The ZIMBABWE Situation Our thoughts and prayers are with Zimbabwe
- may peace, truth and justice prevail.
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Press Release

 

July 7, 2003.

 

THIS WEEK PROVIDES A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY FOR AFRICA'S PROGRESSIVE LEADERS

 

 

The arrival of US President George Bush on his first official visit to Africa and the hosting of the second African Union summit represents a critical week for Africa in terms of its own image, development and progress.

 

This week Africa has an opportunity to make real progress on the key issues of debt relief, a level playing field in the area of international trade, tackling the HIV/AIDS pandemic and giving substance to the mechanisms and institutions for conflict resolution, such as the proposed African peacekeeping force and the establishment of the AU's Peace and Security Council. 

 

With the world's attention focused on Africa this week, we have an opportunity to challenge the perception that Africa is a continent stuck in a vicious cycle of perpetual violence, bad governance, instability and endemic corruption.

 

Mr. Bush will see with his own eyes the progress that is being made. He will see in Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Nigeria and Uganda, fledgling democracies whose governments are committed to entrenching democratic values that act as a catalyst for sustainable development. These countries, in addition to Mozambique, Malawi, Ghana and Kenya, send a strong message to the world that Africa is not a hopeless case. It is a continent that is making significant progress and, through the creation of the AU and its adoption of NEPAD, we, as Africans, are putting in place a framework through which the dream of African renaissance can be achieved.

 

In his speech last year, marking the formal launch of the AU President Mbeki said: "In the spirit of the Constitutive Act of Union we must work for a continent characterised by democratic principles and institutions which guarantee popular participation and provide for good governance."

 

For President Mbeki's dream to come true, he and other progressive African leaders need to adopt a robust stand against tyranny and commit themselves to constructively resolving crisis of governance beyond their own borders, and that includes Zimbabwe. If they ignore the crisis of governance in Zimbabwe they will be betraying the noble democratic principles that have defined them as politicians and statesmen. 

 

The latest developments in Zimbabwe are ominous and threaten the burgeoning hope promised by NEPAD. In Zimbabwe people face the following:

 

·        All peaceful marches and strikes have been banned.

·        Newspaper editors and executives are being arrested and charged under the infamous Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).

·        80% of the population lives below the poverty datum line.

·        Over 7million Zimbabweans face starvation and will require food aid.

·        One in every three Zimbabweans has an HIV/Aids virus and the government has no budgetary capacity to response positively to this scourge.

·        With inflation over 300%, Zimbabweans go to bed hungry, as they cannot afford basic food items which are becoming increasingly unavailable.

 

To compound the problems that Zimbabweans face, the government is in a state of paralysis denying the existence of these problems and blaming all difficulties on everyone else but itself. This attitude makes it difficult for the government to realise that principled dialogue with the MDC is the only way out of this crisis.

 

This week therefore marks a window of opportunity for Africa's progressive leaders. All of them will be attending the AU summit, whilst a significant proportion will have bi-lateral meetings with President Bush. Such occasions provide compelling opportunities to demonstrate solidarity with the suffering people of Zimbabwe by condemning the brutality of the Mugabe regime and bringing pressure to bear on the regime to discharge its basic duties of ending all state sponsored violence and rescinding draconian legislation that violates basic civil liberties. 

 

The regime must be told in unequivocal terms that discharging its basic duties is critical if political dialogue is to take place. Only through meaningful political dialogue can the crisis of governance be peacefully resolved in Zimbabwe. The dialogue process will ensure that a political environment is created conducive to the holding of free and fair elections.

 

 

 

 

Paul Themba Nyathi

MDC Secretary for Information and Publicity.

 

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From The Times (UK), 7 July


Mugabe’s tirade masks fear of US


From Jan Raath in Harare


President Bush's whistlestop tour does not include Zimbabwe, but he casts a
long shadow over the regime of President Mugabe in Harare. At the weekend Mr
Mugabe launched a tirade against Mr Bush when he addressed rural supporters
at a rally. If Mr Bush had come to "dictate", Mr Mugabe said, "then we will
say, ‘go back home, Yankee’." He also urged Mr Bush and Tony Blair to turn
themselves in to the International Court of Justice to be tried for
"genocide" in Iraq. Despite the rhetoric, diplomatic sources said there had
been a sudden revival of "communications" from South Africa to the Zimbabwe
Government before Mr Bush’s arrival in Pretoria on Wednesday. "There are
meetings going on, to get Mugabe to sit down with the (opposition) MDC," one
diplomat said. "Things are happening again." In May Mr Mugabe sank the last
initiative from President Mbeki of South Africa and President Obasanjo of
Nigeria when he refused to talk to the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change until it had dropped its court challenge to the 79-year-old despot’s
victory in last year’s rigged presidential elections.


Zimbabwe’s pro-government Sunday Mail yesterday called Mr Bush "the Texan
gunslinger" with "no brains" who had come to bribe African leaders so that
he could "spread his stinking imperialist wings". There are strong parallels
between Mr Bush’s visit and Henry Kissinger’s diplomatic triumph in Pretoria
in 1976 when he got John Vorster, the South African President, to turn the
screws on Ian Smith in Rhodesia until he agreed to black majority rule. The
vituperation from Harare masks real fear that the Bush entourage will
persuade Mr Mbeki to abandon his "quiet diplomacy" approach toward Zimbabwe,
a policy which, observers say, has given Mr Mugabe licence to continue his
abuses. The Bush Administration has made clear repeatedly in recent weeks
that resolution of the crisis in Zimbabwe is among its priorities. Last week
Mr Bush said that he would "insist" on new elections and the restoration of
democracy. Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, said there would be
"substantial discussions" with Pretoria to take "a stronger and more
sustained role" with Mr Mugabe.

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MSNBC

Zimbabwe police briefly detain Harare mayor


HARARE, July 7 — Zimbabwe police detained Harare's opposition mayor when he
turned up for work on Monday despite being suspended by President Robert
Mugabe's government, his party said. He was released without charge.
       The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said police confronted Mayor
Elias Mudzuri, who is fighting government charges of corruption, when he
showed up at his offices in central Harare. They told him he was barred from
the premises.
       ''The mayor argued that the police had no grounds for blocking him
from conducting his duties...they arrested him and took him to Harare
Central Police Station,'' the party said.
       The government suspended Mudzuri -- elected last year as the first
opposition mayor of Zimbabwe's capital since Mugabe came to power in 1980 --
in April and said it was investigating him for alleged inefficiency,
mismanagement and corruption.
       Mudzuri challenged the suspension order in court and the government
filed a counter-challenge. The matter has yet to go before a judge.
       Mudzuri's lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa said police released him without
charge on Monday but warned him against returning to his offices.
       ''It is harassment. The police are aware that their actions are
illegal as there is no court order for the mayor's suspension. The mayor is
going to carry out his duties,'' Mtetwa told Reuters.
       Police were not immediately available for comment.
       Mudzuri has over the past year accused the government of undermining
his authority by failing approve vital loans for municipal services and
through ruling ZANU-PF party officials occupying senior positions in the
city council.
       Earlier this year, police arrested and detained Mudzuri for two
nights after he allegedly addressed a political meeting without police
permission.
       The MDC says Mugabe has mismanaged the country since assuming power
23 years ago, leading to critical shortages of foreign currency, fuel and
food, and one of the world's highest rates of inflation.
       Mugabe insists the economy has been sabotaged by local and
international opponents in retaliation for his seizure of white-owned farms
for redistribution to landless blacks.
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Reuters

Africans Press U.S. on Liberia, Side-Step Zimbabwe
Mon July 7, 2003 09:49 AM ET
By Manoah Esipisu
MAPUTO (Reuters) - African ministers piled pressure on the United States on
Monday to deploy troops in lawless Liberia but side-stepped the thorny
question of economic decay and political unrest in Zimbabwe.

Ministers preparing an agenda for the second summit of the 53-member African
Union said they wanted President Bush -- who jets to Africa on Monday -- to
show tangible commitment by sending soldiers to restore order in the West
African country founded by freed black slaves from America.

"The ministers have been very passionate about the need for the U.S. to send
troops to Liberia. The U.S. has a shared history with Liberia and it would
show that Bush is actually committed to something on the continent," said an
east African diplomat attending the Maputo talks.

The United States has dispatched a military team to Liberia, but says
President Charles Taylor must leave the country to enhance peace moves.
Nigeria has offered him political asylum but Taylor has demanded an orderly
exit, demanding a force be deployed first.

"The important thing is that this partnership must be in line with the
aspirations of Africans themselves. But we are all working on creating peace
and this is an important step," said Leonardo Simao, Mozambican foreign
minister and chairman of the ministerial council made up of African Union
foreign ministers.

African heads of state converge on the Mozambican capital on Thursday for a
three-day summit designed to strengthen regional integration and tackle the
continent's many problems.

But Zimbabwe, whose economic and social breakdown have cast a dark shadow
over the region, was not on the agenda.

"As you can see from the agenda Zimbabwe is not on it. It is not a subject
that will consume our time," Simao told reporters.

ZIMBABWE TOO DIVISIVE

Diplomats said the issue of Zimbabwe was too divisive.

"Zimbabwe has its supporters within the AU. A resolution that condemns it
would be difficult to achieve by consensus," the East African diplomat said.
"But a number of countries, like Mauritius, would like Zimbabwe to be told
to fix its problems."

Heads of state must decide whether to make permanent Ivory Coast diplomat
Amara Essy's interim chairmanship of the Commission of the African Union
(secretariat). Mali's former president Alpha Omar Konare is his main
challenger, but ex-Sao Tome and Principe leader Miguel Trovoada is a dark
horse.

Host Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano is pulling out all the stops to
ensure the AU's most powerful and colorful figures come to Maputo, which has
been spruced up for the event.

Officials said Chissano telephoned Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on Sunday
to secure his confirmation while South Africa's Thabo Mbeki, Nigeria's
Olusegun Obasanjo and new Kenyan leader Mwai Kibaki will also attend.

The Central African Republic has not been invited because of AU rules that
prohibit leaders who came to power via coups.

But Madagascar, excluded from the AU's launch in South Africa last year over
President Marc Ravalomanana's violent accession to power, will make a
dramatic comeback -- even being named host of next year's meeting.

The AU -- at least on paper -- promotes democracy and good governance on the
impoverished continent.
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Daily News

     ‘$60 billion needed monthly to maintain cash availability’

        THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) should be issuing bank notes at
the rate of $60 billion a month to maintain the availability of cash in the
country’s banking sector, according to the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)’s economic affairs committee.

      Zimbabwe is experiencing severe cash shortages because of escalating
inflation and foreign currency shortages that banking sources say have
hampered attempts to import the special paper and ink needed to print bank
notes.

      The shortages have resulted in a black market for cash, where
cash-rich individuals and businesses are selling money at a premium.

      In its economic review for June, the committee said: “With about $200
billion in circulation as cash, the Reserve Bank should be issuing cash
notes at the rate of $60 billion a month to maintain the availability of
cash in the system.

      “By ignoring the very rapid rate of inflation (the Ministry of Finance
still thinks the rate will be down to 96 percent by the year-end despite the
evidence to the contrary) and not bringing out new bank notes with a higher
face value, the Reserve Bank is trying to meet demand by printing $50 and
$100 notes.”

      The committee, which comprises Tapiwa Mashakada, Tendai Biti and Eddie
Cross, said the RBZ should move quickly to print $20 000 bank notes to
acknowledge the high rate of inflation.

      The country’s year-on-year inflation rose 300.1 percent in May, from
269.8 percent the month before. Analysts expect inflation to end the year at
more than 500 percent, although the Ministry of Finance is looking to reduce
it to 96 percent by year-end.

      “It is now urgent that the government acknowledges the high rates of
inflation and that bank notes with a much higher denomination are issued,”
the MDC’s economic committee said. “We need $1 000, $2 000, $5 000

      and $10 000 notes immediately, with a $20 000 bank note to follow
before the end of the year.

      “It is also time that coins were withdrawn from circulation. There is
no point in issuing coins in an environment where a $10 note is worth the
equivalent of two cents in South Africa.”


      Business Reporter


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Daily News

      Ostrich output halved

        BULAWAYO – Output and membership of the country’s ostrich producing
industry has fallen by at least half in the past year because of instability
in Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector and severe operational problems in the
industry, The Business Daily has established.

      Industry officials said the number of ostrich producers had fallen
drastically in the past two years.

      Ostrich Producers’ Association (OPA) chief executive Clare Davies told
The Business Daily that the country’s previously lucrative ostrich producing
industry was struggling to keep afloat because of several problems affecting
producers.

      She said Zimbabwe’s worst economic crisis in 23 years had “to a large
extent affected” a robust and thriving industry capable of earning the
country hard cash.

      “When the government-sponsored land acquisition started, we as
producers were anticipating doubled production after each and every coming
year,” Davies said.

      But she said the industry had shrunk since the land reform programme,
which began in 2000 and under which the government has taken over most
white-owned land.

      Local farmers have also been hard hit by serious input shortages and
escalating production costs that are being pushed up by inflation.

      Input shortages have also forced farmers to import some inputs, also
pushing up their costs.

      Davies said: “As of now, I would say the industry is getting less
viable because of the high costs of input requirements.”

      The association has a membership of 26 producers, down from 65 last
year.

      The OPA chief executive added: “I don’t want to sound a bit
despondent, but the fact is that there is no suitable poultry feed for the
ostriches in the country.

      “What is now happening is that many producers are importing feed and
some inputs, a process which needs a lot of foreign currency, which is
currently not available in the country.”

      OPA members, who last year exported 1 000 birds to Botswana, import
some of their inputs from America and Italy.

      Meanwhile COPRO, an organisation that undertakes marketing on behalf
of ostrich producers, said its membership slumped by more than 50 percent in
the past year and also cited stockfeed shortages as one of the problems
affecting its members.

      Until March last year, the organisation represented more than 100
ostrich producers around the country, on whose behalf it marketed ostrich
meat, skins and other products outside Zimbabwe.

      “Disruptions in the commercial farming industry have had a negative
impact on the sector and this has resulted in production dropping by half,”
said COPRO managing director Paul Elliot.

      “Our membership has also decreased rapidly and we are now representing
eight producers.”

      Royal Ostrindo, a major ostrich producer, last year incurred losses to
the tune of $15 million because of disruptions in organised agriculture.

      The company, which at its peak produced 50 000 ostrich eggs and ran 2
300 breeders, is a joint venture between a Malaysian investor and local
businesspeople.


      Own Correspondent

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CNN

Following familiar footsteps
By MICHAEL ELLIOTT
Monday, July 7, 2003 Posted: 2:50 PM EDT (1850 GMT)


Nation building? Peacekeeping? Bush is starting to look a lot like Clinton

Where's Madeleine Albright when we need her? As the Bush Administration
inches deeper into nation building in Iraq and closer to peacekeeping in
Liberia, it would be nice to have an official around who actually believed
that building nations and keeping the peace were worthy goals of U.S.
foreign policy.

Albright did. During her time as President Bill Clinton's ambassador to the
U.N. and then as Secretary of State, she argued that the U.S. was the
world's "indispensable nation," its muscle essential to solving humanitarian
crises and eradicating their causes, wherever they arose.

For their promiscuous deployment of American force in Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia
and Kosovo, she and her boss were much derided. Republicans thought the
Clinton Administration frittered away American power in places that weren't
worth it, ignoring matters of vital U.S. national interest in favor of a
feel-good, bleeding-heart preoccupation with the suffering of those
unfortunate to live in places of no consequence.

In a biting criticism, Michael Mandelbaum of Johns Hopkins University in a
1996 article in Foreign Affairs dubbed the Clintonian strategy "foreign
policy as social work." Such an approach, Mandelbaum argued, was bound to be
both prohibitively expensive and unlikely to sustain the support of the
American public.

I called Mandelbaum last week and asked him whether he thought social work
was now in style. "Indeed," he said, and so it is. In Iraq today, U.S.
soldiers are building soccer fields and standing guard over girls' schools.

This is being done in the name of an Administration whose members openly
despised Clinton's habit of using the armed forces for missions short of
war. ("We don't need to have the 82nd Airborne escorting kids to
kindergarten," said Condoleezza Rice, now National Security Adviser, to the
New York Times in 2000.) As for Liberia, all the key phrases last week—the
need for clearly defined missions and exit strategies, the desperate attempt
to swear that, honest, only a couple of hundred American soldiers would ever
go to West Africa—were so reminiscent of the mid-1990s that at any minute I
expected someone to do the Macarena.

A U.S. intervention in Liberia, let us be clear, would be for purely
humanitarian, Albrightish motives. Notwithstanding the role the U.S. played
in establishing the country, if you think what happens in Liberia is of the
slightest importance to American interests, conventionally defined, you've
spent too long away with the fairies.

There's more. The Administration justified the war in Iraq principally by
alleging that Saddam Hussein's regime had—or would soon have—weapons of mass
destruction that could be used against the U.S. That was a pure
national-interest case, for there's nothing so threatening to a nation than
weapons that might incinerate millions of its people.

The trouble is, we have not found any such weapons, which has led some
Administration supporters to shift their ground. Whether or not Saddam had
nukes, they argue, his rule was so vile that getting rid of it was a service
to mankind. That is true. But if the test for deploying American power to
remove a regime is not the danger it poses to the U.S. but its wickedness,
why stop at Iraq? As Mandelbaum wrote seven years ago, "The world is a big
place filled with distressed people." Why not ease the suffering of those
in, say, Burma or Zimbabwe?

Maybe that's an unfair question, for nobody expects a nation's foreign
policy to be neatly consistent. But the fact that it can be asked at all
illustrates the dangers that await any Administration that strays from the
national interest as the lodestar of its policy.

The point, as Mandelbaum says, is "not that social work is a bad thing." On
the contrary, it can be positively noble in intent and execution. Are we
really to say that it was a mistake for the U.S. to intervene in Bosnia and
Kosovo (where there was about as much of a direct threat to American
interests as there is in Liberia) when, absent such intervention, the wars
of the Yugoslav succession could be raging still? But any Administration
that treads on this turf needs to make—and remake—its case.

There is nothing wrong with trying to make the world a better place,
ameliorate suffering or overthrow tyranny. But if you are going to spend
American blood and treasure to do all that in places that do not appear to
pose a direct threat to the U.S., you had better be prepared to explain what
you are doing and why.

Successive Administrations during the Vietnam War were unable to do that.
So, for the most part, were Albright and Clinton. Unless George W. Bush is
extremely lucky over the next 15 months, his political future will depend on
whether he can.

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SABC

            Mbeki absent from key SADC summit on Aids
            July 07, 2003, 18:30


            The Democratic Alliance (DA) has criticised President Thabo
Mbeki for failing to attend a Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Aids summit held in Lesotho on Friday.

            Mike Waters, the DA's HIV/Aids spokesperson, said the summit was
meant to show SADC leaders being at the forefront of the Aids fight. Mbeki
was one of ten SADC leaders who did not attend the meeting.

            Jose Eduardo dos Santos, the Angolan president, Festus Mogae,
the Batswana president and Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe were the only
heads of state to attend the meeting.

            Jacob Zuma, the Deputy President, represented Mbeki - who had
returned from a state visit to Jamaica on Thursday afternoon - at the
meeting.

            Bheki Khumalo, the president's spokesperson, declined to give a
reason for the president's non-attendance. "I am not going to explain why
the president did not attend. The deputy president was there," he said.

            Waters criticised Mbeki for behaving as though the HIV/Aids
crisis did not exist. "South Africa cannot afford the price of a president
who does not care. South Africa needs a president whose actions show that he
is committed to stopping the slaughter brought about by the HI-virus," he
said.

            Waters added that the SADC countries had some of the highest
prevalence rates of the HI-virus, and South Africa the highest number of
HIV/Aids cases in the world about 4,7 million.

            "That only four heads of state saw fit to attend this crucial
summit is a sad reflection of SADC leaders' inadequate commitment to the
fight against Aids," he said.

            The Maseru Declaration on HIV/Aids in the SADC region released
on Friday said the regional body planned to implement priority areas in its
fight against the pandemic.

            The declaration also identified a number of priority areas which
included access to care, testing and treatment, prevention and scourge. -
Sapa

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ZANA - Zambia Press Agency

African countries called upon to individually get involved in conflict
resolution on the continent.
By YVETTE TEMBO From Maputo, Mozambique

Maputo, JULY 7,2003- The African Union (AU) has called on African countries
to be individually involved in avoiding conflicts if the continent is to
forge ahead in its efforts aimed at sustainable development.

Mozambican Ambassador to the AU Manuel Lubisse said today that only when
individual African countries take this step, would the continent's two year
old mother body be able to implement programmes aimed at minimising
incidences of civil strife and conflict.

Mozambique officially takes over as the second chair of the AU, at the
African Union Heads of States summit scheduled for this week.

And President Joaquim Chissano will take over from South Africa's Thabo
Mbeki who has been the AU's first Chair, since its inauguration in Durban in
July last year.

Ambassador Lubisse said at a press briefing held at the Joaquim Chissano
International Conference centre that there is hope that Africa can become
peaceful again.

He said developments in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a
transitional government was recently announced show that Africa must not
lose the hope of attaining sustainable peace.

He told members of the press drawn from different African countries that if
Africa was able to fight colonialism, it would equally overcome the civil
wars and conflicts.

He noted that colonialism was a more complicated force, adding that Africa
could therefore attain peace because the causes of the conflicts were well
known.

The Ambassador said that the political will to overcome the problems the
continent faces was there as could be seen through the establishment of
groupings such as the New Economic Partnership for Africas Development
(NEPAD) and the African Union.

And Mr. Lubisse has said that the issue of Zimbabwe is not on the agenda of
the summit.

Zimbabwe has been the centre of most gatherings of African Heads of States,
because of the political and economic situation in the Southern African
country.

Developed countries particularly the United States of America and Britain
have often called on African countries to put more pressure on Zimbabwe's
Robert Mugabe who they accuse of running a government that does not protect
its citizens' rights.

And Mr. Lubisse has confirmed that incumbent AU Secretary General Amara Essy
would recontest his current position.

Mr. Essy was elected as Secretary General of the then Organisation of
African Unity (OAU) at the Heads of States summit that was held in Lusaka in
2001.

During the Maputo Heads of States summit, which kicks off on Wednesday, the
AU is also expected to elect a commission which is expected to be the
central organ of the African Union.

ENDS.
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Bloomberg

Bush's Africa Trip May Address Conflict, AIDS, Growth
July 7 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President George W. Bush leaves for his first
presidential visit to Africa under pressure to help end a war in Liberia and
deliver the $15 billion he's promised to combat AIDS and spur economic
growth on the continent.

Bush wants to encourage development in a region the U.S projects will
provide 20 percent of U.S. oil imports by 2005. To help Africa reach its
potential, the president must work to curtail the lawlessness and poverty
that cause states to fail and become terrorist havens, administration
officials said.

``You can't build an HIV/AIDS clinic, you can't protect the landscape, you
can't encourage African entrepreneurs if there's a shooting war going on,''
said Walter Kansteiner, assistant secretary of state for African affairs.

The trip, which starts tonight, was originally planned for January but
postponed because of the Iraq war. Bush says the countries he'll
visit --Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda and Nigeria -- are emerging
democracies and allies in the war against terror.

``America cares about the future of Africa,'' Bush said Thursday. ``It's in
our national interests that Africa become a prosperous place. It's in our
interest that people will continue to fight terror together. It's in our
interest that when we find suffering, we deal with it.''

Bush's visit will raise Africa's profile on a world stage dominated by
postwar Iraq war, U.S. warnings to Iran and North Korea and the continuing
conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Liberia's War

``The president announced a major initiative and is following up with a
visit,'' said Daniel Ngwepe, director of political affairs for the South
African Embassy in Washington. ``We want to be able to say that something
comes out of it.''

Africa, with 13 percent of the world's population, accounts for 1 percent of
global trade and 1 percent of foreign direct investment. The U.S. share of
African markets is 7.9 percent.

A four-year civil war in Liberia, a country not on the Bush itinerary, also
is making the world pay more attention to Africa. Bush last week demanded
that Liberian President Charles Taylor step down as a prerequisite for
sending U.S. peacekeeping troops to the western African nation, which was
settled by freed slaves from the U.S. in the 19th Century.

Taylor, who faces a war crimes indictment from an international tribunal,
yesterday agreed to accept an offer of asylum from Nigerian President
Olusegun Obasanjo. `I did understand President Bush, that things must be
done quickly, because there's a window of opportunity,'' Taylor said
yesterday in a news conference broadcast from the Liberian capital,
Monrovia, by Cable News Network.

AIDS Initiative

Bush yesterday dispatched a military assessment team to Liberia to help him
decide whether to commit U.S. troops to the country. Bush hasn't imposed a
timetable on the team, and he won't make a decision until they report back,
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said today.

``He will allow them the time that they think is necessary to do it right,''
Fleischer said. ``If action is taken, stability and security will be
forefront in the president's mind.''

Between visits to a former slave house in Senegal and a game reserve in
Botswana, Bush will meet about a dozen African leaders.

He'll confront demands to end U.S. farm subsidies that are hurting African
exports, cancel debt, expand a trade agreement between the U.S. and the
continent slated to expire in 2008 and to play a more direct role in ending
conflicts in Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as
Liberia.

`Locking' In

At each stop, Bush will tout his $10 billion increase in funds to prevent
and treat HIV and AIDS, and at least $5 billion for economic development in
countries that fight corruption and embrace democracy. The new AIDS funding
would represent an almost 70 percent increase over current U.S. foreign aid
for Africa.

``When a president goes to a region as a visitor and makes public
declarations and commitments that reinforces what he has already said, he's
locking himself in,'' said Chester Crocker, a Georgetown University
professor and a former assistant secretary of state for African affairs.
``That doesn't happen lightly.''

Bush has requested $2 billion for the first phase of his AIDS initiative in
the budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. House and Senate
appropriations committees will determine funding for the AIDS program when
they write two bills this month.

Africa also will receive money from the $10 billion Bush has allotted to his
Millennium Challenge Accounts, which reward countries for fighting
corruption, opening markets and moving toward democracy.

Powell's Pledge

Secretary of State Colin Powell, who's in charge of administering the funds,
has said at least half the money should go to Africa.

``That's the promise that we, as Africa advocates, would like to hold the
administration to,'' said Jamie Drummond, executive director of Debt, AIDS,
Trade in Africa, or DATA, a humanitarian group founded by the singer Bono.

Senegal, western Africa's most stable democracy, may receive hundreds of
millions of dollars from the first $1.3 billion in grants if Congress
approves the president's plan, according to DATA.

Still, critics say the structure of Bush's program will limit aid, because
fewer than a half-dozen African countries can make enough reforms this year
to qualify before they have to compete with more developed nations in 2004
and 2005.

Business Climate

African leaders have taken steps to improve the business investment climate
in the five years since the last visit by a U.S. president, Bill Clinton,
said James Harmon, former chairman of the Export-Import Bank who now heads
Harmon & Co. in New York.

``No longer does the West have an excuse to lecture the continent about
transparency, about the rule of law, about the essential building blocks of
strong, sustainable economies,'' said Harmon. ``African leaders themselves
are embracing these principles.''

U.S. imports from sub-Sahara Africa grew 10 percent to $9 billion between
2001 and 2002 for products covered under a trade agreement that waived
tariffs on more than 6,500 goods including textiles. Clinton signed the law
in 2000.

In Senegal, Bush will have audiences on both sides of the Atlantic in mind
when he speaks at a former slave house on Goree Island.

``Slavery was America's birth defect, and we've been trying to deal with its
consequences ever since,'' National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said
in a briefing on the president's trip on Thursday. She indicated Bush will
stop short of issuing apologies. ``There is plenty of blame to go around
about slavery,'' she said.

In South Africa, Bush will meet with President Thabo Mbeki, who caused an
international uproar when he claimed in 2001 that HIV doesn't cause AIDS,
which has killed 25 million people worldwide and infected 42 million others.

He also has resisted efforts to supply drugs to 5 million of his citizens
that have the disease even as the cost of treating AIDS has fallen by 90
percent as a result of price cutting by drug companies such as
GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., and Merck & Co., South Africa's
main AIDS drug suppliers.

Bush probably will find more gratitude in Botswana, a democracy with the
highest AIDS infection rate in the world that has worked with the Bill Gates
Foundation and Merck to become the first country in Africa to offer its
citizens free AIDS drugs.

Bush will also laud Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni for reducing his
nation's HIV/AIDS infection rates by 40 percent.

Last Updated: July 7, 2003 11:03 EDT
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The White House

Interview of the President by Simon Marks, South African Broadcasting
Corporation
The Map Room

July 3, 2003

1:17 P.M. EDT

Q Mr. President, thank you very much, indeed, for talking to us here today.
Let me start by seeing if we can perhaps make a little bit of news.

Liberia, many West African leaders have asked you to send U.S. peacekeeping
troops to join a multinational stabilization force in Liberia. Are you going
to? If so, how many and for how long?

THE PRESIDENT: We're in the process of determining the course of action
necessary to see that peace and stability reign in Liberia. And some of our
military people are meeting with ECOWAS leaders today. And I haven't made a
decision yet.

Q Are you closing in on a decision?

THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Every day that goes by is closer to a decision. But I
need -- before I make decisions, I like to have facts, and I'm gathering the
facts necessary to determine what is necessary, who's willing to
participate.

The one thing that must happen is Charles Taylor has got to leave. A
condition for any kind of operation that stabilizes the country is for Mr.
Taylor to leave the country, and hopefully we can achieve that objective
diplomatically. Colin Powell is working closely with Kofi Annan and others
at the United Nations to prepare the groundwork, if possible, for Mr.
Taylor's departure.

Q Let me switch countries, if I may, and ask you about Zimbabwe. A short
while ago your Secretary of State, Colin Powell, wrote in The New York Times
that "South Africa can and should play a stronger and more sustained role in
resolving matters in Zimbabwe." Specifically, what would you like to see
President Thabo Mbeki do in Zimbabwe, that he's not already doing?

THE PRESIDENT: Insist that there be elections. Insist that democracy rule.
Insist that the conditions necessary for that country to become prosperous
again are in place.

I agree with the Secretary of State. I certainly don't want to put any
pressure on my friend, but Zimbabwe has not been a good case study for
democracy in a very important part of the world. And we hope that, not only
Mr. Mbeki, but other leaders convince the current leadership to promote
democracy.

Q Do you think quiet diplomacy can work?

THE PRESIDENT: I hope any kind of diplomacy can work. So far, diplomacy
hasn't worked, that's part of the problem. You know, it's an interesting
question. I guess writing an article may not be viewed as quiet diplomacy,
since it was quite public. But I also have spoken out on Zimbabwe -- it's a
bad example.

Let me give you one reason why. There's a lot of starving people in
sub-Sahara Africa, yet, Zimbabwe used to be able to grow more than it needed
to help deal with the starvation. We're a nation that is interested in
helping people that are starving. We're going to spend a billion dollars
this year on programs to help the hungry. It would be really helpful if
Zimbabwe's economy was such that they would become a breadbasket again, a
capacity to grow more food that's needed so that we could help -- they could
help deal with the hunger.

And, yet, the country is in such that, you know, in such a condition that
the agricultural sector of its economy is in shambles right now.

Q On HIV, you surprised many in Washington by the vigor with which you've
embraced the battle to combat HIV/AIDS. Some say you could do even more by
more enthusiastically embracing debt relief for Africa. You favor it
enthusiastically for Iraq; why not more enthusiastically for Africa?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, let me start with the HIV program. I mean, enthusiasm
is to the tune of $15 billion -- that's pretty darn enthusiastic -- to deal
with the pandemic. And I also have agreed to increase the direct
developmental aid grants from the United States by 50 percent.

However, we expect countries -- whether they be in Africa or anywhere
else -- that are applying for this money to embrace the habits of a free
country, like transparency, anti-corruption, making sure the people are
educated and receive health care. So we're doing a lot in America.

There is a program in place for debt relief. And I would like to see that
program implemented in full. I also called for the World Bank to give more
grants rather than loans. And so our program across the board is
compassionate, in my judgment, because we care about Africa and we care
about the people of Africa.

Q And as you head to Africa, you are obviously aware that there are a large
number of people on the continent who disagree with many of your policies,
particularly your decision to move into Iraq -- some of them very prominent
personalities.

When a statesman like former South African President Nelson Mandela says the
very personal things about you that he has said in the past and continues to
say even this week, that's got to hurt.

THE PRESIDENT: No. I did the right thing. My job is to make sure America is
secure. And if some don't like the tactics, that's the nature of a free
world, where people can express their opinion.

I admire Nelson Mandela. As a matter of fact, my administration was the one
that gave him the Medal of Freedom because of his courage and bravery. I
just happen to disagree with him on his view of how best to secure America.

But you can be rest assured that if I think America is threatened, I will
act. And, you know, I understand criticism. I mean, look, but I'm not the
kind of person that runs around trying to take a poll to determine what to
do. If I believe it's necessary for my country, I will act.

I also believe it's necessary when we see people enslaved, to work on behalf
of their freedom. Because this country believes that freedom is the desire
of every human heart. And one of the great benefits of our action in Iraq is
not only going to make America more secure, but it's going to make the Iraqi
people more free. And, you know, these mass graves we're finding is just the
tip of the iceberg about what these poor people had to suffer at the hands
of Saddam Hussein. And it's that kind of suffering that troubles me. And I
believe the use of -- proper use of power by America will make the world
more peaceful, America more secure and, as importantly, people more free.

Q Mr. President, bon voyage.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, sir.

Q Thank you very much.

END

1:23 P.M. EDT
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News24

AU Mbeki's 'baby'
07/07/2003 13:00  - (SA)


Maputo - Thabo Mbeki, retiring chairperson of the African Union (AU),
steered the body through the growing pains of its first year, making a small
but significant difference on the conflict-torn continent, analysts say.

The AU was established in the South African east coast city of Durban in
July 2002 to succeed the Organisation of African Unity, which lacked the
clout to intervene in political crises.

It ambitiously envisages a peace and security council to tackle conflicts, a
pan-African parliament, a common court of justice and - in the long term -
an African currency.

The institution's pet project is an economic and social upliftment plan,
dubbed the New Partnership for Africa's Development, which promises good
governance in exchange for more aid from the rich world.

The body had teething problems in its first year of existence - none of its
organs have got off the ground yet - but analysts believe the South African
president should not be judged too harshly.

"You have to view the mistakes of the past year with compassion. It was
growing pains. Mbeki chaired an organisation which was in its nappies and is
now moving from infancy into its teens," said Herman Hanekom, current
affairs consultant at the Africa Institute, an independent research
organisation.

Mbeki, 61, who hands over chairmanship to Mozambique at the second AU summit
this week, in Maputo, oversaw peace talks on the war-wracked Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) and Burundi.

His efforts to bring stability to the mineral-rich central African region
have been praised by some and criticised by others.

"This has been a disappointing year...Everyone is talking about the
successes of the peace process but in the meantime the fighting continues as
if there is nothing," Hanekom said.

South Africa facilitated a historic peace deal in the DRC which ushered in a
transitional government on June 30, but continued fighting in the northeast
of the huge country has put a damper on developments.

"Mbeki definitely played a large role in moving the DRC out of the storm
waters, but it is still on thin ice. That is a step in the right direction
but also the only success the AU can claim," Hanekom said.

Mbeki has urged African leaders to ratify the protocol for the AU's peace
and security council, and the Maputo summit will discuss conflicts in 11
countries.

Jakkie Cilliers, executive director of the Pretoria-based Institute for
Security Studies, said Mbeki's efforts should not be downplayed.

"No other country has put in this amount of resources and commitment into
bringing peace to the continent. By African standards, this is quite
remarkable," Cilliers said.

"Its commitment was demonstrated by the deployment of peace-keeping troops
in the DRC and Burundi."

Mbeki's passion about upliftment comes at the risk of offending the rest of
the continent, where South Africans are sometimes bitingly described as the
"Yanks" of Africa.

"South Africa can't avoid that, although small in terms of the world, we are
big and powerful. We will suffer from giantism, especially in our own back
yard," Cilliers said.

Some believe this is why Mbeki refuses to openly condemn Robert Mugabe,
president of crisis-ridden Zimbabwe - his policy of "quiet diplomacy"
towards Zimbabwe, and the AU's lack of action, have evoked fierce criticism.

But Mbeki managed to keep Africa on the developed world's map in a year when
the war on Iraq could have pushed it off the agenda.

Simultaneously, he told his African counterparts it was crucial to show the
world's richest nations that Africans meant business.

"They say we are not serious. That Africa talks a lot of palaver. That we
take a lot of good decisions, but do we have the political will to implement
them?"

"We must accept that a lot of the world is sceptical about us," Mbeki said.

Cilliers said Mbeki will without a doubt carry on working for his African
renaissance after handing over the AU chairmanship.

"Mbeki will find other avenues to continue with his ambitions. I think that
has become very evident in the last year."
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News24

Tsvangirai: Hearing postponed
07/07/2003 13:00  - (SA)


Harare - An application by Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and
two senior party officials to have treason charges against them dropped has
been postponed to next week, a newspaper reported on Monday.

The government-run Herald reported state lawyer Joseph Musakwa as saying the
court would not be sitting on Monday as scheduled as they were still
preparing their response to the defence's application.

Last month, the state closed its case against Tsvangirai and two senior
officials charged with plotting to "eliminate" President Robert Mugabe ahead
of the 2002 presidential poll, which Mugabe won.

The three deny the charges, which carry a death sentence on conviction.

At the close of the state's case, Tsvangirai's lawyers announced they would
make an application for the court to drop the charges against the MDC trio
because it said the state had not proved a case against them.

The trial started in February and has continued almost uninterrupted since.

The evidence against Tsvangirai hinges on an unclear and partly inaudible
video tape made in late 2001, in which he allegedly asks for the help of
Canadian-based political consultant Ari Ben Menashe to eliminate Mugabe.

Tsvangirai and his co-accused say they were set up.
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MDC PRESS

07 July, 2003
Harare Mayor Elias Mudzuri arrested.

Police this morning arrested Harare Mayor, Engineer Elias Mudzuri, and stopped a press conference which he was supposed to address at Town House.

Engineer Mudzuri arrived at Town House at around 11.30 am and soon after a group of police officers, some in plain clothes, and accompanied by members of the CIO, followed him into his office and demanded that he should leave the office immediately. The Mayor argued that the police had no grounds for preventing him from conducting his duties. They tried to force him out of his chair but he refused. He was subsequently arrested and taken to Harare Central Police Station where superintendent Murwira informed Engineer Mudzuri that they (police) were specifically instructed by the Minister of Local Government to ensure that Mudzuri was not allowed into his office and if ever he was seen in his office he should be arrested.

Engineer Mudzuri was further told that if he went back to his office he would spend the night in the police cells. At the time of issuing this press release, police have not come up with a specific charge.

Engineer Mudzuri was suspended by the Minister of Local Government and National Housing, Dr. Ignatius Chombo in what many people saw as a show of political muscle by the minister. The City of Harare Council resolved not to recognise the suspension, resulting in Chombo applying to the High Court to bar Engineer Mudzuri from entering his office. The court is yet to make a ruling on Chombo's application.

More information can be obtained from the Mayor, who can reached on 263 11 860 777, or his lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa who can be reached on 263 91 223 917

Paul Themba Nyathi
Secretary for Information and Publicity

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JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE P.R. COMMUNIQUE - July 7, 2003

Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet: www.justiceforagriculture.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN ARTICLE FOR YOU, FROM ECONOMIST.COM -
BRINGING REGIME CHANGE TO AFRICA
JULY 4TH 2003

As President George Bush prepares for his tour of Africa next week, he is
demanding that Liberia's President Charles Taylor step down, and preparing
a possible military intervention. America is also putting pressure on
Zimbabwe's leader, Robert Mugabe, to resign

SOME thought North Korea or Iran or maybe Syria might be next on President
George Bush's list for regime change, after Iraq. But it now seems likely
that the strife-torn former American colony of Liberia, whose 14-year civil
war has inflamed conflicts across West Africa, will be the next to undergo
American-led military intervention to bring about a change of government.
On Thursday July 3rd, four days before setting out on his first official
visit to Africa, Mr Bush called, in his strongest terms to date, for
Liberia's president, Charles Taylor, to step down immediately, or else. Mr
Bush's officials let it be known that a contingent of up to 2,000 American
troops is being readied for dispatch to Liberia. This time, American armed
intervention has the full backing of both the United Nations and France.
The French, and several West African states, have offered to contribute to
a peacekeeping force for Liberia.

Mr Taylor emerged in the 1980s from the training camps of his friend--and
America's foe--the Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi, with the aim of
spreading rebellion around West Africa. He certainly achieved it. After
launching a revolt in his own country and establishing himself as its chief
rebel warlord, in 1997 Mr Taylor won an election for president, and started
sponsoring uprisings in neighbouring countries. He backed Foday Sankoh, a
Sierra Leonean rebel (also Libyan-trained) whose troops hacked off the
limbs of thousands of civilians, and with whom Mr Taylor traded guns for
diamonds. In 1999, the two men backed a rebellion in Guinea. Both uprisings
were abruptly stopped when Britain sent troops into Sierra Leone in 2000.
Liberians have fought on both sides in the uprising in Cote d'Ivoire. Last
year, France sent troops there to keep the peace.  Mr Taylor's moment of
reckoning has been coming for some time now: though they deny it, his
neighbours have been backing Liberian rebel groups, which have taken more
than half the country in recent weeks and are besieging the capital,
Monrovia. In June, as he was attending peace talks in Ghana, a UN tribunal
investigating atrocities in Sierra Leone's civil war issued an arrest
warrant for Mr Taylor on war-crimes charges. This forced him to flee back
to Monrovia, whereupon the rebels launched attacks to try to dislodge him.
Amid the worst bloodshed since the civil war's early days in 1990--which is
continuing despite a supposed ceasefire--Liberians have been demonstrating
outside the American embassy in Monrovia, between dodging bullets and
grenades, to plead with Mr Bush to intervene. On Friday, Mr Taylor said he
would accept an offer to go into exile in Nigeria once peacekeepers have
arrived in Liberia, though he has made such promises before and continued
clinging to power.

America has been reluctant to intervene militarily in Africa since its
humiliating withdrawal from Somalia in 1993, after 18 American troops were
killed. But the success of the British and French interventions in Sierra
Leone and Cote d'Ivoire shows that a fairly small number of well-armed,
professional soldiers can quickly overcome ill-disciplined rebels.
Liberia's various groups of drugged-up, drunken fighters ought, on paper at
least, to be no match for even a modest American-led force. Liberia's
troubles threaten to re-ignite the conflicts in neighbouring countries,
which is why France, Britain and the UN are pressing America to intervene.

Though American troops may soon land in Liberia, Mr Bush and his secretary
of state, Colin Powell, will not be visiting the country on their tour of
Africa next week. Nor will they visit Zimbabwe, whose state-controlled
media have attacked Mr Powell for putting pressure on the country's
dictatorial president, Robert Mugabe, to resign, by promising that massive
American aid would be sent to the impoverished country as soon as he is
gone. Zimbabwe's main opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC),
is widely believed to have been the true winner of last year's elections,
though Mr Mugabe declared himself re-elected. The MDC is challenging the
official election result in the courts. Mr Mugabe has responded by putting
the MDC's leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, on trial for treason. Mr Bush will
discuss Zimbabwe's deep political and economic crisis with other African
leaders, and MDC officials will lobby him to step up the pressure on Mr
Mugabe to quit.

Mr Bush and Mr Powell will be bombarded with demands for attention as they
tour Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda and Nigeria - from governments
and oppositions, from charities and pressure groups, from businesses and
from the UN. Besides pressing Mr Bush to intervene militarily in Liberia,
Kofi Annan, the UN's secretary-general, is urging him to contribute troops
to a French-led peacekeeping force in the even bloodier conflict in Congo,
in which up to 4.7m people have been killed in the past five years. In
Sudan's religious conflict, between a Muslim government and Christian and
animist separatists, more than 2m have died since the early 1980s, though
progress towards peace is now being made, through American and African
diplomatic efforts. Even in Uganda, one of the continent's relatively
peaceful countries, rebels are terrorising villages and kidnapping children
to serve as soldiers.

Africa has so many grave problems that not even the world's superpower has
the resources to solve all of them. At least Mr Bush, contrary to initial
expectations, is showing resolve to try to tackle some: before setting out
for his Africa trip, he has announced extra food aid to help avert mass
starvation in Ethiopia; and a $100m anti-terrorism programme to improve
security at East Africa's ports and airports. Most importantly, Mr Bush
will use his trip to promote his $15 billion plan to fight AIDS in Africa
and the Caribbean. Congress has yet to approve the spending on the project
but Mr Bush says he hopes his African trip will help raise awareness in
America about the scale of the continent's AIDS crisis.

As Mr Bush said in an interview with African journalists ahead of his trip,
"It's in our national interests that Africa become a prosperous place, it's
in our interest that people will continue to fight terror together...It's
in our interest that when we find suffering, we deal with it." Given that
the president has his hands full trying to rebuild Iraq, brokering the
peace talks in the Middle East and facing down North Korea and Iran over
their nuclear ambitions, it is rather surprising that he has found the time
to tackle some of Africa's problems. Surprising but welcome.
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www.kubatana.net was updated on the 4th July !
 
News and information from the Zimbabwean NGO and CSO sectors: - the kubatana email newsletter
 
Please note: To access the stories referenced in this newsletter, click on the underlined links. If you don't have internet access and would like to receive a copy of any article by email, contact us with your request at nnap@kubatana.org.zw. We can send you a document 500KB in size which comprises much of the material referenced.

Please print out this newsletter and share it with your colleagues, workers, family and friends

Managing Relationships
Due to the rampant sexual and physical abuse Girl Child Network publish an article on managing relationships. More
Criminal Negligence
Choosing to keep quiet about the current situation is choosing a cowardly form of self preservation
Read Albert Gumbo's article on personal participation 
Passive protest or an uncompromising approach to justice?
American activist H. Rap Brown called for an uncompromising, impatient, and aggressive attitude toward injustice. Against this stands the non-violent commitment of such a leader as Martin Luther King, Jr. favouring a belief in passive protest and continuing communication and the ultimate justice of the courts.
More on www.kubatana.net
Resources
- Conferences
- Workshops
- Jobs
 

Force is the midwife of every society pregnant with a new one.
    Karl Marx
    

Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum publish report on torture in Zimbabwe
Research carried out by the Human Rights Forum and its members indicate that violence has increased alarmingly over the last three years; that political violence and torture throughout the country continues to be perpetrated around elections and mass stay-aways although reports continue to come in of incidents not necessarily associated with these two situations. Read more
Read the May violence report
Visit the HRForum's website
Read "Making Ripples", a poem about torture written by Bev Reeler.

Victims of Organised Violence and Torture 2nd to 9th June 2003 (Period of National Mass Action)
Over the past three years medical personnel in Zimbabwe have observed the regular and increasingly organised use of violence, including torture, by agents of the state and ruling party. Read this report from the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights. Visit the ZADHR fact sheet

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights write to Minister of Home Affairs
Zimbabwe has a pre and post-independence history that is tainted by unacceptably high levels of torture, cruelty, inhuman and degrading treatment. Read the letter sent to Minister Kembo Mohadi.
 

Regional Human Rights Groups speak out on torture
- Themba Lesizwe (South African Network of Trauma Service Providers - SANTSEP). More
- Namibian human rights organisation, National Society for Human Rights (NSHR). More
- The Southern African Human Rights NGO Network (SAHRINGON). More
 

Defiance versus repression: a report on the "Final Push" by the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition?
The collective frustration of a people ready to defend their rights and insist on good governance is a powerful force. With greater co-ordination and careful strategising this will easily become the most important tool in the struggle to achieve a democratic Zimbabwe.
Read the full report
Visit the Crisis Coalition fact sheet
 
Withdrawal of charges before plea against the Hon. Blackie
The Trustees of the Legal Resources Foundation welcome the decision to withdraw the specious charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice that had been brought against the Hon F. C. Blackie. Read more
 

Tough media bills passed
Zimbabwe's parliament on Wednesday passed two media bills which the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) described as the "last nails in the coffin" of press freedom. Read more
Visit the MISA Zimbabwe fact sheet
Read the IRIN News report

MISA comments on Minister Moyo's announcements on the broadcasting industry
Under the current Broadcasting Services Act too much power is placed in the hands of the minister to determine through the government appointed BAZ, the allocation of broadcasting licenses and frequencies.
Read more
Visit the MISA website

Media crackdown gets worse
Reporters Without Borders today deplored the arrest and beating by government supporters of radio journalists. Read more

Men, HIV and AIDS Report
Seventy-one participants examined how to engage men in the response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Read the RAISA report
RAISA's newsletter focuses on orphans and vulnerable children. Read more
Visit the RAISA website

HIV/Aids in Prison: Problems, Policies and Potential
The disproportionately high burden of disease in correctional institutions identifies an extremely important opportunity to intervene aggressively with prevention and treatment programmes. Read the Institute for Security Studies' recent report
Visit the ISS website at http://www.iss.co.za
 
Collective responsibility needed to curb AIDS
We need to stop pointing figures at each other in blame but take individual and collective responsibility for this killer disease then maybe we can survive it.
Read Janah Ncube's letter

NANGO Expo!
In 2002, Zimbabwe made history when the first ever NGO EXPO was staged by NANGO during October. This historic event enabled NGO and other key stakeholders to celebrate the achievement of the sector over the years.
Read more

Zimbabwe Election Support Network against postponing urban council elections
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network is wholly against the idea, which came from the Urban Councils' Association of Zimbabwe (UCAZ) to postpone the urban council elections. As ZESN, we feel that this idea defeats the purpose of democracy in our country. Read more
Visit the ZESN fact sheet

Time to revisit objectives of the liberation struggle
The Zanu PF government's violent reaction to last week's mass action organised by the Movement for Democratic Change has left unwarranted political scars on the nation. The Zimbabwe Liberators Platform discusses the week of action. Read more
Visit the ZLP fact sheet

Parents of Children with Disabilities publish update
ZPCDA Harare bring you up-to-date with their work.
Read more

Actions and petitions . . .
 
Do you support press freedom and freedom of expression?
Would you be happy to sign a petition aimed at the African Union & its member states calling for the release of all incarcerated African Journalists & for the repeal of Anti-media and Anti-free expression legislation? If Yes, click on the link to sign the petition. If you would like to do more, please make this message part of your signature and/or forward it to like-minded people.
http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/freeafricanmedia/

More information on the Credo and Fahamu Petition
CREDO for Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights and Fahamu have launched a petition calling on African Union Heads of State to release all incarcerated journalists and repeal all anti freedom of expression legislation. The petition is to be presented at the African Union meeting of Heads of State in Maputo in July and is addressed to President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, the current Chair of the AU. Click on the link below to read the full letter and join the petition.
http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=15814
 
Resources . . .
 
JustWrite!
JustWrite is a unique online learning experience, created for anybody needing to write powerful, persuasive documents. Read more
 
Shared Learning
A free on-line training resource centre for development professionals. On the site you will find free reference and training materials related to many aspects of the project cycle and development communication. Visit www.sharedlearning.org.uk
 
Guidelines for the Management of Sexually Transmitted Infections
Guide for service providers presents the revised recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO).  Includes concrete information on management of patients with STI symptoms and treatment of specific STIs, based on global evidence and epidemiological surveillance data.
http://www.comminit.com/Materials/sld-6423.html
 
Gender Evaluation Methodology (GEM) for Internet & ICTs
Developed by the APC Women´s Networking Support Programme GEM is a guide to integrating a gender analysis into evaluations of initiatives that use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for social change.
http://www.comminit.com/pmodels/sld-7340.html

Conferences . . .
 
World Summit on the Information Society
The World Summit on the Information Society will be held in two phases. The first phase of WSIS will take place in Geneva hosted by the Government of Switzerland Dec 10-12, 2003. The second phase will take place in Tunis hosted by the Government of Tunisia, Nov 16-18, 2005. http://www.itu.int/wsis/
 
 
Regional Trade Union Development W/Shop 14-16 August 2003
This is to inform you the we intend to organize a Regional (Southern Africa) Trade Union Development workshop for Journalists Unions from the 14-16th August 2003. The plan is to host this somewhere in South Africa. This a general call to ascertain the availability of those responsible for recruitment and training in your organizations. Ideally we are looking for 2-3 participants per organization. There will be follow-up workshops in some of your countries.
For more information please email gumanit@mweb.co.za

 
Find a Job in Africa
Please visit www.africarecruit.com
 
 
Opportunities . . .

Call For Proposals From HIV+ Leaders For Presentations and Workshops
The 11th International Conference for People Living with HIV/AIDS, Kampala,Uganda, October 26-30, 2003. The Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (GNP+) and the National Guidance and Empowerment Network of Uganda (NGEN+) are making a special call for positive leaders to shape and participate in the program of the 11th International Conference for People Living with HIV/AIDS. The theme of the Conference is "The Dawn of New Positive Leadership". The Conference Programme Committee is soliciting proposals from HIV+ persons to give oral presentations and workshops.
For more information please email  jazman1@worldonline.co.za
Visit http://www.gnpplus.net

BRAC and Global Partnership (GP)
GP is the outcome of process and cooperation between BRAC and the Organization of Rural Associations for Progress (ORAP), Zimbabwe and World Learning's School for International Training (SIT), Vermont, USA. It offers Postgraduate Diploma and Masters Degree programme. The 7th batch of Postgraduate Diploma in NGO Leadership and Management, 2003 is underway. The next batch is scheduled to start from January 17, 2004. Deadline of application submission is October 30, 2003. In the past, we had students from about 30 countries from around the world.
Please email global-partnership@brac.net for more information or visit www.global-partnership.net

Local CBO/NGO Organisational Development & Capacity Building Course (Sep 29 - Oct 10 2003) - Kisumu, Kenya
A growing number of development organisations have engaged in processes aimed at developing the capacity of local NGO/CBO partners. At the same time, these support agencies themselves are institutionalising processes to become more effective and learning oriented.  This course aims to enhance the capacity of organisations (or programmes) to deliver quality support programmes or services to other development actors as a particular approach to long term capacity building.
Visit http://www.comminit.com/events_cal/2003/1931-event.html
Contact International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) - Africa
Regional Office training@iirr-africa.org or admin@iirr-africa.org

Vacancies . . .

Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN is recruiting
A network of NGOs working in the democracy and good governance field in Zimbabwe is looking for persons to fill the following positions based in Bulawayo and Mutare.
2 Field Officers
The incumbent will be responsible for the provision of information to support the organisation ‘s education, research and advocacy programme.
Please email zesn@africaonline.co.zw for more information

Training Manager  - Youth Alive Zimbabwe
A local Zimbabwean NGO working with young people urgently requires the services of a Training Manager to start as soon as possible. The position objective is to manage the training delivery services of the department and implement all scheduled courses at national and regional level.
Email your applications and curriculum vitae to madzikanga@yahoo.com or azim@youthalivezimbabwe.co.zw
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16126

Over 1300 articles are available online at  www.kubatana.net

 
It is true indeed, that they can execute the body, but they cannot execute the idea which is bound to live.
Nicola Sacco

 
 
Welcome! to new Kubatana participants
Thanks and best wishes,
the kubatana team
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