This is Essex
Southend: Stalin accused on radio
A Zimbabwean
businessman who now lives in Southend will be accused of land
and farm
invasions in a BBC radio broadcast on Sunday.
Stalin Mau Mau, who runs
the Zim-Link shop, in Hamlet Court Road, Westcliff,
will be one of two
Zimbabwean nationals now living in Britain investigated
in the programme for
BBC Radio Five Live.
Controversy has followed Mr Mau Mau since he stood
as an MP for Mugabe's
Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front
party. He denies the
accusations.
Published Friday June 18,
2004
MOVEMENT FOR DEMOCRATIC
CHANGE
BRIEFING
NOTE
17 June 2004
For Further Information Please
Contact:
Nkanyiso Maqeda, MDC Director of Information: 00263 11
765 574
James Littleton: 00 27 727 310
554 or 0027 21 447 9587
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUOTES
“I am happy to inform the nation that as the MDC we are happy to
report that we have united the entire nation against tyranny. Tribalism has
never been and is not an issue in our party. Our concern is democracy and space.
This was amply demonstrated at the last two meetings I had with the people in
Matabeleland. They all spoke about democratic change and unity to remove Zanu PF
from power”, said President Morgan Tsvangirai (15 June
2004)
“The decision by the government controlled Media and Information
Commission to close down the Tribune newspaper is not only a politically
motivated strike it also signifies yet another attack on citizens’
constitutional right to receive and impart information of their choice”,
said Paul
Themba Nyathi (11 June 2004)
POLITICAL
VIOLENCE/INTIMIDATION
- 13 Harare Councillors
suspended
In yet another politically
motivated attack, Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo recently suspended
13 MDC Harare City councillors following a meeting in which MDC councillor Dr
Christopher Mushonga was popularly elected to replace the discredited Sekesai
Makwavarara as Deputy Mayor. This latest move by Chombo against the MDC
dominated Harare council demonstrates once again that the interests of the
people are subordinate to Zanu PF’s political agenda. By suspending the
councillors Chombo has effectively stopped the council from operating.
“The suspension of legitimately election Harare councillors by
[Minister of Local Government] Ignatius Chombo further exposes the regime’s
disregard of the citizens who voted them into office”, said Paul Themba Nyathi (2
June 2004)
- Councillors Blocked From
Meeting
Last week two MDC councillors,
Voice Chinake and Sipho Gumede were blocked by a Zanu PF mob from attending a
council meeting in the town of Norton. This was the second consecutive meeting
from which they had been prevented from attending.
- Another MDC Mayor Forced From
Office
Following the forced
removal of the popular MDC Mayor of Harare, Elias Mudzuri, the Zanu PF
government proceeded to dismiss the MDC Mayor of Chegutu, Francis Dhlakama.
Dhlakama was elected by an overwhelming majority in 2001. Following the Urban
Council Elections in August 2003 the MDC controlled all 12 major cities and
towns in Zimbabwe. The concerted attempt by the Zanu PF government to remove
popularly elected mayors and councillors on spurious grounds represents a clear
violation of the sovereign wishes of the people.
Political Violence Report
Cumulative Totals: 1 Jan 2004 – 30 April
2004
Abduction/Kidnapping –
23
Assault – 191
Attempted
Murder – 7
Freedom of
Expression/Association/movt –
195
Political
Discrimination/Intim/Vict –
333
Murder – 3
Torture – 115
Unlawful
Arrest – 42
- MDC Supporters Attacked in
Chipinge
At least 30 MDC supporters and
their families recently had to flee their homes in Chipinge after they were
attacked by a marauding gang of Zanu PF supporters. The attack left two people
seriously injured whilst another 20 were treated for minor injuries. No arrests
were made.
In yet another assault on freedom
of speech, and in an attempt to further curtail the flow of information, the
government has announced plans to compel all Internet Service Providers in
Zimbabwe to sign a contract requiring them to divulge the source or block
individual email messages deemed politically sensitive, objectionable,
unauthorised or obscene.
This politically orchestrated
move is clearly aimed at limiting the amount of objective and alternative
information that voters are able to access ahead of the parliamentary elections,
leaving them increasingly at the mercy of government propaganda.
Twice in the past three weeks
emails sent out by the MDC Information Department have been blocked on the
spurious grounds that they contain sensitive content, such as the announcement
of a press conference (see below)
****************
eManager Notification *****************
The following mail was
blocked since it contains sensitive content.
Source mailbox:
<info@mdczimbabwe.co.zw>
Destination
mailbox(es): <media@mdc.co.zw>
Policy:
Anti-Spam
Action:
Delete
Recipient,
Content filter has detected a sensitive e-mail.
******************* End of
message *********************
Message-ID:
<000001c44a17$3609c650$b05858d1@chinja>
From: "
information" <info@mdczimbabwe.co.zw>
To:
<media@mdc.co.zw>
Subject: Invitation to Press
Conference
Date: Fri, 4 Jun
2004 11:29:28 +0200
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Election Petition
Verdict
On 10 June 2004, Justice Ben
Hlatwayo dismissed the first part of Morgan Tsvangirai’s Presidential election
petition.
Background and
Comment
On 12 April
2002, President Tsvangirai launched an election petition in the Zimbabwe High
court to set aside the results of the March 2002 Presidential Elections. The
hearing of this election petition was seriously delayed and only heard on 3-4
November 2003, that is some 19 months after the election petition was filed in
the High Court.
At this hearing,
detailed and weighty legal arguments were advanced by President Tsvangirai’s
legal team, headed by Advocate Jeremy Gauntlett S.C from South Africa, that the
conduct of the presidential election was fatally flawed.
One of the main
legal arguments concerned the considerable powers vested in Robert Mugabe, as
the incumbent President, in terms of the Electoral Act, to alter the Electoral
Act as he sees fit.
Prior to the
Presidential Election, Mr Mugabe used these considerable powers in many material
ways with the object of promoting himself as a Presidential candidate and
placing at a severe disadvantage Mr Tsvangirai as a presidential candidate. It
was strongly argued, on behalf of Mr Tsvangirai, that these powers, apart from
being blatantly unfair, were against the Constitution of Zimbabwe.
There was
further delay from 3-4 November 2003 until 10 June 2004, that is some seven
months, before an order was given by the High Court. In terms of this order, the
High Court has dismissed Mr Tsvangirai’s legal arguments. No reasons have as yet
been produced by the Court.
The next phase
of the Election Petition will be to lead factual evidence of the serious and
sustainable abuses committed by or on behalf of Mr Mugabe to have himself
elected as President of Zimbabwe in March 2002.
Mr Tsvangirai
remains adamant that the Presidential election held in March 2002 was neither
free nor fair and intends to persist with his election petition in order to
prove this.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“We are producing it[food] this year, definitely. Our estimates are
there and they are showing us we will have enough food for the country and with
a surplus…we are not hungry…Why foist food upon us? We don’t want to be choked,
we have enough’, Robert Mugabe (Sky Interview, 24 May 2004)
FOOD
CRISIS
MDC Shadow Agriculture Minister,
Renson Gasela, has produced a detailed assessment of crop forecasts for the next
12 months. Hon Gasela estimates that Zimbabwe will have a shortfall of at least
600,000 tones of grain, perhaps as much as 900,000.
- 8 Million Face Food
Shortages
Research commissioned by the
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Foundation, estimates that eight million Zimbabweans
face severe food shortages this year due to the dramatic drop in grain
production. The report pointed out that the food deficit is being made
deliberately worse by the policies pursued by the Zimbabwe government and its
statutory monopoly, the Grain Marketing Board.
Despite claims by Robert Mugabe
that Zimbabwe has sufficient food and no longer requires food aid, 38 people in
Bulawayo have died from malnutrition in the past two months. These deaths were
contained in a report by the Bulawayo City Council’s health department.
In its latest food security
emergency report, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) has warned
that access to food will be a major challenge for ordinary Zimbabweans in the
2004/05 consumption year.
“Zimbabwe continues to face a severe food security crisis,
characterised by high levels of unemployment and inflation, poor agricultural
production over the last four years, drought, and poor government policies,
exacerbated by crippling levels of HIV/AIDS,” said
FEWSNET
A recent study conducted by
UNICEF, examining nutrition in Southern Africa, revealed that malnutrition
levels in Harare had doubled over the past four years and had significantly
worsened in Bulawayo. The report also stated that at least one-quarter of
districts in Zimbabwe had high levels of severe acute malnutrition in children
under five whilst in one-third of all districts the mortality rates were
approaching ‘emergency’ levels.
BASIC COMMODITIES ARE INCREASINGLY UNAFORDABLE/UNAVAILABLE TO MOST
ZIMBABWEANS
|
Item |
Quantity |
Price as at 25/09/03
|
Price as at
13/05/04 |
Price as at
17/06/04 |
|
Jade bath soap |
250g |
2 300.00 |
3 100.00 |
3 500.00 |
|
Colgate |
100ml |
4 700.00 |
5 800.00 |
5 800.00 |
|
Bread |
Loaf |
1 250.00 |
2 800.00 |
2 950.00 |
|
Brown sugar |
2kg |
2 480.00 |
3 450.00 |
4 600.00 |
|
Fresh Milk |
500ml |
685.00 |
1 664.00 |
Not in stock |
|
Stock Margarine |
1kg |
9 015.00 |
Not in Stock |
Not in stock |
|
Cooking oil |
2 litres |
8 500.00 |
23 000.00 |
26 340.00 |
|
Premier fine salt |
2kg |
3 105.00 |
3 670.00 |
3 670.00 |
|
Roller Meal |
10kg |
Not in Stock |
12 000.00 |
20 680.00 |
|
Bargain Beef |
1kg |
5 400.00 |
12 500.00 |
12
900.00 |
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GENERAL
Health Crisis
According to a recent report
published by the Food Security Network (FOSENET), only half of the health
clinics in three Zimbabwean provinces (Mashonaland West, Midlands and Masvingo)
have access to safe water and that the majority of districts face shortages of
essential drugs. FOSENET also found that the availability of antibiotics had
also dropped with currently 58% of districts having access, compared to
two-thirds in March. The research carried out by FOSENET further revealed that
provinces such as Matabeleland North did not have adequate medical staff and
that only half of its clinics had a nurse.
Foreign Debt Continues to
Rise
According to recent newspaper
reports, Zimbabwe’s external debt has soured to a record US$4billion. In 2002
the debt stood at US$3.3 billion. The failure by the government to service its
principle debt means that arrears are estimated at US$1.8 billion.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
END
JAG OPEN LETTER FORUM
Email: justice@telco.co.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Internet:
www.justiceforagriculture.com
Please
send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
justice@telco.co.zw with "For Open Letter
Forum" in the subject
line.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
1:
Is there any hope at all for wildlife in Zimbabwe? I remember herds
of
buffalo at Mana Pools numbering into the many hundreds, having to
cull
Impala & Zebra in the same area only 30 years ago.
When will
this insanity and the slaughter of the innocents end?
Alan Paton would
surely lament and "Cry the Beloved Country" on the
devastation of Zim's
economy, agricultural infrastructure, loss of
employment for millions of farm
workers, rape, terrorism, beatings and
murder [by the Green Bombers];
starvation and AIDS; lack of Primary Health
Care; closure and censure of
Private Schools because their fees have had to
increase to try and keep up
with rampant inflation caused in the main by a
Government of Desperation...
desperate to cling to power and enjoy luxury,
fabulous homes, 4X4's and all
that money can buy while the electorate is
beaten into abject poverty and
starvation and forced to vote a megalomaniac
back into power by the Party
Faithful [living in the lap of luxury & stolen
farms] & local Chiefs
[bought by ZANU PF] who will instruct their people
who to vote
for.
CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY for the harm and damage done by the
Government to
its people, National Heritage and Agricultural
breadbasket.
Merl
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
2: Dorothy Nicely
Perhaps you should have a place on your site in which
international persons
could contribute to your cause. Something easy to use
and secure like
PayPal.
My heart goes out to the farmers and families
who's land and lives are
being
destroyed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
3:
I am an American who visited Zimbabwe back in 1995 and met and stayed
with
the Edgar Family on their farm in Tengwe. I am wondering if they are
still
in Zimbabwe or if they went to England. I also wonder if there is a
way to
get in touch with them.
Regards
Jeff Kraft
San
Francisco,
CA
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
4:
I am trying to find the address of Mrs. Jean Rimmer, husband of the
late
John Rimmer and father of Clive Rimmer who is my godson.
Many
thanks for any help you can give me.
Regards.
Clive
Hayter
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Letter
5:
Lift required for 100 blankets from Byo to Mutare, for dispossessed
of
their belongings farm workers in the Chimanimani area. May I say
more?
Donations for more blankets would be appreciated. People in Chipinge
have
also had their homes burnt to the ground and left with
nothing.
Regards in hope of response
Mike and
Fiona
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
All
letters published on the open Letter Forum are the views and opinions
of the
submitters, and do not represent the official viewpoint of Justice
for
Agriculture.
JAG Urgent Legal Communiqué 18th June 2004
LEGAL COMMUNIQUÉ
FARM
LISTINGS
Today's Herald of Friday 18 June 2004 contains LOT 147 of
Preliminary
Notice of Intention to Compulsory Acquire Land under the Land
Acquisition
Act (Chapter 20:10). Lot 147 lists 408 properties for
acquisition. This
will be sent out on Monday 21 June's Communiqué. Any
farmer requiring
immediate confirmation or otherwise before then as to his
property being
listed should contact the JAG office on 799410 or email us
giving details
of property and owner.
Property owners are reminded
that the amended act obviates the need to
serve these notices or any Section
8 order on either the owners or any
registered real right holders over the
property. Property owners still
have thirty days within which to register a
letter of objection and we
recommend that all farmers should continue to do
so as a matter of course
to prevent conceding the property by
default.
Zim Independent
Paradza sues Mahoso, MIC
Vincent Kahiya
BELEAGUERED
politician and publisher Kindness Paradza yesterday filed an
urgent court
application to get his newspaper, the Tribune, back on
the
streets.
The Tribune was closed last week by the Media and
Information Commission
(MIC) on the grounds that there had been
irregularities in the change of
ownership of the paper.
The
closure came after a series of attacks on Paradza, a former journalist
and
now Zanu PF MP for Makonde, in the state media accusing him of
collaborating
with directors of Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe,
publishers of the
currently banned Daily News, and criticising government's
media laws in his
maiden speech to parliament.
Paradza is the major shareholder in
Mayzone Investments which bought Africa
Tribune Newspapers (ATN) - publishers
of the Tribune - from UKI Investments
in March. He is viewed as having fallen
victim to the current power struggle
in the upper echelons of Zanu PF which
has seen unprecedented attacks on
senior Zanu PF officials in the pages of
the official press.
Paradza yesterday filed an urgent High Court
application seeking interim
relief to be allowed to publish.
Last
night it was not clear when the case would be heard. The paper's
group
operations director Nevanji Madanhire said the paper would be published
as
soon as the interim relief had been granted.
Paradza, together
with four co-directors, filed the suit against the MIC and
its chairman,
Tafataona Mahoso.
In his founding affidavit, Paradza averred that the
cancellation of the
paper's licence was ultra vires provisions of the Access
to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act and was biased.
"This
application will show the cancellation of the applicants' lice-nce
was
manifestly unlawful, unjust, excessive, irrational, grossly unreasonable
and
irregular on account of self-evident bias," he said.
He said
the paper employed 60 permanent staff who had been immediately
affected by
the closure of the paper. He said as of Friday last week the
paper had debts
amounting to $1,73 billion.
Explaining the shareholding structure,
Paradza said at the time UKI decided
to sell its shareholding in ATN the
publishing company had a share capital
of 20 000 shares of which only 100 had
been issued. He said the new
shareholders then bought the available 100
shares "which translate to 100%
control of ATN".
"The (other) 19
900 shares remained and remain unissued as was the case when
UKI (Pvt) Ltd
owned the controlling interest," he said.
In a statement yesterday,
the MIC said the new directors owned just 0,5 % of
the company by virtue of
the 100 issued shares.
"Therefore, failure to produce board
resolutions on the fate of the 19 900
shares was one among the several
reasons for the cancellation of the
licence," the MIC
said.
Paradza said problems for the papers started after an article
in the Sunday
Mail on April 25 which stated that he wanted to bring back the
Daily News
clandestinely by seeking funding from ANZ major shareholder Strive
Masiyiwa.
"I respectfully believe that the chairman of the
commission, Dr Mahoso, was
excited by this false and defamatory article into
confusing himself with its
politics.
"It is from there that
problems started," Paradza said in the affidavit.
Paradza said the MIC
had expressed its intention to cancel the Tribune
licence, saying the paper
had violated Section 71 of Aippa. The section
deals with change of
ownership.
"The commission was grossly in error on both the facts and
more so the law
in its approach to the issues which supposedly were of
concern to it.
"The commission was mistaken because a failure to
notify the commission of
any changes is not a contravention which qualifies
for a cancellation or
suspension of a licence," he
said.
Meanwhile, the Southern Africa Editors Forum (SAEF) has blasted
Chronicle
editor, Stephen Ndlovu, for "distorting the truth" and "conducting
himself
in a manner unworthy of a journalist and editor".
In a
statement issued yesterday, SAEF sharply criticised an article authored
by
Ndlovu that appeared in the Chronicle last week purporting to
report
presentations at a forum jointly hosted by SAEF and the Institute
for
Democracy in South Africa (Idasa) in Windhoek, Namibia,
recently.
In the article, Ndlovu alleged that Gugulethu Moyo, who was
one of the
panellists, had proposed war as a solution to the Zimbabwe
crisis.
Moyo, formerly a legal representative for the banned Daily News,
is now a
media law and policy programme manager at the Media Institute for
Southern
Africa (Misa) in Windhoek.
"SAEF has noted with dismay
that the article written by Ndlovu and carried
in the Bulawayo Chronicle ...
is in fact riddled with blatant fabrications,
distortions and mischief," the
statement said.
"SAEF does not intend to address each of the false
and malicious
fabrications by the Bulawayo Chronicle, except to state for the
record that
the articles are a total distortion of the truth, contain
substantial and
obvious fabrications and therefore an unprofessional act
unworthy of any
journalist and editor."
Zim Independent
Council paves Mugabe's Way
Staff Writer
THE Harare
City Council has embarked on a multi-billion-dollar project to
widen two
roads which form a link to President Robert Mugabe's mansion
in
Helensvale.
Major civil works have already started to widen Carrick
Creagh and
Borrowdale Brook roads which link the mansion to Crow-hill
Road.
It is understood the project has not been discussed in council.
Councillors
who spoke to the Zim-babwe Independent were surprised that there
was such a
project taking place.
"I am hearing this for this first
time," said suspended Ward 32 councillor
Last Maengehama. "I do not remember
coming across that project."
Suspended Ward 17 councillor Chris
Mushonga, who was a me-mber of the
executive committee, said council had no
capital project on its books as
government had not given it borrowing
powers.
Councillor for the area Xavier Vengesayi last Wednesday said
the decision to
construct the road was not the product of a council
resolution.
"I think funding could have come from government through
the Road Fund," he
said. Town clerk Nomutsa Chideya referred all questions to
the Ministry of
Transport and Communications before switching off his
cellphone. Council PR
manager Leslie Gwindi did not respond to written
questions sent to his
office last week.
Engineers this week said
the road could cost anything from $1,5 billion to
$3 billion depending on the
finish, the amount needed to repair private
driveways affected by the
construction work and relocating water pipes and
underground cables.
Construction of a tarmac road costs at least $80 000 per
square
metre.
Council has been struggling to raise money for water treatment
chemicals and
to repair damaged equipment. The precarious posi-tion at Town
House has
resulted in more than half of the city going without water in some
periods.
The road works, covering a five-kilometre stretch, begin at
the intersection
of Crowhill and Carrick Creagh and then turn left into
Borrowdale Brook Road
where the mansion is located. The works appear to end
at the intersection on
Borrowdale Brook Road and Daimpre Road, about 150
metres from Mugabe's gate.
The Independent visited the area last
Wednesday where council earthmoving
equipment and com-pacters were at work.
Council has subcontracted
earthmoving to a private company with blue
trucks.
Mugabe's oriental-style mansion has been under construction
for over five
years. It recently saw controversy when Mugabe said in an
interview with Sky
News that Malaysia had donated timber used in the
construction. The
opposition in the Malaysian parliament hascalled for a
probe into the
donation.
The area around Mugabe's home was
recently gazetted as a security zone.
Zim Independent
Zanu PF ropes church into poll campaign
Dumisani
Muleya
THE ruling Zanu PF has resolved to use church leaders, mostly pastors
from
pentecostal denominations, to spearhead its campaign in next year's
general
election.
A confidential report presented to the politburo by
the Zanu PF commissariat
said the ruling party - which is desperate to win
the critical election -
will use church leaders to mobilise
voters.
"As part of our campaign effort towards the 2005
parliamentary election, the
commissariat is identifying and meeting with
various interest groups which
are helpful in mobilising their following to
support the party," the report
said.
"The church in Zimbabwe is
one of the sectors that have been identified to
be quite helpful in this
respect. To date the commissariat has identified
and is already networking
with over 600 pastors from pentecostal churches
and over 200 church leaders
from African apostolic sects."
In the past Zanu PF has used
traditional leaders to mobilise voters in
communal areas. Already chiefs and
headmen have been given massive
incentives in the form of allowances and a
scheme to purchase vehicles as
part of luring them to the ruling party's
side.
Many chiefs have also had their homes electrified under
President Robert
Mugabe's rural electrification programme.
The
report said Zanu PF's mobilisation through the churches was going
on
well.
"The response of the church to our programmes is
massive," it said. "The
commissariat is set to strengthen its contacts with
the church and use it as
an important campaign vehicle."
The
report said the ruling party commissariat had designed an
"outreach
programme" for a "massive campaign" trail at provincial and
district levels
to recapture seats lost to the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change in
2000.
"In order to drum up general awareness
and readiness for a massive campaign
programme, the commissariat has designed
an outreach programme," the report
said, "to visit all the provinces in order
to meet with the provincial,
district coordinating committees and district
leadership in their respective
administrative areas.
"The
programme shall start with the national secretary visiting all
constituencies
where we lost to the opposition during the 2000
parliamentary
election."
Zanu PF national political commissar
Elliot Manyika was scheduled to tour
Manicaland province from June 3-6 to
meet the local political leadership in
Chipinge, Chimanimani, Nyanga, Mutare,
and Zimunya-Marange.
"After Manicaland, the programme will continue
with other provinces in the
following order: Matabeleland North, Matabeleland
South, Midlands,
Mashonaland West, Mashonaland East, Masvingo, and
Mashonaland Central," the
report said. "It will then end with the urban
provinces of Harare and
Bulawayo."
Zanu PF will also use
"political orientation workshops as a campaign tool".
"After the
national workshop held for provincial commissars in Rowa National
Training
Centre in Mutare in March, the department has requested all
provinces to
organise similar commissariat workshops," the report said.
"To date,
Manicaland and Mashonaland East provinces have already done their
workshops.
The commissariat is liaising with the rest of other provinces to
ensure all
provinces get the same political orientation and training."
The
report said Zanu PF, currently entangled in confusion over primary
elections,
would accelerate the restructuring of its provinces to strengthen
its
structures to win next year's crucial poll.
Zim Independent
Chihuri ordered to enforce eviction
Munyaradzi
Wasosa
THE High Court has ordered Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri to
enforce
an earlier High Court ruling to evict Zanu PF militia who are
illegally
occupying offices of the opposition MDC in Chimanimani.
High
Court judge Justice Yunus Omerjee issued the order on Tuesday following
the
filing of an application by Birgit and Shane Kidd, the owners of the
building
that houses the MDC district offices, to have the invaders
removed.
Cited as respondents are New Ziana chairman Munacho Mutezo,
Chihuri and a
Misheck Beta who is said to be leading the
invaders.
Mutezo has been actively campaigning to represent Zanu PF
in Chimanimani in
next year's parliamentary election.
About a
month ago, militant ruling party supporters attacked and occupied
the MDC
offices in response to an incident in parliament involving local MP
Roy
Bennett.
Omerjee instructed Chihuri to evict the invaders in the
event that they
ignore the order to vacate the premises
immediately.
"Respondents and all persons acting in concert with them
shall restore
forthwith possession or occupation of applicants' (the Kidds)
building in
Chimanimani village, failing which the 17th respondent (Chihuri)
is hereby
ordered to evict them and restore possession to applicants,"
Omerjee said.
Omerjee also ordered Mutezo and 15 other respondents
not to harass, assault
or threaten the Kidds and to meet the costs of the
High Court application.
In a High Court affidavit Birgit Kidd, a
Finnish citizen, said she was
abducted and assaulted on Monday allegedly by
Zanu PF supporters.
"On May 28, respondents and Zanu PF supporters
numbering about 2 000 forced
their way to our house chanting slogans against
me and my husband as well as
denouncing Bennett," Birgit Kidd (60)
said.
"The group said they did not want us in Chimanimani anymore
because our
building houses the offices of the MDC."
Kidd added
that the mob said it was exacting revenge for Bennett's alleged
attack on
Patrick Chinamasa and Didymas Mutasa in parliament.
Kidd said she was
then force-marched to their building, which was
extensively
damaged.
In an interview yesterday, Kidd said she was going to the
occupied MDC
offices with her husband when war veterans and Zanu PF youths
launched a
fresh attack on Monday.
"Men claiming to be war
veterans and Zanu PF youths claiming to be working
on instructions from
Joseph Mwale, a CIO operative, attacked us,'' Kidd
said.
"Three
people beat me up with sticks and 'smashed' my head with a rock,
while six
people attacked my husband."
Kidd claimed that she sustained a
dislocated shoulder and has 16 head
stitches.
MDC Manicaland
provincial information secretary Pishai Muchauraya confirmed
the attack
claiming soldiers illegally camped at Bennett's Charleswood farm
spearheaded
it.
Zim Independent
40 women activists arrested in Bulawayo
Loughty
Dube
POLICE in Bulawayo have arrested 40 members of Women of Zimbabwe
Arise
(Woza) for holding a meeting in the high-density suburb of Matshobane
in the
city.
Woza spokesperson, Jenni Williams, confirmed the arrest
of the 40 women but
said they were arrested before the start of the
meeting.
"The women were arrested on Wednesday while they were still
preparing tea
before the start of the meeting at Matshobane Community Hall in
the western
suburbs," said Williams.
"They were bundled into
several trucks before being taken to Western
Commonage police station where
they were detained."
Some of the women were released later on
Wednesday evening and ordered to
report back to the police station yesterday
while the rest were still
detained at the time of going to
press.
A police spokesperson confirmed the arrest of the 40 women and
said they
will be charged with contravening Section 24 of the Public Order
and
Security Act (Posa) that requires organisers of public gatherings to
seek
police clearance first.
"The women are being charged under
Section 24 of Posa and are expected to
appear in court as soon as all the
paper work on their case has been done,"
said the police
spokesman.
This is not the first time that police have swooped on the
militant women
group. Last year police arrested and beat up several women who
were
congregated to celebrate International Women's day on May 3.
Zim Independent
Sweden deplores worsening crisis in Zimbabwe
Itai
Dzamara recently in Sweden
SWEDISH state secretary Annika Soder last week
said her country was deeply
concerned about the deteriorating political,
social and economic situation
in Zimbabwe.
After she was asked to
explain her country's position regarding the
situation in Zimbabwe, Soder
said as a member of the European Union (EU)
Sweden subscribed to the position
adopted by the economic bloc.
The EU has imposed targeted sanctions
on President Robert Mugabe and his
close allies. It has also castigated
Mugabe's policies and condemned human
rights abuses in the Southern African
country.
"There is a European Union position to which we subscribe.
We are deeply
concerned with the situation in Zimbabwe," said Soder. "As an
old friend of
the Zimbabwean people, we believe that Zimbabweans should sort
out their
problems without violence and through debate."
She
denied charges that Sweden had not been forthright about its
condemnation of
the Zimbabwean crisis compared to other EU members such
as
Britain.
"There is agreement about the position on Zimbabwe in
both our government
and parliament. The sanctions imposed by the EU should be
implemented on the
listed individuals effectively. There should be an end to
political
repression, media restriction and the subsequent economic meltdown
in
Zimbabwe," she said.
It was regrettable from Sweden's point of
view that immense investment
contributed to Zimbabwe's liberation is going up
in smoke under the Zanu PF
government, she said.
"There is
disappointment on the part of Sweden. If we look back to the 1970s
and the
80s a lot of political investment was done through Zanu and other
parties.
But now the situation is discouraging. This investment has failed
to help the
people of Zimbabwe. It has gone to waste. We think as a result
of that, we
are obliged to actively respond to the situation in Zimbabwe."
Soder
said her government has in the past several months been putting
pressure on
Sadc leaders to seek solutions to the Zimbabwe crisis through
initiating
dialogue.
Anna Brandt, the head of the Africa Department in the
Swedish Foreign
Affairs ministry, noted the worsening situation in Zimbabwe
was discouraging
people from her country from investing or visiting Zimbabwe
as tourists.
"Our relationships have deteriorated drastically due to
the situation in
Zimbabwe," Brandt said. "We don't have Swedish companies
willing to invest
in Zimbabwe as was the case before. Even visits to Zimbabwe
by Swedes have
become very few."
She added: "We are trying to work
with non-governmental organisations on
matters that can improve
democratisation. Unfortunately, we are not seeing
improvements regarding the
situation in Zimbabwe.
"We are very concerned about the possibility
of violence ahead of general
elections. We were discouraged by the decision
to kick out a UN crop
assessment team. We are trying to advocate for the UN
to be able to monitor
the elections, from the campaigning period up to the
announcement of results
in order to ensure a level playing field."
Zim Independent
Veteran writer urges Mugabe to go
Itai
Dzamara
WORLD renowned Swedish writer and journalist Per Wastberg, a former
family
friend of President Robert Mugabe, believes the Zimbabwean leader
lost
direction after the death of his first wife, Sally.
Mugabe also
became jealous of the rise to power and popularity of former
South African
President Nelson Mandela in 1994, Wastberg said during a
wide-ranging
interview in Stockholm last week.
"The Mugabe I had known for more
than 20 years was a simple, honest and
straight-forward man," said Wastberg.
"He had Sally as a good adviser. I was
surprised to read later in the 1990s
that he had developed a penchant for
power and a luxurious
lifestyle."
Wastberg first met Mugabe in 1959 when he came to the
University College of
Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
"I became interested
in the struggle for Independence as soon as I arrived
at the university in
1959. That is how I quickly came to know Joshua Nkomo,
George Nyandoro and
other Zapu leaders who were subsequently detained. Later
on I met Robert
Mugabe and we became very close friends. I used to smuggle
books and
newspapers to him when he was in detention and helped him study
for his
degrees," said Wastberg.
The 73-year-old author and journalist - who
has published 55 books - had
close contacts with several nationalist leaders
in the region. These
included Julius Nyerere, Samora Machel and Sam
Nujoma.
Wastberg said he helped Sally move to Sweden where she stayed
at his home
for three years in the early 1970s whilst teaching in elementary
schools.
Mugabe also visited Sweden several times after his release in 1974
and would
visit Wastberg's home.
"My last meeting with Mugabe was
in 1994 when I visited him at State House
in Harare. I expressed my concern
over his policies, particularly in the
field of edcuation and in relation to
Matabeleland, which I made clear to
him were destroying the country," said
Wastberg, who had been invited by
Mugabe to the Lancaster House Conference in
1979 and the subsequent
Independence celebrations in Harare.
"I
reminded him that he should have stepped down after serving at most
two
terms. A deeply worried Mugabe opened up and told me that he felt
anxious
about the rise of Mandela, particularly the popularity he had
gained," he
said. He was clearly uncomfortable with the direction Mandela was
taking.
"This meeting was my last with Mugabe. We parted in a stiffly
cool and
polite way. I told him that our friendship of over 30 years was over
since
we no longer had any common views and approaches. He said 'Is that so?'
and
gave me a cool handshake. He told me he had to proceed without me.
Since
then the Christmas cards and messages of solidarity that had been
a
consistent thing have ended."
Wastberg noted differences in the
personalities of Mugabe and Mandela.
Zim Independent
Zimbabwe joins Sadc arms race
Dumisani
Muleya
ZIMBABWE'S current order of US$200 million worth of advanced fighter
jets
from China to bolster its national armoury is part of an arms race
currently
under way in southern Africa.
Despite an economy in a deep
crisis, shortages of foreign currency, power,
fuel, food and basic
commodities, Zimbabwe has ordered 12 fighter jets and
military vehicles to
strengthen its arsenal.
The country is understood to be waiting to
take delivery of the FC-1s from
Chengdu Aircraft Corporation developed to
replace the Chengdu F-7 supersonic
jets. The cost of each plane is estimated
at US$20 million.
The FC-1 is a lightweight multipurpose fighter
based on the design of the
MiG-33.
The Defence ministry has
traditionally had one of the largest budget
allocations in Zimbabwe. The
country has now resorted to buying arms from
China because its fleet has been
badly depleted by Western sanctions.
The European Union, Switzerland,
the United States and Canada have imposed
an arms embargo on
Zimbabwe.
The army is currently phasing out vehicles, planes, guns
and other arms
manufactured mostly in Europe and North America as a
result.
In a bid to enhance military capabilities and outdo countries
in the region,
Zimbabwe over the past few years has been rearming
aggressively.
Military sources said it had bought Russian-made MiG 23
Floggers, supersonic
multi-role fighters, currently the most advanced planes
in its armoury.
"The MiG-23 is a highly manoeuvrable, principal
attack fighter capable of
flying faster and higher than any planes currently
flown in the region," a
source said.
"It can operate in different
weather conditions, day and night."
The MiG-23s replaced the 1960s era
British-made Hunter FGA Mk-9s retired and
put on sale last year. They are
flown from Thornhill Airbase in Gweru,
together with the Chengdu F-7 and BAe
Hawk-60 fighter/trainers.
Zimbabwe has also acquired Mi-35 'Hinds', a
massively built and heavily
armed helicopter gunship.
The Mi-35 -
which experts say is a flying tank due to its heavy armour - is
deemed one of
the most effective attack helicopters flying in the region.
It is
said to be only comparable to South Africa's Atlas CSH-2 Rooivalk
in
sophistication and efficiency.
The helicopter is part of a
fleet that includes the Aloutte IIIs, Augusta
AB-412s, and Eurocopter AS-532
Cougars, at Manyame airbase in Harare.
South Africa has also been
massively rearming. It has ordered 28 Saab JAS-39
Gripen multi-role fighters
from Sweden to replace 120 ageing Mirage and
Cheetah fighters.
The
single-engine JAS-39 Gripen - whose operational capability is very
high -
competes aggressively against the US-made F-16, the most lethal
fighter in
the world.
The plane costs between US$35 million to US$40 million, a
price slightly
more than the F-16 but less than the French Mirage 2000. SA
has also bought
24 advanced BAe Hawk-200 fighter/trainers from Britain and 30
Augusta A109
light utility helicopters from Italy.
"Once these
fighters have all been taken delivery of and put into operation,
South Africa
will become the undisputed lord of the skies in the region," a
military
source said.
"It will have by far the most sophisticated and biggest
airforce in Southern
Africa, if not in Africa."
Sources say
Botswana and Namibia are also in the rearmament race. The two
countries are
said to have recently bought Nanchang F-8 fighter/trainers
from
China.
Botswana has also bought a dozen CF-5 fighter-bombers from
Canada.
Other countries in the region, in particular Angola and DRC, are
said to be
also enhancing their military capabilities.
Zim Independent
Delegates in security sweep
Gift Phiri
SIGNS of
what appear to be growing concerns about President Robert Mugabe's
security
were dramatically illustrated on Wednesday when more than 700
delegates
attending a three-day national HIV/Aids conference at the Sheraton
Hotel were
subjected to intrusive body searches before the arrival of Mugabe
and his
wife Grace.
Mugabe officially opened the conference which ended
yesterday.
Visiting South African Health minister Manto
Tshabalala-Msi-mang and Angolan
deputy Health minister, José Van-Dunem, were
among those searched.
Cabinet ministers, members ofthe diplomatic
corps, heads of international
organisations, invi-ted guests and delegates
were thoroughly frisked by
state security personnel in an unprecedented
security sweep.
Some 200 law-enforcement agents were deployed to the
conference venue on
Wednesday, in addition to special support and response
teams.
Chemical and biological sensors were strategically positioned
at all
entrances to the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) where
Mugabe
delivered his keynote address. The sensors were complemented by
detection
equipment, including radiation pagers on the belts of some law
enforcement
officers.
The CIO is understood to have provided
intelligence support while Zimbabwe
National Army bomb disposal teams,
including sniffer dogs, were part of the
security set up.
It was
not possible to obtain comment from the CIO and the army.
Police
spokesperson, Superintendent Oliver Mandipaka, said: "Sorry, I cannot
say
anything about that."
Delegates who spoke to the Zimbabwe
Independent complained of the
unprecedented security at an Aids
conference.
"It's as if there was some terror threat from somewhere
yet it was just a
head of state supposed to address an Aids conference," said
a member of the
organising committee who declined to be named.
The
Independent was told that last week all agencies with an operational
role in
security participated in an hour-by-hour run-through of the
event.
According to a security official, all vehicles leading to the
conference
were swept for explosives.
Sources in the ruling party
confirmed heightened security fears surrounding
Mugabe adding that they were
now subjected to searches before entering
cabinet meetings.
Zim Independent
Three youth camps closed
Shakeman Mugari
GOVERNMENT
has shut down three of the country's six national youth training
camps due to
acute food shortages, the Zimbabwe Independent heard this week.
The three
camps, Kamativi in Matabeleland North, Vumba in Manicaland and
Mushagashi in
Masvingo, closed last month due to poor food supplies.
The
Independent was told this week that the camps were closed because
government
had run out of money for food, uniforms and other basics.
Government is
also unable to pay the support staff employed at the camps.
The camps
reportedly gobble millions of dollars in the upkeep of recruits
and salaries
for the trainers.
Kamativi is one of the country's biggest camps set
up to drill the youths in
various martial skills and Zanu PF
ideology.
Youth director in the Ministry of Youth Development, Itai
Muguza, confirmed
on Wednesday the closure of the three camps but denied that
this had
anything to do with food shortages.
"Those are
allegations made by jealous people who don't want to see us
succeed," said
Muguza.
"Those camps were closed for renovations, otherwise there was
enough food.
There was no shortage," he said.
The Independent
however under-stands the closures followed a damning report
by the
Parliamentary Portfolio Commit-tee on Youth and Gender and
Employment
Creation produced after a tour of the camps.
The
committee slammed the living conditions and poor sanitary facilities at
the
camps.
Zim Independent
Chihuri appointment stirs hornet's nest
Gift
Phiri
THE British Foreign Office has ordered a full probe into how
Zimbabwe's
police chief Augustine Chihuri was appointed Interpol
vice-president.
Chihuri's appointment to the honorary position of
Interpol vice-president by
the executive committee stirred a hornet's nest in
the House of Commons last
week with Michael Ancram, the shadow foreign
secretary, calling on Foreign
Secretary Jack Straw to give a statement to
parliament explaining "why
Chihuri was rewarded in this way".
"It
is an insult to the people who have suffered at the hands of the
Zimbabwean
police and other state security apparatus in that country,"
said
Ancram.
However, Straw said there was no British
representation on the committee
that installed Chihuri.
"His
appointment to the honorary position of vice-president was made by
Interpol's
existing executive committee