COMMERCIAL FARMERS'
UNION
Farm Invasions And Security
Report
Friday 19 July
2002
This report does not
purport to cover all the incidents that are taking place in the commercial
farming areas. Communication problems and the fear of reprisals prevent farmers
from reporting all that happens. Farmers names, and in some cases farm names,
are omitted to minimise the risk of reprisals.
NATIONAL
REPORT IN BRIEF
· Trelawney/Darwendale – there are
reports of
massive theft, particularly of MCB and switchgear, which appears to be the work
of more than one gang operating in the area.
Some criminals were recently released on amnesty and it is felt they are
responsible.
· Gutu/Chatsworth - On Bath Farm, an individual
from the ZFTU approached the owner on the evening of 11.07.02, saying if the
owner paid him a certain amount he would stop the full delegation of the ZFTU
approaching the owner and extorting huge sums of
money.
· Masvingo East and Central – on Chidza Farm,
despite numerous promises made to the owner the DA will address settlers and
move them off the property, the owner has not seen any delegation arrive on the
property.
REGIONAL NEWS
MANICALAND
Chipinge - ZFTU are still very active in the area and
are causing problems on some of the farms.
The settlers are ploughing and buying maize seed from
ZFC.
Burma
Valley - DDF ploughed nearly three
weeks ago, but nothing has been done since. Some settlers have grown wheat and
vegetables.
Odzi - Settlers are still going around
looking for jobs from farms in the area.
MASHONALAND CENTRAL
Mvurwi –
continued harassment by ZFTU stirring up labour to ask for full terminal
benefits. This has been reported by
eight farms.
MASHONALAND EAST
Beatrice – Seven
Section 8 Orders received week ending 12.07.02. Two workers were abducted by "war vets" and
beaten up. Although the workers returned, no police reaction. In general thefts of electrical equipment,
pumps, cables, switch gear stolen and one MCB.
Ongoing poaching, stock theft and cattle slaughtered. A vehicle was
apprehended with 2 slaughtered cattle, which was involved in an accident. Two of the occupants escaped with a firearm,
and two others taken to the police.
Harare South
– in the week ending 12.07.02, 18 cows in calf were stolen. One Section 8 was
received, and later +-20 settlers arrived in three vehicles on the farm
concerned. One farm reported poaching. Agritex visited a couple of farms with
recent Section 8 orders to gather statistics on production, yields and
facilities.
Macheke/Virginia
- One
farmer had a work stoppage and workers demanded severance packages. They later locked him in the security fence.
No police reaction. Another farmer experienced a work stoppage by workers
demanding severance pay, which was resolved.
Another farmer, who paid off his labour months ago, received threats from
his ex-labour. There was theft of an electric motor and cattle, with one cow
slaughtered. One farmer was locked out of his house. A farmer moving his
diesel tanks, had to break down a wall, and the settlers accused him of
destroying property. The labour was chased away and his keys taken away. The
DA was contacted who said he would react. A farmer recovered 12 cattle missing
for a year, and the thief is in gaol. Another farmer had a fire deliberately
set in the gum plantation. A farmer had all his cattle pushed into the garden,
and one walked through the glass door of his lounge.
MASHONALAND WEST
(NORTH)
Banket -
There was a
major problem on a farm when farmers were barricaded in their house. Eventually
a Lt. Col. Mataruka solved the problem. The owner is now farming from
Harare.
Trelawney/Darwendale
– there are reports of massive theft, particularly of MCB
and switchgear, which appears to be the work of more than one gang operating in
the area. Some criminals were recently
released on amnesty and it is felt they are responsible. Three borehole pumps, 11 electric motors, 3
motorcycles, 2 batteries, 6 starters and 5 cases of aluminium pipe theft
reported so far.
Raffingora - On Sunday
14.07.02, Dr. Chombo and Mr. Chiangwa arrived late at a rally held at Katawa
farm for the Victory Celebrations. Dr. Chombo spoke briefly, re-emphasising he
wanted the owners of Erewhon, Chinomwe and another farm off their properties. He
instructed local "war vet" Kangachepe to carry out this task. Before the
audience could ask any questions the two officials left, claiming they had to
rush off to their next appointment. A2
settlers continue arriving on farms. DA Tembo visited Raffingora Estates and
removed the "youth" from the yard. He also visited Minihaha Farm and removed
settlers from the spare house and allowed the owner to remove property. He also
visited Perth Farm advising the settlers to move off for A2 settlement and go to
the adjacent property. District is reasonably peaceful at
present.
MASHONALAND WEST
(SOUTH)
No report received.
MASVINGO
Reports up to
15.07.02
Mwenezi - Battlefields Ranch
settlers now demand the use of the owner’s dip tank facilities approximately
100m from the owner’s homestead. Another Impala was found dead in a snare. At Valley Ranch there is a very serious
shortage of grazing. It is inundated with communal cattle and heavily over
stocked. It was reported cattle originate from as far as Malapati area and are
moved on to the ranch. On Tuesday
09.07.02, settlers on Umbono Ranch were "clearing" lands by burning. Mwenezi is
in a drought situation and no rain has fallen since December so the grass is
tinder dry. The fire spread into Nuanetsi Ranch and burned all day and
smouldered all night. The next day it flared up again, threatening grazing
leased by Carswell Meats, so the labour teamed up to fight the blaze. High winds
fanned the flames and a few thousand hectares of valuable grazing was lost. The
settler concerned is employed on Matibi Section by Nuanetsi Ranch. There is also
no underground water on Umbono, so water is carried in from neighbouring
farms. There were no apologies or
attempt to fight the fire by the settlers concerned. Nuanetsi Ranch itself has been leasing out
grazing to farmers' whose cattle had
been forced off their own farms as part of the cruel abusive tactic of
starvation of livestock on commercial farms. They are also leasing much of their
grazing out to the new black commercial farmers. However Nuanetsi Ranch is now
in a serious situation for grazing of their own cattle, which have slowly moved
towards the centre of the ranch due to settler encroachment, poaching, burning
and destruction of pipelines. This incident just illustrates the continual
destruction of the environment.
Gutu / Chatsworth – the
Makanya Farm P/L owner’s wife employs women in a sewing project. After her
husband was subjected by firstly permanent workers then contract workers in
paying millions of dollars to ZFTU, she faced the same harassment and had to pay
millions of dollars on 12.07.02 to the sewing project workers. The ZFTU claimed they were underpaid. This
has subsequently led to the closure of the business. The Condor Farm owner reported one cow
slaughtered on the property to the ZRP. It was believed to be his labour who
removed the meat. ZRP investigated and approached a large group of settlers, who
were in a meeting, to ask questions. The settlers objected to this and a
delegation of approximately 60 settlers approached the owner demanding he remove
his cattle immediately and asking why he accused them of theft, an unfounded
statement. On Bath Farm an individual from the ZFTU approached the owner on the
evening of 11.07.02, saying if the owner paid him a certain amount he would stop
the full delegation of the ZFTU approaching the owner and extorting huge sums of
money.
Chiredzi - Ongoing poaching
and snaring within this area.
Masvingo East and Central –
the Townlands Farm owner reports stocktheft of another 14 cattle. The Lochinvar Farm owner reports stocktheft
of another 12 head of cattle.
Reports
up to 18.07.02
Masvingo East and Central – on
Chidza Farm despite numerous promises made to the owner the DA will address
settlers and move them off the property, the owner has not seen any delegation
arrive on the property.
Chiredzi - Poaching and
snaring continue.
Mwenezi – the Alko Ranch owner
received a letter from a certain individual (politician) demanding she be off
the property by a certain date. Kyalami
Ranch and Kalahari Ranch each received a Section 7 Notice. At Valley Ranch World Vision Malapati has now
moved cattle on to the property. World Vision is also transporting settlers on
to the property, driving around and checking up on cattle. In general, slaughtering of cattle, snaring,
theft, poaching and deforestation continue unabated within this
area.
Save Conservancy - Poaching
and snaring continue in this area.
Gutu / Chatsworth -
Slaughtering of cattle, snaring, theft, poaching and deforestation continue
unabated within this area.
Masvingo town: The ZFTU are
said to be doing the rounds within the town and have visited two business
premises. In the one business the
entire work force has signed up after continued harassment. The ZFTU are
aggressive in approach causing endless harassment to both shop owner and working
staff.
MIDLANDS
No report received.
MATABELELAND
No report
received.
Press Statement
In line with their intention to continue to pursue
dialogue with the
Government of Zimbabwe, the Commercial Farmers Union makes
the following
announcement.
By mutual agreement and with immediate
effect, Jenni Williams - a public
relations and media consultant, who has
also been a CFU spokesperson, will
no longer represent the Commercial Farmers
Union (CFU), or issue statements
on their behalf.
During the past
year Jenni Williams has been an exemplary and highly
respected communicator
with regard to fulfilling CFU's mandate from members.
The Union has taken the
decision to release Jenni Williams who has elected
to continue representing
individual farmers who prefer to take recourse to
legal action as a means of
resolving their current impasse.
We wish her well in giving voice to
other views within the agricultural
sector.
C. B. Cloete
President
Jenni Williams - Consultant
19th July 2002
For more
information, please contact the
Commercial Farmers Union
Tel Harare
309800
MSNBC
Mugabe declines dialogue with Zimbabwe white
farmers
HAVANA, July 19 - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe
rejected on Friday an
appeal by white farmers for a meeting ahead of a
government deadline for
hundreds of them to leave their land next
month.
Mugabe, speaking at the end of a visit to communist-run Cuba,
said
the farmers should address their problems to Vice President Joseph
Msika,
who is in charge of the land acquisition program.
''The
white farmers have channels they must follow. They are not
superhuman
beings,'' he said at a news conference.
''They are not satisfied with
that level of authority because they
think, by virtue of being British and
being white, they are more divine than
anyone else,'' he said.
''There is an authority which can address their problems. Why do they
avoid
it? Who are they after all?'' he added.
Nearly 3,000 white farmers
have been ordered to vacate their farms by
Aug. 10 to make way for landless
blacks.
The embattled farmers were ordered to stop all farming on June
24,
and those found guilty of defying government orders face heavy fines or
two
years in prison.
The farmers appealed on Monday for
face-to-face dialogue with Mugabe,
saying the government's decision to press
on with its two-year land reform
plan had severely hurt crop
production.
Aid agencies say 6 million Zimbabweans need emergency food
aid as a
result of a drought and disruption of farming operations resulting
from the
government's land drive.
Zimbabwe was plunged into its
worst crisis in two decades of
independence in 2000 when pro-government
militants, led by veterans of the
1970s liberation war, began invading
farms.
Mugabe says his ''fast-track'' land resettlement program is
aimed at
correcting imbalances in land ownership created by British
colonialism.
CUBA JOINS AIDS WAR IN AFRICA
Mugabe ended a
four-day visit by thanking Cuban President Fidel
Castro for his country's
military assistance in fighting for independence
wars in Africa and by
welcoming Cuba's offer to help fight the AIDS pandemic
sweeping the
continent.
Cuban genetic engineers and biotechnology researchers are
working on
a vaccine against the sub-type C of the HIV virus prevalent in
Africa, which
they hope to have ready by 2007.
Cuba agreed to send
another 71 doctors to Zimbabwe, including
gynecologists, pediatricians,
general surgeons, neurologists and
pharmacists, Mugabe said. There are
currently 117 Cuban doctors serving in
the southern African nation.
Mugabe, 78, criticized wealthy nations for ignoring Africa's health
crisis
while praising the sacrifice economically weakened Cuba was making to
help
African nations.
Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence
from Britain in
1980, also defended the validity of his re-election to a
further six-year
term in March.
Zimbabwe's opposition and many
Western countries accused him of
cheating and using violence and food as
campaign weapons to win the
presidential election.
Mugabe said
African nations considered the vote to be free and fair,
while Europe and the
United States did not.
''To this day I don't know whether Bush won the
election as president
at all,'' he said, adding that the 2000 presidential
race in the United
States was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
''I did not have to go to court for the validation of the people's
verdict,''
Mugabe said. ''And yet Mr. Bush dares say he is holier than I.''
Daily News
Letters/Opinions
African leaders masters at
blaming other people
7/19/02 8:10:54 AM (GMT
+2)
It is a well known fact that African leaders are
masters at
scape-goating and mismanagement of their countries'
affairs.
They blame everyone and everything for the unfortunate
situation their
countries find themselves in. The only people spared this
blame are
themselves. Botswana and a handful others are the only
exceptions.
The weak South African President Thabo Mbeki has
blamed
pharmaceuticals for the Aids pandemic and Cyril Ramaphosa (through
Steve
Tshwete) for an attempt on his life.
Our very own leader,
who is determined to rule for life, Robert
Gabriel Mugabe, blamed his
opponents for causing drought and starvation (not
his war veterans/"Green
Bombers") and has blamed the bureaux de change for
the foreign currency
shortages.
Let's not forget that we are living in the 21st century
where
democracy and good governance are the in-thing.
Mugabe
rigged the presidential polls and God has been frowning at him
all along. Now
God is extremely angry. The international community will
never release funds
or support the present government because it is
basically illegitimate and
irrelevant.
The people of Zimbabwe have now suffered to the extent
that no one
should afford to be selfish anymore. Let's kick out these
bankrupt leaders
and save our nation. The name Gabriel is supposed to signify
the lead angel.
Our children will soon be forced to undergo the
so-called national
service, supposedly to teach them patriotism. Patriotism
can never be forced
on anyone, worse still on empty stomachs. Zimbabweans
should resist sending
their children to those Border Gezi National Brainwash
Centres.
Mugabe is prone to using force for very personal and
selfish reasons
to do with staying in power. He forced Joshua Nkomo to remain
in office even
when he was in very ill health and the man died in office
because Mugabe was
convinced if Nkomo left government Ndebeles would stop
supporting him and
his Zanu PF.
Similarly today, he is forcing
Simon Muzenda to remain in office
because he fears he will lose the support
of the Karanga if he allows him to
retire. Muzenda has been in China and will
probably face the same fate.
Kumbirai Kangai is in the United
Kingdom, presumably for treatment,
while our local hospitals have been turned
into morgues where the sick, poor
and starving come out in coffins. Must we
continue to blame the West?
The Green Bombers must produce more
food, the non-performing ministers
must create more foreign currency and
Mugabe must allow a rerun of the
rigged presidential poll under United
Nations supervision.
Mugabe should have no problem with a rerun of
the election since he
claims he won the poll and that he is not to blame for
most of our economic
ills as he always tells us.
But, deep down
his heart, Mugabe knows who is to blame.
Jennings Rukani
UK
Daily News
Leader Page
Peasant agriculture unlikely to feed
the nation
7/19/02 8:03:06 AM (GMT +2)
FOR
Zimbabwe to restore food self-sufficiency, let alone exports, will
be a
daunting task. I think the government of the day will have to
disillusion the
population as to every person's "right" to free land; this
is a
fallacy.
Peasant agriculture is very unlikely to feed the nation or
produce
large volumes for export. There are numerous reasons for this, among
these
being lack of training, plain lack of ability and societal pressures in
the
rural culture, which go against efficient production and modern
methods.
Agriculture requires the same entrepreneurial skill as
other forms of
business, and very few have this skill. Though again many may
dream of being
farmers, most are better served by being employed on
successful farms. It
will be a long, hard job and will take many years to get
back to the same
level of production as in 1980.
My thoughts on
agricultural reform are these: No one appreciates
anything that is given
free. Because it has involved no cost, it carries
little value in the
recipient's mind.
Stolen items similarly have little perceived
value: easy come, easy
go.
What is worked and strived for carries a
high perceived value.
Therefore, I would make loans available to
those wishing to go into
farming, to cover the cost of the land and the
inputs, and demand a proper
business plan. Gwebi graduates and those with
genuine farming knowledge
would have this taken into
consideration.
An inspector (from the bank? the Land Bank?) would
make regular visits
in order to assess the way the loan is being
utilised.
If the land is not worked, then the land must be
repossessed. If the
loan is not repaid, the land must be
repossessed.
Land is too great a national asset to be squandered on
non-productive
possession.
Many, many of these new farmers will fail
and go broke; that is the na
ture of things.
However, some will
prosper, and buy up neighbouring land, whose owners
may then work for them.
That, too, is the nature of things.
A realisation is dawning that
the United States of America and the
European Union (EU) are extremely
protectionist to their farmers (even
though they are a tiny minority in their
countries - surprise, surprise!)
Appealing to their better nature
won't work, I can assure you. What I
believe to be the answer is to get
businesses in those countries to invest
heavily into agriculture, so that our
interests become their interests.
This is the way other businesses
have gone, for example electronics
and the motor industry. Japan, the USA and
EU now have a large proportion of
their goods made in China and South-East
Asia.
Therefore, no concerted push for high tariff barriers into
the "home"
countries because the home countries own or use these Asian
businesses.
Therefore, if corporations in the home countries owned and
operated farming
ventures outside those countries there would be a strong
push for fairer
trade laws.
It's no good fighting globalisation;
globalisation is an artefact -
and effect of modern communications
technology. It's like the Industrial
Revolution - the Luddites could not make
it go away, it was part of human
progress.
In Africa we need to
encourage multinationals to set up operations in
our countries, and provide
no barrier to the remission of profits.
There is no practical way a
company can take out of a country more
than it puts in unless, of course, it
is stripping resources as with timber
in the Congo. And guess who's there to
help them? Why, President Mugabe and
Zanu PF, of course!
That's
it for today. I may continue (I probably will), but this is
some food for
thought now. I am both an idealist and a cynic. I can see the
way things
should go, but am cynical enough to know that is not the way they
usually go,
even out of Africa.
It will take a leader, a statesman, to see
Zimbabwe realise it's
potential after Mugabe's demise. Without a statesman,
matters will improve
slightly, but it will take more than a hundred years to
get back to 1980
levels.
Do we have such a leader, such a
statesman?
Only time will tell.
Daily News - feature
Consultation needed in formulating economic
policies
7/19/02 8:37:25 AM (GMT +2)
By Dumisani O
Nkomo
TRADITIONALLY the field of economics has always been the
exclusive
domain of economists and financial fundis.
For the
ordinary man in the street, economics is a subject studied at
school for the
purpose of passing the examinations and there seems to be no
direct Iinkage
between him or her and this mythical subject.
However, the economy
and economic policy must be the interest of
everyone and it is therefore
imperative that economic policy be implemented
in consultation with the
people who are affected by those policies.
While referendums have
been held on political issues such as the
territorial affiliation/ ownership
of the country (1923) and the referendum
on the constitution (2000) no
consultation or collective evaluation has been
undertaken on issues of
economic policy.
Since colonialism, the Zimbabwean citizenry has
always been a passive
recipient of economic policy.
Even with
the dawn of independence, the government introduced Growth
with Equity
without adequately informing the nation what this economic
policy was
about.
Of course, one can argue, that few if any nations in the
world engage
in any form of citizen participation in formulation of economic
policy.
Students of free market economics may argue that to involve
people in
economic policy making is not only impractical but also a sure
remedy for
economic suicide. They would argue and rightly so that populism
may
overthrow economic sense and give way to mass plundering of the
economy.
Students of socialism may argue that the struggle for
class equality
should be spearheaded by the "Vanguard Elite" as Lenin
espoused and not the
proletariat or peasantry.
The truth,
however, is that throughout their history, the people of
Zimbabwe have always
had economic policies forced down their throats without
fully understanding
their implications.
The people of Zimbabwe should at least be given
a chance to understand
the basic economic principles governing them and how
these affect them.
They should be given a chance to collectively
evaluate these policies
through civic groups with an economic justice
agenda.
Historically, the people of Zimbabwe have never had a say
in either
formulation or evaluation of economic policies.
The
government soon abandoned its socialist orientated economic
policies and
engaged in trade liberalisation, which was percussor to more
comprehensive
economic reforms embodied in the Economic Structural
Adjustment Programme
(ESAP).
There was no consultation undertaken with Zimbabweans when
this policy
was formulated with the only consultation that took place being
that with
international monetary organisations, the IMF and the World
Bank.
While it had become clear that the economy needed some form
of reform
the populace at large was not involved in evaluating previous
government
economic programmes such as Growth with Equity.
Instead Zimbabweans found themselves being the passive recipients of
yet
another economic package in the form of the ESAP.
Of course,
hindsight teaches us that quite possibly at the time the
bulk of the
citizenry itself might not have been interested in formulation
of economic
policy.
In the same way that the citizenry was either oblivious of
or
apathetic to amendments to the constitution, which created the
executive,
and its unlimited powers.
The people were equally
unaware of how economic policy impacted on
them.
Without much
dialogue, debate or consultation on ESAP the programme
was soon at full
throttle.
Tragically ESAP yielded little results but once again no
wholesale
evaluation was undertaken and government technocrats were quickly
tasked
with drawing up another economic policy paper - Zimbabwe Programme
for
Economic and Social Transformation (Zimprest) - without the involvement
of
civil society and the citizenry at large.
The Zimprest
document appeared to be a well thought out document
written specifically for
the country's donors.
Indeed very few people knew what Zimprest was
all about.
After much pomp, ceremony, drink and razzmatazz Zimprest
was launched
officially but it soon gathered dust in some government
office.
Then the government officials stopped talking about
Zimprest as it
became increasingly obvious that the policy had been designed
to win the
sympathy of international monetary organisations.
In
spite of this call for all Zimbabweans to be involved in charting
the
economic path of the nation Zimprest remained a high-sounding, thick
volume
which did not have its origins with the people of Zimbabwe.
The
most impressive thing about Zimprest was the name which implied
that there
would be a fair measure of social and economic transformation.
At
the end of the programme there was neither economic nor social
transformation
but poverty now impacted over 64 percent of all households.
Within
the framework of ESAP the government had introduced the Social
Dimensions
Fund which was meant to cushion vulnerable sections of the
community from the
effects of economic reform.
This was later changed to the Poverty
Alleviation Action Plan (PAP)
and up to now the benefits of PAP are yet to be
seen by most Zimbabweans.
A lack of a culture of accountability in
matters of economic justice
and policy enabled the government to change
policies wily nilly without so
much as a whimper from the
populace.
The government in its typical impulsive and suicidal
fashion was soon
pontificating about a new economic programme, the Millennium
Economic
Recovery Programme (MERP).
Unlike, Zimprest, MERP seems
to have been still born as the President
announced (soon after the March
elections) that the government would put in
place an agrarian based economic
reform programme.
Since the government has not developed a culture
of consultation with
it citizenry on economic policies, it is quite likely
that the citizenry
will find it burdened with plethora of new economic
policies with impressive
acronyms, which are fat on description but thin on
practicality and
implementation.
Economic policy directly
affects "bread and butter" issues hence it is
important for the citizenry to
demand to be consulted in the formulation of
such policies.
Civil society needs to engage in intensive economic literacy
programmes.
These programmes should focus on defining key economic terms,
policies and
principles.
It is from this basis that the populace can actively
and pro-actively
interrogate economic policy.
Daily News
Police impound scarce commodities
7/19/02
8:34:15 AM (GMT +2)
Staff Reporter
HARARE police
are on the warpath, confiscating basic commodities that
are in short supply
and being sold at very high prices by vendors.
There are serious
shortages of maize-meal, sugar, salt and cooking oil
country-wide but vendors
always have the commodities in abundance.
The police recently
started impounding all basic commodities being
sold at exorbitant prices by
the vendors.
But some vendors interviewed this week claimed they
had bought the
goods they planned to resell from the policemen.
A vendor calling herself Ndomene said the police were confiscating
the
commodities for their personal use.
The police spokesman
Wayne Bvudzijena said: "I don't have any comments
on that."
A 2kg
packet of white sugar ranges from $270 to $350 while a 750ml
bottle of
cooking oil is sold for $400 on the black market.
The war against
vendors has been waged at Mbare Musika, Kuwadzana 4
and Machipisa shopping
centres in Highfield.
In addition to losing their commodities to
the police, those arrested
pay a spot fine of $500 each.
But
this has not completely destroyed the parallel market.
The vendors
are always on the alert, looking out for the police.
They now
display one item per commodity on tables, while the rest are
kept in their
"warehouses".
Denis Ngwenya, a vendor at Machipisa shopping centre
said they had
resorted to hiding some their goods so that the police would
only seize
those displayed.
The vendors admitted they were
selling the goods illegally at high
prices but blamed the government for the
current economic situation.
Bernard Madziyire of Kuwadzana 4 said:
"I am an unemployed driver and
I can only survive by selling these scarce
commodities."
The vendors buy 25 litre containers of cooking oil
and re-package it
into 750 ml bottles.
Tawonga Nemawura of Highfield
said not everyone could afford the
25-litre containers of cooking oil that
were available.
The vendors felt Olivine Industries, the
manufacturers of cooking oil,
were to blame for making only large gallons
containers of cooking oil
available on the market.
Nemawura said
he even started selling cooking oil before the
shortages, and that vendors
were actually making life easier for those who
could not afford the big
containers.
On overcharging, John Sharara of Kambuzuma said: "We
are getting the
commodities from other second parties who can obtain them
from the
manufacturers, so we also add our own mark-ups."
Daily News
Charges against Spooner in Nkala case
withdrawn
7/19/02 8:27:07 AM (GMT +2)
From Our
Correspondent in Bulawayo
THE State has withdrawn charges against
Simon Spooner, one of the
suspects in the Cain Nkala murder case, due to lack
of evidence.
The magistrate, Elizabeth Rutsate told the court on
Monday she had
been instructed by the Registrar-General's (AG) Office to
withdraw charges
against Spooner and indict three of his co-accused, Fletcher
Dulini Ncube,
Sony Nicholas Masera and Army Zulu for trial in
November.
However, their lawyers, Nicholas Mathonsi and Josphat
Tshuma, both of
Web, Low and Barry filed an urgent chamber application
seeking the
nullification of the indictment.
They argued there
was no evidence in the papers to justify their
indictment for trial. Zulu and
Masera were briefly detained on Monday after
warrants of arrest were issued
against them after the indictment.
In the Bulawayo High Court on
Tuesday, Justice Lawrence Kamocha,
granted an order postponing the
indictment. The interim relief orders the
State to postpone the indictment of
the three until a determination has been
made to prove they have a case to
answer.
Kamocha ordered the AG to show cause why the three should
not be
removed from remand.
Already, the State has indicted
three key suspects in the case,
Khethani Sibanda, Sazini Mpofu and Remember
Moyo, accused of the abduction
and subsequent murder of Nkala, the provincial
war veterans chairman for
Bulawayo.
Initially 14 people, all MDC
activists, were arrested for Nkala's
murder and that of Limukani Luphahla, a
Zanu PF activist in Lupane. Now only
six face the charges.
The
State-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation television on
Tuesday
night said that Kamocha's granting of the order to postpone the
indictment
was "shocking".
The report, however, did not mention the State's
withdrawal of the
charges against Spooner, who was facing the same
allegations as the three
whose indictment was quashed.
Allegations against Spooner and the others are that they hatched a
plan to
kill top Zanu PF officials in Bulawayo to avenge the death of
Patrick
Nabanyama, an MDC polling agent abducted in 2000. He has not been
seen
since.
Nkala was abducted from his Magwegwe home last November and
his body
was later found buried in a shallow grave near Solusi, outside
Bulawayo.
The trial is set to start in November.
Daily News
War veterans vow to confront Moyo
7/19/02
8:25:15 AM (GMT +2)
Staff Reporter
WAR veterans
yesterday said they were still negotiating with the
police for clearance to
demonstrate against Jonathan Moyo, the Minister of
State for Information and
Publicity in the President's Office, over the fate
of Joy TV.
Mike Moyo, the national treasurer of the Zimbabwe National Liberation
War
Veterans' Association, said they were still negotiating with the police
for
permission to confront Moyo.
Mike Moyo said: "Action is coming. We
are seeking audience with the
police to get clearance to fight our
enemies."
Zim Independent
War veterans on warpath over evictions
Blessing
Zulu/Augustine Mukaro
CRACKS are forming in Zanu PF's armour as the real
beneficiaries of the
chaotic land reform programme emerge as it enters its
final phase.
Reports that leading politicians, governors and party
hangers-on were
evicting peasants from farms and taking over the properties
are coming in
from across the country. War Veterans Association
secretary-general Endy
Mhlanga this week warned governors that his members
would "deal with them"
if they continue to allocate land to their relatives
and friends.
"War veterans are very bitter with what is going on at
the moment," an irate
Mhlanga said.
"The governors are now evicting
war veterans from fertile soils and
allocating it to their relatives and
friends. Some settlers are now being
evicted on farms to pave way for Zanu PF
heavyweights and this has irked the
war veterans."
The land reform
programme was used by President Robert Mugabe as a campaign
tool to win the
presidential election. He justified it as decongesting rural
areas and
empowering peasants. The evidence on the ground though shows that
the
peasants are still crowded in rural areas and Zanu PF politicians
have
grabbed all the best land.
Olivia Muchena admitted in a visit
to Mount Darwin last week that all was
not well. "There was chaotic
allocation of land in the district with the
council waiting list not being
followed," she said.
Even the peasants who were dumped in the bush
without any infrastructure or
support over the past two years are being
forced to vacate the farms.
"The war veterans who were leading the
invasions have now been sidelined and
are being given infertile land and if
this continues we are going to deal
with the governors," Mhlanga
said.
"The word 'fear' does not exist in our vocabulary and we will
take action if
they continue to grab all the land and leave us out. War
veterans are
prepared to go to jail after a head-on collision with the
governors. We want
to rebuild the nation," he said without specifying what
action they would
take.
Mhlanga's warning comes amid reports that
newly-resettled farmers in
Mashonaland West have accused provincial governor
Peter Chanetsa of
betraying the cause of the land redistribution programme by
evicting
invaders from farms they occupied over the past two
years.
The majority of the settlers, who came from Nyabira communal
lands to settle
on Golden Stairs, Sortbury and Little England farms, said
they were angry
with Chanetsa for wanting to remove them from farms they have
occupied for
the past two years so that they can be given to Zanu PF
officials and A2
Model farmers, the majority of which are ruling-party
supporters.
"Chanetsa even brought riot police to forcibly remove
people from Golden
Stairs and Sortbury," one of the settlers living at
Sortbury Farm claimed.
"He is telling us that we will be allocated
land on other farms but this
makes us question whether government is
determined to make us farm for the
country. We had already built permanent
structures on the farm and prepared
land for next season and to be allocated
another piece of land would be
unproductive.
"We are told that
Golden Stairs is earmarked for Sabina Mugabe but we are
not leaving our
land," the settler said.
Settlers said Chanetsa has laid claim to six
properties in the province:
Gabaro Farm in Karoi, Riverside Farm in Norton,
Elwin Farm in Raffingora,
Sligo Farm in Zvimba North, and Deary Farm in
Nyabira.
Zim Independent
War veterans ready to deal with Moyo
A WAR of
words has broken out in Zanu PF between war veterans on the one
hand and
arriviste ministers on the other. And it is becoming more vicious
by the
day.
Last Saturday the Daily News quoted the war veterans' association
secretary
for security Mike Moyo as questioning national commissar Elliot
Manyika's
liberation-war credentials.
"Who is Elliot? What role did he
play in the liberation struggle?" Moyo
asked. He described Manyika as "a
confirmed coward".
Moyo claims Manyika heads an outfit called G7 which he
said uses the police
and other state agencies "to harass, intimidate and
frustrate potentially
prominent war veterans in any party leadership
structure".
This was presumably a reference to the dissolution of the
Harare provincial
executive.
There is now a palpable sense among many
war veterans that they were used by
Zanu PF in the 2000 and 2002 election
campaigns and are now being cast aside
as the government attempts to give the
impression that it is proceeding to
redistribute land in an orderly
manner.
Referring to Manyika's impromptu renditions of his unappealing
song, Moyo
tartly observed that singing Nhora didn't make Manyika any more
loyal than
other members of the party.
Not content with this
broadside, Moyo told the Sunday Mirror that
Information minister Jonathan
Moyo was part of the conspiracy to place war
veterans at a
disadvantage.
"Jonathan Moyo is killing the war veterans by subjecting
them to bad
publicity," he alleged. He said the state's ideological apparatus
was being
manipulated by "counter-revolutionaries" in the government to
neutralise the
influence of the veterans.
"We are against the use of
both the state's ideological and repressive
apparatuses against the war
veterans," Mike Moyo said. He didn't say if he
was opposed to those
apparatuses being used against anybody else. Nor did he
appear to see any
contradiction in his complaint that the law was being used
selectively to
silence war veterans.
Meanwhile, other war veterans are mobilising behind
James Makamba's attempt
to secure a broadcasting licence for Joy-TV. The
Independent recently
revealed that a number of Zanu PF heavyweights including
Vice-President
Joseph Msika and Phillip Chiyangwa were lining up behind
Makamba.
War veterans' association secretary-general Endy Mhlanga told
the Mirror the
Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe should give Makamba a
licence.
"We will definitely clash with Jonathan Moyo if he refuses to put
the
station back on air," Mhlanga said. On Wednesday he was quoted by the
Daily
News accusing Moyo of using ZBC, the Herald and other media as
"tuckshops to
further his interests".
Mhlanga warned Moyo the veterans
would fight him over the Joy-TV saga. Moyo
was "an agent working to destroy
the party from within", he claimed. "Moyo
is not a war veteran but a
sellout."
Moyo was given acres of space by Munyaradzi Huni in a rambling
Sunday Mail
interview last weekend to pour scorn on Makamba's
supporters.
The expression "even kindergarten children" now appears to have
replaced
"you don't have to be a rocket scientist" as the standard usage to
rubbish
the views of Moyo's critics. "Ignorant" and "malicious" were also
freely
used, often in combination.
Joy-TV's licence expired, it was
not terminated, Moyo pointed out. ZBC was
in fact operating in violation of
the law when it allowed Joy-TV to continue
broadcasting without a licence
between April 2001 and May 2002, he said
Moyo appeared to take exception to
claims that the government was not
willing to free the airwaves. The airwaves
had been free since 1980, he
falsely claimed. He even tried to suggest that
in the United States the
airwaves were not free because there was "one
pro-America groupthink".
There may indeed be a "pro-America groupthink"
but that does not mean
broadcast media or any other media think President
Bush is doing the right
thing. He and his administration are daily subject to
excoriating criticism
by radio and TV stations. Who has ever heard a single
word of criticism of
President Mugabe on ZBC? Even a kindergarten child knows
that would be the
end for any ZBC announcer's career! And where else in the
world would you
have the Minister of Information calling a TV station during
a news bulletin
to "correct" a statement while the announcer sits there
looking
shell-shocked?
We are sorry to note that the editor of the
Herald is short of readers'
letters. Last Friday he had to resort to
publishing two letters about
stories carried in other newspapers - the
Zimbabwe Independent and Daily
News.
We are only concerned with the
first here. It was from High Court Registrar
J Manzunzu complaining about an
article written by Geoffrey Robertson QC in
which reference was made to the
case of two Law Society of Zimbabwe
officials detained by the
police.
Manzunzu, whose reference to "one Geoffrey Robertson QC" suggests
disdain
for the distinguished Australian barrister, nevertheless sought to
instruct
him on what habeas corpus meant. Judge President Paddington Garwe,
contrary
to Robertson's contention, had in fact issued a writ of habeas
corpus on
June 4, Manzunzu pointed out, ordering that the two Law Society
officials be
immediately given access to their lawyers and that the police
produce them
before the High Court the following morning at 9am.
"In
compliance with the order, the police did in fact produce the two
officials
before the High Court the following morning as directed and did
allow them
access to their lawyers," Manzunzu states.
At the time the ruling was
made on whether or not the police had reasonable
suspicion, the two Law
Society officials were in attendance before the Judge
President, Manzunzu
said. "The order of habeas corpus had been complied with
and was no longer in
issue."
Manzunzu was also at pains to point out that Robertson's claim
that those
attending the hearing did not rise when Judge President Garwe left
the court
as a sign of displeasure with his ruling showed the author had "no
idea" of
court proceedings. This was an urgent chamber application and
those
present - including many lawyers - had no obligation to be properly
attired
or to rise when the judge left, he said.
This may be true as
far as it goes. But it ignores a number of salient
facts. The application
before Judge President Garwe was for an order to
forthwith produce the two
Law Society officials before the court; allow
unhindered access to legal
representation; release the two LSZ officials
from detention; and declare the
police search warrant invalid.
Despite assurances to the Judge President
by the police through the
Attorney-General's representative during the
hearing that the LSZ officials
were being held at Harare Central, the police
were unable to produce them on
that day, June 4.
Despite repeated
submissions by the AG's representative that he had no
instructions in regard
to the application, the Judge President adjourned the
proceedings on several
occasions to allow the AG's representative to obtain
instructions.
The
AG's representative repeatedly informed the Judge President when the
hearing
resumed of the frustrations he and the AG were having in trying to
contact
the police since Police Commissioner Chihuri, his deputies, and the
senior
officers assigned to the case had all switched off their mobile
phones and
were unavailable.
The Judge President adjourned the proceedings from
about 6pm to 9.48pm on
June 4 but still the police were unable to produce the
LSZ officials.
Lawyers for the LSZ officials pressed that the three police
officers in
attendance, ie the investigating officer, the arresting officer,
and the
officer-in-charge, be incarcerated at the High Court cells until such
time
as the LSZ officials had been produced since, they claimed, the
Judge
President had been misled that the officials were being detained at
Harare
Central.
The Judge President turned down the application for
the incarceration of the
policemen and instead issued an order at around
9.48pm that the two LSZ
officials be produced before the court at 9am the
following day, June 5.
On the following day the officials were produced,
but well after 9am. The
Judge President was told that while the hearing was
in progress the previous
evening the police had taken the two officials to
the national park at Lake
Chivero.
With regard to the remaining
issues, the Judge President finally handed down
judgement at 3.40pm on June
5, but only after repeated adjournments to allow
the AG's representative to
get further instructions from the police
officers.
The AG's
representative remained unable to obtain instructions from the
police. The
lawyers for the LSZ officials maintained that the charges
contained in the
warned-and-cautioned statement were patently defective.
The Judge President
declined to order their immediate release. He held that
it could not be said
that the police had no reasonable suspicion to arrest
the men, given the
contents of the letters. He did not address the issue of
the redetention by
the police of the two after they had been initially
released.
In the end
the men walked free because the police had not applied for a
warrant to
further detain them.
Manzunzu, in his letter, made much of the nature of
the proceedings. Whilst
it may be true that the proceedings were in the form
of an urgent chamber
application which had to be transferred to a courtroom
on account of the
large turnout, and while it is also true the lawyers were
not dressed for
court for the same reason, it was reported that everybody in
the courtroom
rose as the Judge President entered and bowed as he took his
seat. Therefore
it was a pertinent observation by Robertson that some of
those present
remained seated when he left the courtroom, as reported in the
media.
Not all of these facts were contained in Manzunzu's letter. What
perplexes
us is why he wrote to a newspaper that had nothing to do with the
story in
question. The letter ended up in a space normally featuring
correspondence
from supporters of the ruling party.
The Nigerian
money-scammers are becoming badder and bolder with each
passing
week.
The latest applications for assistance in releasing
their huge ill-gotten
sums come from Emeka Okoye, who says he is holding
US$152 million from the
account of the late Magnus Leon, "a foreigner and
sailor", and Dr Victor
Peters, who claims to be financial director of the
Nigerian Electoral
Commission. He says he is hanging onto $170 million left
over after the last
poll.
But the baddest and the boldest of them all
is somebody claiming to be
Maryam Abacha, widow of the late dictator who, it
may be recalled, died in
the exotic embrace of a couple of imported hookers.
This is probably what
Maryam means when she says her husband "died while
still on active service".
She says she has US$52 million to dispose of
"which I intend to use for
investment, like real estate development or
import/export business
specifically in your country. This money came as a
payback contract deal
between my late husband and a Russian firm involved in
our country's
multi-billion dollar Ajaokuta steel plant project."
"Mrs
Abacha" recommends that the recipients of her e-mail act fast if they
want a
share of the loot because the present regime is catching up with
her
assets.
Amidst the acclamation of a bright new dawn in Durban last
week, South
African newspapers have been reporting a less sunny scene.
African Union
delegates spent thousands of rands cavorting with naked table
dancers and
escort girls at nightspots, the Sunday Times reports. The Libyans
were the
biggest spenders on escort girls, the paper said. One of their
delegates
spent R30 000 on tips alone at a striptease joint.
Delegates
from the DRC were also spotted on "active service" at some of
Durban's most
expensive nightclubs where a tot of whisky costs R18. They
ordered a number
of strippers to perform for them at their table.
But DRC ambassador to
South Africa Bene M'Poko doubted whether the group at
the club were from the
official Congolese delegation.
"We kept them very busy preparing
documents for the next day so I can't see
how they could have gotten out of
their work," he said.
Yes Mr Ambassador. We all know what documents they
were studying. They had
tassels on!
President Mugabe must be thanked
for showing the world who his friends are.
First we saw him hobnobbing
with Libyan despot Muammar Gaddafi in Durban.
Next he received a visit from
the racist demagogue Louis Farrakhan who, like
Mugabe, is persona non grata
in many countries.
Then he was seen in the fond embrace of Fidel Castro
who offered him
hospitality as consolation for a cancelled trip to Fiji where
stopovers
proved problematic. Given this dubious line-up, can we soon expect
the
following Herald headline: "Bin Laden arrives on state visit"?
Zim Independent
Govt accused of fuelling parallel market
Barnabas
Thondhlana
GOVERNMENT is one of the biggest players on the parallel market
despite
assertions to the contrary, bankers said this week.
The
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has on a number of occasions been forced
to
authorise a number of transactions outside the interbank rate to pay
off
pressing debts. Payments for fuel, power and government commitments have
all
been met from the parallel market.
While individuals in government
and industry are accusing bureaux de change
and banks of fuelling the foreign
currency parallel market rates, it emerged
this week that government has gone
further and sanctioned banks to
extensively explore the parallel market for
its benefit.
"Take for example the deal to repay Air Zimbabwe's
US$28,6 million debt to
the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the US$5
million initial
payment was raised on the parallel market and was approved by
government,"
said one analyst.
"In fact, it is that deal alone
which resulted in the parallel market rates
going up as government paid a
premium of $450 to the US dollar while the
going rate then was $300/US$1.
From then onwards, the rates shot up as it
had been evidenced that there was
demand."
The analyst said government and the Reserve Bank's
endeavours to find
scapegoats in the banking industry would not yield the
desired results.
"In any case, the chartered accounting firms which
government has said it
will commission to investigate banks have turned down
the offer. How do you
expect an accounting firm, which only in February said
a bank's results were
in order, to now go back and look for something wrong,
which they did not
find in the first place," the analyst said.
It
is understood chartered accou-nting firms have instead asked government
to
furnish them with figures - sourced from the RBZ's bank inspectorate
division
- which they can then interpret.
One banker said he believed things
were coming to a head.
"Politicians are just blank on what action to
take in light of the current
crisis," the banker said. "The witchhunt is
meant to protect some
individuals who are major players in the foreign
currency market. Those who
have benefited from the system are actually at the
forefront of calling for
an investigation."
He said international
financiers were waiting in the wings to sell foreign
currency to the country
at a premium.
"Otherwise, how would one explain the foreign currency
position of the
country? The 40% taken from exporters is nowhere near meeting
our
obligations," the banker said.
Zim Independent
British MP horrified by Mugabe's misrule
Dumisani
Muleya
SENIOR British politician Michael Ancram, who was in the country
on
Wednesday to assess the political and economic situation, says the time
has
come for the international community to halt President Robert
Mugabe's
heightening repression.
In an exclusive interview, Ancram,
who is deputy leader of the Conservative
Party and shadow foreign secretary,
said he was horrified by the legacy of
dictatorship he witnessed in Zimbabwe
on his visit. He said Mugabe's misrule
is now "censurable" and
"reprehensible".
"For the first time I saw for myself how bad the
situation is in this
country," Ancram said.
"The problem is, here
is a country with a huge potential for prosperity and
a good democratic base
but it's being destroyed by its leadership. They are
just plodding through
destroying agriculture and democratic institutions.
Human rights are
challenged and broken on a daily basis."
Ancram, who met opposition
Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan
Tsvangirai and representatives
of human rights organisations, said Mugabe
was threatening former South
African President Nelson Mandela's democratic
legacy in the region.
"Mandela's legacy of democracy and respect for human
rights is at risk in
southern Africa because of what is happening in
Zimbabwe," he
said.
The combative British politicianvisited displaced farm workers
in Epworth
and toured the Mazowe-Glendale farming districts.
"I
saw what should be productive land lying derelict while people are
starving
and children malnourished," he said.
Constitutional reform and fresh
elections, said Ancram, were the only way
out for Zimbabwe. He said the
international community should ensure Mugabe
did not drag down the country
with him.
"South Africa can really suffocate the Zimbabwe government
if they want," he
said. "I'm not saying they should do so but if they don't
act now the
problem will be much worse later. It's not in their own interests
to ignore
what is happening here."
Turning to government's threat
to deport Britain's Guardian newspaper
correspondent Andrew Meldrum, Ancram
said: "It's yet another example of
government's contempt of court decisions
and freedom of the press. It shows
civil rights are under threat in Zimbabwe
and that civilised forms of
democratic behaviour are
lacking."
Ancram came to Zimbabwe as part of a three-nation tour of
southern Africa.
He was in South Africa for three days and will also visit
Malawi.
Financial Times
Harare defies contempt of court ruling
By James Lamont in Johannesburg
Published: July 19 2002 5:00 | Last
Updated: July 19 2002 5:00
The Zimbabwean govern-ment said
yesterday it would defy a three-month
jail sentence and a Z$50,000 (£595)
fine handed down by a judge this week on
the country's justice
minister.
Judge Fergus Blackie found Patrick Chinamasa guilty on
two counts of
contempt of court relating to his criticism of a court verdict
governing the
illegal possession of weapons by US citizens in Zimbabwe three
years ago. Mr
Chinamasa had said the sentence of six-month jail terms was too
light.
"It is difficult to imagine a more deliberate and
contemptuous
response to the authority of the [High] Court than Chinamasa's,"
said Judge
Blackie in his judgment.
President Robert Mugabe's
government responded by saying the hearing
was irregular and its verdict
should be disregarded. But Mr Chinamasa's
legal counsel says he intends
appealing against the sentence.
The government has called Judge
Blackie a "racist" presiding over a
sinister "kangaroo court". It views his
verdict as stoking tensions between
the government and the judiciary, which
have risen since the government
supported illegal land invasions of
white-owned farm land.
Jonathan Moyo, the information minister,
said Judge Blackie had
embarked on "a personal crusade and has done that in a
manner that will
erode public confidence in the justice system".
The relationship between the government and the judiciary has been
fractious.
Senior judges believe the government has sought to meddle with
the
judiciary's independence. Last year, Chief Justice Anthony Gubbay
resigned
his post after differences with Mr Mugabe over
judicial
independence.
Earlier this week, their differences
erupted over a US journalist
based in Zimbabwe. The Harare magistrates court
acquitted Andrew Meldrum,
correspndent for the Guardian newspaper of the UK,
on charges of spreading
false information under new media laws.
Minutes after the verdict, the government issued an order for his
deportation
within 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Michael Ancram, shadow foreign
secretary in London,
returning from a one-day fact-finding mission to Harare,
said yesterday
conditions in Zimbabwe were far worse than he had
expected.
He warned that the crisis - in which about 6m people are
facing severe
food shortages - threatened to damage neighbouring South
Africa, Botswana
and Malawi.
Mr Ancram said he would recommend
the application of tougher sanctions
to the British government, which would
bar Mr Mugabe's business associates
from travel to the European
Union.
IOL
EU adds more Mugabe cronies to travel ban
July 19 2002
at 02:45PM
Brussels - The European Union is set to extend
"targeted sanctions" against
President Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe on
Monday by adding more names
to a list of people who are banned from visiting
EU states and whose
European-based assets have been frozen, diplomats
said.
Former colonial power Britain is behind the initiative to have EU
foreign
ministers decide on adding 20 more names to a list of people in
Mugabe's
circle, a diplomat close to the case said.
Mugabe himself
tops the list of those under a foreign travel ban imposed on
top Zimbabwean
officials in February, mainly because of serious
pre-electoral
violence.
However, the travel ban has not prevented Mugabe from attending
UN-organised
functions.
'All the signs are that things are going
from bad to worse'
His government is also at odds with the United Kingdom
over implementation
of its policy of land reforms, which entails seizing
commercial farms owned
mainly by the small white minority for transfer to
landless blacks.
"All the signs are that things are going from bad to
worse and the question
of tightening sanctions thus has to be raised," the
diplomat said, asking
not to be named. He added that political dialogue in
Zimbabwe was at a
"total impasse" and cited threats against foreign
journalists.
Mugabe has also passed tough new media legislation which is
currently being
tested in the case of US journalist Andrew Meldrum, who was
this week
acquitted of publishing false information but immediately found
himself up
against an expulsion order he is contesting.
Another
diplomat confirmed that the EU was "heading towards" an extension of
the list
of those targetted by a travel ban and a freeze on their overseas
bank
accounts, but ruled out any other kind of sanctions against Zimbabwe
at
present.
The EU imposed the initial visa restrictions and asset
freezing measures
after Harare expelled an EU observer team monitoring
preparations for the
presidential poll that saw Mugabe returned to power in
March.
The EU has also imposed a ban on arms sales and military supplies
to
Zimbabwe. - Sapa-AFP
BBC
Friday, 19 July, 2002, 15:22 GMT 16:22 UK
Two guilty in Hoogstraten trial
Mr van Hoogstraten denies any involvement in the
plot
An Old Bailey jury considering whether property tycoon
Nicholas van Hoogstraten murdered a business associate has been sent home for
the weekend, after returning guilty verdicts on two other men.
Robert Knapp and David Croke have been found guilty of killing retired
businessman Mohammed Sabir Raja, at his south London home.
Mr van Hoogstraten was accused of hiring the men to kill Mr Raja, who was
stabbed and shot at his home in Sutton on 2 July 1999.
The six male and six female jurors told the judge they were unable to reach a
verdict on Mr van Hoogstraten, and were told they could return a majority
verdict.
David Croke:
Guilty
|
They are due to continue their deliberations on Monday.
Croke, 59, from East Moulsecoomb, Brighton, and Knapp, 55, from Abbeyfeale,
County Limerick, now await sentencing.
Mr van Hoogstraten, of Framfield, near Uckfield, East Sussex, denies
murdering Mr Raja.
During the trial, the jury was told Mr Raja had been taking civil court
proceedings against the tycoon, alleging fraud.
Disguised
The jury convicted the Knapp and Croke unanimously on Friday, the seventh day
of its deliberations.
Robert Knapp was also
convicted
|
Knapp and Croke had turned up on Mr Raja's doorstep,
pulled a sawn-off shotgun from a bag, stabbed him five times, then shot him at
close range.
Mr Raja's grandsons were in the house at the time and ran downstairs to find
him clutching his chest.
They said Knapp and Croke were disguised as gardeners, wearing floppy hats,
boiler suits and gardening gloves.
Charge dropped
One was wearing a false moustache and carrying a gardening fork.
A charge of conspiracy to murder against Mr van Hoogstraten, 57, was dropped
last week when the judge started his summing up of the case.
The judge had told the jury it had the option to deliver a verdict of
manslaughter.
The prosecution said Mr van Hoogstraten could be guilty of murder even though
he was not present when the offence was committed.
Ban On Zim Products Stands - Lewanika
The Post
(Lusaka)
July 19, 2002
Posted to the web July 19, 2002
Larry
Moonze
THE ban on Zimbabwe products stands, commerce and industry
permanent
secretary Mbikusita Lewanika has said.
Launching the
Agricultural Trade Forum (ATF) yesterday, Lewanika said
historically Zambia
had been too accommodating in trade at the expense of
its own economy. "The
ban on 14 Zimbabwean products remain unblocked to
compel mutual trade between
the two countries," he said.
"The ban is a temporal move to reduce
institutionalised smuggling." Lewanika
said at a meeting in Zimbabwe on
Wednesday his counterparts were unhappy
with the unilateral decision effected
by Zambian government but that the
delegation from Zambia justified the need
to reduce dumping. Lewanika also
said the meeting reached a consensus in
which Zimbabwe agreed to address the
problem to ensure sustainable trade. And
commenting on the ATF Lewanika said
trade negotiations in the past were a
preserve of the government but there
was a dilemma because government did not
always have expertise.
He said the ATF would help the government in
negotiating trade imbalances in
agriculture so that the sector could surge.
And Zambia National Farmers
Union (ZNFU) president Ajay Vashee in a speech
read by his vice-president
Paul Cartwright said Zambia needs to build the
capacity to undertake trade
analysis that would enable it to invoke
protective provisions in COMESA and
World Trade Organisations (WTO)
protocols.
Vashee said there was need for capacity to analyse and know
when to impose
anti-dumping or countervailing measures. He said the ATF will
be responsible
for co-ordinating technical assistance to build trade analysis
capacity in
the private sector.
Vashee said Zambia was experiencing
adverse effects of the Free Trade Area
(FTA) treaty because the country went
into COMESA blindly. "Our current
situation has been made worse because there
is no existence of a well
co-ordinated and methodical forum such as the ATF
where such grievances can
be articulated and addressed," he
said.
Vashee said ZNFU believed in free trade but this should take place
on a fair
and even playing field where the participating partners were
mutual
beneficiaries.
Call to Tighten Smart' Sanctions On Harare
Business Day
(Johannesburg)
July 19, 2002
Posted to the web July 19,
2002
Jonathan Katzenellenbogen
Johannesburg
THE British
Conservative Party's spokesman on foreign affairs, Michael
Ancram, is urging
European governments to tighten the "smart" sanctions
which are in place
against Zimbabwe.
Ancram said in Johannesburg yesterday, after a
seven-hour undercover trip as
a tourist to Zimbabwe on Tuesday, that
President Robert Mugabe's recent
visits to Europe for conferences "made a
mockery" of the smart sanctions.
These sanctions have the effect of
freezing the assets of Zimbabwe's
political elite in Europe and also
restricting their travel to European
Union member states.
At present
the sanctions "are confused in definition (and) in application as
well,"
Ancram said.
He said he is urging European foreign ministers, who hold
their monthly
meeting next week, to act to extend the smart sanctions to
families and
business associates of Zimbabwe's political elite. The US has
done this
already.
Ancram said he is on a regional study tour, and
looking at the effect of
HIV/AIDS, the food crisis, and Zimbabwe. Yesterday
he met with Deputy
Foreign Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad, but declined to say
what message he
would be delivering about SA's attempts at mediation in
Zimbabwe.
Zim Independent
Zanu PF militia impose 'curfew' in Buhera
Taurai
Dzengerere
ZANU PF militia have embarked on a terror campaign in the Buhera
North
constituency ahead of council elections scheduled for September,
the
Zimbabwe Independent heard this week.
The terror has been
unleashed to coerce opposition supporters to rally
behind the ruling
party.
MDC provincial secretary for information and publicity in
Manicaland, Pishai
Muchauraya, confirmed the terror campaign. Buhera North is
the home area of
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
Muchauraya said
Zanu PF militia clad in police uniforms and purporting to be
members of the
police were beating up people suspected of supporting the MDC
in the
constituency.
"These militia move with a list of all people who support
the MDC. They get
their lists from kraal heads," he said. "There is a virtual
curfew
unilaterally declared by these militia from 5pm to
5am."
The terror campaign is said to have spread to Mutare South
where the militia
have also declared another dusk-to-dawn curfew at Berzel
Bridge.
"In Chipinge South we had scheduled a meeting for the MDC in
preparation for
council election, but we were surprised to receive a letter
from the
officer-in-charge in Chipinge banning us from holding our meeting,"
said
Muchauraya.
He said a number of cases had gone unreported to
the police because victims
were not sure who the real police officers
were.
He said the MDC provincial offices in Mutare had received
numerous
complaints from people in Buhera who were being brutalised by the
militia.
Police spokesman Andrew Phiri said he had received one
report of political
violence in Manicaland.
"We have so far
received only one case of arson from Dorowa from Stewart
Makwiti who reported
that his house was burnt down.
"Makwiti said his house was burnt
because he was accused of being an MDC
supporter. No-one has been arrested as
yet as investigations are
continuing," Phiri said.