Zim Online
by Nqobizitha Khumalo Saturday 05 January
2008
BULAWAYO – Zimbabweans began the new year on a sad note
this week after
hospitals and schools increased medical and school fees by
between 300 and
600 percent worsening the plight of millions of people
battling a severe
eight-year economic crisis.
The new medical and
school fees came during the same week that the National
Railways of Zimbabwe
(NRZ), that the majority of Zimbabweans rely on for
cheap transport,
increased fares for urban passenger trains from Z$150 000
to $400
000.
The latest round of price increases will impact heavily on millions
of
Zimbabweans who are battling record inflation of over 8 000 percent,
massive
food shortages and unemployment.
Consultation fees at
government-run hospitals where the majority of the poor
access health
services were this week increased from Z$1 000 to $10 million
while private
doctors have increased consultation fees from $7 million to
$20
million.
An average Zimbabwean worker is earning about $40 million, way
below the
poverty datum line that last November stood at $65 million a month
for an
average family of five.
Those admitted at government hospitals
will fork out $4.5 million a night
while children will pay $4 million per
night, up from $211 that was
previously charged for overnight
admission.
A survey in the second biggest city of Bulawayo showed that
private medical
practitioners were now charging as high as $25 million in
consultation fees,
a fortune for most Zimbabweans.
Health and Child
Welfare Minister David Parirenyatwa said the government had
approved the new
fees to allow the health sector to stay afloat as the
previous fees were
“ridiculously too low”.
“We had to bring the fees to reasonable levels as
the level they were before
was ridiculously too low . . . the health sector
has to sustain itself,”
Parirenyatwa said.
NRZ acting public
relations officer Zephaniah Taruvinga confirmed that they
had increased
fares with immediate effect.
“Despite the fact that we want to provide an
affordable service, we have no
option but to increase fares to cover our
costs,” said Taruvinga.
A passenger train from Harare to Bulawayo in the
standard coach now costs $4
million, up from $2.5 million while passengers
in the more comfortable
sleeper section will part with $8 million up from $4
million.
Zimbabwe is in the grip of a debilitating political and economic
crisis that
is marked by hyperinflation, a rapidly contracting GDP, the
fastest for a
country not at war according to the World Bank and shortages
of foreign
currency, food and fuel. - ZimOnline
SW Radio
Africa (London)
4 January 2008
Posted to the web 4 January
2008
Lance Guma
A well-known state security agent in
Chimanimani allegedly beat to death a
Christmas reveller, after accusing him
of showing off with 'MDC money.'
Brighton Mashopeka Muchuwa, a sidekick
of wanted murderer and fellow CIO
Joseph Mwale, assaulted Charles Sigauke
and his father at their home on
Christmas Eve. Sigauke worked in South
Africa and had come back to spend the
holidays with his dad. He died the day
after the beating, on Christmas day.
Muchuwa accused Sigauke of being an MDC
member and was spending money given
to him by the MDC.
MDC
Manicaland spokesman Pishai Muchauraya confirmed to Newsreel that one of
their members was beaten to death in Chimanimani. He says Sigauke was
brutally assaulted. Witnesses say at one point Muchuwa lifted Sigauke and
slammed him onto the bonnet of a nearby vehicle. Some reports say Muchuwa
was arrested, detained by police, but then released. Muchaurayi says the
police are reluctant to pursue the matter further given the accused is from
the CIO.
Both Sigauke and his father were hospitalized in Chimanimani
before the son
succumbed to his injuries. Post-mortem results confirm he
died from internal
bleeding. He was buried in the Birchenough Bridge area on
New Years day. MDC
officials have accused Muchuwa of trying to buy his way
out of the crime by
paying for the funeral expenses. The same strategy was
used by the family of
Finance Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi after his wife
Selina hired soldiers
that beat to death a villager in Mupandawana who
supported the MDC. Vice
President Joseph Msika negotiated an out of court
settlement between the two
families.
Rogue state agent Joseph Mwale
remains accused of murdering MDC activists
Talent Mabika and Tichaona
Chiminya in the run up to the 2000 parliamentary
election. Police have
continued to ignore demands by prosecutors for him to
be brought to justice.
For his troubles Mwale was promoted within the CIO
and given a posh car to
use. He has virtual freedom to do as he pleases in
areas like Chimanimani,
with the police clearly aware of his status as an
'untouchable.'
SW Radio Africa
(London)
4 January 2008
Posted to the web 4 January
2008
Torrential rains have caused havoc across much of the country,
leaving
thousands of villagers in low-lying areas homeless after floods
destroyed
their homes.
The incessant rains over the past four weeks
have destroyed crops and
damaged roads and bridges. The worst affected areas
are in Muzarabani
district in the north and the Lowveld area in the
southeast. At least twelve
people have died so far while thousands more have
been forced to abandon
their homes. Many are still unable to
return.
In the Southeast rivers, including the mighty Save, have
burst their banks
and floodwaters have submerged thousands of hectares of
maize fields and
destroyed hundreds of houses.
In Chipinge there are
reports that most of the livestock has been swept away
by swollen rivers,
according to MDC spokesman for Manicaland province Pishai
Muchauraya. He
said flood defences erected by villagers four years ago
following similar
floods, have collapsed allowing water to flood through
into their
homes.
'We visited areas in Gumira, Masimbe, Maronga, Chibuwe and some of
them are
quite close to the Save river. Most rivers that flow into the Save
have also
breached their banks and water is everywhere. We estimate that
about 400
families from this area have been left homeless.
Getting
assistance to the flood victims has been a nightmare after several
roads and
bridges were washed away. Muchauraya said because of the country's
limited
resources, little could be done for most victims until the rain
stops.
While government has issued half-hearted appeals for
assistance, Muchauraya
told us the situation was becoming desperate for most
of the victims who
have gone for days without fresh drinking water, food or
shelter.
'While it is not surprising that the government has not asked
for
international help, the grim situation on the ground demands an
international aid flow. I think with the elections just around the corner, I
suspect the government would be reluctant to let aid agencies flood the
country because they see them as enemies working against them,' Muchauraya
said.
www.cathybuckle.com
Saturday 5th January 2008
Dear Family and
Friends,
Zimbabwe has limped into another year with almost all aspects of
normal life
completely gone. Every day has become incredibly tough with an
ever growing
demand for an increasingly dwindling supply of food, bank
notes, electricity
and water. Many thousands of Zimbabweans have used the
Christmas and school
holidays to pour out of the country in search of mental
relief and in order
to procure precious essential supplies. How absurd it is
that a so called
land revolution has left us scouring shops across our
borders in all four
directions to get basic supplies that Zimbabwe not only
produced but
exported just a decade ago. This great food trek must surely be
cause for
monumental shame and embarrassment to the party that have ruled
the country
for the last 27 years. For the past seven years they have found
one
scapegoat after another to blame our hunger and poverty on, but the
facts
out there on the roads leading to the border towns cannot not be spun
- no
matter how clever the propaganda.
Gone are the days when you
could take a break at a lay-by on a road journey.
Now all these stopping
places within 150 kilometres of border posts are
fully occupied, some of
them on an apparently permanent basis by Zimbabwe's
mobile population.
Draped over the remains of fences and hanging on shrubs
are tattered grey
blankets. Shirtless men sit around in groups tending fires
in the lay-by's.
Some are cooking pots of maize porridge, others are just
keeping the fires
burning - ready to warm the people who will be coming,
waiting, and then
moving on to cross the border under cover of darkness. In
some lay-by's
women and children are already waiting, their bags piled and
ready for the
transport that will come in the dark to carry them to the
border. At other
lay-by's the people traders are so established that they
have erected small
structures within sight of the road - sticks and plastic
providing primitive
shelter and protection from the weather.
With stopping at lay-by's not
advised and stopping at garages and shops
pointless as there is neither fuel
nor food and refreshments to buy, the
journey into and out of Zimbabwe is
long and gruelling. The roads are fast
falling into a state of collapse as a
result of the incessant stream of
trucks and transporters pounding the
tarmac as they haul food and fuel into
our once rich country. In many places
along the main roads the edges have
become seriously cut away and eroded
making pulling over or stopping very
dangerous. Road markings are rare,
signs and warnings of hazards are non
existent and all in all it is a
shocking advertisement to tourists and
visitors to the country. For at least
two hundred kilometres on the road
approaching the border post into South
Africa, the highway is strewn with
enormous potholes, some are many
centimetres deep and two metres wide. There
are many places on the road
where these holes are unavoidable and everywhere
you see people stopped,
repairing punctures, changing wheels or waiting for
help.
To
exacerbate the situation is a season of very heavy rains and although it
is
good to see rivers filling and flowing, the impact of so much water on a
crumbling infrastructure is devastating. Water, water everywhere but not a
drop to drink - a well known saying which is more appropriate today in many
parts of Zimbabwe than ever before. We've not had a drop of water in my home
town for the past three days and so we are collecting rain water in buckets
for drinking, washing, cleaning and cooking. It is a grim way to begin 2008
and we hope and pray that this is the last year we ever to have endure such
deprivation because of politics.
Until next week, thanks for reading,
love cathy.
Zim Online
by Lizwe Sebatha Saturday 05 January
2008
BULAWAYO – Zimbabwe gold production dropped 34 percent
in 2007 due to rising
production costs and foreign currency shortages
worsened by delays by the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to pay miners for
gold deliveries.
Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines chief executive officer
Douglas Verden said
production of the precious mineral that is a major
foreign currency earner
for the hard cash strapped country last year
plummeted to 7.5 tonnes from 11
tonnes in 2006.
Verden said the RBZ,
authorized sole buyer of gold in Zimbabwe, owed its
mining firms over US$20
million for gold deliveries. The central bank pays
65 percent of gold
deliveries in foreign currency while 35 percent is paid
in local
currency.
“Gold production in 2007 closed at 7.5 tonnes, a 34 percent
decline compared
to 2006 due to foreign currency shortages as the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) continues delaying payments to miners,” said
Verden.
Gold production stood at 29 tonnes in 1999 before Zimbabwe’s
political and
economic crisis worsened.
RBZ spokesman Kumbirai Nhongo
was not immediately available for comment on
the matter.
Verden said
payment delays had dented efforts to spur gold production, with
the RBZ
owing gold miners “a rolling debt in excess of US$20 million” with
some of
the money owing since last March.
He added that an arrangement for gold
miners to pay power bills to the
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority
(ZESA) in foreign currency to ensure
uninterrupted power supplies did little
to help because most mining firms
failed to raise hard cash after the RBZ
delayed paying them.
Zimbabwe’s once vibrant mining sector is victim to
an acute economic
meltdown gripping the southern African nation and that is
seen in
hyperinflation, a rapidly contracting GDP, the fastest for a country
not at
war according to the World Bank and shortages of foreign currency,
food and
fuel.
The mining sector also faces an uncertain future as
President Robert Mugabe’s
prepares to enact new legislation to force
foreign-owned mining firms to
transfer shareholding to the government and
indigenous blacks.
Under the proposed Mines and Minerals Act Amendment
Bill, the government
will take over 51 percent of firms mining strategic
minerals such as coal
and coal-bed methane, with the state taking 25 percent
of that stake free of
charge.
The government will also take 25
percent shareholding in firms mining
precious minerals such as gold, diamond
and platinum while another 26
percent will go to local blacks, according to
the law that Mugabe says is
necessary to ensure blacks also have a share of
the country’s lucrative
mineral wealth. - ZimOnline
www.cathybuckle.com
4th January 2008
Dear Friends.
Kenya
has overtaken Pakistan at the top of the foreign news this week with
comment
from all sides of the political spectrum about the state of African
democracy. Comment ranges from the usual Eurocentric tut-tuttery about
Africa's alleged inability to govern itself democratically right through to
the politically correct post-colonial guilt that sees the whole problem as a
consequence of Europe's colonial history in Africa.
Listening to the
British Foreign Secretary's remarks about Kenya broadcast
on the BBC, I was
struck by one particular comment. Mr Milliband remarked
that events in Kenya
would have a profound effect on forthcoming elections
in Africa this year.
He mentioned Malawi and Angola where elections are due
but interestingly
made no mention of Zimbabwe. The omission was surely no
accident. Perhaps
Gordon Brown's non-attendance at the AU/EU Summit in
Lisbon last year was a
signal that the UK is not prepared to do anything
publicly about the
Zimbabwean problem? Whether that is the case or not, the
fact is that there
has been no mention at ministerial level or in the
British media of the
absolute chaos in Zimbabwe's banking sector over the
past few weeks or of
the forthcoming elections and the impossibility of
those elections being
free and fair in the current climate in Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, the level of
suffering amongst ordinary people rises in direct
proportion to the callous
incompetence of the Zanu PF regime, yet the
British government and the
British media remain silent.
There had been repeated phonecalls, Mr
Milliband revealed in his BBC
interview, to President Kibaki and the
opposition leader, Raila Odinga,
urging the two men to respect democracy and
get together and talk about the
way forward. It's hard to see what that way
forward might be when the
election in Kenya was so clearly stolen as the
figures in at least two
constituencies show. The fact that no African state
has congratulated Kibaki
on his victory would seem to suggest that even the
AU is unhappy with the
result; indeed they have already announced the
dispatch of an AU delegation
to Nairobi to see for themselves the reality on
the ground. Meanwhile, there
is continuing violence on the streets and the
western media, always ready to
label unrest in Africa as 'tribal', is making
comparisons with Ruanda and
suggesting that this is the start of ethnic
cleansing on genocidal lines. I
do not believe that to be the case. Yes,
Kenyan politicians from all sides
are probably inciting the violence for
their own ends but the truth is that
if the people did not feel so strongly
that the election had been stolen
from them they would not be in such an
angry and volatile mood. Stolen
elections are bound to produce this result;
it all sounds very familiar to
Zimbabweans, accustomed as we are to rigged
elections and police clampdowns
on all forms of democratic
expression.
Writing in The Guardian this week Simon Jenkins, a respected
journalist with
a left-wing perspective argues that the state of Britain's
own democracy is
too flawed for it to 'lecture' the developing world about
democracy. With
the examples of Pakistan and Kenya very much in mind,
Jenkins contends that
democracy is in a sad state in this New Year but as he
remarks, 'it depends
what you mean by democracy'. Elections every five or
six years are not the
only requirement for a functioning democracy,
supporting structures and
institutions need to be in place for a democracy
to be considered as the
valid expression of the people's will. There are, as
Jenkins points out
local cultural and historical influences that will affect
the way democracy
operates in different parts of the world but students of
politics are taught
that there are certain key tests that can be applied to
determine whether a
democracy is in a healthy state:
* Are there free and
fair elections.
* Can the franchise turn a regime out of office
* Are
there supporting institutions such as an open parliament, security of
public
assembly, elected local government, a free media, the rule of law?
The
whole thrust of Simon Jenkins' article is that Britain has no right to
'lecture' less-developed states about the health or otherwise of their
democracy since Britain itself has in many instance set up the very
conditions of aid and trade together with support for tyrants which make the
practice of democracy difficult if not impossible.
Simon Jenkins is
right when he says that Britain has no right to 'lecture'
the rest of the
world about democracy when British democracy itself is so
flawed but, and it
is a very big but, what alternative does he offer? Should
Britain remain
silent as it has done very largely about the Zimbabwean
problem? The silence
and lack of action from Britain on the Zimbabwean
question, is, I would
argue, a denial of its moral responsibility for the
former colony. Having
exploited Zimbabwe and its resources, natural and
human, for close on a
century of colonial rule should not the British
government now take a more
positive role in assisting the Zimbabwean people
in their passionate desire
for democracy? Silence, after all, implies
consent.
Will Britain and the
rest of the world wait in paralysed inaction – as they
did with Ruanda –
until there is blood running in the streets of Harare and
a million lives
are lost? Whatever Britain and the west may say, however
objectionable their
hectoring tone may be, the undeniable truth remains that
African people
themselves yearn to participate in the democratic process. It
is corrupt and
power-hungry African leaders, too often kept in power by
western
governments, who overturn the results and deny the people their
rightful
place in the democratic process. Whatever definition of democracy
we use, it
surely must not exclude the will of the people?
Yours in the struggle. PH
Cricinfo staff
January
5, 2008
England's plans to host the ICC World Twenty20 in
2009 would be threatened
if the UK government imposes a ban on the Zimbabwe
side entering the
country.
Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive,
told the BBC that it was a condition
of hosting an ICC event that all member
teams would be able to play.
"We haven't yet had to deal with a situation
whereby a country isn't allowed
by the host nation's government to take part
in an ICC event. If that
happens, the board would have to meet and take
whatever action it deems
necessary.
"However, at the moment all we
have are media reports, so I would say that
all this remains speculative.
The board next meets in March so to suggest
what action might be taken would
be premature."
A source close to the ICC told Cricinfo that it was
inconceivable that the
competition would proceed without Zimbabwe and that
contingency measures
would be drawn up to enable the tournament to be
switched should the need
arise.
© Cricinfo
The Times
January 5, 2008
The smarter move would
be to allow Zimbabwe’s cricketers to tour England
The Government’s clear
signal to English cricket’s governing body that it
does not want Zimbabwe’s
scheduled cricket tour to go ahead next year looks
like a heavy-handed
attempt at gesture politics. A spokesman for Gordon
Brown has confirmed that
it wants to hold talks with the England and Wales
Cricket Board (ECB) on a
possible ban to prevent the Zimbabwe team arriving
in Britain, where they
are scheduled to play two Tests and three one-day
internationals in mid2009.
Downing Street is attempting to portray this as
clarification of its
position in response to a request for guidance, and
suggests that it is
seeking a ban to shelter the ECB from the fine it would
have to pay to the
sport’s governing body, the International Cricket
Council, were it to decide
unilaterally to call off the visit. In fact, the
Prime Minister sees the
cricket tour as an easy way of demonstrating his
revulsion at Robert
Mugabe’s regime, without necessarily taking any
concomitant political or
economic steps.
There are many who would support a ban, including several
former Zimbabwe
players. They argue that sport, especially at international
level, cannot be
separated from politics and that Britain needs to reinforce
its opposition
to the abuses in Zimbabwe by scrapping a tour that could be
used by
President Mugabe as propaganda at home and abroad. They point to the
international sporting boycott of South Africa, which, they argue, hurt
Afrikaner pride, visibly underlined the country’s isolation and may have
helped to end apartheid. They would agree that sanctions on sporting
contacts are symbolic rather than economically damaging, but say that
gestures of disapproval do not preclude tougher measures to force
change.
Attractive though such arguments are, especially to those arguing
that more
forceful measures against Zimbabwe would only reinforce resentment
of the
former colonial power, the assumptions are wrong. It is naive to see
Zimbabwe’s team as an extension of Mr Mugabe’s circle of patronage. Most
Zimbabweans understand that their cricketers are among the few independent
national bodies in which they can take pride. And, though their cricketing
ability and standing have fallen rapidly, the players still curry excitement
and carry hopes that would be quashed if they were shut out of international
competition. The analogy with apartheid South Africa is false: race does not
dominate the selection of the team, nor does the ruling clique see sporting
success as vindication of its ideology. And selective boycotts, such as the
patchy sanctions against the Moscow Olympics, usually backfire. Mr Mugabe
would exploit antiBritish resentment far more effectively if the cricketers
were refused visas than if they were welcomed here next year.
But an
invitation should not include any government officials or those
linked to
the ruling party. And the arrival of the tourists should be a
chance to call
attention to the plight of ordinary Zimbabweans. The problem
is that the
issue flickers to life only in symbolism, such as Mr Brown’s
Lisbon summit
boycott. The presence of brave beleaguered cricketers here is
very different
from the implied endorsement of the Harare regime by sending
England to
Zimbabwe. The ECB has no wish to become embroiled in the
bitterness of
boycotts. It does, however, want to keep open one of the few
channels of
communication with a nation that is being cruelly abused. It
must be allowed
to do so.
a.. Commnets
Your premise is false. The Mugabe government
dominates cricket as it does
every other aspect of Zimbabwean existence. He
will gloat if the tour goes
ahead.
Faustino, Brisbane,
Australia
The smarter move would be to recognise that man's inhumanity to
man is
demonstrated constantly in what is left of a once great african
country.
Cricket is only a game, it does not - and should not - have any
bearing on
the real issues of barbarism.
Mike Poulsen, Reading,
Berkshire
Duncan Mackay
Sunday January 6,
2008
Guardian Unlimited
Gordon Brown was warned last night that
the Government will be powerless to
dictate whether Zimbabwe is allowed to
compete at the Olympics in London in
2012 because they do not issue the
invitations. The responsibility of
whether a country is invited to compete
or not in 2012 rests with the
International Olympic Committee.
The
Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the leading Government agency
on
the Olympics, admitted last night there was nothing that could be done to
prevent Zimbabwe from competing at London in 2012. 'London's host city
contract with the International Olympic Committee makes it clear that all
National Olympic Committees recognised by the IOC are entitled to
participate in the 2012 Games,' said a spokesperson for the DCMS.
Agencia de Informacao de
Mocambique (Maputo)
5 January 2008
Posted to the web 5 January
2008
Maputo
The flood waters of the Pungue river on Friday surged
across the main road
from the central Mozambican port of Beira to
Zimbabwe.
The road was cut in five separate places between Mutua and Tica
in the
districts of Dondo and Nhamatanda. As a result, using this stretch of
the
road is hazardous, and queues of vehicles built up on either side of the
flooded areas, notably trucks carrying goods to or from the landlocked
countries of Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi.
On Friday morning, the
Pungue at the Mafambisse sugar plantation was
measured at 8.25 metres,
massively above the flood alert level of six
metres. The situation could
easily worsen if it continues raining in
Zimbabwe, and further water is
funneled into the Pungue valley.
Cited in Saturday's issue of the Maputo
daily "Noticias", Paulo Zucula,
director of Mozambique's relief agency, the
National Disaster Management
Institute (INGC), said that, if the authorities
do ban vehicles from
attempting to use the flooded stretch, then, just as
happened during the
last significant Pungue flood, six years ago, trains can
be used to carry
vehicles and bypass the flooded area, (The Beira-Zimbabwe
railway is not
under threat from the flood).
On Friday, according to
the statistics from the National Water Board (DNA),
the Zambezi river at
Tete city was measured at 5.25 metres, going above the
flood alert level of
five metres for the first time this rainy season. This
means that from Tete
all the way to the river's mouth, some 500 kilometres
to the east, the
Zambezi is in flood. This is a repetition of last year's
scenario on the
Zambezi - with the significant difference that major
flooding has happened a
couple of weeks earlier than in 2007.
At Caia, on the lower Zambezi, the
river was 6.72 metres high on Friday and
still rising - flood alert level at
Caia is five metres.
On the north bank of the river, in Zambezia
province, 10,000 people remain
at risk in the flood-prone areas of Chinde
district. They are refusing to
move, despite appeals from the provincial
government to learn from the past,
and avoid risking their lives.
The
DNA reports continued heavy inflows of water into the Cahora Bassa lake
from
Zambia and Zimbabwe. Despite this, the management of the Cahora Bassa
dam
has not increased its discharges into the Zambezi, which have remained
steady at 5,100 cubic metres a second.
VOA
By Ntungamili Nkomo
Washington DC
04
January 2008
Some of the populous high-density suburbs or
townships of the Zimbabwean
capital of Harare have been stricken with
outbreaks of diarrheal disease in
recent weeks which authorities blamed on
chronic water shortages and the
accumulation of refuse.
More than 400
people are reported to have come down with diarrheal disease
in the densely
populated suburbs of Tafara and Mabvuku in the past two
weeks, according to
the state-run Herald newspaper. The paper identified
uncollected garbage,
sewage backups and deficient water supplies as the
causes of the
outbreaks.
City authorities say they have been unable to collect garbage
for some time
because fuel is in short supply, while a lack of hard currency
has prevented
the city from buying new pipes to repair breaks in sewer
lines.
Authorities at Harare’s Parirenyatwa Hospital said, however, that
they had
not linked the outbreak with any deaths.
Executive Director
Itai Rusike of the Community Working Group on Health told
reporter
Ntungamili Nkomo of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that cholera could
break out
with potential loss of life if immediate steps were not taken to
control the
situation.
VOA
By Patience Rusere
Washington
04
January 2008
Shortages of cash continued in Harare,
Bulawayo and other Zimbabwean cities
Friday and the crisis did not seem
likely to end soon according to central
bank sources who said there are
simply not enough bank notes in circulation
to meet consumer and business
demand which has been pumped up by
hyperinflation.
The central bank
sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Zimbabwe
needs some Z$700
trillion cash in circulation - but even with recent
infusions by the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe the primary money supply is not
far over Z$100
trillion.
The government stopped issuing inflation data several months
ago, but
independent estimates range up to a 12-month inflation rate of
100,000%. A
loaf of bread costs between Z$1 million and Z$1.5 million in
parallel market
food dealings.
There were long queues at banks in
Harare and Bulawayo today with the
maximum amount of cash disbursed to
customers varying by institution.
Sources in Bulawayo said Kingdom Bank,
Commercial Bank of Zimbabwe and
Beverly Building Society were limiting
customers to withdrawals of $20
million .
In Chinhoyi, northwest of
the capital, local sources said the only banks
with cash were Barclays,
Zimbank and Standard Chartered, with no functioning
ATMs in the
city.
Many caught in the queues at banks are bracing for worse as
shopping for
clothing and supplies for the forthcoming post-holiday school
term picks up.
Correspondent Thomas Chiripasi told reporter Patience
Rusere of VOA's Studio
7 for Zimbabwe that only a handful of banks were
disbursing cash in the
capital.
Meanwhile, nearly two weeks after the
introduction of new bank notes, some
shops in rural areas of the country
have been refusing to accept the new
notes because they have not received
word of their issuance by the Reserve
Bank.
When RBZ Governor Gideon
Gono announced the issuance of bearer cheques for
Z$250,000, Z$500,000 and
Z$750 000, he said teams from the central bank
would fan out into rural
areas to distribute the new notes and take in the
Z$200,000 notes initially
scheduled to expire December 31 but reprieved
earlier this
week.
Rural sources said central bank teams have been spotted in
Mashonaland and
the Midlands, but Matabeleland villagers haven't seen any
central bank
officials.
Villager Siyabonga Malandu Ncube of Insiza,
Matabeleland South, said
thousands of rural dwellers were unaware of the
currency changes due to poor
communications.
VOA
By Carole Gombakomba
Washington
04 January
2008
As the year 2008 begins, many Zimbabweans are
wondering whether it will
bring any significant changes on the political,
economic and human rights
fronts.
With South African-brokered crisis
resolution talks between the ruling party
and opposition stalled, observers
say the results of the negotiations so far
do not suggest they have created
a level playing field for national
elections slated for March.
Human
rights activists, health authorities, labor organizers and economists
expressed pessimism that the problems which plagued Zimbabwe in 2007 will be
resolved in 2008, given the policy failures they say have plunged the nation
into turmoil.
To consider the outlook for 2008, reporter Carole
Gombakomba of VOA's Studio
7 for Zimbabwe spoke with Norman Mlambo, an
analyst with the Africa
Institute of South Africa in Pretoria, who expressed
optimism that the
Southern African Development Community process could pay
off in a free and
fair election this year.
But human rights lawyer
Irene Petras said that if the situation is to get
better this year, a
complete overhaul of the country's electoral framework
and policies is
needed.
Walsall Advertiser, UK
GEORGE
MAKIN
10:30 - 03 January 2008
More than 100 Zimbabweans
living in Walsall face deportation back to their
home country after a court
found it is safe to return 'non-political' asylum
seekers - despite evidence
of torture and killings.
The news has shocked the borough's small
Zimbabwean community, who have
spent months awaiting the decision of the HS
case; a legal challenge by the
Home Office to an earlier ruling which found
it was too dangerous to send
people back.The news has dismayed Tendayi
Goneso, chairman of the Walsall
branch of the Movement for Democratic Change
- the political opposition to
Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party.
The
34-year-old former accountant fled Zimbabwe in 2002 after being beaten
up
and threatened by President Robert Mugabe's supporters after he helped
their
political opponents.
He left behind a string of successful
businesses and his wife Chiedza, who
ran his companies and looked after
their three children.
A year later she was beaten to death by members of
Zanu-PF.
Tendayi, whose claim for asylum was rejected last year, says the
legal
ruling means Zimbabweans face being detained and
deported.
"Each of us must now prove that we face the possibility of
being tortured
because of political activity if we are returned," he
said.
"The British Government has said that there are human rights abuses
and has
condemned Mugabe but it still wants to send people back."
He
added Zimbabweans in the borough were now supporting the Movement for
Democratic Change as much as they can in presidential elections being held
this year.
He added that Home Office rules that prevent asylum
seekers working while
their cases are decided meant many were so poor they
could not afford the
airfare home even if President Mugabe loses the
election.
The Home Office won the High Court case despite accepting
political
opponents have been tortured.
A spokeswoman for the Home
Office said: "The Government has grave concerns
about the appalling human
rights situation in Zimbabwe. We will continue to
protect those who have a
genuine fear of persecution. However, not every
Zimbabwean in the UK needs
asylum."