Dear Family and Friends,
American President George Bush came, apparently
believed his South African counterpart when told that talks were in progress
here, said the situation in Zimbabwe was "sad", and then left. Of course we
don't know what went on behind closed doors but it all ended up like a circus
and I'm still not really sure who looked more like the company clown at the end
of the performance. Before George Bush had even left, both political parties in
Zimbabwe immediately and categorically denied that there are in fact any talks
going on between them. The Zimbabwe propaganda machinery went into overdrive and
made President Mugabe the victor who had sent the most powerful nation on earth
packing. If either George Bush or Thabo Mbeki want to hear about how sad things
are in Zimbabwe, perhaps they should stop, just for a few minutes, and read this
letter.
This week President Mugabe awarded himself a 600%
pay rise and now earns two million dollars a month. That's pretty sad when a
Labour Official told me this week that the minimum wage for a house worker in
Zimbabwe is still just three thousand four hundred and fifty seven dollars a
month (that is less than five British pence a day). Its pretty sad too that in
Zimbabwe it is against the law to criticise our president or make a gesture as
he passes in a convoy of security vehicles. This week a new Bill was enacted
which makes it an offence for members of parliament to leave whilst President
Mugabe speaks; the penalty for doing so is to have 6 months pay docked. It's
pretty sad when we learned last night that the main Kidney Unit in Harare has
run out of drugs with which to treat renal patients. It's particularly sad to
hear of this latest collapse when we remember that President Mugabe's first wife
Sally, was kept alive by dialysis machines at the Renal Unit in Harare. It's
also quite sad to have to tell you that on Monday the price of an ordinary loaf
of bread went from 300 to 1000 dollars. It's pretty sad to think that an
ordinary house worker can now only afford 3 loaves of bread and four eggs on her
entire monthly wage.
It's also pretty sad to hear that the government of
Zimbabwe have still not put in a request to the World Food Programme for
assistance for 5 or 6 or 7 million people here when the current supplies run out
at the end of August. The request, which has to be accompanied by crop forecasts
should have been made two months ago but our government continues to stall
despite the fact that less than half of the winter wheat crop was grown this
year and the summer maize crop was down by over two thirds of normal. Our
governments' delay in making the request for Food Aid is unbelievable. Can it
really just be pride that silences them or is there something more sinister to
it? Undoubtedly when crop forecasts are produced it will become blatantly and
disgustingly obvious that the land reform programme has not been an agricultural
revolution benefiting millions of landless peasants but has led to more than
half our population starving and helpless. It's sad that we should even have to
ask for world food aid when just three years ago we fed ourselves completely and
sold surplus to Zambia and Mocambique.
What is even sadder is that there does not seem to
be anyone out there with the guts to condemn torture, murder, oppression and
rape. Speaking at the Maputu AU summit, UN Secretary General Kofi Anan said that
democracy was not just about winning elections. He said it was about abiding by
the rule of law, obeying your own courts and not oppressing and abusing your own
people. Strong words from Kofi Anan but they are just words because he and the
UN have still not found the courage to actually name names and should be utterly
ashamed. People are dying in Zimbabwe, because of incompetent governance, at the
hands of common criminals who hide behind their political affiliations, from no
chemicals with which to treat water and from just plain and simple empty
bellies. Yes, Mr Bush and Mr Mbeki, what's happening here in our little country
which has no oil or weapons of mass destruction, is pretty sad. But not to
worry, Zimbabweans will resolve their own problems, once we get past the water
cannons, tear gas, riot police, truncheons, prison cells, legislation, youth
militia and war veterans. I apologise for such an angry, sarcastic and cynical
letter this week. A candle had been lit on the far horizon but a couple of men
just blew it out. It's not as if we wanted guns, bombs and tanks, all we wanted
was a few honest words. Obviously too much to ask for. Until next week, with
love, cathy. Copyright cathy buckle 12th July 2003. http://africantears.netfirms.com
Following is the transcript of Secretary Powell's interview with the
BBC:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the
Spokesman For Immediate Release July
9, 2003
2003/737
INTERVIEW
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell On BBC World
News with Matt Fry (As
Aired)
July 9, 2003 Pretoria, South
Africa
(Aired 4:18 p.m. EDT)
MR. FINNEGAN: The U.S. Secretary of
State Colin Powell is traveling with Mr.
Bush in Africa. He's been speaking
exclusively to our correspondent, Matt
Fry. Matt began by asking Mr. Powell
why Mr. Bush was in Africa at a time of
international problems in Iraq, Iran
and North Korea, and after he'd said
during his election campaign that Africa
wasn't exactly a priority.
SECRETARY POWELL: Because Africa is a
priority, and he has said that ever
since he became President. Early on in
the administration, he made it clear
that he wanted us to devote a lot of
attention to Africa, and we've got a
number of very important programs that
benefit Africa and Africans.
Whether it's the expanded AGOA program which
allows African products to have
easier access to American markets -- and it's
made a significant difference
in the South African economy, as well as where
we were yesterday in Senegal;
or the President's initiative with respect to
what we call the Millennium
Challenge Account, which will provide billions of
dollars of new aid for
developing countries that are on the right path for
democracy and the free
enterprise system; or it's what the President is doing
with respect to the
greatest pandemic, the greatest weapon of mass
destruction on the face of
the earth today, HIV/AIDS, with his new $15
billion program.
I think all of these initiatives, and many other
initiatives that he has,
show that he cares deeply about Africa, as he
should. It is a large part of
the world, of course; it's an important part of
the world.
MR. FRY: But one of the big gripes in Africa are the farm
subsidies, the
domestic farm subsidies in the U.S., which have made it
virtually impossible
for Africa to export its cheap agricultural products to
the U.S.
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, they have an even bigger gripe against
the farm
subsidies that come out of Europe. The whole issue of farm subsidies
is a
very difficult, complex and controversial one, both as it affects the
United
States and Europe. The President has taken action to eventually
eliminate
all of these subsidies over a period of time. We understand that
market
distortions are created by these kinds of subsidies and we have to
find a
way where the developed world can find a solution that protects
our
industries, our agricultural industries -- and they are industries --
in
Europe and the United States, but do it in a way that allows
African
producers and other producers in other parts of the world to have
access to
our markets.
MR. FRY: Let's talk about Liberia. The
President, again today, called on
Charles Taylor to quit. Charles Taylor
doesn't seem to be listening any
more. He said last week that he might take
up a Nigerian invitation for
exile. Now, every time he talks about that, he
seems to be adding other
conditions.
Where do we stand on
Liberia?
SECRETARY POWELL: He said he will step down. He said it
publicly. He has
said it to interlocutors privately. And we are expecting him
to step down,
as he said he would.
MR. FRY: But what about the timing
of this?
SECRETARY POWELL: The timing is something to be determined. What
we don't
want to see is a sudden vacuum, which causes even more instability
in that
very troubled country. We believe that the presence of peacekeepers
should
be coincident with his departure, and that's why we have sent
assessment
teams. We have an assessment team in Monrovia right now looking at
the
humanitarian situation, and I expect to have a report from them in the
next
day or so.
MR. FRY: But he's got to leave Liberia first before
your troops go in?
SECRETARY POWELL: He -- I didn't say our troops are
going in. It's a
judgment we have to make. The President is considering all
of his options.
But we believe it is important for him not to be there when a
transitional
government is formed and when peacekeepers are present to make
sure that the
situation doesn't descend into more chaos at that
moment.
MR. FRY: What about Zimbabwe? You, yourself, I believe, in an
article in the
New York Times, called on Robert Mugabe to quit. You said it
was time for
him to go. The President has said the same. But this call was
not repeated
today and the Zimbabwe opposition is rather frustrated about
that.
SECRETARY POWELL: Well, they shouldn't be frustrated. Our position
is
consistent. We believe that something has to change in Zimbabwe, that
under
President Mugabe's leadership the economy has been driven into the
ground.
The political system is being devastated. The financial system
is
collapsing.
And this is a problem that Zimbabweans have to solve.
And it is important
for President Mugabe to work in an open manner with the
opposition to find a
political solution to move forward.
MR. FRY: But
are you meeting with the opposition here, because there is a
delegation in
town at the moment that wants to meet with you or other
members of the U.S.
delegation?
SECRETARY POWELL: We're not meeting with them here. We came
here to meet
with the South African leadership, although my Assistant
Secretary of State,
Mr. Kansteiner, has been in telephonic communications
with the leader of the
opposition this afternoon.
MR. FRY: Two more
brief ones, if I may, Niger and the issue of the
allegations of the uranium
exports to Iraq. You, yourself, if I am correct
in thinking, thought that
that was not a truthful allegation at the time it
was made; is that
right?
SECRETARY POWELL: The question is not truthfulness. The question
is
credibility at a moment in time.
MR. FRY: But you had your doubts
about it, didn't you?
SECRETARY POWELL: I did not use it in the formal
presentation I made on the
5th of February because by then there was such
controversy about it, and as
we looked at all that we knew about it, it did
not seem to be the kind of
claim that I should take into the UN.
But
here is the more important point. There should be no doubt in anyone's
mind,
no matter what you might think about one piece of intelligence or
another
piece of intelligence, that Saddam Hussein was trying to develop
nuclear
weapons in the past. And, if freed of sanctions and allowed to
continue
unabated without sanctions, without the international community
intervening,
he would have continued to pursue weapons of mass destruction.
MR. FRY:
So no credibility problem?
SECRETARY POWELL: No credibility problem in my
judgment. This was a dictator
who had gassed people in the past, and, if we
had not intervened, would have
been developing the capability to gas people
in the future, or to use
biological weapons against them, or at least to
threaten the world with
those kinds of weapons. And yes, nuclear
weapons.
MR. FRY: Secretary of State, thank you very much
indeed.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of
International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This is a genuine appeal for help
-----
Tish is the widow of Ron
Vass, who was ex RAF and in the RhaF. Ron
served in Air Traffic Control for a
number of years. Ron died a number
of years ago now, quite young from
cancer.
Please can I ask you to pass on this appeal to any who remember
both Ron
and Tish who are not on this means, many thanks.
Tish went
into hospital early June to have a fairly major op to remove part
of her one
kidney, but this in fact ended up being major, major surgery and
Tish was on
the operating table twice for a total of 10 hours in one day.
She had the one
kidney removed, her spleen, and part of her bladder, which
necessitated her
having a reversible colostomy, all tests were clear for
which we are very
thankful. The medical bills are staggering as Tish is
currently back in
hospital for the third time, second time having pneumonia
and fluid on her
lungs, and she had to have a drain, now for the third time
as per
below.
The Air Forces Association's are sending out this VERY urgent
appeal to you
all to help us raise funds to help with the absolutely
astronomical medical
bills being encountered, which must be running at well
over 8/9/10 million
(Zim) dollars currently, of which medical aid will only
pay a fraction. The
anaesthetist' bill was 3/4 of a million. The one
Specialist was at least 3
million, and he called in another Specialist when
they took Tish back to
theatre for a second time on the same day.
Donations by cheque can be sent direct and made payable to
Highlands
Presbyterian Church,
P O Box HG 19,
Highlands
BUT please NOTE
mark clearly that your donation is for the Tish Vass Fund.
We have decided
to route funds direct to them to avoid any additional
costs, or bank
charges etc by opening a separate account for Tish. Tish is
working for the
Church when well.
Your prayers, love and support and any help will help
Tish tremendously to
recover, and so that she will not be worried about the
mounting bills. With
the current black market rates One Pound = +/- Z$s 3,500
and One US$ +/-
Z$s 2,800, and One Rand = +/- Z$s 250, so no matter how small
your
contribution, every cent will help us to help Tish.
----
Reuters
African Union Backs Peace Efforts, Ignores
Zimbabwe
Sat July 12, 2003 01:56 PM
ET
By Manoah Esipisu
MAPUTO
(Reuters) - Africa's leaders threw their weight behind
regional peace efforts
on Saturday but avoided the prickly question of
economic and political
meltdown in Zimbabwe.
Meeting in neighboring Mozambique, the
continent's most powerful
men agreed to hold a special summit to resolve
policy differences on
establishing a joint peacekeeping force and planned to
work together more
closely to fight AIDS and poverty.
"My
priority is that we will fight for peace and security on the
continent,
better manage our resources, improve governance and food
security, and help
Africa build infrastructure," Mali's former president,
Alpha Oumar Konare,
said after being sworn in to head the new African
Union
Commission.
Delays deploying United Nations forces
in Africa and problems
recruiting troops for them have put pressure on the
African Union (AU) to
take a lead in peacekeeping on the continent, where at
least half a dozen
states are wracked by conflict and many more are deprived
of foreign
investment as a result.
A final communique from
the three-day meeting urged more support
for regional peacekeeping efforts
but made no mention of Zimbabwe's crisis.
Officials say it is too divisive
with heavyweight South Africa committed to
using "quiet
diplomacy."
"We talked about conflicts and the conflicts we
talked about are
not of the nature of the one in Zimbabwe. We do think that
Zimbabwe should
be dealt with at a regional forum, and that is the way to go
for the time
being," summit host and chair Mozambican President Joaquim
Chissano told a
news conference.
Officials said the
53-member Union's broader drive for peace had
also revealed differences on
how a proposed security and peace council and a
rapid deployment force would
operate, but Chissano said the differences were
largely
procedural.
"We needed to be flexible within the laws of each
country but we
expect that all countries will ratify it," he said, adding a
special summit
would hammer out agreement on a common defense and security
policy around a
joint peacekeeping force.
LIBERIA
INTERVENTION
The AU called for international backing for West
African
regional bloc ECOWAS's peace efforts in Liberia.
"The summit calls on the international community to support the
efforts of
ECOWAS to deploy an international stabilization force for the
purpose of
securing the cease-fire and facilitating the restoration of peace
and
security in Liberia," it said.
African leaders have urged
U.S. President George Bush to
contribute troops, funding and logistical
support but Bush ended a five-day
African tour on Saturday with no decision
on Liberia.
The AU leaders also tried to improve coordination
in the war on
AIDS, which has hit poor Africans harder than anyone else, and
advance the
economic revival plan known as the New Partnership for Africa's
Development.
News24
Zim facing famine 'deaths'
12/07/2003 12:44 -
(SA)
Harare - Zimbabwe's main opposition on Saturday warned that
there will be
"deaths" in the country if the government does not appeal to
aid agencies to
supply relief food.
Zimbabwe has been in the grip of
severe food shortages since last year. The
UN's World Food Programme
estimates that 5.5 million Zimbabweans will be in
need of food aid this
year.
"What is required now is government to appeal" for food aid from
the WFP,
Renson Gasela, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) shadow
agriculture
minister told a press conference.
"If they don't do that,
we are actually going to have deaths," he warned.
The WFP has said it
needs the government to make a formal appeal for food
aid before donors will
commit resources to fund the exercise.
There have been unconfirmed media
reports that 43 people, mostly children,
have died in the country's second
city of Bulawayo due to malnutrition in
the first few months of this
year.
The WFP estimates that out of the total amount of people who will
be in need
of food aid, more than one million of them are in urban
areas.
"Until they (the government) actually formally request, the donors
will not
come and supply food," Gasela added.
The MDC official, who is
also an opposition legislator, criticised the
government for what he said was
a callous disregard for the consequences of
its delay.
"What other
rationale is there other than the desire to hurt your own
citizens," he
said.
The WFP says that as of May this year it had, together with
partner
organisations, distributed 346 000 tons of food aid to 4.7 million
people.
Aid organisations say a controversial government land reform
programme that
has seen white-owned commercial farms seized for blacks has
contributed to
the current food crisis.
MDC's Gasela claimed that new
black farmers resettled on formerly
white-owned land had not yet produced any
food.
He said the bulk of this year's maize harvest was expected to come
from
growers in the country's traditional communal lands
VOA
Zimbabweans Dream of Hitting National Lottery Jackpot
Tendai
Maphosa
Harare
12 Jul 2003, 18:52 UTC
Living with shortages of
food, fuel and cash, Zimbabweans are accustomed to
standing in long lines for
many hours, only to find stocks are exhausted
before their turn comes. But as
Tendai Maphosa reports from Harare, they can
line up for one commodity that
never runs out.
Zimbabweans line up by the thousands for the chance to
become instant
millionaires. The national lottery - the Lotto - lets them
invest as little
as 15 U.S. cents for a chance to hit the jackpot by choosing
six correct
numbers out of 45. Those who come close, and get five, or four
numbers
right, also get smaller cash prizes.
Should somebody guess the
right six numbers in the Saturday draw, the
jackpot is $73 million Zimbabwe
dollars, equal to more than 36,000 U.S.
dollars. There are not many winners,
but there are a lot of Zimbabweans with
dreams of how they would handle the
jackpot.
One says he will try to look for a farm to invest in farming.
Another says
she has no idea but will will decide when he wins. A third one
would buy a
house.
The chances of winning the jackpot are pretty
slim, but there are weekly
winners in this lottery. Lotto Chairman Mick Davis
says a minimum of 20
percent of ticket sales - between $80 and $100 million
Zimbabwean
dollars -goes to various charities every three months.
He
says due to hard times in Zimbabwe, his committee is swamped by requests
for
charity.
And because of increased costs, he has been forced to increase
ticket
prices. But that has not made the lottery lines any shorter.
Zimbabweans
still have that dream that one day they will hit the
jackpot.
EuropaWorld
Annan Concludes African Unity Summit With Aids Meeting,
Visit
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today wrapped up his
mission to
the African Unity Summit in Mozambique with a working breakfast to
review
the progress in the fight against AIDS in Africa and a visit to an
AIDS
clinic for those affected by the disease.
During the breakfast,
hosted by President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria,
delegates also touched on
other issues critical to Africa. In addition,
leaders discussed a work plan
for the coming year.
"We have had a very good meeting here and very, very
useful and constructive
discussions, not just on the issue of AIDS and the
fight against that
pandemic and its impact on this continent, but also about
conflict
resolution, about economic and social development, about empowerment
of
women," Mr. Annan told reporters after the meeting.
In the
afternoon, he visited an AIDS clinic at Matola, on the outskirts of
the
capital Maputo, which has done a remarkable job of preventing
the
transmission of the HIV virus from pregnant women to their babies.
Only
three of the 151 babies born at the clinic have been diagnosed
as
HIV-positive. The clinic provides anti-retroviral drugs to some
300
HIV-positive mothers.
"This is our fight, and let's all move ahead
and win this fight," Mr. Annan
told the workers at the clinic.
AIDS
was also the subject of some of the bilateral meetings the
Secretary-General
held in the margins of the Summit. He met Peter Piot the
Executive Director
of the Joint UN Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS), to discuss
tighter coordination
between the world body and the Global Fund against
AIDS, Malaria and
Tuberculosis.
He also met with Supachai Panitchpakdi, the Director
General of the World
Trade Organization (WTO), with whom he discussed efforts
by multinational
pharmaceutical firms to make AIDS medication available to
developing
countries at low cost. He invited Mr. Panitchpakdi to join him at
a meeting
with pharmaceutical executives that he is planning for later this
year.
Mr. Annan had arrived in Mozambique ahead of the opening of the
African
Union's annual summit and had attended a prayer breakfast where he
had met
with the Union's Heads of State in which he said that, sadly,
"so-called men
of religion sometimes invoke the name of God to justify
violence against
their fellow human beings."
"But I believe," Mr.
Annan had continued, "we have a duty to love those of
our own faiths, those
of other faiths, and those of no faith. As leaders, we
must summon the moral
courage to stand against those who encourage violence
and hatred. Instead, we
must point the way to tolerance, understanding and
the peaceful resolution of
conflict."
Mr Annan also had a series of meetings in the margins of the
Summit.
During talks with Antoine Ghonda, the Foreign Minister of the
Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC), Mr. Annan said he was disappointed
that
President Joseph Kabila did not come to Maputo, where he had hoped to
have a
summit on the DRC. The next opportunity for such a summit could be at
the
General Assembly in September, Mr. Annan said. He congratulated Mr.
Ghonda,
who was accompanied by representatives of two former parties to
the
conflict, as well as by a political counsellor to President Kabila, on
the
formation of a transitional national government, but emphasized that
the
fighting in the DRC has to stop.
The Secretary-General also met
with Tunisian Foreign Minister Habib Ben
Yahia, with whom he discussed
regional issues, as well as the importance of
support for the Middle East
Road Map; they also touched on Iraq.
After that, he met with the
Secretary-General of the Commonwealth
Secretariat, Don McKinnon, talking with
him about Zimbabwe, including the
land reform plan which the
Secretary-General and the UN Development
Programme (UNDP) had proposed. MR.
Annan then had a tête-à-tête meeting with
President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of
Sierra Leone.
The Secretary-General also discussed the situation in
Zimbabwe with
Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Thabo Mbeki of
South Africa.
News24
Mugabe: Africa 'admires' Zim
12/07/2003 22:11 -
(SA)
Harare - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said on Saturday
African leaders
had greater admiration for his country than ever before, as
he returned from
an African Union (AU) summit in Maputo, state television
said.
Mugabe said his election as regional vice chair of the AU was "an
honour to
us and it also serves paid to those in the hostile circles who
think that
Zimbabwe is being isolated."
"There is greater admiration
now for Zimbabwe than there ever was, and we
are very happy about that," he
added.
The Zimbabwean leader has been in Maputo, in neighbouring
Mozambique for the
second AU summit since its inauguration last year. At the
summit Mugabe was
elected as one of five regional vice chair of the
body.
Although Zimbabwe, with its political tensions and economic
hardships has
been in the international spotlight, it was not on the agenda
of the summit.
The AU summit took place at the same time as US President
George W Bush
embarked on his first tour of the continent.
During his
visit Bush, who does not recognise Mugabe as legitimate
president, said the
United States would "continue to speak out for democracy
in
Zimbabwe".
Zimbabwe is politically deeply divided between supporters of
Mugabe and
those of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). MDC
leader
Morgan Tsvangirai is currently on trial for treason.