Africa's failure to condemn Mr Mugabe is a sign of political cowardice
12 July 2001
Morgan Tsvangirai, the Zimbabwean opposition leader, appears in the Supreme
Court today to defend himself against prosecution for terrorism. The Zimbabwean
government is seeking foreign aid because of a shortage of food, following
violent disruption of the country's farming. The Organisation of African Unity,
which yesterday concluded its summit in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, backed off
at the last moment from wholehearted support for the Zimbabwean leader, Robert
Mugabe – but the statement that Zimbabwe and Britain should "get together" on
land ownership also managed to avoid full-scale condemnation of the violence
that Mr Mugabe has unleashed.
Each of these three strands is depressing. Together, they send a singularly
grim message. Mr Tsvangirai heads the Movement for Democratic Change – the party
which courageously challenged President Mugabe in elections last year, and which
is Zimbabwe's best hope for unseating Mr Mugabe, after 21 years.That is the
reason why Mr Tsvangirai is now charged with terrorism, under laws framed by the
white-minority rulers of the old Rhodesia for use against leaders of the
independence struggle.
On Zimbabwe's food problems, the story is equally dismal. In normal
circumstances, a finance minister's declaration that "our budget does not allow
for food purchases" should be treated sympathetically. But these are not normal
circumstances. Just as those who wanted democracy in South Africa supported
sanctions against the apartheid regime – however painful they might be for
ordinary South Africans – so the Mugabe regime disqualifies itself from
international generosity when it is so obviously the author of its own
misfortunes.
In some respects, the failure by the OAU to condemn Mr Mugabe is most
depressing of all. At the weekend, foreign ministers at the summit criticised
the attempts "to isolate and vilify Mugabe". According to this reading of
events, the only reason that anybody in Europe might dare to criticise Mr Mugabe
was because of a secret hankering for the old days of white colonial rule.
In reality, this confirmed the impression that the OAU itself lives in the
past. Yesterday, the summit backed off from endorsing the tough language of the
foreign ministers' weekend declaration. But, shamefully, it did not criticise Mr
Mugabe, who declared: "We and the rest of Africa are now speaking in the same
language."
Land reform is needed; the inequities of ownership must be addressed. But Mr
Mugabe has had two decades to address the problems – and failed. (In just seven
years of democracy, South Africa has done more.) Only when Mr Mugabe's own
political position was threatened did he suddenly seize on this explosive issue.
He encouraged licensed thugs; dozens have died and thousands were left homeless
in the violence that followed. African leaders are in a uniquely strong position
to "isolate and vilify" Mr Mugabe. Mr Tsvangirai was right yesterday to note
that the failure to do so ignores "rampant lawlessness". Condemnation of the
Zimbabwean government has nothing to do with colonialism, and everything to do
with democracy. As Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, told the Lusaka summit
this week: "Africa must reject the ways of the past and commit itself to
building a future of democratic governance."
African leaders have talked in recent days about the proposed creation of a
new AU – an African Union, theoretically modelled on the European Union, with
its own parliament, executive and transnational laws. The political cowardice on
Zimbabwean thuggery does not, however, set an encouraging precedent in this
regard.
African leaders drop attack on UK's
Zimbabwe policy
An annual summit of African leaders expunged criticism of
Britain's policy over Zimbabwe from its final declaration yesterday in a
face-saving move that also served to humiliate President Robert Mugabe. Lobbying
by South Africa, Nigeria and other "modern" members of the Organisation of
African Unity (OAU) was due to result in a mild declaration on Zimbabwe at the
closing session in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, last night. It replaced a draft
resolution by foreign ministers which, on Sunday, had expressed "concern" at
moves by Britain "to mobilise European and North American countries to isolate
and vilify Zimbabwe".
Ahead of the closing session, the South African President,
Thabo Mbeki, said: "The declaration says that Britain and Zimbabwe need to get
together and continue to search for a solution (over the redistribution of
land). That supersedes the ministerial draft." The scrapping of the anti-British
declaration, which had been unanimously adopted by the OAU's council of
ministers, saved it from ridicule as it prepares to relaunch itself as the
African Union (AU). President Mbeki is among presidents who want the AU - the
brainchild of the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi - to shed the OAU's image as a
dictators' club, tolerant of corruption and coups. President Mbeki believes
Africa should shed colonial allegiances and hang-ups and speak with one voice as
an equal among other world lobbies such as the European Union. President Mugabe,
on the other hand, expects an endorsement against former colonial powers such as
Britain.
Hours before the final declaration, the 77-year-old had stated
that the anti-British draft "enhances our solidarity with our African brothers".
The OAU said in its final declaration that the Lusaka summit "reaffirmed that
the land issue is central to ensuring durable peace, stability and economic
development in Zimbabwe". The organisation reiterated its demand "for Britain to
honour its colonial obligation" to fund land settlement. The summit called on
Britain "to co-operate fully and enter into dialogue with the government of
Zimbabwe with the purpose of finding a final solution to this colonial
legacy".
Britain says it stopped funding Zimbabwean land resettlement
schemes because corruption meant the poor were not benefiting. In 1998, an
international donors' conference worked out a new approach, which the Zimbabwe
government never implemented. Ahead of parliamentary elections last year in
Zimbabwe in which the ruling party faced its first serious opposition challenge
since 1980, President Mugabe put the land issue at the centre of his campaign.
He promised to empower black Zimbabweans economically by giving them white-owned
farms. He faces a presidential election next spring.
From The Daily News (SA), 11
July
Britain cautions OAU against backing
Mugabe
Lusaka - Britain has cautioned African leaders meeting in
Lusaka for the last Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit that backing
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in his land dispute with London could
undermine Western financial support for their ambitious African recovery plan. A
British government source issued the caution in response to a resolution of the
OAU Council of Ministers on Sunday which put the blame on Britain for the
arbitrary seizure of commercial white farms. "We feel, depending on the way the
leaders decide to pursue the issue, it may be negative on other important and
progressive programmes the continent wants to embark on," the source said.
South African government officials, concerned about deterring
investors by appearing to buck the rule of law, have tried to distance Pretoria
from the resolution. Department of Foreign Affairs representative Ronnie Mamoepa
said the fact that the OAU council of ministers had agreed to appoint a
committee to help Zimbabwe deal with land reform showed that the OAU was not
happy with land redistribution in its present form. However, South Africa is on
record as supporting the Zimbabwe resolution. Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma attended the council of ministers' meeting and the Zimbabwe
resolution was reported to have been adopted "unanimously". The resolution says
the OAU committee made up of South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Cameroon, Kenya,
and Zambia will promote international understanding of Zimbabwe's land reforms,
and secure support for them.
From News24 (SA), 11
July
Not too late for
Zim
Lusaka - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says it's not too late
to find a formula to resettle thousands of poor, landless Zimbabweans without
the country descending into anarchy. Annan acknowledged that land reform in
Zimbabwe was necessary, but said he wanted it done legally - with fair
compensation paid to white farmers whose properties were seized for
redistribution to blacks. "It is not too late to take measures to calm the
situation so that agricultural production can be continued and those who need to
be resettled can be settled," Annan told a news conference in the Zambian
capital Lusaka. Last week Zimbabwean Finance Minister Simba Makoni said the
country would need to import food to offset falling output that analysts blamed
on a wave of land invasions since last year. Industry officials said the country
will need to import up to 800 000 tonnes of grain due to a sharp drop in maize
and wheat production. But Makoni said there was no room in the budget to pay for
imports. Self-styled war veterans have occupied hundreds of commercial farms
since last year and disrupted production.
Annan, who was attending the annual summit of the Organisation
of African Unity (OAU), said the United Nations and other groups were ready to
help with negotiations on land distribution and funding sources for
compensation. But he said President Robert Mugabe's government had to ensure
that the process was conducted legally. "I believe that land reform has to be
handled in a legal manner...The responsibility lies with the government of
Zimbabwe," Annan said. Violence linked to the seizure of white-owned farms and
the run-up to parliamentary elections last year left 31 people dead, most of
them opposition supporters. The veterans say they are only taking back what was
snatched from their forefathers by British colonial masters. The Zimbabwean
government has said it wants Britain to fund any compensation. At the Lusaka
summit, the OAU agreed to appoint a committee of several countries to help
Zimbabwe negotiate and resolve the land question, which remains a source of
continued political instability ahead of presidential elections next year.
Mugabe is expected to face a serious challenge from Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of
the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Harare - Zimbabwean opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai, accused of acts of terrorism that could bar him from next
year's elections, will challenge his prosecution on Thursday in a test case for
freedom of speech in Zimbabwe. Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), was granted the right by the high court in May to refer
his case to the supreme court to argue that a terrorism case against him was an
attack on his right to free speech. President Robert Mugabe's government said it
had accepted the high court ruling, and would try to convince the country's
highest court that Tsvangirai had a case to answer. On Tuesday, Tsvangirai said he was ready, but had no doubt the
supreme court would uphold his rights and rule as unconstitutional the law on
which his prosecution was based. "Our supreme court has a history of fairness,
of protecting the rights of all Zimbabweans, of dispensing justice and that is
the reason we have been calling for the protection of their integrity," he said.
"We are going to argue our case there... not outside." Tsvangirai is being
prosecuted for telling MDC supporters in a speech last year that Mugabe might be
overthrown violently if he did not retire.
From The Star (SA), 11
July
Police chief to sack opposition
supporters
Harare - Zimbabwe's police chief has vowed to dismiss members
from the force who support opposition politics, the state-owned Herald reported
on Wednesday. "Those officers who believe they can abandon the government of the
day in order to support the opposition are misguided and they will be kicked out
of the force," Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri told the paper. An
undisclosed number of officers have already been fired on those grounds, the
police chief said. Chihuri is a self-declared supporter of the ruling Zanu PF of
President Robert Mugabe. Police in Zimbabwe have been consistently accused of
neglecting their duties. Violent attacks on the opposition by ruling party
supporters left at least 34 people dead in the run-up to last year's general
elections. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) claims another
five of its supporters were killed in politically-motivated attacks last week.
Dismissing pro-opposition supporters from the police force was acting in "the
interests of the majority", Chihuri added. The ruling party scraped a narrow
victory over the MDC in last year's elections, winning 62 of the 120 contested
seats against the MDC's 57. Presidential elections are due early next year in
which 77-year-old President Mugabe will be standing as the ruling party's
candidate.
From The Financial Gazette, 12
July
27 MDC officials
arrested
At least 27 officials and activists of the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) were arrested in Bindura and Kwekwe yesterday in what is
emerging to be an organised police crackdown on the opposition party in all
major urban centres ahead of three parliamentary by-elections and the crunch
presidential ballot. The arrests came hard on the heels of weekend police raids
on the offices of the MDC in Harare and Bulawayo, where other activists were
detained for questioning
In Bindura, 16 MDC supporters were held yesterday and two
campaign vehicles belonging to opposition party candidate Elliot Pfebve seized
in the town as the police intensified attacks on the MDC ahead of a by-election
there in two weeks’ time. Pfebve is challenging Mashonaland Central governor
Elliot Manyika for the Bindura parliamentary seat, declared vacant after the car
crash death of Youth Affairs Minister Border Gezi two months ago. Pfebve said
late yesterday he was still trying to negotiate the release of his supporters
and cars from Bindura Police Station. He said police claimed to have seen his
vehicles in the Chiveso area of Bindura, where Zanu PF supporters had allegedly
been injured in political violence on Tuesday night. The MDC politician rejected
the police charge. "They are desperate. They are cooking all kinds of stories to
get a pretext of detaining our supporters. No amount of intimidation will win
them the election," he said in a telephone interview from Bindura Police
Station. The officer in charge of the station, Solomon Pswarayi, refused to be
interviewed on the phone and referred all questions to his superiors who could
not be reached for comment.
In Kwekwe, a group of 60 police officers and members of the
government’s spy Central Intelligence Organisation swooped on the MDC offices
there early in the day and arrested 11 party officials. MDC’s information
secretary Learnmore Jongwe said the security agents, moving in their now
familiar British-made Defender Land Rover cars, searched his party’s offices
without an official search warrant, which is illegal. Police in Kwekwe refused
to comment on the arrests when contacted by this newspaper. Those arrested in
Kwekwe include the MDC’s Midlands provincial chairman Evans Ruzvidzo, his deputy
Isaac Muzimba, provincial secretary Edgar Sithole, treasurer Lameck Muyambi and
regional coordinator Sylvester Majekuza. Jongwe said the MDC had yet to
establish why the 11 had been detained. They were still in police custody at the
time of going to print.
MDC’s secretary-general Welshman Ncube condemned the arrests
and accused Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri, a member of the ruling Zanu
PF party, of unashamed partisanship. Earlier this week Chihuri threatened to
sack all senior police officers he accused of backing the MDC, which emerged
from the shadows last year to nearly topple President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF,
in power since independence from Britain two decades ago. MDC president Morgan
Tsvangirai is expected to challenge Mugabe in the presidential ballot, which
must be held by April next year, in a contest analysts see as a one-sided show
because of the dramatic loss of political support by Mugabe.
Meanwhile, MDC’s national youth chairman Nelson Chamisa said
yesterday his department had embarked on a campaign to discourage all Zimbabwean
youths from participating in the government’s proposed National Youth Service
(NYS). He charged that the project, to take off shortly, was aimed at preparing
Zanu PF youths to intimidate opponents nationwide ahead of the by-elections and
presidential poll. "The youth service is in fact an experimental pilot project
aimed at preparing the youths to unleash a reign of terror against Zanu PF
opponents ahead of the by-elections and next year’s presidential elections. We
won’t have anything to do with it, "Chamisa said. The government says the NYS is
aimed at instilling discipline and patriotism among youths, whose employment in
state institutions will now depend on whether they have done their youth service
stint.
From News24 (SA), 12
July
Labour leader
quizzed
Harare - Police on Wednesday questioned Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions (ZCTU) secretary-general Wellington Chibebe in connection with last
week's national strike, which the government had declared illegal, the labor
leader said. "They questioned me in connection with the stayaway and the
violence that occurred," Chibebe said. "They wanted to know the role of the ZCTU
in organising the stayaways." Chibebe was questioned for two hours by police
about possible violations of the colonial-era Law and Order Maintenance Act
(LOMA), routinely used by the government to crack down on political dissidents.
He was released without charge, although police could decide to press charges
later.
"The ZCTU is not clear of the police actions, but according to
the two police officers, they intend building a relationship with the labour
centre," the group said in a statement. "But the question lies on the type of
relationship, which is not clear. Earlier on the government had declared the
mass action illegal." ZCTU, a powerful umbrella group of labor unions, organised
the July 3-4 strike, which succeeded in forcing Zimbabwe to a standstill. The
unions called the general strike to demand fuel price cuts after the government
last month declared an overnight increase of about 70 percent.
Government has yet to respond to workers' demands, and the ZCTU
said on Friday it would launch an open-ended stayaway if the government did not
rescind the price hike. The strike cost Zimbabwe's economy up to $9.1 million,
according to the state-run Herald newspaper. For the last three months, the ZCTU
has faced a sometimes violent challenge from militant liberation war veterans
who have occupied white-owned farms here since February 2000. Led by the
firebrand war vet leader Joseph Chinotimba, the pro-government veterans have
formed a rival labor grouping, the Zimbabwe Federation of Trade Unions (ZFTU),
and launched raids on urban businesses since April. So far, none of the ZCTU's
affiliate unions have switched to the war vets' group, whose labor relations
tactics have included extortion, intimidation and beating of business owners.
The rivalry stems from Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's effort to win back
urban voters before the presidential election due early next year, in which he
is likely to face a stiff challenge from Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the
Movement for Democratic Change.
Zimbabwe's
crises blamed on Britain
LUSAKA African
foreign ministers have attacked Britain, blaming its refusal to support
Zimbabwe's land reform efforts for the instability, conflict and economic
despair that has plagued the country in recent years.
In a draft resolution obtained by AP, the foreign ministers praised President
Robert Mugabe's efforts to seize white farms without compensation and they noted
with concern "British moves to mobilise European and North American countries to
isolate and vilify Zimbabwe".
The foreign ministers drafted the resolution at an Organisation of African
Unity summit in Lusaka. It was expected to be formally adopted by the heads of
state at the end of the summit tomorrow.
The resolution also condemned Britain for refusing to honour commitments to
help fund land reform it had made during negotiations preceding Zimbabwe's 1980
independence.
Britain, which pledged nearly 55m for land reform in 1980, delivered nearly
90% of that money before freezing the fund in1990.
It said Zimbabwe violated the agreement by forcing unwilling farmers to sell
their land to the state. Ruling party militants and squatters began occupying
white-owned farms in Zimbabwe a year-and-a-half ago, demanding they be
nationalised and turned over to landless blacks.
The government has since earmarked about 4500 of 5000 white-owned farms for
seizure.
The foreign ministers said that the unequal distribution of land, where a
handful of white farmers own a disproportionate amount of the best farmland, was
at the heart of the "political, economic and social struggle in Zimbabwe."
Sapa-AP.
HARARE As the spectre of starvation looms over Zimbabwe, President Robert
Mugabe has appointed an emergency ministerial task force to import maize
urgently to stave off the imminent crisis.
Zimbabwe has 290000 tons of maize in stock and the crop forecast is
1,44-million tons. The shortfall is at least 500000 tons. Experts say the maize
import target should be 700000 tons. The country also needs to import 100000
tons of wheat.
The emergency team's appointment came as the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change's president, Morgan Tsvangirai, accused the government of
"incompetence and mismanagement" in handling the food security issue.
Tsvangirai told reporters yesterday that Mugabe and his ruling Zanu (PF)
party were squarely to blame for the latest food problem in the country.
"Since the beginning of this year, this government has put a solid wall of
opposition to our warning there would be food shortages," Tsvangirai said.
He said it was not surprising that two cabinet ministers admitted last Friday
that the country was facing maize shortages. Zimbabwe was also in the grip of
fuel and foreign currency shortages.
"Political dishonesty of this nature and downright incompetence on the part
of an individual who has been assigned to man a key public office is totally
unacceptable," he said. "We should, however, hasten to point out that the
problem facing Zimbabwe at this particular hour goes beyond (Land and
Agriculture MinisterJoseph) Made," Tsvangirai said. "Made is only a
manifestation of Zanu (PF)'s policy flip-flops."
Mugabe was too embarrassed to admit his "disastrous" policies triggered the
food crisis; hence his government's earlier denials that Zimbabwe had to import
grain. The food shortages were caused by Mugabe's chaotic land reform programme
and his government's inability to support small-scale farmers.
"The causes are the lack of support for small-scale farmers, coupled with the
impact of the Zanu (PF) policy of farm invasions in the large-scale farming
sector," said Tsvangiari.
The MDC said it had drafted a comprehensive plan to rescue the country from
the threat of famine. It urged the government to consider its proposals as part
of the holistic national effort to avert the food crisis.
The high-profile task force consists of Made, Ignatius Chombo (local
government, public works and national housing), Joyce Mujuru (rural resources
and water development), Swithun Mombeshora (transport and communications) and
Simba Makoni (finance) as well as former members of the state-owned Grain
Marketing Board, Canaan Dube and his deputy, Justin Mutasa.
Following proposals made to the
Vice President, Hon. Joseph Msika, by the Zimbabwe Joint Resettlement Initiative
(ZJRI), the first formal meeting between the parties was held in Harare today,
the 11th July 2001. The meeting, which was chaired by Hon. Vice President
Msika, was attended by Cabinet Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, other senior
government officials and representatives of the ZJRI including senior Commercial
Farmers' Union members, the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association and the private
sector.
The meeting reaffirmed that the
land issue had been sensationalised locally and internationally. It was
acknowledged that the existing racial imbalances in the distribution of land
needed to be urgently addressed. Further, it was noted that a confrontational
approach through litigation was not constructive.
The meeting noted the ZJRI
proposal to submit over one million hectares of uncontested land for acquisition
and redistribution by Government. It also noted the proposals to provide
tillage, inputs and technical advice in support of Government's resettlement
programme.
The meeting agreed to establish
a joint technical team to move swiftly to examine the details of the various
components contained in the ZJRI proposals, so that the process can move rapidly
towards advancing the resettlement programme.
The participants affirmed their
commitment to work together as Zimbabweans, to promote goodwill and to build
confidence and trust. This would lead to an environment conducive to the
resolution of remaining differences on the land issue.
The consensus among the parties
was that the meeting was productive and successful in establishing a framework
for constructive dialogue towards resolving the land problem
internally.
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe Media Update # 2001/27 Monday 2nd July
- 8th July 2001
SUMMARY
· None of the media provided adequate
coverage of the ZCTU's two-day national strike. While the private Press
provided only superficial coverage of events, the state
controlled media sought to portray the strike both as a failure and a
conspiracy between white employers and the union movement to sabotage
the economy by "locking out" the working masses. But in attempting to
provide an indication of events on the ground, the state controlled
media found itself contradicting its own generalized claims that
the strike was a failure. The private Press on the other hand, also
generalized about the strike's success without providing any
independently corroborated figures measuring the effectiveness of the
stay-away. Notably, not a single major company was accessed to establish
its attitude towards the strike, although comments from employer
organizations condemning the strike were aired.
· The state media
reflected the government's muted and reluctant admission that the
country faced food shortages later in the year, and ZBC audiences would
still not know that this was the case. For several weeks the state media
have carried strenuous government denials of persistent stories
appearing in the private Press warning of looming food shortages. But
when the admission finally came in the week under review, ZBC ignored
it, preferring instead to focus on the "restructuring" of the GMB to
improve Zimbabwe's food security.
· The commemoration of the
anniversary of the death of former Vice-president Joshua Nkomo, was
plagued by further controversy during the week, this time focusing on
Zimpapers' efforts to capitalize on its decision to serialize
the man's autobiography. When The Daily News reported that The Chronicle
had censored a section of an episode criticizing President Mugabe, The
Herald responded with an emotional piece of propaganda in its news pages
from the presidential press secretary in the Department of
Information, George Charamba posing as one of the paper's reporters. But
this ill-conceived attack on The Daily News only served to add to the
embarrassment of the government controlled newspaper group when The
Daily News followed up its story with another reporting that The
Chronicle's editor of 12 years had been sacked without notice
immediately after the publication of The Daily News story. The privately
owned daily promptly followed this with a third story revealing that
Nkomo's book was being serialized without the permission of the
publishers or Nkomo's family. Zimpapers and ZBC both reported the
editor's departure as part of a shake-up at Zimpapers without
connecting it to the censored serial which Charamba had described as "a
clerical error". Clearly government's overt interference in the
editorial content of its newspaper group was instrumental in engineering
another shameful episode in Zimpapers' recent history.
THE
NATIONAL STRIKE
The state media's coverage of the two-day strike
highlighted the problems media institutions can encounter when trying to
serve conflicting interests. Zimpapers and ZBC both became entangled in
the difficulties arising out of their efforts to portray the strike as a
failure while attempting to cover reality. Neither organization provided
any credible evidence for their claims that the stay-away was ignored,
relying heavily on wild generalizations. Like the Zimpapers report on July
4th, ZBC's bulletins on both days of the strike (July 3rd and 4th) were
heavily compromised by repeated reference to expressions like, "most
workers" turning up for work, "business as usual", and "most people" etc.
And although ZTV carried footage of Harare's industrial areas, it resorted
to interviewing informal sector workers to establish that it was
"business as usual". At one point, television's coverage talked about
employers locking out their workers, but later reported that companies
closed after working staff had not turned up for work. Its report on the
situation in Masvingo was a classic example of how the state broadcaster was
caught between propaganda and reality. While its reporter tried to give the
impression that all was well in the town, he went on to state that, ".around
11am, the town centre was deserted and the town looked like a Sunday
morning." On the second day of the strike, radio and television reported
that most people had gone to work, but ZTV's 8pm footage showed the
deserted industrial areas, adding that most people had not gone to work
because their employers had locked them out. ZBC appeared to be unaware of
this contradiction and failed to obtain any confirmation from any
workers. The Herald's report (5/7) of the strike's second day relied on a
claim by the ZNCC that 70% of businesses in Harare were operational, to
make its own unsubstantiated claim that "80% of all workers" reported for
duty. It erroneously stated that civil servants "constitute the majority of
the country's labour force" to support this claim. Predictably, the state
media highlighted government sentiments about the strike to the exclusion of
the ZCTU, while the private press gave prominence to the labour movement's
statements, thus creating further polarity in the media. For example, the
ZCTU's plea for a peaceful stay-away received front-page prominence in The
Daily News (3/7), but was completely ignored in the state- controlled
media. Instead, Zimpapers (3/7) concentrated on police reassurances that
they would protect "peace loving citizens" while providing its own
gratuitous innuendo referring to previous ZCTU- organized stay-aways, which
".have ended in orgies of looting, violence and wanton destruction
of.property". ZBC also continued to gag the voice of the ZCTU, providing it
with just one comment on its lunchtime bulletins (Radio 3, 4/7). Instead,
it gave vastly more prominence to the veteran Harare City Council
worker, Joseph Chinotimba, in his various guises. Appearing in the form
of a trade union leader on Radio 1/3's 1pm bulletins (3/7), Chinotimba
evidently forgot this role when he was quoted condemning the strike as a
flop, but threatening to ".'vacuate within a day." foreign business people
who had closed their businesses. "I as a commander, I am also calling for my
own war veterans to assemble tomorrow or either any day to identify
those companies which are not operating today." he was quoted as
saying. That same evening (3/7, ZTV 8pm) Chinotimba was presented with
another opportunity to comment on the stay-away, but wasted it on a
confusing statement that any professional news station would have
edited: ".that is straight sanction of the country. They are putting the
country into sanctions, economical sanctions. It can't help and by now
look they are not the workers who are not coming, who go on strike,
straightly its clear that they are in the employers"
It was left to
his war veteran colleague, Andrew Ndlovu, to accuse the MDC of economic
sabotage and link the opposition to previous strikes. The reporter neither
challenged this statement nor sought a response from the MDC. ZBC's
patronage was again highlighted the next night when it carried a bitter
tirade from Information Minister, Jonathan Moyo, attacking the South African
workers' confederation, COSATU, for supporting the ZCTU strike, as reported
by The Daily News that morning (4/7). Describing COSATU as an
"Anglo-American influenced" organization (4/7, all stations, 8pm), Moyo was
quoted as having said: "By supporting an illegal and unlawful action,
COSATU has, like the MDC-led ZCTU, demonstrated that its rhetoric about
the need to respect and uphold the rule of law is hollow, opportunistic
and anti-Africa. While on the surface COSATU's support for the illegal
strike by the MDC-led ZCTU gives the impression of solidarity with the
Zimbabwean workers, the reality on the ground gives a disgusting contempt
and hatred for the same workers" Zimpapers carried the same story the
next morning. But none of the state-controlled media bothered to seek a
response from COSATU. However, The Zimbabwe Independent (6/7), didn't miss
the opportunity. There was no agreement over the cost of the strike, or
the interpretation of the ZCTU's statements following the
stay-away. While The Herald (6/7) stated that "analysts" had estimated the
strike to have cost the country about $500 million, The Financial
Gazette of the day before quoted "economic experts" estimating the cost
at more than $5 billion, a figure based vaguely on an extrapolation of the
budget's estimated GDP. The Daily News (6/7) also relied on unnamed
economists saying the cost of the strike was as high as $6 billion. Nowhere
was a definitive estimate to be found in the media, although The Daily News
did report that the CZI and the ZNCC were still working out the costs of the
strike to their membership. Zimpapers (6/7) and the ZBC gave prominence
to ministerial comments from Finance Minister Makoni and Jonathan Moyo
criticizing the ZCTU leadership for threatening further industrial
action. The next day, Zimpapers gave front page space to what they told
their readers was a ZCTU decision to negotiate with government. The The
Daily News however, (7/7) saw the same story completely differently, quoting
the ZCTU's Wellington Chibhebhe as dispelling the impression that the labour
organization had backed down over its demands. The paper quoted Chibhebhe as
saying the labour organization was not softening its stance, but had decided
to give dialogue a last chance. The issue of army and police brutality
received prominent coverage in the private press. The Daily News (6/7)
quoted ordinary Zimbabwean victims of army and police brutality. The
Zimbabwe Mirror (6/7) extensively quoted a Budiriro man who claimed to have
been brutally assaulted by riot police. All the media reported the
arrest of three locally based journalists in Budiriro for allegedly
interfering in police operations. But only the independent press reported
the ZCTU's criticism of the arrests, describing them as "the continued
harassment of journalists". The full nature of the police intimidation
appeared in The Zimbabwe Standard (8/7), whose news editor was among those
arrested and detained in police cells overnight. MMPZ condemns this
latest, arbitrary intimidation of the media community and calls on
government to ensure the protection of journalists in the execution of their
duties.
FOOD SHORTAGES
Zimpapers (3/7) buried an obscure admission
of the country's need to import 500 000 tonnes of maize to cover the
country's production deficit in a story about government classifying maize a
"strategic reserve" and granting the GMB a monopoly over its trade. Only
towards the end of the story did it become clear that Agricultural Minister,
Joseph Made, ".had projected a shortfall of 500 000 tonnes as a worst-case
scenario." ZBC never managed to spell it out, and in its evening bulletins
(3/7) it merely reported that Made had dissolved the GMB board and
replaced it with officials from his ministry to improve the nation's
food security and build up reserves. Both stories reported government's
efforts to blame commercial farmers of forcing its hand as a result of their
attempts ".to create false shortages by hoarding grain, particularly.maize",
(The Herald 3/7). The only other time television's audiences might have
guessed at the prospect of food shortages emerged in its 8pm bulletin (5/7)
when the reporter told viewers that Finance Minister Makoni had warned
government ministries to live within their budgets and that there was no
additional money to procure "the required cereals". The state broadcaster
provided absolutely no information to explain this otherwise mysterious
statement. Only in their Friday editions (6/7) did Zimpapers finally report
clearly on the admission by Made and Makoni that the country needed to
mobilize resources to avert shortages of maize and wheat. However, although
The Chronicle carried this story on its front page, The Herald buried it on
an inside page. The story only made passing reference to Makoni's confession
that food imports had not been provided for in the budget and that
government had appealed to the international community for help. But the
story in the two papers didn't tell their readers how much money Makoni said
the government was looking for. This fact had appeared in The Financial
Gazette the day before under the headline, Govt Races to Raise $6bn for
Maize, but only provided Makoni as the source for that claim in another
story about government drawing up plans to find Z$6.6 billion to import
maize and wheat. Only The Zimbabwe Independent (6/7) carried a comment
from the MDC's shadow agricultural minister calling for Made's resignation
for his repeated attempts to mislead the nation into believing that
Zimbabwe wouldn't need to import basic cereals. The Daily News (7/7)
reported that South African maize had been earmarked for export to Zimbabwe
and that the GMB monopoly was likely to undermine the future production of
maize because of the low prices offered by the parastatal. MMPZ condemns
the appalling coverage of such an important national issue by the
state-controlled media, especially the national broadcasting corporation,
which has simply not told its audiences the truth. Such slavish restriction
to coverage of government propaganda has severely compromised the nation's
knowledge of what should be public information and clearly demonstrates
again the need to free the state broadcaster from government
control.
POLITICAL VIOLENCE
The Herald and The Daily News
(7/7) both reported the police raid on the Harare offices of the MDC two
days previously, but only The Daily News also reported the police raid on
the Bulawayo offices of the opposition party the day before. However, it
only relied on MDC officials as its source of information, while The Herald
story quoted the police extensively, saying they had arrested 33 youths they
suspected of being responsible for politically motivated violence in
Bindura and of torturing ZANU PF supporters in the party's offices. The
Herald only quoted an MDC spokesman denying the allegations and condemning
the raid as illegal, without itself questioning the veracity of the police
claims. ZBC simply ignored the raids thereby depriving its audiences of news
of the state's latest action against the opposition.
The state
broadcaster also failed to provide any context to the deaths in Epworth
following petrol bomb attacks on two homes in the suburb. While The Herald
(4/7) reported that the attacks on the homes of known ZANU PF supporters
were conducted by suspected MDC supporters, it did not identify the two who
had died, creating the impression that the MDC was responsible for the
violence. The state media didn't follow up the incident. But the private
Press did. Quoting one of the residents whose house was bombed, The
Financial Gazette linked the violence to a government scheme to allocate
residential stands in the area, while The Daily News (6/7) quoted two
victims of the violence as saying they recognized some of their assailants
as being war veterans and ruling party supporters disguised as MDC youths.
Another report in the independent daily the following day reported MDC
supporters and the MP for the area claiming that four more people, all MDC
supporters, had died following the death of the first two, identified in
earlier reports as being war veterans. The paper however, did not
provide any independent corroboration for the four deaths apart from the
widow of one of the victims. Nor did it seek police comment. The state media
also ignored several incidents of alleged police and army brutality reported
in the private Press, particularly The Daily News (6/7), during and after
the strike. The paper quoted victims of the violence in Warren Park,
Kuwadzana and Dzivaresekwa and of earlier incidents in Mufakose and Budiriro
where people in police and army uniform indiscriminately attacked
civilians in their homes and in nightclubs. This time, the paper
reported that the police had refused to comment on the incidents. Other
stories about politically motivated violence around the country in the
private Press highlighted the activities of war veterans and ruling party
supporters in the rural areas and especially the terror campaign in the
Bindura area where a by- election is due to be held in the next two weeks.
The state media ignored all these stories.
JOSHUA NKOMO
CONTROVERSY
The state media's continuing efforts to glorify national
hero Joshua Nkomo became deeply compromised in the week under
review.
Responding to a Daily News (3/7) editorial observing that Nkomo
must be turning in his grave at the way the ruling party's propaganda
machine was using his reputation to enhance their own tarnished record, ZBC
(3/7 8pm and 4/7 7am) and The Herald (4/7) clearly over-reacted by providing
extensive coverage to Vice- President Msika saying Nkomo had died a happy man
"contrary to claims by some people that he was bitter at the time of his
death". The state media also gave prominent coverage to Nkomo's daughter
also stating that her father had died a contented man But then The Daily
News (4/7) really set the cat among the pigeons when it reported that The
Chronicle had censored an early episode of Nkomo's book, The Story of My
Life, being serialized in The Herald and The Chronicle. On the same day The
Daily News (5/7) reported that The Chronicle's editor had been fired and
published the omitted section critical of President Mugabe, The Herald
published a malicious piece of propaganda against the independent daily in
its news columns written by the Department of Information's George
Charamba. Why The Herald believed this vitriolic opinion belonged in its news
pages is beyond understanding, but serves to demonstrate again that the
paper is the servant of government and that the Department of Information
and Publicity continues to spearhead the campaign to polarize the media
community. The Chronicle (5/7) attributed its omission to space limitations,
and published the part that was left out. But its effort to correct the
mistake came too late, although the state-controlled media merely
reported that Zimpapers had appointed new editors without connecting it
to the debacle over the omitted text.
In an effort to control the damage,
The Herald (6/7) carried a front- page article quoting two political analysts
calling for the publication of the book. But nothing could detract from
Zimpapers' embarrassing oversight revealed in The Zimbabwe Mirror and The
Daily News editions of the same day. They both reported that the
government controlled newspaper group was serializing the book without
the permission of its publishers or the Nkomo family who were threatening
legal recourse over the issue. And sure enough, the next day the two
dailies reported that the serialization had been suspended ".as a result of
certain legal formalities," according to The Herald. Such a basic blunder by
any professional publishing institution is unforgivable, but is all the
more embarrassing given Charamba's defence of Zimpapers' publishing
"scoop" over The Daily News - and his minister's recent defence of new
copyright laws which he has threatened to use against those newspapers which
have republished articles written by Moyo attacking the party he was later
to serve.
END
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A conviction for Tsvangirai could harm his election
hopes
The Supreme Court has heard an appeal by opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai challenging the government's use of a colonial-era law
charging him with terrorism and inciting violence.
At a rally in September 2000 in front of thousands of supporters, the
Movement for Democratic Change leader called on President Robert Mugabe to step
down saying: "If he doesn't go peacefully, he will be removed by force".
If Mr Tsvangirai loses the appeal he will be tried in the High Court
He faces life in prison if convicted, but Zimbabwean law does not prevent a
convicted prisoner from standing in presidential elections.
They are due next year, and Mr Tsvangirai is expected to present President
Robert Mugabe with a strong challenge.
The case comes amid a sharply declining economy and and growing political
unrest.
Student protest
Riot police in Zimbabwe have used truncheons to break up a demonstration in
the capital, Harare, by several hundred students who've been protesting over
reports of a big rise in fees.
The protest, outside the education ministry offices, came after the
state-owned Herald newspaper announced fee rises by as much as 40-fold for
university and college students.
Zimbabwe University student leaders say they now plan to take their protest
to the vice-chancellor.
Students have held a series of demonstrations in recent months protesting
against the government's non-payment of living allowances and the privatisation
of college cafeterias which has seen sharp rises in food prices.
Police threat
The intimidation of the MDC also continues.
The chief of Zimbabwe's police force said on Wednesday that he will dismiss
officers who back opposition parties.
This threat came as the police continued their raids on the offices of the
main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
An MDC spokesman said the latest raid - in the Midlands provincial capital of
Kwekwe - followed ones in Bulawayo and on the party headquarters in Harare.
The police also questioned a trade union leader for two hours following the
stay-away on 3-4 July which brought Zimbabwe to a halt.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions said its secretary-general Wellington
Chibebe had been asked about his political affiliation and who had been
responsible for calling the strike.
Police are reported to have arrested 27 members of the main opposition party
in Zimbabwe.
They follow police raids on the offices of the Movement for Democratic Change
in Harare and Bindura.
Party leaders claim police are cracking down on the organisation on orders of
President Robert Mugabe before three parliamentary by-elections and next year's
presidential election.
The raids and arrests in Bindura and Kwekwe come after police commissioner
Augustine Chihuri vowed to dismiss officials who supported the MDC.
Mr Chihuri said the police force should support the government of the
day.
The Star says 16 MDC members
were arrested in Bindura, including parliamentary candidate Elliot Pfebve.
In Kwekwe, 11 MDC members were arrested at the party's offices.
Mr Pfebve said: "They are desperate. They are cooking up all kinds of stories
to get a pretext to detain our supporters."
Police officials in Kwekwe and Bindura refused to comment.
Zimbabwe to Record Zero Population Growth Rate Next Year
July 12, 2001
HARARE, Jul 11, 2001 (Xinhua via COMTEX) --
Zimbabwean Minister of Health and Child Welfare Timothy Stamps Wednesday said
his country will record a zero population growth rate by the end of next year.
This is mainly attributed to the success in the family planning campaign and
deaths caused by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the minister said at a celebration to
mark the World Population Day in Harare, explaining that "this has led the
country to become the first developing country to record a zero growth rate in
history."
It was reported that at present, more than 2,000 people in Zimbabwe are dying
every week from HIV/AIDS and the life expectancy in the country has been reduced
to 34 years from 55 a decade ago.
This year's World Population Day was marked under the theme "Population,
Environment and Development". The HIV/AIDS pandemic was a major highlight at the
celebrations.
