Her brother, who is employed
as an engineer in neighbouring Botswana and had
to travel to Zimbabwe to
assist her, said the only way to avoid amputation
of her arm was to take her
to a hospital outside the country. "Under normal
circumstances, treating my
sister's arm would not have been a big issue. The
health sector in Zimbabwe
is now in a mess. It is because of poverty; the
poverty of a people living
in a badly performing economy."
For almost a decade, Zimbabwe has
suffered a debilitating brain drain of
health and other skilled personnel
who have migrated to other countries for
better salaries and working
conditions. The Health Services Board released
statistics in late 2006
showing that major referral centres were operating
without key medical
staff.
Of a required 145 senior doctors, only 36 were available in the
country,
while only 72 instead of the necessary 189 specialist consultants
were left
in Zimbabwe. The board said there was a deficit of up to 89
percent of
state-certified medical laboratory technicians and a 44 percent
shortfall of
state-certified nurses, while there were 19 percent too few
sisters-in-charge for supervising nurses at major health centres.
As
the economy fell into decline after the fast-track land reform programme
that saw around 4,000 white commercial farmers being removed from their
farms to make way for thousands of landless blacks, the United Kingdom gave
2,346 work permits to Zimbabwean nurses in 2002 alone, making Zimbabwe the
UK's fourth largest supplier of nurses after the Philippines, India and
South Africa.
One of the striking doctors, speaking anonymously, said
although they
sympathised with the patients, withholding their services was
the best way
to push the government to improve their working
conditions.
"We don't wish to harm the patients because that is against
the principles
of our profession. It is unfortunate that the government,
every year, does
not want to heed our grievances until we go on strike," the
doctor told
IRIN. "We are living like paupers, and most of the time we are
stuck in
transport queues on our way to work."
The Zimbabwe Medical
Association (ZIMA) described the industrial action by
doctors as "sad", and
urged the government to find a lasting solution to the
plight of medical
practitioners.
"Doctors strike every year ... [over] the same grievances.
There is a need
for a medium- to long-term strategy to resolve this
recurrent problem,
because whenever doctors withdraw their services, the
consequences are
undesirable and services are disrupted," ZIMA
secretary-general Dr Tapiwa
Bwakura told IRIN. "Doctors, nurses, laboratory
technicians and pharmacists
are already thin on the ground due to a massive
brain drain, and the sooner
we resolve our problems, the
better."
Bwakura said Zimbabwe had been receiving doctors from Cuba and
the
Democratic Republic of Congo to fill in the gaps left by those departing
for
greener pastures, but the government needed to improve conditions to
help
retain local professionals who were familiar with the country. The
expatriate doctors usually faced communication problems because they could
not speak indigenous languages, while their English, the main official
language, was basic.
IOL
January
05 2007 at 10:58AM
Striking workers at Zimbabwe's struggling power
utility disconnected
supplies to Harare's central business district to press
for a wage hike of
more than 1 000 per cent, it was reported
Friday.
Power to offices, shops and fast food outlets in the centre
of the
capital was cut for at least three hours on Thursday, reported the
state-controlled Herald newspaper.
Scores of angry Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) workers
chanted slogans and protest
songs outside the utility's head office in
central Harare, said the
paper.
A union official told the paper that workers were striking
because
ZESA management was not prepared to hike the minimum monthly wage
for
workers to 300 000 Zimbabwe dollars.
That
figure equates to $1 200 (about R8 400) on Zimbabwe's official
exchange
rate, but on the widely-used parallel market - used to fix the
prices of
most commodities here - it is worth less than a tenth of that
amount.
Currently the lowest paid worker at ZESA earns a wage
of 23 000
Zimbabwe dollars a month, which is not enough to buy a loaf of
bread a day
for one month.
Prices in Zimbabwe are escalating on
a near daily basis, and workers
are finding it increasingly hard to make
ends meet.
ZESA spokesperson James Maridadi said ZESA management
would deal
sternly with organisers of Thursday's strike, which he described
as
illegal. "Stern action will be taken against those who instigated
the
industrial action," Maridadi told the Herald.
"Management
is prepared to award the workers a 144 per cent salary
increment," he
said.
The industrial action by ZESA workers comes as thousands of
residents
in some of the capital's densely populated suburbs are already
without power
due to theft and vandalism of at least 80
power
transformers across the city.
Some desperate Zimbabweans are
turning to theft to survive amid a
worsening economic crisis marked by
inflation of more than 1 000 per cent,
with spiralling poverty and
unemployment.
Zimbabwe is critically short of foreign currency
needed to pay for the
importation of spare parts. - Sapa-dpa
Mail and Guardian
Harare, Zimbabwe
05 January 2007
12:04
Zimbabwe's Health Minister David Parirenyatwa has
ordered junior
doctors -- who have been on strike for the past two weeks to
press for a
huge salary increase -- to go back to work, it was reported on
Friday.
Doctors, like many other professionals, are feeling
the pinch of
Zimbabwe's fast-devaluing local dollar. The doctors earn just
Z$56 000 a
month, which is worth $224 United States dollars at the official
exchange
rate, but just $22,40 dollars at the widely used parallel
rate.
They want a new salary of nearly one hundred times that
amount:
Z$5-million, plus other improved perks.
Parirenyatwa on Thursday promised the government would discuss
the doctors'
concerns and said he expected the health workers to go back to
work on
Friday, the official Herald newspaper reported.
"Currently we
are in discussions with the relevant ministries as
we seek to improve their
conditions of service," the minister was quoted as
saying.
Patients at Harare's main hospitals have
complained they are
being turned away because there is no-one to treat them,
according to state
radio.
The authorities are fighting a
losing battle to maintain
Zimbabwe's once-model public health system. The
deepening economic crisis
has seen the exodus of hundreds of skilled health
workers, many of them
leaving for countries in Southern Africa and England
where they can command
better salaries.
Many rural health
institutions now depend on more than 100
doctors sent by ally
Cuba.
Junior doctors last went on strike in July to protest
poor
salaries and forced deployment to district hospitals. --
Sapa-dpa
Zim Online
Saturday
06 January 2007
HARARE - State doctors on Friday continued
boycotting work as nurses in the
second largest city of Bulawayo were
reported to have also begun striking to
press for more pay and improved
working conditions.
Conditions have deteriorated at state hospitals with
patients reportedly
dying of diseases that could be treated since intern
doctors downed tools
two weeks ago to pressure the government to increase
their salaries and
other perks.
Health Minister David Parirenyatwa
was on Friday morning quoted by
state-owned media as having said that
doctors had agreed to return to work
after he told them during a Thursday
meeting that their grievances were
being looked into.
But Hospital
Doctors Association president Kudakwashe Nyamutukwa told
ZimOnline that the
industrial action by intern or junior doctors as they are
commonly known in
Zimbabwe had now spread to other major centres across the
country.
"More doctors have in fact joined the strike. We will not go
back to work
until we are given what we want," said Nyamutukwa, who added
the meeting
with Parirenyatwa had yielded nothing.
The junior
doctors, who effectively run the public health delivery system
because
senior doctors spend most of their time at their private rooms, earn
a
salary of $56 800 per month plus $57 000 in housing, transport and on-call
allowances. They want their salaries hiked to $5 million to cushion them
against rampant inflation.
In Bulawayo nurses at the state-run Mpilo
and United Bulawayo Hospitals were
said to have either stopped going to work
or were on a go-slow to press the
government to increase salaries from the
$40 000 to $600 000 per month.
"We are fully in support of the doctors'
strike because we also feel the
economic pinch. We are tired of working for
peanuts and until the government
meets our demands, we are not going back to
work because we also have
families and other commitments to finance," said a
nurse at Mpilo, who said
she would not be returning to work until she gets a
new salary.
Meanwhile striking workers at the state-owned Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply
Authority and who on Thursday switched off power supplies
to Harare had
yesterday agreed to return to work while negotiations on a new
salary
increase were in progress.
The workers want a 1 150 percent
salary hike. But management at the power
utility that is virtually bankrupt
due to years of maladministration and
corruption are prepared to only pay
144 percent.
Analysts predict more work stoppages as workers both in the
public and
private sectors attempt to pressure employers to pay them more
money in
order to make ends meet in a country where inflation is pegged at
1098.8
percent and is rising.
Some analysts project that inflation
will this year climb past the 4 000
percent mark, which was forecasted by
the International Monetary Fund late
last year to inflict more hardships on
poor Zimbabweans.
Zimbabwe has since 1999 been grappling with an
agonising economic meltdown,
critics blame on repression and mismanagement
by President Robert Mugabe, a
charge the veteran leader denies. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Saturday 06 January
2007
BULAWAYO - A 25-year old Zimbabwean man
who was accidentally shot by the
police in Bulawayo last Sunday whilst they
controlled motorists celebrating
the New Year has died.
Artwell
Magagada, was shot by a police officer in the city as he battled to
control
excited motorists who were hooting their cars on New Year's eve.
The
police officer, who was allegedly drunk, fired twice to stop a fleeing
motorist but missed his target with the stray bullet hitting Magagada on the
head.
Magagada died yesterday at Mater Dei Hospital in the city. He
had been in a
coma since last Sunday.
Hospital authorities at Mater
Dei confirmed Magagada's death but refused to
comment further on the
matter.
"We can confirm that the person you are referring to died this
morning
(Friday) but you can contact the police for further information as
this is a
sensitive issue," said an official who preferred not to be
named.
Sources at the hospital said the bullet was still lodged in
Magagada's head
at the time of his death after doctors indicated that the it
was too risky
to remove the bullet.
Contacted for comment yesterday,
police spokesperson Oliver Mandipaka said
the police had already instituted
an investigation into the matter.
"We have received a report on the
matter and police are investigating the
shooting incident and we will
comment once investigations are complete,"
Mandipaka said.
Zimbabwe's
police have often been accused of committing serious human rights
violations
against civilians. Harassment and torture of government opponents
and
civilians is common in Zimbabwe.
For example, last year several Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions leaders and
civic rights activists were brutally
tortured by the police and state
security agents after attempting to march
in Harare over worsening economic
hardship in the country.
President
Robert Mugabe publicly defended the assault of the labour leaders
saying
they had invited trouble for themselves. - ZimOnline
VOA
By Ndimyake Mwakalyelye
Washington, DC
05
January 2007
A Zimbabwean expert on land reform has disputed
reports saying that the
government is urging dispossessed white farmers to
return to their former
properties.
African Institute of Agrarian
Studies Director Sam Moyo, who has advised
Harare on land redistribution
policy, said the official stance on white
farmers is
unchanged.
Britain's Guardian newspaper quoted Moyo as saying more than
300 farmers
could be back in business on farms in the country by the end of
2007. It
said 19 white farmers had secured 99-year leases on farms after
such leases
were introduced last year.
But Moyo told the Voice of
America that he was misquoted in the article.
Nonetheless, Moyo told
reporter Ndimyake Mwakalyelye of VOA's Studio 7 For
Zimbabwe that contrary
to the widespread belief that Harare has dispossessed
white farmers,
approximately 600 continue to work the land while others
await 99-year
leases to give them long-term tenure and allow them to resume
farming.
VOA
By Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
05
January 2007
The Zimbabwean government has stepped up
pressure on civil society groups
which have taken an increasingly important
role in the broad movement of
opposition to the government of President
Robert Mugabe.
Local Government, Public Works and Urban Development
Minister Ignatius
Chombo said in remarks published by the state-controlled
Herald newspaper
that Harare will take "drastic" action against groups that
he says are
overstepping their bounds by engaging in certain activities
without the
permission of authorities.
Chombo told the Herald that
nongovernmental organizations are holding
workshops and performing
consulting work in the intent of disrupting
government operations. He
singled out groups that have distributed radios
and literature on
governance.
Chombo said those interested in helping society should seek
government
permission to do so, and obtain a resolution from the local
council
authorizing the activity.
But spokesman Fambai Ngirande of
the National Association of
Non-Governmental Organizations told reporter
Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's
Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the government is
bitter because its failure has
led people to turn to NGOs for
help.
Reflections from
the Opposition
5th January 2007; Harare,
Zimbabwe
The National
Mandate
Zimbabwe enters 2007 still embroiled in a crisis that has
both political and
socio-economic manifestations. The economic aspects are
inextricably linked
to the political matters. We are tired of describing
the pain of our
people. Our challenge and obsession should be on redemptive
action: What
should be done in 2007? We need to focus on the nexus between
politics and
economics in identifying lessons from the past as we chart a
path into the
future. We have a duty and obligation to confront our plight
as a nation,
and deliver change. We owe it to
posterity.
The Political
Agenda
The democratic forces in Zimbabwe must take stock of the
effectiveness of
their efforts in 2006. There is need for clarity on what
works and that
which does not. It must be understood within the opposition
that there is
absolutely no alternative to working together. Self-serving
bickering and
infighting among the democratic forces must be shunned. All
political
leaders must put national interest before self interest. The two
MDC
formations have neither monopoly of political wisdom, nor the immutable
right to represent the people of Zimbabwe. In 2007 they must quickly resolve
and achieve a framework of effective cooperation. If they do not accomplish
this as a matter of urgency, the people of Zimbabwe must reject them
completely and develop other alternatives. In 2007, it is shape up or ship
out.
The people of Zimbabwe must not brook any nonsense that
serves the interest
of the dictatorship of Robert Mugabe. They must not
accept a dysfunctional
opposition that seizes defeat from the jaws of
victory. None of the
political leaders in the opposition are indispensable.
Zimbabwe is not short
of capable leaders. In any case, leadership is about
creating leaders, not
followers. All of the current leaders in the
opposition can be replaced, and
the struggle will continue unabated. The
leadership of the two MDC
formations must accept this without equivocation.
They must pledge to put
national interest before misguided personal
ambition. There is need to
re-energize the core opposition supporters while
inspiring and attracting
non-core constituencies.
It must be
clearly understood that the cooperation of the two MDC formations
is a
necessary but not sufficient condition for democratic change in
Zimbabwe.
Even if reunification of the two MDC formations is achieved, it is
not
enough, to dislodge ZANU (PF). We have to grow the democratic forces
beyond
the traditional MDC support base. This should be done by attracting
reform
minded people from within ZANU (PF), other political parties, and
those who
are not currently in active party politics. Furthermore there
should be
enhanced cooperation with Zimbabwe civic society organizations,
thus
unlocking synergies amongst all democratic forces. Organizations such
as
NCA, Crisis Coalition, ZCTU, ZINASU, WOZA, MOZA, Women Coalition, and the
Churches have shown spectacular courage under vicious
attacks.
A results driven, broad based democratization alliance
should be
established. This should be characterized by inclusiveness,
transparency,
agenda clarity, effective communication, and sustained
collusive efforts and
activities. Isolated individual acts of defiance,
grand standing, sectarian
glory seeking, publicity stunts, pursuit of
partisan credit, and legitimacy
competition should not be tolerated. The
agenda should be the immediate
democratization of Zimbabwe through
effective, collective and direct action.
The experiences from Kenya, Zambia,
Malawi, and elsewhere clearly
demonstrate that the opposition has to break
the ruling party before it can
contemplate success in an uneven political
playing field such as ours. The
opposition has to break and destroy ZANU
(PF), both as an institution and a
culture, as part of our strategy to
victory.
The dissension in ZANU (PF) over Mugabe's intention to
extend his misrule
has presented a unique opportunity to build a national
consensus for change.
As the opposition we cannot even begin to work on this
momentous task when
we are a bunch of bickering self-destructive democratic
forces. Shame on us!
In 2007 things have to be drastically different. We
have to quickly put the
opposition house in order. Only then can we be
relevant and effective in the
democratization of our
country.
While the apparent discontent in ZANU (PF) should be
leveraged, the
opposition forces should not base their strategy solely on
this aspect. Why
would the opposition bank on ZANU (PF) authoring its own
destruction? We
cannot pin our hopes on 10 ZANU (PF) MPs rebelling in
Parliament to support
the 41 MDC MPs in blocking insecure and incompetent
Robert Mugabe's
insatiable lust for power. The fight has to be broader than
participating in
ZANU (PF) institutions. In 2007 we will take the struggle
to the streets,
villages, valleys, and jails of Zimbabwe. We must defeat
Mugabe and his
bootlickers with or without ZANU (PF) dissension. We should
never allow the
people's revolution to depend on those ZANU (PF) cowards who
are, for all
intents and purposes, Mugabe's wives.
We believe
that the ideal framework for our struggle in Zimbabwe is that we
should
fight for a people driven democratic constitution before any future
elections, followed by an internationally supervised national plebiscite. In
2007 we will pursue this objective by any means necessary. We will not
respect any unjust and criminal laws. We will not allow the dictatorship to
prescribe to us how we should fight it. We will set the agenda and determine
the arena and instruments of combat. The opposition must now lead from the
front, by setting the agenda, and not merely responding to ZANU (PF)
projects. In addition to participating in electoral and institutional
processes we will embrace all forms of democratic resistance. We intend to
bring this regime to its knees. 2007 is the year of the people's
revolution.
As we pursue the agenda of a new constitution and
internationally supervised
elections, we should not be naïve and too
idealistic. We must have a plan B.
Zimbabwean national elections could be
held in 2008 or 2010 before a new
constitution, and without international
supervision. It is hence imperative
for us to clearly understand the current
flawed and uneven electoral
processes. The issue for us is to clearly
establish how they are abused and
manipulated, and thus develop anti-rigging
mechanisms. In addition we need
to carry out comprehensive voter education
and registration, protect and
guarantee secrecy of the vote, train effective
polling agents, and establish
functioning party structures throughout the
country. The challenge should
be; how do we make the flawed electoral
processes and institutions work for
us? How can we use the rules and laws of
the dictator against the dictator?
If, for example, the voter turnout was
more than 70% in every constituency,
and the opposition garners more than
80% of that vote while deploying
effective polling agents, it will be very
difficult for ZANU (PF) to
manipulate such results. One of the rigging
opportunities for the regime
lies in manipulating the unspent vote and the
narrow margins of opposition
victory in some constituencies. Thus our
challenge in this illustration is:
How does the opposition ensure that there
is 70% voter turnout throughout
the country and that 80% of those voters are
against the regime? Only a
united, all-embracing, but focused and
disciplined opposition can even begin
to address this challenge. The
struggle in Zimbabwe requires inspiring and
transforming leadership,
innovation, creativity, and thought leadership. It
can not be business as
usual.
The Economic Agenda
On the economy
the opposition must debate and establish clarity and
consensus around their
economic vision and its corresponding strategy. In
the year 2007 as a
country we must establish what we want to be known for;
our national brand.
In order to establish a globally competitive economy the
notion of country
branding is vital. We must seek to be known for clean and
competent
government, efficiency and commitment to excellence. This will
attract and
retain both domestic and foreign investment. Investors should do
business
with Zimbabwe because they know that the government is clean,
competent and
transparent. Our laws should be predictable and not
selectively applied.
There must be demonstrable respect for property rights,
the rule of law, and
security of tenure. We must be known for meritocracy;
i.e., Zimbabwean life
chances and business opportunities must be based on
talent and ability.
Foreign and domestic investors can bid for projects not
on the basis of
patronage but on merit. For all our citizens, we must
guarantee equal
opportunity, not necessarily equal outcomes. It takes time
to build a
country brand. The starting point is that we must have a country,
products,
and services worth branding. We must be "famous for something" and
focus on
brand delivery, not advertising slogans. There is need to find the
brand-building triggers, and make these happen. Once a country's brand is
damaged and compromised, its global competitiveness is severely undermined.
The ZANU (PF) regime has immensely damaged the Zimbabwean brand. In 2007 we
have to embark on a Zimbabwean brand development strategy. The stage for
country's branding on a global scale is already well laid out with the large
number of successful Zimbabwean professional and business people in
significant and strategic locations across the globe. These are the vehicles
for marketing a branded global Zimbabwe.
We need to develop
and own our economic models. The starting point is
learning from those
countries that have successfully transformed their
economies such as
Mauritius, Ghana, Singapore, Malaysia, India and China. We
must also
consider the traditionally strong economies of the US, Western
Europe, and
Japan. In these case studies we need to focus on the interplay
between
politics and economics in identifying lessons for high economic
growth. More
significantly, we should learn from ourselves (inside out
approach); our
local business experience, entrepreneurial instincts, work
ethic,
institutional memory, values, culture, wisdom, and indigenous
knowledge
systems. We need to understand and leverage our strengths:
excellent human
capital, strong natural resource base, and robust physical
infrastructure.
In this way, we can establish our own unique economic
signature processes
and institutions. Countries adopt industry best practice
to stay
competitive, but high-performing economies do more. They embrace
unique
signature processes that reflect their values and strengths. While
adoption
of global best-practice provides a level playing field, it is
necessary but
not sufficient. Signature processes, are idiosyncratic, part
of national and
local institutional culture & heritage; hence very difficult
to
replicate. A combination of signature processes and global industrial
best
practice enhances competitiveness and economic performance of a
nation.
Innovative and creative strategic thinking must always
inform our approach,
so that national weaknesses can be turned into
opportunities. For example,
rather than continuously mourn about the brain
drain and how to reverse it,
why not think in terms of how we can benefit
from the export of human
capital and thus build an export industry centered
around educational
products and services. Under globalization no country can
totally reverse
the brain drain. We are living in an age of the global
citizen and sovereign
individual, where geography, national boundaries, and
distance are of less
significance. The logical conclusion of a completely
global economy is a
world without national citizens, but global customers.
National governments
will just be competing service providers. The challenge
is how to turn
national loss of human capital into an economic opportunity.
In 2007 we must
think outside the box. In fact, we must think as if there is
no box! The
thought processes that got us into a crisis cannot constitute
the framework
of redemption.
For any economic model to work
there must be total ownership and buy in by
the nation. We cannot borrow
economic systems lock, stock and barrel. There
has to be customization and
adaptation. However, once a national economic
model has been designed it
cannot be static or stagnant. There must be
continuous reinvention, and
improvement. It is innovation or death. What
makes a nation successful today
will not be necessarily effective in the
future.
Currently
Zimbabwe is completely out of step with the economic vision, value
system
and frameworks that are being developed regionally and globally.
Clearly the
dysfunctional Zimbabwe economy cannot be properly integrated
into Comesa and
SADC, with regional inflation benchmarked at 20% while
Zimbabwe experiencing
four digit inflation levels. SADC as a grouping will
continue to be affected
and the success of COMESA is put in jeopardy.
Equally significant and
important to note is that countries in the region
are also experiencing
social impacts from mass migration from Zimbabwe into
those
countries.
It is imperative for SADC and the AU to realize that
Zimbabwe's failure is
their demise too. They must understand that when
Zimbabwe coughs, SADC
catches a cold. Under globalization there is no
country that can prosper and
stay competitive without effective regional
integration. The global survival
paradigm is regional economic integration
predicated upon regional
sovereignty that supersedes national sovereignty.
Any economic meltdown in
one regional member is catastrophic to the group's
strategic, economic and
political interests.
A
Clarion Call for Revolution
We remind the generality of the
people of Zimbabwe of the saying that
"people get a government that they
deserve." Is this ZANU (PF) tyranny,
misrule, corruption and economic
mismanagement the best leadership this
country can offer? Surely Zimbabweans
can do far much better than this. The
power is within us, to stand up and be
counted. We must be masters of our
own destiny. This is a clarion call for
revolution. Lets all participate in
the democratization and economic
transformation of our country. History will
never absolve us if we abscond.
Ask not, how others will change Zimbabwe,
but rather what you can do in your
own personal way to deliver change. Be a
player, not an observer. We must
all play a role in the development of
political and economic solutions for
our country. There is no activity or
contribution that is insignificant.
2007 is the year of national action; the
year of people driven political and
economic change in Zimbabwe. We must
restore our sense of duty and national
pride; concern ourselves not only
with our personal well-being but also the
interests of our entire nation.
There is strength in unity of purpose and
action. That is the only way
forward. We all have to be risk takers, and
abandon risk aversion. There is
nothing as irresponsible as sleeping through
a revolution.
The Struggle Continues
Unabated.
Defeat is not on the agenda & Victory is
certain.
Arthur G.O. Mutambara
MDC
President
The Raw Story
dpa
German Press Agency
Published: Friday January 5, 2007
Harare- At least
3,000 people have joined a new rush for emeralds in eastern
Zimbabwe, a few
months after diamonds were discovered in the area, it was
reported Friday.
In July, villagers in impoverished Marange district
discovered diamonds and
sparked a massive diamond rush, which brought untold
wealth to dozens of
previously-poor households.
Now suspected emerald fields are have been
found at three sites in Buhera
district Chishanyi, Svongwa and Jori and at
least 3,000 people have joined
the latest rush, reports the state-controlled
Manica Post newspaper.
Police are battling to stop rampant smuggling of
diamonds and other precious
gems though there are suspicions some of the
so-called emeralds may be less
valuable amethyst or quartz.
In
November police launched Operation Chikorokoza Chapera (No Illegal
Panning).
So far more than 19,000 people have been arrested for illegal
mining and
smuggling.
Security has been intensified and arrests have surged. Fifty
people, among
them dealers and illegal panners, were also arrested in the
Chiadzwa
district (diamond) mining area on Wednesday, police spokesman Obert
Benge
told the paper.
They are just digging and damaging the
environment in search of diamonds and
emeralds. The people are mining
everywhere and we are arresting and charging
them with land degradation,
Benge said.
Local chiefs say the minerals are a gift to them from their
ancestors, meant
to cushion them from Zimbabwe's deepening economic
crisis.
With spiralling poverty and inflation of more than 1,000 per
cent, many
desperate Zimbabweans have joined the frenzied search for
precious minerals
to sell on the lucrative foreign market.
© 2006 dpa
German Press Agency
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
05 January 2007
The state controlled Herald newspaper
reported Friday that the town of
Marondera has been without water since the
beginning of this year. The only
information residents have is a notice that
came last week from civic
authorities advising them of a "water demand
management programme" that the
council was due to implement from January
"until further notice". Businesses
in the area have also been
affected.
One factory owner who chose to remain anonymous said his
company was losing
money daily because water rationing was being conducted
during work hours
when they need it the most. The town clerk Josiah Musuwo
is quoted to have
said Thursday that Marondera's problems were due to a
shortage of water
treatment chemicals that had risen in
price.
Meanwhile Harare residents reported Friday that their tap water
was looking
"oily" and had a dirty yellowish colour. Several entire families
said they
had suffered from bad stomach pains. Among them was our own
correspondent
Simon Muchemwa, who was advised by a doctor to check the
family's water
supply. Muchemwa said they now not only boil their drinking
water, but use a
chemical called "jit" to purify it.
Other Harare
residents said their running water comes and goes without
warning. This has
been the case for most areas of Harare for a long time
now. The illegal
administration headed by Sekesai Makwavarara has come up
with no solution
and continued to increase rates for poor services.
Water problems have
hit most regions of Zimbabwe. The authorities blame the
shortage of foreign
currency and theft for the crisis. But observers and
analysts say the
solution to Zimbabwe's woes is a wholesale change of
government and a new
people driven constitution leading to free and fair
elections.
SW
Radio Africa Zimbabwe news
By Violet Gonda
5 January
2007
The Grain Marketing Board was established in 1931 in response to the
1930
World Recession. Its main purpose, which has largely remained the same
over
the seven decades, is to ensure Food Security in Zimbabwe with
particular
reference to staple food products, namely, maize and
wheat.
Despite being given trillions of Zimbabwean dollars to import 900
000 tonnes
of maize, the reserves are now empty according to Renson Gasela,
former
Chief Executive of the GMB.
Gasela, who is now Secretary for
Lands and Agriculture in the Mutambara MDC,
said he has been studying
letters written by Reserve Bank Governor Gideon
Gono to the GMB and noticed
that only 500 000 tonnes of maize had been
bought and it is not enough to
feed the country. He said we have actually
run out maize as a country but
there is no mention of what happened to the
other half of the money given to
the GMB to buy the much-needed grain.
Many millers especially in Bulawayo
have run out of maize meal.
In May last year the Minister of Agriculture
Joseph Made announced a bumper
harvest saying Zimbabwe would get 1.8million
tonnes, the total annual
requirement. But experts dismissed this saying
there were not enough seeds
and fertilizer. Gasela said; "It was impossible
that that they could
actually produce that quantity. We have run out food as
a country against
good rain season last year and against predictions of a
bumper harvest of
1.8million. So they were not telling the
truth."
While the government was telling people Zimbabwe had produced
surplus food
at the time, it is reported that they were secretly importing
food from
neighbouring countries. The opposition official said as early as
June last
year the government contracted a company in South Africa called
Intshona
Agricultural Products to import 600 000tonnes of maize. He said;
"Apparently
that 600 000tonnes of maize is not here because if it was here
then we would
not be having these shortages."
Intshona Agricultural
Products is also the company that is reported to have
supplied sub-standard
fertiliser and poor quality wheat to Zimbabwe .
Economists and
agricultural experts blame bad policies and mis-governance
for the food
crisis. Its also reported another contributing factor is the
failure by the
GMB to pay communal farmers, who normally produce the bulk of
the country's
maize.
The former GMB boss said another huge problem is that the grain
supplier is
now being manned by military people and youth militia resulting
"in
everything becoming a state secret."
SW Radio Africa
Zimbabwe news
The Raw Story
dpa German Press Agency
Published: Friday January 5,
2007
Harare- Less than 30 of Zimbabwe's few hundred
remaining
white farmers have been given official permission to stay on
their
land ahead of a February eviction deadline, a farmers' union
said
Friday.
A spokeswoman for the white-run Commercial Farmers' Union
(CFU)
said this was an enormously anxious time for the union's 500 or
so
still-active farmers.
The 500 are all that are left of a
once-vibrant farming community
totaling 4,500. They formed the backbone of
Zimbabwe's key
commercial agriculture sector.
In 2000 President Robert
Mugabe's government launched a
controversial programme of land invasions and
seizures that saw the
majority of white farmers thrown off the
land.
Many have left the country, but those remaining on their farms
-
or parts of their farms - have held out hope of securing
official
permission to stay.
But so far only 19 white farmers, not all
of them CFU members,
have received government leases.
CFU spokeswoman
Emily Crookes told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in
a telephone interview on
Friday that around 10 more members of her
union had received offer letters to
stay. An estimated 700 white
farmers applied for leases but very few had
received any sort of
response, she said.
An offer letter is the first
step towards securing a 99-year
lease.
Time is running short. Under an
official government notice
published last month, farmers who were advised
before September 14
2005 that the government wanted their farms were given
just 45 days
to pack up and leave.
That deadline expires on February
3. Another batch of farmers has
been given an extra 45 days before they have
to vacate their homes.
© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency
[This report does not necessarily
reflect the views of the United Nations]
HARARE, 5 Jan 2007 (IRIN) -
Urban faming, widely practiced by the poor and
lower-income groups in the
Zimbabwean capital, Harare, is fast becoming de
rigeur among the city's
wealthy set.
In affluent suburbs like Avondale and Mabelreign, maize and
vegetable plots
are sprouting up to counter expected food shortages brought
on by an
economic meltdown that has seen the inflation rate remaining well
above
1,000 percent, the highest in the world.
With unemployment
estimated at above 80 percent and basic foodstuffs
becoming unaffordable
even for those who have jobs, vacant lots are fast
being turned into
agricultural plots. Tatenda Muzenda, a domestic helper in
Cotswold Hills, a
middle-class suburb, told IRIN, "I was so desperate to
grow maize that I
went and planted some maize seeds on the only available
open field that I
could identify, and that was next to the local police
station."
Rather than being cautioned by the police, other residents,
some of the
officers from the adjacent station and their spouses, followed
her lead and
began planting crops for themselves. "The wages which I earn
are not enough
to help me fend for my children. I hope there will be enough
rains to enable
me to harvest a reasonable yield from the maize crop, part
of which I can
sell to earn an income for my family," Muzenda
said.
In the past, police have uprooted crops being grown on vacant land
in the
city, but they now seem to be turning a blind eye as the capital goes
green.
Harare's middle classes set aside time for urban farming on
weekends. Every
Saturday morning, Antonio Tshuma, a middle manager at a
local commercial
bank, parks his company car, a sports utility vehicle,
beside a piece of
land in the upmarket suburb of Borrowdale, where he tends
his crop with the
help of his two teenage daughters and his wife, whose
immaculate manicured
nails appear somewhat incongruous for such
activities.
"We anticipate that this coming year might be difficult in
terms of food
availability. I want to make sure that we don't run out of
food by producing
as much maize as possible," Tshuma said. Although he can
afford fertiliser -
unlike many other urban farmers - the plot, covering
about two-fifths of a
hectare, contains only staple foods like maize and
potatoes.
Once known as the breadbasket of southern Africa, Zimbabwe's
farming system
was disrupted in 2000, when President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF
government
embarked on a fast-track land redistribution exercise that sought
to give
land to thousands of blacks from impoverished communal areas by
removing
more than 4,000 commercial white farmers from their farms. The
European
Union and the United States subsequently imposed limited sanctions
on top
government officials for human rights violations, and Mugabe's
disputed
re-election in 2002.
Inadequate government support for the
new farmers, such as supplying
fertiliser, farming equipment and seeds, has
had a severely negative impact
on food production and has led to legislation
that makes it an offence to
move or trade in maize, effectively banning the
transport of maize from
rural areas to the cities.
"I grew up in the
countryside and for years I have been collecting fresh
maize and dry maize
from my rural home. If the government now says it is
illegal to carry maize
from my rural home, then I will just have to produce
some for myself and my
family," Tshuma said.
Suppliers of agricultural inputs in Harare told
IRIN that most of their
clients were now urban farmers. "We have noticed
that during the current
cropping season most of the people buying maize seed
and fertiliser are
urban farmers, because they are buying in smaller
quantities, an indication
that they will only apply it on smaller pieces of
land," said an employee at
one supplier, who declined to be
named.
Although the Harare Municipality officially frowns on urban
farming, it also
appears to be looking the other way. A recent survey of 15
urban farmers
found that they had simply identified open pieces of land and
started
growing maize without consulting municipal officials, but so far no
steps
have been taken against them.
Harare municipality Percy Toriro
spokesman told IRIN: "We will not allow
people to plant maize anywhere they
want. Residents should find out from
their local district offices if there
is any piece of land where they can
practise urban farming. We want to
ensure that the environment is well
looked after."
The government has
consistently denied any food shortages in the country. In
late 2006 the
state-owned Grain Marketing Board said Zimbabwe was expecting
a surplus
above its annual cereal requirement of about 1.9 million mt.
However,
independent estimates suggested that only 800,000mt of maize was
produced,
or less than half the country's annual requirement.
Business in Africa
Published:
05-JAN-07
Harare - Energy officials in Zimbabwe said Thursday the country
had sealed
electricity import deals with neighbouring Mozambique and South
Africa, and
was finalising a similar package with Zambia.
Edward
Rugoyi, chief executive of the state-run Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority (ZESA), said Mozambique would export 450 megawatts of power to the
country under a renewed contract, while South Africa had agreed to extend a
similar contract to March this year.
Zimbabwe domestically produces
65 percent of its electricity needs, and
imports the balance from
neighbours.
But supplies from neighbours had become uncertain due to a
looming
region-wide electricity shortage in southern Africa from this
year.
Rugoyi said ZESA was finalising a deal to import power from Zambia,
one of a
few countries in the region with surplus electricity.
He
said, however, that local thermal and hydropower plants were being
refurbished to increase domestic supplies to between 70 and 80 percent as a
long-term solution to electricity shortages.
The country has been
rationing power for years, and fears had grown this
year that the situation
might become worse because of electricity shortages
in most countries of the
region.-panapress
Zim Online
Saturday 06 January 2007
BULAWAYO - Police on
Friday released without charge about 25 villagers who
were arrested earlier
this week for allegedly invading a farm on the
outskirts of Zimbabwe's
second biggest city of Bulawayo.
The villagers, 18 men and seven women,
were arrested on Tuesday at Springs
Farm and spent three days in police
custody at Hillside police station in
the city.
The police had
earlier this week indicated that the settlers would face
public violence
charges after they allegedly attacked police officers sent
to evict
them.
A junior police officer who refused to be named told ZimOnline that
the
settlers were set free after senior police officers failed to agree on a
suitable charge to prefer against the settlers.
"We realised that the
charge (of public violence) would fall through in
court because in cases of
public violence where a mob is involved, we should
present as exhibits any
weapons that were used to attack the police.
"But these settlers carried
nothing at all and there were no exhibits which
we could present in court,"
said the police officer.
The villagers occupied Springs Farm at the
height of farm invasions about
six years ago.
Last November, the
police ordered the villagers to move out of the farm
claiming they had
unlawfully settled on the property which had earmarked for
their own use. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Saturday 06 January 2007
TREVOR
Ncube . . . stripped of Zimbabwean citizenship
HARARE - The International
Press Institute (IPI) says Harare has breached
international law by
stripping a local newspaper publisher of his
citizenship.
IPI
director, Johann Fritz said the attempt by Zimbabwe's Registrar
General's
Office to strip Trevor Ncube of his Zimbabwean citizenship was a
flagrant
breach of customary international law in terms of Article 15 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that no one should be
arbitrarily deprived of his nationality.
"By acting this way, the
government is clearly seeking to build the
foundations for an assault on
Ncube's newspapers that remain some of the
last remaining forums for open
and critical debate inside Zimbabwe," said
Fritz in a
statement.
Ncube, who is the publisher of the privately-owned Zimbabwe
Independent and
Zimbabwe Standard, was last week told by the
Registrar-General's Office that
his citizenship had been withdrawn because
he was a Zimbabwean by descent.
His father was born in Zambia while his
mother was Zimbabwean.
The publisher, who also owns South Africa's Mail
& Guardian newspaper, is
seeking a High Court order compelling the
government to renew his
application for citizenship after it was initially
withdrawn.
In the pleadings, Ncube argues that he is automatically
entitled to
citizenship because he has never held the passport of another
country and by
virtue of the fact that his father, who was born in Zambia,
was also a
Zimbabwean.
The government contends that Ncube's failure
to renounce Zambian citizenship
has led, under law, to the loss of his
citizenship.
"This government appears determined to ensure that the only
voice heard in
Zimbabwe is its own. However, such a determination not only
undermines all
pretence at democracy in the country, it also displays a
misunderstanding of
the important role played by dissent and criticism,"
said Fritz.
This is not the first time that Ncube has faced attempts to
strip him of his
citizenship.
On 8 December 2005, an officer of the
Zimbabwe's feared spy agency, the
Central Intelligence Organisation
confiscated Ncube's passport.
At the time, he was told that his passport
was seized because his name
appeared on a list of 64 prominent businessmen,
journalists, politicians,
and activists.
"With each media
organisation closed, with each journalist constrained from
practising his
profession, the Zimbabwean government is further isolating
itself from
debates and discussions that need to take place within a modern
society,"
said the IPI director. - ZimOnline
Mail and Guardian
05
January 2007 06:00
For a pan-Africanist and a virulent
anti-colonialist, Zimbabwe's
President Robert Mugabe is a slave to colonial
borders and to a myopic
nationalism.
Mugabe uses
citizenship as a political tool. He has stripped
Zimbabwean publisher Trevor
Ncube of his citizenship in a thinly disguised
attempt to silence the voices
of the country's last independent newspapers.
Ncube is the
owner of the Zimbabwean Independent and the
Standard in Zimbabwe, as well as
the proprietor of the Mail & Guardian. His
Zimbabwean newspapers, in
documenting Zimbabwe's decline, have withstood
repeated attacks on media
freedom. Campaigning and investigative
publications, they track the
democratic deficit across all facets of life in
our northern
neighbour.
As other independent papers have been shut down
and all
independent radio stations banned, the Standard, the Independent and
the
internet represent a last frontier for Zimbabweans seeking reliable
information about their country.
With growing fissures in
Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF, the two
newspapers have entered dangerous new
territory for the loathsome
octogenarian. They have begun to expose the
splits and give voice to the
increasing internal rebellion facing the
president and his acolytes.
Small wonder that Ncube's
passport application has been
impounded and his citizenship effectively
revoked, keeping him in South
Africa and preventing him from running his
Zimbabwean publications on the
spot.
Publishing is hard
work in Zimbabwe -- the price of newsprint
rises almost daily and runaway
inflation is a challenge to any business
management. The citizenship ruse is
seen as a first step to clamping down on
the two newspapers: no foreigner
can own more than 40% of a media company,
and Ncube is sole
proprietor.
This is not the first time that Mugabe has used
citizenship in
this way; he banned dual citizenship as a way of getting rid
of the country's
whites, many of whom were also British
subjects.
It is ironic that such a leader, who cloaks his
actions in the
rhetoric of pan-Africanism and anti-colonialism, should use
this stick to
beat opponents like Ncube. Africa's borders are largely
colonial constructs
and the African Union is committed to the gradual easing
of the curbs that
borders impose.
Mugabe's attempt to
cling to power until 2010 by postponing
presidential elections is under
threat. These are the last kicks of a dying
horse -- but even death throes
can be dangerous. Unless the courts stop him
in his tracks, this could be
the final nail in the coffin of Zimbabwean
press freedom.
Grounds for hope
The year 2006 may have ended with a hideous
sectarian lynching
in Baghdad, but there are new grounds for optimism about
the world in 2007
and beyond. Principally, they relate to the United States,
both as an
imperial power and the world's economic
overlord.
As we report in this week's special edition, the
global economy
turned in an impressive performance last year, despite a
threefold increase
in oil prices and persistent inflationary pressures.
Stock markets,
including our own security exchange, are booming amid
predictions of 5%
global growth -- not just for 2007, but perhaps the rest
of the decade.
Underpinning this is the declining influence of the once
all-powerful
American consumer, and the counterbalancing effect of other
national and
regional economies, including the emerging powerhouses of
China, India and
Brazil.
For the foreseeable future the
US will continue to exert a large
tidal pull on how global wealth is created
and distributed. But with
emerging markets now contributing nearly
three-quarters of global growth, we
are starting to move towards a more
multipolar -- and potentially more
stable and equitable -- world economic
order.
On the geopolitical front, the most cheering
development has
been the resounding defeat of President George Bush's
Republican Party in
congressional elections in November, in turn
highlighting public
disenchantment with the disastrous US war in Iraq. In a
very different
context -- successful pacification and a functioning
democracy in Baghdad --
the execution of Saddam Hussein might have seemed a
brutal vindication of US
Middle East policy.
In the
event, the squalid sideshow merely underscored the moral
bankruptcy and
profound policy failure of the neoconservatives in
Washington. Saddam was a
monster, and deserved exemplary punishment. But he
was condemned after a
trial shot through with irregularities, while his
worst crimes -- against
Iran in the first Gulf War -- were swept under the
carpet because they
implicated the US and other Western states in backing
and arming him. Widely
seen as a sop to the major Shi'ite party by Iraq's
puppet government, and
carried out amid the taunts of Saddam's Shi'ite
warders, the hanging has
deepened the sectarian hatred tearing that hapless
country
apart.
Iraq is a lost cause, but the hope must be that Bush's
abortive
war will see a Democratic Party president elected next year -- and
hopefully
one committed to a more cooperative relationship with the
community of
nations on pressing foreign policy, trade and environmental
matters.
It is the US, principally through its influence over
the
government of Israel, that holds the key to peace in the Middle East. It
is
the US which must spearhead the quest for a more equitable global trade
regime. And it is the US, rid of market fundamentalists and enviro-sceptics,
that must drive the all-important campaign against global warming. We have
said it before: the world desperately needs a responsible, pragmatic and
benevolent US government to confront its many crises.
Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA)
Date: 05 Jan 2007
Zimbabwe Humanitarian Situation
Report Issue no. 14, Dec 2006 "Special issue
on storms and
floods"
Reporting Period 01 December 2006 - 05 January 2007
Storms
and Floods Alert
HIGHLIGHTS
- Rains exceed 50mm since 31 December
2006 in central and eastern parts of
Zimbabwe
- Localised flash
floods and violent storms feared
- Assistance needed in already affected
areas in Mt. Darwin, Tsholotsho and
Zaka
HUMANITARIAN
SITUATION
According to the Civil Protection Unit (CPU), isolated cases of
flash floods
and violent storms have destroyed crops, food stocks, homes,
schools and
clinics in areas such as Mt. Darwin (3,000 households affected
in varying
degrees by hailstorm and flash fllods), Tsholotsho (53 households
lost some
shelter) and Masvingo (7 schools, 5 health centres and some homes
damaged).
(see map on page 3)
Meteorological Services Department has
warned that heavy rains exceeding
50mm experienced in the central and
eastern parts of Zimbabwe since 31
December 2006 may lead to more localised
flash floods and violent storms.
At least seven people (four women and
three children) were trapped for two
days on an island in a flooded Tugwi
River in Chivi. They were rescued by
fellow villagers on 02 January 2006.
CPU confirmed the incident and assured
that apart from isolated cases, there
are not yet serious floods across the
country although the situation needs
to be closely monitored.
RESPONSE
On 20 December 2006 CPU through
the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) and OCHA
sought the assistance of the
humanitarian community to provide aid to
affected areas. OCHA is gathering
more information on the situation from
organizations responding and or
planning to respond..
Civil Protection Unit (CPU) on 01 January 2007
deployed teams to flood prone
areas such as Muzarabani and Tsholotsho to
carry out awareness campaigns on
what people should do in case of
floods.
On 03 January 2006, OCHA received more detailed reports on the
situation
following a violent storm in
Masvingo in mid-November, a
hail storm and floods in Mt Darwin on 5 December
and heavy storms in
Tsholotsho on 16 December, from CPU. The reports were
immediately shared
with the Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC), some
NGOs and
donors.
The following assistance has been provided to affected people as
of end of
December;
- Government Department of Public Works is
repairing affected government
institutions in Chiredzi and Zaka
districts.
- Department of Social Welfare provided 100 packs of
mealie-meal, 200 heads
of cabbage and fuel in Mt. Darwin.
- CPU
carried out rapid assessments in Mt. Darwin and Tsholotsho
- Zimbabwe Red
Cross Society distributed 25 rolls of plastic sheeting in Mt.
Darwin and 20
tents in Tsholotsho as temporary shelter for affected
households. Up to 114
households lost shelter in Mt Darwin.
- IOM provided plastic sheeting and
non-food items in Mt Darwin
- SCUK in late December provided emergency
kits for 30 households in
Tsholotsho.
- World Vision, WFP's
implementing partner, has completed registrations and
propositioned food for
distribution to affected families in Mt. Darwin
staring early next week. WFP
send a food monitor to assess the situation in
Tsholotsho.
- World
Vision has also offered emergency kits to CPU for distribution to
affected
families.
- Meetings were held on 03 and 04 January involving CPU,
UNICEF, WFP, WHO,
FAO, OCHA and IOM to facilitate joint assessments in all
affected areas.
NGOs and the Red Cross Movement were consulted on the
response and plans.
RECOMMENDATION
OCHA recommends detailed
assessments focussing on the following sectors;
health, water and
sanitation, shelter, food and education.
WAY FORWARD
Needs
assessments:
- 4-5 January to Tsholotsho, Matebeleland North
Province
- 9-10 January to Mt Darwin, Mashonaland Central
Province
- 9-12 January to Zaka and Chiredzi, Masvingo
Province
The assessments involve CPU and other government departments, UN
agencies
and NGOs and the Red Cross Movement in the field.
-
Distribution of aid
- Monitoring meteorological forecasts
From SW Radio Africa, 4 January
By Tererai Karimakwenda
A movement
within the ruling party opposed to extending Robert Mugabe's term
of office
is said to be gaining support in more provinces across the
country. And
sources within the high ranks of Zanu PF allege that it is the
retired army
general Solomon Mujuru who is behind this attempt to sway those
provinces
which had already supported Mugabe's attempt to stay in power for
another 2
years. Our correspondent Warren Moroka spoke to Zanu PF provincial
chefs who
said they had been contacted by Mujuru himself and that meetings
were taking
place in different provinces aimed at garnering a majority
within the party.
Urban areas like Harare which have always been opposition
strongholds have
been against Mugabe's attempt to harmonise the presidential
elections due in
2008 with the parliamentary polls scheduled for 2010. But
according to
Moroka, the wave against keeping Mugabe any longer has now
extended to
Mashonaland East, the Midlands, Manicaland and Matabeleland
North and South
provinces.
Mujuru's wife Joyce is currently the vice president and
believed to be a
contender for the top spot once Mugabe, turning 83 this
year, steps down. It
is not clear whether this prospect is what is driving
Mujuru to lobby
against what some now refer to as "Mugabe 2010". Moroka said
the realisation
that enough numbers could be organised and rallied against
Mugabe has
brought life to the campaign. And a coalition of religious, civic
and
political groups under the SAVE Zimbabwe banner has vowed to resist
Mugabe
as well. The country has started another year without any sign that
the
political and economic crisis that has gripped Zimbabweans for 6 years
now
will be resolved soon. Observers say the country will keep deteriorating
as
long as Mugabe remains the head chef. So the possibility that top level
officials have had enough is quite likely. The underground meetings
described by Moroka are said to be countrywide. Only time will tell whether
there is enough political will within the ruling party to go against a
vicious tyrant like Robert Mugabe.
Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2007 12:50 AM
Subject: Shortages
Today
Bulawayo ran out of maize meal altogether - not a single miller had
anything
to offer including the GMB itself. The railways tell me that there
is little
transit traffic.
We need 5000 tonnes a day for human consumption - the
private sector seems
to be looking after stockfeed needs at about 2000 tonnes
a day - theer are
no shortages in this sphere although prices are rising
strongly.
Cooking oil has started to come back into the market - at about
Z$2800 a 750
ml bottle. This is nearly 4 times the controlled price the
government was
trying to impose last month. I understand a Gazette Notice
authorised the
increases.
Eddie Cross
Bulawayo, 5th January 2007
Source: International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC)
Date: 05 Jan 2007
Appeal No. 05EA016; Final
Report
The Federation's mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable
people by
mobilizing the power of humanity. It is the world's largest
humanitarian
organization and its millions of volunteers are active in over
185
countries.
In Brief
Appeal no. 05EA016; Final Report;
Period covered: 26 July 2005 to 30 April
2006.
Final Appeal coverage:
35%.
Appeal history:
Emergency Appeal launched on 26 July 2006 for
CHF 2,481,818(USD 1,788,110 or
EUR 1,487,813) for 5 months to assist some
15,000 beneficiaries (3,000
households).
Operations Update no.1
issuedo n 31 August 2005.
Operations Update no. 2i ssued on 18 October
2005.
Operations Update no. 3, issued on 5 December 2005, provided a
revised plan
of action for the period October to December 2005, in light of
the funding
received and sought to extend the operation's timeframe to 30
March 2006.
Operations Update no. 4, issued on 16 February 2006,
confirmed the extension
of the appeal timeframe to 30 March
2006.
Operations Update no. 5, issued on 31 March 2006, extended the
appeal
timeframe for one more month (until end of April
2006).
Interim Final Reportw as issued on 31 July 2006.
Disaster
Relief Emergency Funds (DREF) allocated: CHF 100,000.
This operation was
aligned with the International Federation's Global
Agenda, which sets out
four broad goals to meet the Federation's mission to
"improve the lives of
vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of
humanity".
Global Agenda
Goals:
Reduce the numbers of deaths, injuries and impact from
disasters.
Reduce the number of deaths, illnesses and impact from
diseases and public
health emergencies.
Increase local community,
civil society and Red Cross Red Crescent capacity
to address the most urgent
situations of vulnerability.
Reduce intolerance, discrimination and
social exclusion and promote respect
for diversity and human
dignity.
Background and Summary
The 'Cle an-up Exercise', also
known as Operation Restore Order or Operation
Murambatsvina, l a unched by
the government of Zimbabwe in May 2005 affected
the large number of people
already suffering from the effects of a prolonged
drought, HIV and AIDS
pandemic and high levels of unemployment. The latest
figures estimate that
some 700,000 people from more than 50 locations in
eight provinces lost
their homes and livelihoods (1) . Many had been engaged
in informal trading
to earn a living and the forced displacement left them
with no other sources
of income. More than 6,000 of those displaced were
beneficiaries of the
integrated community health and care programme run by
the Zimbabwe Red
Cross. These included orphans and other children made
vulnerable by HIV and
AIDS (OVC).
Local authorities established transit camps in three urban
areas: Greater
Harare (Caledonia Farm), Bulawayo (Hellensvale) and Mutare
(Sakubva Oval
Spots Ground) to offer temporary shelter to the population
affected by the
operation. The camps, however, accommodated only a limited
number of people
whose houses had been levelled; besides, they were open for
only a month.
Most of the householdsrel ocated to their rural homes while
some sought
refuge with their relatives or friends or were sheltered by the
church.
Others have stayed on the site of their demolished homes in
self-erected
wooden and corrugated iron shacks. Uprooted from their homes,
they struggled
to protect themselves from biting winds and deteriorating
sanitary
conditions. Most did not have enough food to feed their families
and many
families could not afford to send their children to school anymore.
After
the government announced the 'clean-up' campaign had ended, it has
launched
the 'Operation Garikai/Hlalani Khulhe (operation 'stay well)' under
which
5,000 houses are planned to be constructed for the worst affected
households. The operation is still underway but it will benefit only a
limited number of families. Concerned by growing humanitarian challenges,
several organizations started projects to support the displaced population.
Determining beneficiary numbers, however, has proved to be a difficult task.
Equally challenging was arranging the o l gistics of the relief programmes
as many of those displaced, particularly men, have been continuously on the
move in search of employment opportunities. Many returned to towns in the
hope to find jobs, leaving their families in the villages.
In the
early days of the crises, the Federation released CHF 100,000 from
its
Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to help the Zimbabwe Red Cross
Society
(ZRCS) respond to the needs of 500 households. As the situation
evolved with
more areas affected, the Federation launched an Emergency
Appeal to expand
the scope of the operation and increased the number of
beneficiaries to
15,000 to include OVC, child-headed households, the
elderly, chronically
ill, beneficiaries of the Red Cross home-based care
programme (CBCP), people
living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA), people with
disabilities, refugees and
undocumented migrants. Poor donor response to the
Federation's Appeal,
however, restricted the ability of the ZRCS to carry
out the work. In
October 2005, the appeal coverage stood at around 15%. This
prompted the Red
Cross to revisit its original plan of action and reduce the
number as well
as the magnitude of activities originally planned (refer to
Operations
Update no. 3f or more details). By the end of November 2005, the
Appeal
coverage increased to 35%. In light of the improved funding, the
operation
was extended by four months to allow time for planning and
implementation of
the funded activities.
Coordination
The Zimbabwe Red Cross Society
was part of a coordinated effort to respond
to the humanitarian challenges
that emerged as a result of the 'clean-up'
campaign. Coordination of aid was
an important feature of the operation to
avoid duplication, to improve
planning and implementation of relief efforts,
to share information on
actual needs and available resources, and to achieve
a greater level of
efficiency. Efforts were made to ensure a regular
dialogue within the Red
Cross and Red Crescent Movement as well as with
partners such as the
government of Zimbabwe, UN agencies and
non-governmental organizations
(NGOs).
To ensure a concerted response by the Movement, the ZRCS, the
Federation's
regional delegation in Harare, partner national societies
(PNSs) and the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) formed a task
force. During
the initial phase of the operation, the task force met daily.
Regular
meetings between the ZRCS and Federation's r e gional delegation
were also
held throughout the operation.
Equally important was to
coordinate work with other agencies and
institutions engaged in the
emergency response. This was achieved through
regular inter-agency meetings,
sometimes organized by the Red Cross, both at
national and provincial
levels. The meetings were attended by the UN, the
Inter-Agency Standing
Committee (IASC), government authorities, embassies
and other humanitarian
stakeholders. The Zimbabwe Red Cross Society is a
member of the Zimbabwe
Civil Protection Unit, which operates both at
national and district levels,
and was also part of a contingency planning
exercise organized by the UN
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA). The exercise was
attended by all Red Cross partners, NGOs
and key government
departments.
In addition, a number of web-stories and interviews were
published to
advocate on the needs of the affected households and to inform
the public
and partners about the Red Cross priorities. In June and July
2005, the
government requested the ZRCSt o take lead in supporting the
displaced
population sheltered in the transit camps in Bulawayo and Mutare.
Close
coordination was ensured at camp, district, provincial and
headquarters
level.
Footnote:
(1) As per the UN Special Envoy
on Human Settlement Issues in Zimbabwe,
report (dated 18.07.2005). She
carried out a two-week fact finding mission
(26 June to 8 July 2005) to
assess the situation and her report was shared
with the
government.
For further information specifically related to this
operation please
contact:
In Zimbabwe: Emma Kundishora, Secretary
General, Zimbabwe Red Cross Society,
Harare; Email: zrcs@ecoweb.co.zw or ekundishora@comone.co.zw; Phone
+263.4.332.638; +263.4.332.197; Fax +263.4.335.490
In Zimbabwe:
Françoise Le Goff, Head of Southern Africa Regional Delegation,
Harare;
Email francoise.legoff@ifrc.org;
Phone + 263.4.70.61.55,
+263.4.72.03.15; Fax 263.4.70.87.84
In
Geneva: John Roche, Federation Regional Officer for Southern Africa,
Africa
Dept., Geneva; Email: john.roche@ifrc.org; Phone:
+41.22.730.44.40;
Fax +41.22.733.03.95
All International Federation
assistance seeks to adhere to the Code of
Conduct for the International Red
Cross and Red Crescent Movement and
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's)
in Disaster Relief and is committed
to the Humanitarian Charter and Minimum
Standards in Disaster Response
(Sphere) in delivering assistance to the most
vulnerable. For longer-term
programmes in this or other countries or
regions, please refer to the
Federation's Annual Appeal. For support to or
for further information
concerning Federation programmes or operations in
this or other countries,
or for national society profiles, please also
access the Federation's
website at http://www.ifrc.org
Business Day
Kuseni
Dlamini
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE
execution of Saddam Hussein was one of the global political highlights
of
the past year. It will have a far-reaching impact on the geopolitics of
the
Middle East, the internal stability in Iraq and on tyrants elsewhere.
What
does the execution mean for global and regional peace and security in
general, and for Africa in particular? The answer: a lot. First, it gives
members of Saddam's Baath Party more reason to mobilise against what they
perceive as Washington's puppet government. The party has already called
upon all its members to strike at US targets wherever and whenever
possible.
Second, the insurgency is likely to be bolstered as the
coalition forces
will face attacks from many fronts. A coalition involving
disgruntled
Sunnis, members of al-Qaeda in Iraq and anti-American Muslim
extremist
fighters from other parts of the world is likely to form and
unleash more
violence in Iraq and attack American targets.
Third, the
fledgling Iraqi administration will face a serious challenge
dealing with
the increasing gulf between Sunnis and Shiites.
Fourth, Africa's tyrants,
who do not easily vacate office, will fear that
they might be put on trial
for gross human rights violations. In Zimbabwe,
the Fifth Brigade's
Matebeleland massacre of 1985 looms large, as do other
human rights
violations. A non-Zanu (PF), Ndebele-dominated regime might
want to mobilise
international support to put Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe and his
comrades on trial for gross human rights violations. The only
alternative to
that might be a South African-type Truth and Reconciliation
Commission.
In Sudan, President Omar al-Bashir might be scared of
being put on trial for
the human rights crimes in Darfur and other parts of
the Sudan. Human rights
abuses in countries such as Somalia, Angola, the
Democratic Republic of
Congo, Côte d'Ivoire and Chad should have had the
culprits watching the
events in Baghdad with keen eyes, and hopefully
reflecting on the possible
consequences of their actions.
If the
execution of Saddam sends shivers down the spines of tyrants in
Africa and
elsewhere, that can be the only likely positive outcome. In a
globalised
world, it is vital to have shared norms and values underpinned by
respect
for universal human rights, which the international community should
defend.
The overthrow of Saddam's regime unleashed what some have
called a
"low-intensity" civil war in Iraq. When Saddam was captured in his
home town
of Tikrit in November 2003, we saw an increase in the killings in
Iraq. The
same happened when he was convicted and sentenced to death late
last year.
His execution on December 30 unleashed a marked increase in
violence with
over 70 people reported killed on the day of his
execution.
More than 50000 Iraqis and 3000 American soldiers have been
killed since the
US invasion of Iraq in early 2003. Last month was the
deadliest month for
American troops with 118 US soldiers returning home in
body bags. The
killings continue unabated, with bombings and fatalities the
fare of daily
news reports from Baghdad.
In the Middle East, the
timing of the execution, which coincided with Muslim
holidays such as the
Eid and the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, has been a source
of concern. Even
during Saddam's brutal regime, executions were banned
during key religious
holidays. Some Muslims view this coincidence in timing
as an insult to
Islam. They have a point.
It is unclear why Baghdad and Washington took
the decision they did on this
sensitive matter. It is not surprising that
the reaction to the execution
has been negative in most Middle Eastern
countries, as it has been elsewhere
in the world.
Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government and the White
House were and
are desperate to show that Saddam's legacy is dead and
buried. Al-Maliki had
vowed to ensure that Saddam would not see the new
year. He achieved that by
ordering the swift execution after Saddam's appeal
was turned down. For
Bush, the execution is the only political trophy he can
show for his
invasion of Iraq, which was based on manufactured intelligence
that was used
to mislead the world.
There is widespread condemnation of the Iraq war in
the domestic political
scene in America - even within Bush's own Republican
Party. The execution
may be the only credible justification to any claims of
victory by an
increasingly lame-duck Bush, who lost control of congress in
November's
elections.
By showing Saddam's body on television, the US
hoped to send a clear message
to members of Saddam's Baath Party and the
insurgency about its power and
ability to bring violent elements to book.
But rounding up all members of an
amorphous insurgency and the Baath Party
may not be as easy as finding
Saddam.
Thus, while the execution may
be an unprecedented milestone in holding
tyrannical heads of state to
account, the impact on the ground in Iraq may
not turn out to be what
Baghdad and Washington were hoping for. At best, the
timing of the execution
may amount to an exercise in cheap publicity; at
worst it could be a
misdirected move that plunges Iraq even deeper into
violence and
instability.
?Dlamini is a member of the national council of the
South African Institute
of International Affairs at the University of the
Witwatersrand.