The Zimbabwe Situation

To the delight of its liberal critics, the Bush administration has taken a
constructive interest in the problems of Africa. President George W. Bush's
trip to South Africa, Botswana, Uganda, Niger and Senegal next month
symbolizes that concern. So does the administration's promises of increased
aid, its global HIV/AIDS initiative and its outspokenness for African
democracy.
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Africans now suffer more from war and HIV/AIDS than the inhabitants of any
other continent. And they remain among the world's poorest people, even in
resource-rich countries like Angola, Nigeria and Congo. The main reason is
misgovernment and official corruption.
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Shamefully, though, American farm subsidies block the exits from poverty for
some African countries by making it impossible for their crops to compete.
In contrast, Bush's commitment to spend $15 billion fighting AIDS worldwide
over the next five years is welcome. Compared with the costs of war or farm
subsidies, this investment, which can save hundreds of thousands of lives,
is remarkably cost-effective.
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Africa's three main conflicts cry out for more effective intervention. More
than 3 million people have been killed in nearly five years of fighting in
Congo and some 2 million in two decades of civil war in Sudan. Liberia's
dictator, Charles Taylor, is responsible for wars that have killed hundreds
of thousands. Bush is sending his special envoy to Sudan and has told Taylor
to step down. He also needs to work for a stronger UN peacekeeping force in
Congo.
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Another destructive African leader is Robert Mugabe, whose resort to fraud
and thuggery undermined the legitimacy of his latest re-election as
Zimbabwe's president. Washington rightly demands a return to democracy
there. That needs help from South Africa, whose president, Thabo Mbeki,
claims to champion democracy and better governance in Africa. But he has so
far refused to press for those values where he has the most influence, in
neighboring Zimbabwe.
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Africa's problems may still seem remote to some Americans. Bush recognizes
that they are not.

Cuttin' through the Bull #170
The United Nations is a Menace

The liberal media all over the world paints the United Nations as "the last hope for peace in the world," but the reality is much different. The United Nations is a "World Government in Waiting." It has not only not fulfilled its promise, it is actively working toward a socialist/collectivist world government with itself in charge. It has proven to be completely incompetent to "keep the peace in the world," while enriching the bureaucrats running things with impunity. Remember the short spate of stories (mostly in the "conservative press) about U. N. "officials" profiting in the billions from the Iraq "Oil for Peace" program (or some such) the United Nations created to allow them to control the amount of oil Saddam was allowed to sell on the market for "humanitarian purposes?" No investigations. No calls for investigations, and after a few days -- nothing. Who is going to hold them to account anyway? An article in News Max Magazine says: "The 57 years of the U. N.'s existence cover perhaps the bloodiest period in human history. The U. N.'s recent behavior regarding Iraq is just the latest in a long list of its failures to keep the peace."

International Taxes

Yet they want to tax American citizens and the citizens of all countries signatory to their charter, which is pretty much all he countries in the world. Those left could not stand against them if they ever gained their own army. Taxes in America take more than 52% of our incomes (that includes all kinds of taxes including those not called taxes, but which take money from us and give it to the government). But the United Nations wants to place a tax on international financial transactions (The Tobin Tax) that would give the United Nations $1.5 trillion a year. They have also proposed an international tax on the use of the oceans, for Heaven's sake, and a global income tax. Only a government can tax citizens of any country, and they think that's what they are and they're working toward making it a fact.

Their International Socialist Agenda:

The leftists praise this agenda as being "good works," but in reality, everything they propose adds to their power over us and the world if the world is stupid enough to enact them.

Let's look at the things they're doing, right out in the open, with the world (except for power seekers) paying no attention to them:

INTERNATIONAL DISARMAMENT: As in the United States and other countries, would-be despots know that an armed populace is not easily taken over, People who have guns will not easily submit to a dictatorship. So one of their early campaigns is to disarm people, world-wide. They've already been working for decades to accomplish the goal of banning all privately-owned guns throughout the world. In their movie, Armed to the Teeth: The Worldwide Plague of Small Arms, they promote the idea that only government people should have the power to carry guns. That there is no reason for civilians to have guns, not even for self defense. Of course, this ignores the basic premise in the United States that one of the reasons we cherish our right to be armed is to defend ourselves, not only against known criminals who don't obey gun laws, but against criminals wearing badges, too, as they come to steal what's ours. In fact, under their formula, even the local police would eventually be disarmed of everything except "small arms." That means no machine guns or high-powered rifles and no SWAT Teams. That function would be taken care of by U.N. approved "international security forces" that were not subject to control under any country's laws against theft, rape and murder. Such disarmament of citizens has invariably resulted in the mass murder of people the "government" didn't like -- opponents of their tyranny. If we were disarmed, the United Nations could perform a holocaust on an international scale and would result in a world government with the United Nations in charge -- which is their plan.
International Criminal Court: This is an important agenda item for the United Nations because it gives them the power to have a head of state arrested and tried in a court not subject to our constitutional rights. We have wisely refused to sign on to this abomination, but they claim to have power over us anyway. They claim jurisdiction over "every man, woman and child on Earth." That sounds like they think they're already a world government. To accept their contention means they could target any American citizen and take them out of this country to try them in foreign courts not subject to our Constitution. This is not something any president, and not even our Congress could agree to because neither has the power to abrogate the Constitution and subordinate our citizens to a court not subject to our constitutional restrictions.
Women's Rights: This is another area they use to gain support and control. The U. N. Treaty on Women would force the restructuring of American society at every level. It would force government, schools and families to conform to a radical socialist viewpoint. It would mandate a "gender-neutral military," a concept that has cost many lives. It would force us to conform to the U. N. Guidelines on family education, which makes us teach that socialism/collectivism is the way to govern; It would mandate the revision of our textbooks to reflect this conditioning (which has already been accomplished, for the most part); It would mandate setting wages according to their "guidelines" (otherwise known as "orders") and the creation of a federal network of child-care facilities. It would also mandate the killing of unborn infants (abortion) on demand.
The Kyoto Protocol: this is one of the most egregious abominations there is. It was originally introduced at the 1992 U. N. Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, backed by United Nations bureaucrats. It depends on our ignorance of the fact that "global warming" is the invention of international socialists as a vehicle to take power. The fact that no evidence (of the real variety instead of "junk science") exists to prove that global warming exists doesn't matter to them. They'll falsify anything they need. This is another place where President Bush (the second) wisely refused to cooperate and has been subject to massive criticism from its supporters. He refused because of a simple reason: the protocol would force America to subject itself to rules that would drastically curtail every imaginable industrial activity from production of electricity to the use of cars and trucks, to farming and manufacturing. This would bankrupt most business and industry in the United States. Meanwhile, third-world countries -- the world's worst polluters -- would be exempt. American industry would be forced to move to those countries in order to continue to operate, taking millions of jobs with them and causing poverty in the West. That this would cause global pollution to increase seems to have escaped them.

There are many more instances of the United Nations' efforts to set up mechanisms to control people within the countries signatory to their charter, but these should suffice for this article. Now let's talk about their shortcomings in the area of what they're supposed to be doing:

Human Rights: They're supposed to be enforcing the respect for human rights in the countries who have signed their charter, but they haven't done that. They did nothing to stop the mass murder of Soviet dissidents in the USSR; They did nothing to stop Pol Pot's genocide in Cambodia; When communists, Marxists, Arabs, or Africans murder people, torture them or steal from them, it ignores them. But let us accidentally kill one person while deposing a despot who has murdered thousands, maybe even millions, it condemns us. Communist China has a system of concentration camps and slave labor. It executes more people in one month that all the other countries in the world do in a year! It places medical facilities close to execution facilities so they can "harvest" organs from those executed before they "spoil" and sell them on the international market. The United Nations does nothing about this. Nearly one million people have been murdered in Rwanda and the president of Zimbabwe is stealing the property of white landowners in Zimbabwe and committing mass murder to support it. Again, the United Nations did nothing.

Saddam Hussein spent 12 years thumbing his nose at them as they passed "resolution" after resolution demanding he acknowledge and rid himself of weapons of mass destruction. Meanwhile, they appoint Libya, one of the most egregious violators of human rights on the planet to head the U. N. Human Rights Commission. On that commission are such dictatorial regimes as Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Communist China, Russia, Cuba and the aforementioned Zimbabwe. Syria reportedly backs suicide-bombers in Israel to the tune of $100 billion a year, yet they were elected to head the Security Council right after September 11, 2001.

In 1994, the U. N. promised Tutsi tribesmen in Rwanda that if they gave up their guns they wouldn't let the Hutus kill them when they took over the government. But again they did nothing as the Hutus raped and murdered 1.1 million people, including children and pregnant women. They were raped, tortured, crippled and some had their limbs hacked off. U. N. "Peacekeepers" themselves in the Balkans engaged in such behavior. In Bosnia-Herzegovia before the U. S.-led Balkans war, the sex trade and sexual slavery were virtually nonexistent. Since the U. N. has been running things, sex slavery has become a major industry in Bosnia and Kosovo. It involves the abduction of girls as young as 12. Scotland's national newspaper, The Scotsman, reported that U. N. Peacekeepers went to nightclubs where young girls were forced to dance naked and have sex with customers. It reported that U. N. personnel and aid workers were linked to prostitution rings in the Balkans And that 30% of those visiting Bosnia's brothels were U. N. personnel, peacekeepers or aid workers.

This is the kind of thing you can expect if the United Nations is ever allowed to be a real world government. This kind of thing won't just happen elsewhere, it will happen in this country, too -- and with our Constitution discarded, there will be nothing we can do about it. We will be truly under a socialist dictatorship, and we will have allowed it by ignoring this menace to our freedom. We cannot allow this abomination to continue to exist. We must do everything we can to destroy it and all it stands for. Now, not later.

      By Quentin Wray

      One of the advantages of being a journalist is getting your hands on
some of the really great research coming out of various academic, private
sector and public service research organisations.

      The SA Institute for International Affairs (Saiia) at Wits University
is one such body that consistently produces quality work that is well worth
reading.

      A recent paper, Southern African Scenarios 2015: Renaissance,
Asymmetry or Decline and Decay?, crossed my desk the other day.

      Published in April, it takes a detailed look at the prevailing social,
economic and political conditions in the different Southern African
Development Community (SADC) countries, focusing on what it calls the
"structural features of the SADC landscape" such as low human development
indices, relatively weak democratic formations and markedly asymmetrical
trade, investment and commercial networks.

      It then examines the key drivers that are likely to determine the
trajectory of the region over the next 12 years - globalisation, health,
trade, investment and commercial networks - taking into account the New
Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad).

      Finally it makes "a number of discreet, focused and tightly formulated
policy recommendations" aimed at boosting economic development and
integration.

      The renaissance scenario outlined by the Saiia team has globalisation
delivering greater inclusiveness for the SADC; Aids, malaria and
tuberculosis being effectively treated; international aid agencies the World
Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) playing a focused and
supportive role; the global economy reviving; trade growing; and regional
security and the crime situation improving.

      The more realistic scenario has globalisation having a mixed effect;
Aids and other diseases coming under control but still exacting a heavy
cost; international agencies playing an important role but disengaging from
countries that refuse to meet their conditions; and trade and investment
remaining skewed.

      The decline and decay scenario is the one Afropessimists will identify
with. In this, SADC countries are effectively marginalised by globalisation;
Aids and other diseases are not dealt with effectively; the SADC itself
fails to play an effective role; aid agencies disengage steadily; regional
wars and conflict spread; crime and the security situation worsens; and
political leaderships fail the key tests of democracy
      .

      The doom-and-gloom picture basically means Nepad will have failed to
get African countries to deliver on their side of the partnership with the
developed world, which, in turn, would lead the developed world to renege on
its obligations.

Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was not
obsessed with President Robert Mugabe, the country's leader of the official
opposition, Morgan Tsvangirai said in an interview with SABC television news
on Sunday night.

However, he added that South Africa had an obsession with its leader of the
opposition, Tony Leon.

The Zimbabwean politician, facing two possible death sentences in two
separate treason trials, said he did not hate Mugabe and did not wish him
ill.

But the Zimbabwean president was a major stumbling block to normalising the
chaotic political and economic situation in the country.

"Mugabe is a national liability, a stumbling block," he said.

Asked whether he recognised Mugabe as president, he said "I don't", but
confirmed that Mugabe ran the country.

"He is running the country, he was sworn in as president."

The former trade unionist added that he was pursuing a high court challenge
against the validity of the 2001 presidential election because it was "the
only legal recourse".

Tsvangirai repeated that he had won the election and that his party now
controlled more than half of the Zimbabwean parliament.

Parties must compromise - Tsvangirai

Tsvangirai said the major issue facing Zimbabwe was getting the MDC and
Mugabe to the negotiating table.

Asked about the efforts of the heads of state of South Africa, Nigeria and
Malawi to get the parties to talk, Tsvangirai said the success of
negotiations did not depend on the brokers, but on the willingness of
parties to compromise.

The trio's efforts "must be encouraged and welcomed."

But he warned that some of their comments had been "undiplomatic" and
unhelpful, particularly those suggesting that he, Tsvangirai, was an
obstacle to talks.

Another was that Mugabe had to be recognised as the legitimate winner of the
2001 presidential poll - a position that would sink his court challenge
which contested that very point.

There could be no preconditions to talks. If Rhodesian prime minister Ian
Smith had in 1979 set as a precondition that Mugabe recognise him as the
legitimate leader of the country there would have been no talks, he said by
example.

Once talking, there would be three critical issues.

The first was getting Mugabe to give up the presidency in a dignified
manner.

If Mugabe was afraid of retribution, he could be assured that this was not
an MDC aim.

"National reconciliation cannot be implemented in an atmosphere of
retribution," said Tsvangirai.

However, there would have to be a truth and justice commission where victims
could speak out and perpetrators could repent and reform.

Asked whether this meant an MDC government would not "go" after Mugabe
himself, Tsvangirai said "If that is the price we have to pay, we must
consider it."

Once Mugabe stepped down, the question of choosing a replacement arose.

This would require a look at whether a new election had to take place within
90 days as required by the constitution or whether another mechanism had to
be found.

Then an election, adjudged to be free and fair by all parties and the
international community, had to take place.

Questioned about timelines, he said none could be set.

His two treason trials, one for allegedly plotting to kill Mugabe and
another for organising mass action to force Mugabe to leave office, were
referred to obliquely.

"I want to face the full wrath of the law. If I did something wrong, I must
be punished," Tsvangirai said at one stage.

Later, he said that since he had never advocated the overthrow of the state,
as alleged by his prosecutors, a bail condition that he should not do so
"again" was irrelevant.

He said that, as leader of the official opposition he was entitled to speak
out about misrule and corruption - and would continue to do so.

Land is one of MDC's priorities

Queried about a perceived lack of policy on the part of the MDC and Mugabe's
assertions that he was a black front for whites, Tsvangirai said his party
had a strong set of policy documents on important national issues such as
saving the economy and land.

He had been concerned with land reform since 1995 when he was still general
secretary of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU).

Land was one of the MDC's five top priorities.

However, the epicentre of the crisis in Zimbabwe was not land, but about
"misrule, dictatorship... and a government unleashing violence on its own
people."

The MDC was also not the lackeys of whites or of the United States and
Britain.

The MDC came about as an alternative political party because of the
systematic betrayal of the electorate by Mugabe's party, Zanu (PF). "It did
not appear out of the blue," said Tsvangirai.

On the surface it appears that there is some - admittedly marginal -
progress towards resolving the Zimbabwe crisis. President Thabo Mbeki
predicts a solution within a year. And after a fortnight in a remand
prison - which he describes as "appalling" and where, he says, one person
dies every day - Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has been
released on bail. Even in Zimbabwean dollar terms, the surety is huge:
Z$110m (US$13m), with highly restrictive conditions stipulating that he may
not make "inflammatory" statements. Meanwhile the media, especially in SA,
less so in Zimbabwe, are awash with claims that just two weeks after saying
he had absolutely no intention of leaving office, which would pave the way
for national consultations on the reconstruction of the country, Robert
Mugabe is allegedly now ready to step down as president. If so, what has
brought about the change?

Significantly, the state media in Zimbabwe have published front-page
interviews with possible successors - parliamentary speaker Emmerson
Mnangagwa, believed to be Mugabe's preferred choice, and John Nkomo, ruling
Zanu PF national chairman. Both men are said to be "safe pairs of hands"
with more than 20 years' ministerial experience. However, both are firm that
there is no vacancy at State House - and therefore they are not running for
office. The reality is that they are , but dare not say so unless and until
Mugabe gives them the green light. Pretoria remains unhelpful. Defence
minister Mosiuoa Lekota blames the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) for the impasse over talks, but again this is not so. The sole
precondition set for negotiations was by Mugabe himself, who will not talk
to the MDC unless and until it drops its court challenge to his presidential
poll victory last March.

Lekota's comments underline, yet again, Pretoria's unwillingness to play the
honest broker. The SA government appears to have made up its mind that Zanu
PF - minus Mugabe - should stay in office. It does not want to see
Tsvangirai, perceived as too Western, too pro-market, and above all lacking
"liberation-war credentials", to take over. Tsvangirai's time in jail has
served to strengthen his resolve and that of his supporters. Even while he
was incarcerated, the MDC launched an urgent court challenge to expedite the
election challenge that is anathema to Mugabe. On his release, Tsvangirai
ruled out a one-year transition as "too long". His economic advisers have
told him that a lengthy transition would be a recipe for paralysis and
accelerated economic decline, and his political lieutenants are saying that
now, when the momentum is with the MDC, is not the time for a display of
weakness. Even conciliation is judged as too weak. If there is progress on
the negotiating front, it is glacial. Events on the ground - economic
implosion and the mood of the people - threaten to overtake the talks. It is
time for Pretoria to be more even-handed. The MDC must be brought into the
frame of consideration for a successor to Mugabe.

The Herald (Harare)

June 30, 2003
Posted to the web June 30, 2003

Harare

AT least $4 billion in new $500 notes was injected into the money market
last week as the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe steps up efforts to alleviate the
shortage of cash that has hit the country in recent weeks.

An additional $8 billion would be issued by mid-July while a further $12
billion would be injected into the money market at the beginning of August.

This would bring to $24 billion the money that would have been issued by the
central bank.

Although Reserve Bank officials refused to comment on the latest
development, well-placed sources said that daily allocations to banks were
increased from 25 to 50 percent of normal requirements last week.

It also emerged that central bank officials were pressing for the
introduction of new $5 000 and $10 000 notes to ease the demand for cash.

According to sources, the proposal was submitted to the Minister of Finance
and Economic Development, Dr Herbert Murerwa, last week.

Dr Murerwa could not be reached for comment yesterday.

However, ministry officials confirmed having received the letter and said Dr
Murerwa was considering the matter.

The sources said concerted efforts were being made to ensure that the
general public is not inconvenienced by the shortage of cash.

To that end banks, through the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe and the
Retailers Association of Zimbabwe, were encouraging the public to use debit
cards as well as credit cards for transactions.

In order to facilitate the use of the cards, banks have significantly
reduced charges.

Banks have also introduced bearer instru- ments as a cash substitute, which
are easily encashable.

Sources said fees on cash deposits have also been suspended and an
improvement in the level of cash deposits has been obse- rved.

The Reserve Bank has also started issuing cash directly to building
societies in a bid to improve the cash situation for small savers who make
up the bulk of their depositors.

Previously, the central bank used to issue currency to building societies
through commercial banks.

"It has been discovered that the arrangement disadvantaged building
societies.

"Most banks have started withholding the cash meant for building societies.

"Beginning this week, the Reserve Bank will allocate cash directly to
building societies," said a source.

Last week, the cash crisis saw the reintroduction into the system of the old
$20 notes, which were in circulation in the 1980s but were phased out in the
early 1990s following the introduction of the new notes.

Over the past week, the Reserve Bank started offering smaller denominations
as part of its strategy to alleviate the shortage of $500 bills.

The sources said the injection of the additional funds into the money market
would alleviate the shortage of cash.

A survey showed that most automated teller machines in the Harare city
centre had no money yesterday.

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

ANALYSIS
June 30, 2003
Posted to the web June 30, 2003

More than six months since a fuel supply deal collapsed, Libya has once
again come to the rescue of President Robert Mugabe by reviving a barter
agreement on oil with Zimbabwe.

"Experts from the two governments, including Zimbabwe Energy and Power
Development Minister (Amos Midzi), met to review the bilateral co-operation
path, and the ways to reinforce that cooperation in oil and investment in
various economic fields," a joint statement said without giving further
details.

Libya last year renewed a US $360 million fuel deal with Zimbabwe in
exchange for beef, tobacco and sugar but the supply line was cut after
Zimbabwe failed to meet its end of the bargain.

While the stopgap measure may temporarily alleviate fuel shortages,
long-term fuel security is by no means guaranteed.

Hardest hit by the fuel shortages are labourers, especially poor households
in Zimbabwe's high-density suburbs.

Chipo Chikosha is a single mother. Every day she gets up at 3:30 am and by 4
am is on the road, walking a distance of 20 km from the suburb of Glen Norah
in the capital, Harare, to the city centre where she works as an office
orderly at a law firm.

"I cannot afford the fare of Zim $300 (US 37 cents) charged by the commuter
omnibuses," she told IRIN.

With a salary of Zim $50,000 (US $62) per month, Chipo pays her rent and
buys food. Despite a government regulation stipulating that passenger
omnibuses may only charge fares of between Zim $60 (US 7 cents) and Zim $300
(US 37 cents) for urban routes, commuters in Harare and Bulawayo have to
contend with fares ranging from Zim $300 (US 37 cents) to Zim $1,000 (US
$1.20).

The prohibitive fares have meant that highways from residential suburbs into
downtown Harare stream with bicycles and pedestrians walking to work every
morning and home again in the evenings.

Two years ago the government reduced the import duty and sales tax on
bicycles to encourage more people to cycle to work, as passenger vehicles
were grounded owing to the chronic shortage of fuel.

It now common to see trucks and tractors with trailers transporting people
to and from town.

The government has tried to ease the problem by introducing urban train
services. The train service, dubbed "Freedom Trains", charges
government-gazetted fares and was expected to cushion commuters from
unscrupulous bus owners who overcharge. However, passengers have raised
concerns over safety and complained of overcrowding.

An economist with the Zimbabwe Economic Society told IRIN the trains were
being run at a loss by the state-owned National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ).

"The scheme will put the NRZ into more debt," the economist said.

Zimbabwe needs around US $400 million to meet its fuel needs annually. Much
of this money used to come from agriculture, especially tobacco, which until
2000 was the country's main foreign currency earner.

Prior to 2000, tobacco raised over US $500 million in foreign currency
annually. Midway into the 2003 selling season, tobacco has brought in just
slightly above US $30 million.

Newly resettled farmers are yet to raise their production to pre-2000
levels. Production on the "new farms" has also been stalled by shortages of
fuel and inputs.

The Zimbabwe Farmers Union, a body of mostly peasant and small-scale
farmers, recently made an appeal to the government to have fuel supplied to
the new farmers.

But while the majority of people have to do without transport, those who
control the hugely profitable parallel market in scarce goods and hard
currency are enjoying boom times.

A garage owner identified only as Chirasha told IRIN they sell hardly a
quarter of their allocations through the pump at the official price of Zim
$450 (US 5 cents).

"We have customers who are prepared to buy in bulk at Zim $1,500 (US $1.80)
per litre," he said.

Chirasha added that after filling only a few cars, petrol attendants tell
the remaining customers the pumps are dry. The rest of the fuel is then
piped out at night to be stored and sold at unknown destinations.

Some fuel dealers are selling fuel in foreign currency at US 75 cents a
litre. Newspapers are awash with adverts saying "bulk fuel available".

A new scam involves towing clapped-out cars to fuel stations where they are
parked until fuel is available. Once the car has been filled, it is
immediately towed to a secluded spot and drained. The fuel, bought at Zim
$450 (US 5 cents) a litre, is then resold at $1,500 (US $1.80) to desperate
motorists. The police have begun monitoring the situation and a few arrests
have been made.

Earlier this month the government introduced fuel coupons for commuter taxis
and omnibus operators. The move followed an announcement that the state is
to ban all vehicles from carrying petrol and diesel in containers, to
prevent parallel marketeering.

Energy Minister Amos Midzi said most commuter omnibuses were no longer
plying their routes. Instead, they were buying fuel at filling stations
reserved for them by government order and then re-selling it at profits of
up to 500 percent.

In June motorists were banned from carrying fuel in containers, in a move to
stamp out illegal sales.

"If, for example, someone has a funeral, or is a farmer who needs diesel, he
has to apply to the ministry to be given permission to carry the fuel to his
farm, otherwise he will be arrested," said deputy energy minister Reuben
Marumahoko.

After several cases where conmen posing as undertakers had presented fake
burial documents to buy fuel, petrol attendants on occasion have demanded to
see the body in the hearse first, before pumping.

The Herald (Harare)

June 28, 2003
Posted to the web June 30, 2003

Itai Musengeyi
Harare

ZIMBABWE and Libya yesterday signed a bilateral agreement to expand
co-operation in various fields in a development expected to see Tripoli
resume fuel supplies to Harare soon.

Foreign Affairs Minister Cde Stan Mudenge, signed on behalf of the
Government while his Libyan counterpart, Mr Abdul Mohammed Shalgem, signed
on behalf of his country at a ceremony held in central Tripoli.

This follows talks between President Mugabe and Libyan leader Colonel
Muammar Gadaffi, the two countries' ministers of foreign affairs as well as
the oil industry and banking officials.

The meetings began on Wednesday when President Mugabe and his delegation
arrived and were concluded on Thursday night.

Mr Shalgem said Libya would continue supporting Zimbabwe through bilateral
co-operation in various sectors including the oil industry.

"The first shipment of oil to Zimbabwe will be dispatched as soon as
possible," he said.

The Libyan minister added: "Now we have a basis for co-operation in all
sectors and Libya is keen to accelerate and expand co-operation in
Zimbabwe."

Cde Mudenge hailed Libya for its continuous support of Zimbabwe in the wake
of sanctions imposed on Harare by some Western countries.

He said the agreement signed yesterday reaffirmed an earlier one that the
two countries already had on fuel procurement.

"Certainly there will be fuel coming from Libya very soon," said Cde
Mude-nge.

Libya had stopped fuel supplies after Zimbabwe failed to export beef,
tobacco and sugar to the North African country due to drought.

President Mugabe and his delegation left for an official visit to Egypt soon
after the signing ceremony.

During the visit, the President will hold talks with his Egyptian
counterpart Mr Hosni Mubarak and tour a number of local factories.

The Zimbabwean Ambassador to Egypt, Mr Aaron Maboyi Ncube, and Egyptian
Prime Minister, Dr Atef Ebeid met the Zimbabwe delegation at Cairo
International Airport.

The Zimbabwe delegation includes the First Lady, Cde Grace Mugabe, Cde
Mudenge, Minister of Energy and Power Development, Cde Amos Midzi, senior
Government and Noczim officials, and the Jewel Bank chief executive officer,
Dr Gideon Gono.

Harare: Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has rejected the idea
of forming a unity government with President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF.

Mugabe's re-election last year has been contested by Tsvangirai's Movement
for Democratic Change.

"We are not going to negotiate a government of national unity with Zanu-PF,"
Tsvangirai was quoted as saying today in the independent Daily News.

"The MDC can only negotiate the issue of a transitional authority which will
work towards resolving the issue of legitimacy in a process in which the
people of Zimbabwe have a say through a free and fair election."

Tsvangirai ran against Mugabe for the presidency in March last year.
Tsvangirai ran against Mugabe for the presidency in March last year in an
election which the MDC has decried as riddled with fraud and marred by
intimidation and violence.

The MDC is contesting the result of the election - which returned Mugabe,
who has led Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, to power - in the courts.

The MDC's refusal to recognise Mugabe as Zimbabwe's legitimate leader
resulted in the breakdown of talks between it and Zanu-PF that were intended
to pull the country out of its deep political, social and economic crises.

Inflation is running at more than 300% a year, 70% of the able-bodied
population is unemployed and about half the population of 11.6-million is
facing famine due to drought and chaotic land reforms launched by Mugabe.

Tsvangirai, meanwhile, faces two charges of treason, one arising from an
alleged plot to "eliminate" Mugabe before the 2002 election and the other
brought early this month for allegedly calling for the violent removal of
the government after a week of MDC-organised protest.

Treason carries the death sentence in Zimbabwe. - Sapa-AFP

      No bluff or bluster can cover these blunders

      I believe that Zimbabweans must brace themselves for another visit by
our government’s much loved tame African-American, Coltrane Chimurenga.

      I say this because I cannot think who else the ruling party can
possibly drag out to try and undo some of the damage done in the last week
by two people: Enos Chikowore and Colin Powell.

      The harm done to Zimbabwe’s image by two such different people can
surely not even be repaired by Junior Minister of Information Jonathan Moyo.

      Speaking on ZBC television last week was our failed former minister of
transport, Chikowore. For those who have forgotten, this is the man who
watched the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe being looted and then fuddled
his way through the beginning of our fuel crisis.

      No amount of bluff, bluster or excuses could put petrol in our tanks
then and he finally stepped down when he realised that people had really had
enough of his blunders. Chikowore is now the secretary of yet another
government inquiry into just exactly what is happening on our country’s
commercial farms.

      Chikowore has been out of the public eye for a couple of years and, to
his immense benefit, he’s finally learnt to tell it almost like it is.

      Chikowore announced that of the 6 001 farms seized by the Zimbabwe
government in the last three years, only 245 have actually been “legally”
taken over according to our courts.

      He went on to say that only 137 farmers, out of 6 001, have been
compensated for the buildings and infrastructure on their properties.

      Addressing an extremely bored-looking committee, Chikowore went on to
mumble about the courts and their inefficiency and the lengthy processes
required in legalising the theft of people’s homes, equipment and life’s
work.

      No doubt the courts will now be blamed for the lack of food on our
tables in 2003. Every year there has had to be someone or something to
blame. In 2002 it was the drought, in 2001 it was the white racist
Rhodesians and in 2000 it was a long-forgotten cyclone.

      Chikowore’s figures and the findings of the Lands and Rural
Resettlement Commission are going to be impossible to cover up.

      Perhaps the next time Chikowore goes public on ZBC he should go all
the way in telling it like it is and give full reasons for this disastrous
state of affairs. He would at least save our newsreaders the embarrassment
and shame of waffling on about white Rhodesians who have hidden their title
deeds outside the country.

      Chikowore should admit that to this very day, there is complete
lawlessness on the country’s farms. He should tell the country that people
who squatted on farms in 2000 are now being evicted by war veterans and that
they in turn are being evicted by political chefs (heavyweights).

      Chikowore should admit that this entire land grab has been a shambolic
disaster from the very first day and is the only reason why his government
still cannot put petrol in our tanks or food in our shops.

      Far harder to cover up though will be the words written in a most
unusual editorial in the New York Times on 24 June by United States
Secretary of State Colin Powell.

      Speaking about the dreadful state of Zimbabwe and what he called the
“cynical” land reform programme, Powell did not blame courts or cyclones,
droughts or whites.

      He said the beneficiaries were “idle party hacks and stalwarts, not
landless peasants. As a result,” he went on, “much of Zimbabwe’s land is now
occupied by loyalists of the ruling Zanu PF party, military officers, or
their wives and friends.” Powell wrote these words barely two weeks before
US President George W Bush is to visit a number of African countries
including Nigeria, Uganda, Botswana and South Africa. The timing of these
words and his president’s travels cannot be coincidental because Powell also
wrote: “If the leaders on the continent do not do more to convince President
Mugabe to respect the rule of law and enter into a dialogue with the
political opposition, he and his cronies will drag Zimbabwe down until there
is nothing left to ruin.” There will be a large weight on the shoulders of
Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Yoweri Museveni, Festus Mogae, Thabo Mbeki and
others next week as they meet with Bush. Zimbabweans hope that this time
these African presidents will do the right thing and stop hiding behind the
colour of their skins. Powell has a black skin and could do it, so we hope
that Africa’s leaders will follow in his footsteps and say once and for all
that the crisis in Zimbabwe is about politics and governance, not land and
race. Only the likes of one African-American, Coltrane Chimurenga, can now
be called upon to try and deny the words of Colin Powell, another
African-American.

      Cathy Buckle is a housewife based in Marondera

      The right time is now, not later. Now that the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who not so long ago spent
14 days in remand prison for fresh treason charges, is out on bail, the
ruling ZANU PF and the MDC should seriously ponder on the need to kick-start
dialogue.

      Dialogue if done in good faith could probably lead to a lasting
solution to rescue the country from further sliding down the drain.

      As things stand now, it is clear that ZANU PF is bereft of ideas to
resuscitate the country from the unenviable situation it is engulfed in.

      Arguably, it is also the right time the so-called African troika
comprising Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and
Malawi’s Bakili Muluzi exert unprecedented pressure, not the lenient
approach they have been using, to force the two main parties, more
specifically ZANU PF, to come to the negotiating table for talks with no
strings attached.

      The longer they wait to resume dialogue, the more damage they will do
to the already dire situation the country is in.

      It is said a stitch in time serves nine. The two parties should come
to their senses and give dialogue a chance.

      The fact is that Zimbabwe, once the envy of the world, is now a
laughing stock. Everything, it seems, is not working out for the country.

      People cannot even gain access to their own hard-earned money, which
is unheard of

      the world over.

      Inflation, which is hovering at a record 300.1 percent, is another
disturbing factor that needs the government’s urgent attention.

      To arrest all these and other already known problems, it is incumbent
upon the ZANU PF regime to swallow its pride and accept the reality on the
ground.

      The condition which the incumbent establishment is putting forward as
a prerequisite for the resumption of inter-party dialogue is a non-starter.

      I do subscribe to the popular assertion that the issue of “legitimacy”
cannot be decided by the MDC as a party, let alone by Tsvangirai.

      Legitimacy lies in the hands of the electorate, who strongly believe
their victory was stolen during the 9-11 March 2002 presidential poll, so
there is no two ways about it.

      Also, to lay blame squarely on Tsvangirai saying that he broke off the
talks and resorted to going to the streets is a complete mockery of the
truth.

      It is a fact that Tsvangirai never gave any preconditions for talks,
but Mugabe did. “Does Tsvangirai now recognise me?” is what Mugabe said
after the African troika’s visit. Tsvangirai said he was ready for talks
forthwith.

      Mbeki has often been quoted as saying that the calamities dogging
Zimbabwe can only be solved by its own people.

      I believe that the rival parties, MDC and ZANU PF, should engage in
conclusive talks.

      If one other party does not want to talk, the other party that puts
the welfare of people at heart should pressurise the other to concede, hence
the recent successful push by the MDC.

      Dialogue, which I strongly hope is imminent, more especially with the
coming of United States President George W Bush to Africa, would bring a
democratic culture and legitimacy to Zimbabwe. It would ensure that people
are given a chance to have a say in the running of their country.

      Talks worked in the tiny southern African country of Malawi during the
height of

      the dictatorial 31-year rule of Hastings Kamuzu Banda.

      Through the talks, Banda eventually bowed down and agreed to the
referendum

      that led to the ushering in of a multi-party democracy in 1993.

      In Angola, the main rebel movement, the Union for Total Independence
in Angola, and the government agreed to talks and this led to a ceasefire.

      This of course happened after the death of Jonas Savimbi, who was seen
as a stumbling block to peace.

      Also in Burundi, rival tribes, the Hutu and Tutsi, agreed to a
three-year transitional government after talks brokered by former South
African president Nelson Mandela.

      Effectively, this led to the handing over of power from Pierre Buyoya
of the minority Tutsi, to Domitien Ndayizei, a Hutu. All this hammers the
point home that if dialogue is given space, things are bound to turn out
positively.

      The government should seriously think of releasing Tsvangirai’s
passport which

      it is withholding, to enable him travel to Malawi to meet with Muluzi,
who was tasked with the responsibility by the troika to facilitate the
talks.

      In so doing, the regime would be seen to be considering the welfare of
the people, who are struggling to make ends meet in order to live a
prosperous life. Alternatively, the onus is on Mugabe to choose who takes
over from him.

      There is the need to urgently groom whoever is poised to take over the
reins of power from Mugabe to avoid a power vacuum in what was once the
strongest but now hugely unpopular party.

      It is my belief, and indeed that of everyone, that the Mugabe regime
will wake up from its deep slumber, realise that the country is hanging by a
thread and resort to dialogue. The regime is caught between a hard rock and
place with no solution in sight. So dialogue appears to be the only workable
solution.

BULAWAYO – Several banks in Bulawayo ran out of cash this weekend while
others had to ration banknotes, leaving many residents of Zimbabwe’s second
city stranded.

People were moving from one bank to another since Friday afternoon in search
of money, with most financial institutions only allowing customers to
withdraw between

$5 000 and $30 000.

Percy Ndlovu, a municipal worker, said he had made several trips to his
bank, where the maximum withdrawal limit has only been $5 000 since last
week.

“To get $30 000, it means I have to go to the bank for six days and it means
I cannot buy anything substantial since the money is coming in bits and
pieces,” said Ndlovu.

Zimbabwe’s financial institutions have for several months been experiencing
a shortage of banknotes blamed primarily on the central bank’s inability to
print money.

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is said to have no foreign currency to import
the special ink and paper needed to print banknotes.

Long and winding queues of people carrying bags are now a common sight at
banking halls and automated telling machines.

On pay day, the queues begin to form from as early as 6 am as people try to
get their salaries from the banks.

Many people have been unable to withdraw their wages, with banks advising
them that they can only give limited amounts of cash.

Most of the cash being supplied by the banks is in $50 and $100 notes.

Most banks still have inadequate supplies of cash despite the injection of
new $500 notes on the market by the central bank last week.

New bank notes can however now be seen in circulation.

Cash shortages have been worsened by the fact that many large retail
outlets, security companies and big businesses are no longer banking their
takings, preferring to hold on to their money.

One commercial bank was last week only giving out $50 000 to companies, an
amount that the bank manager said was inadequate.

The erosion of the value of the Zimbabwe dollar by inflation is also forcing
many people to hold on to large amounts of cash, which they need for their
day-to-day transactions.

The low interest rates offered by banks are also discouraging many
Zimbabweans from depositing their money.

Black market activities, both for foreign currency and basic commodities,
have also led to people holding on to large amounts of cash.

Monday June 30, 2003 15:14 - (SA)

By Donwald Pressly

The South African Reserve Bank has granted an overdraft facility to the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe of up to 75 million rand which matures on December
31, 2003, says South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel.

Manuel said the facility dated "as far back as June 1987". Responding to a
question from Democratic Alliance deputy finance
spokesman Pierre Rabie who asked what proactive steps were being taken to
prevent the debt agreements between the SARB and the Zimbabwean government
from being broken.

"The (SA) Reserve Bank conducts all its business in accordance with best
market practices which provides for approved collateral against overdraft
facilities," noted Manuel.

"The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has lodged securities to the value of 82.5
million rand against their facility. The outstanding balance of this
facility as at June 18, 2003 was 67.7 million rand."

Interest at a rate based on the average repurchase rate of the South African
Reserve Bank for the immediate preceding month is payable on the amount
utilised.

"Over the years, the terms and conditions referred to have been met," noted
Manuel.

President George Bush will make history next week when he becomes the first
head of state not to ask for a meeting with Nelson Mandela while on a visit
to South Africa.

Officials say there is no precedent, except during large summits such as the
UN earth summit in Johannesburg last year when heads of state visited in
huge numbers. But even then, world leaders lined up to visit Mr Mandela at
his upmarket residence in Johannesburg, and others met him at official
events.

But when Mr Bush lands in South Africa next week on his first visit to
Africa, the world's most powerful leader will not meet the world's most
famous statesman. Mr Bush had not asked for a meeting with Mr Mandela, the
former president's spokeswoman said.

The two met at the White House soon after the 11 September suicide attacks,
and Mr Mandela expressed support for Mr Bush in hunting down those
responsible in Afghanistan. But they fell out when Mr Bush turned on Iraq,
and Mr Mandela dismissed the US leader as a President who "cannot think
properly" for bypassing the United Nations.

Mr Mandela also made a scathing attack on Tony Blair, labelling him the
"Foreign Affairs Minister of the United States". He has reportedly made
peace with Mr Blair after apologising in a phone discussion in which he
admitted that his vitriol might have been a bit over the top. But Mr Mandela
did not retract his firm opposition to the Iraq war.

He repeated his attack on Mr Bush when he met the French Foreign Minister,
Dominique de Villepin, in Johannesburg on Friday, and heaped praise on the
French President, Jacques Chirac, who opposed the war.

Asked whether he would voice his concerns to Mr Bush during his visit, Mr
Mandela replied: "Do not assume that he will meet with me," in what was
taken as a snub addressed to the US President. Apparently, Mr Bush will not
easily forgive a man widely regarded as the moral conscience of the world.

A US embassy spokesman said that Mr Bush's schedule had not been finalised,
but he held out little prospects of a Bush-Mandela meeting. The US
President, who will meet President Thabo Mbeki, visits Africa from 7 to 12
July for talks, including how to help the continent out of poverty so it
does not become a breeding ground for terrorists. Other items on the agenda
will cover Zimbabwe, US help for fighting Aids, removal of US farm subsidies
that helped to destroy African agriculture, and support for the economic
renewal programme, the New Partnership for African Development.